It ain't over til it's over

Way back in January a little EP came along that rocked me and my roommate's little world. You see Wheeler and I were music directors for our school's radio station which meant we got to scan all the new discs and decide if they would make a perfect fit for a college radio station in our tiny New England town. The EP was plain and simple. The cover was in black and white and it's title elicited a few chuckles when read aloud: Gnarls Barkley. Open. Insert. Press Play. Go Go Gadget Gospel followed by [the now ubiquitous, then unknown ]Crazy which was followed by St. Elsewhere and a too good for words cover of the Violent Femmes' Gone Daddy Gone that I would not shut up about.

The Cee-Lo/Danger Mouse collabo hinted at during the summer and fall of 2005 had slipped my mind, but now here it was, right in front of me and my roommate, and for all the station's DJ's to enjoy. I was still reveling in my love of Cee-Lo's last album Cee-Lo Green is the Soul Machine, and impressed with what DM had done for the Gorillaz on Demon Days. I was happy for Lo and glad to have a new batch of tunes featuring his dazzling wordplay and vocals to present to my friends as evidence of Lo's greatness whenever I professed my love for his music from the rooftops.

Eventually I got my hands on the whole LP and was still nothing short of amazed. Here it was, an album steeped in sheer creative thinking and ideas, bursting at the seams with color, passion, soul, and avant garde flourishes. No track needed to be skipped and no face was left unsmiled. Cee-Lo [with the help of Danger Mouse] had done it again.

And then something funny happened. Crazy got crazy big. The album started to get old. And suddenly, out of nowhere I became my worst nightmare. I became a -sigh- music snob. Now funny thing about me is I don't listen to the radio at all. Repeat, AT ALL. But I knew that Crazy was getting crrazy airplay [okay I'll stop] and Gnarls Barkley became THE band of the moment. [And the band to cover. Seems even big name artists and musicians couldn't help but revel in the pop magic that is Crazy and got their cover on.] What was once cute and innovative and/or creative [see concert get ups and promos in which they appear as characters from movies] was now as stated before, old and dead to me. I even skipped out on seeing them live, something highly unlike me, particularly when I like a debut album as much as I like this one, not to mention the chance of seeing Cee-Lo live and in charge.

I wanted to continue rooting for the underdog, but I also had to move on. For most of the summer Gnarls Barkley's record would still remain a constant go to album at home or on the go. [Crazy is currently resting at number three on my Top 25 most played list on Itunes. Not listening to the radio all summer probably had something to do with that.] And just when I was ready to completely move on and anxiously await another output or something different from the duo, they go and do something that instantly grabs my attention and reminds me of why I fell in love with them in the first place. So here it is, the video for Gone Daddy Gone, the song that swept me in and never let me go. [completely] I guess it ain't over til it's over.