"This ain't the jam you're looking for."

June 15, 2006 2:53 PM

Youtubefilter: Gnarls Barkley performs "Crazy," unites Rebellion and Empire.
posted by bardic (50 comments total)

It's too bad the mix is so awful. You can barely hear Cee-Lo.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 2:57 PM on June 15, 2006

The airline-themed version on Top of the Pops is cool too.
posted by beniamino at 3:06 PM on June 15, 2006

Time to save this thread for those with a differing palate.
posted by Mach3avelli at 3:08 PM on June 15, 2006

Yeah, his vocals come through much better on the airline-themed version (which is great!).
posted by grobstein at 3:18 PM on June 15, 2006

it's funny to see a stormtrooper bobbing his head in cool, rock-star style..
posted by dopamine at 3:19 PM on June 15, 2006

I wonder what he'll do next.

X-Men?
Muppets?
Buffy?
posted by heeeraldo at 3:38 PM on June 15, 2006

freakin' A.
posted by gnutron at 3:42 PM on June 15, 2006

they were wizard of oz at coachella
posted by christy at 3:43 PM on June 15, 2006

Heh. No reference to the prequels. I wonder why...
posted by delmoi at 3:43 PM on June 15, 2006

Is the brother on the keys supposed to be Lando? Because I don't remember any other black people in the Alliance *or* rebellion. Or did he just decide not to put a costume on?
posted by ikkyu2 at 3:53 PM on June 15, 2006

ikkyu2: He's wearing jedi robes. I think he's supposed to be "Generic Jedi". And what about Mace Windu?
posted by delmoi at 3:55 PM on June 15, 2006

Outkast did the same kind of thing when they were going around everywhere playing "Hey Ya". I remember an Indian themed one.

I failed finding them on YouTube, but I did find a cover of "Hey Ya" by Will Young, which is something to see.
posted by smackfu at 3:55 PM on June 15, 2006

hey! i just did a post just like this on the blog of the alt-weekly i write for.

check it:

I Remember When, I Remember I Remember When I Lost My Mind

if you care, check out the last link, it's by some kid band in some high school basement somewhere doing a cover of "Crazy" but it's better if you imagine it as the real Gnarls Barkley with really elaborate costumes.
posted by Hat Maui at 4:12 PM on June 15, 2006

Previously linked to in a deleted post.
posted by TheDonF at 4:15 PM on June 15, 2006

This is awesome. Is anyone else as entertained by St Elsewhere as I am?

TheDonF: So??
posted by ghastlyfop at 4:26 PM on June 15, 2006

The Gnarls Barkley record is the best dollar or so I've ever spent on allofmp3. I love Danger Mouse, and I desperately hope that the Russians actually send him the royalty checks that they claim they're sending.
posted by CRM114 at 4:31 PM on June 15, 2006

yeah, St. Elsewhere is the shit, ghastlyfop.

what's most remarkable about it is how it's a feelgood record arranged around themes of insanity, loneliness and suicide. "just a thought" is "suicide is painless" for the oughts; the title track is incredibly sad and powerful.

what a great band/record.
posted by Hat Maui at 4:34 PM on June 15, 2006

I desperately hope that the Russians actually send him the royalty checks that they claim they're sending.

hmm?
posted by Mach3avelli at 4:38 PM on June 15, 2006

What's with all this love for Danger Mouse?

Does this mean I can make one-link FPP's to Louis Logic and Immortal Technique videos?
posted by Alexandros at 4:42 PM on June 15, 2006

Does this mean I can make one-link FPP's to Louis Logic and Immortal Technique videos?

Only if they apply hipster-friendly 70s throwbacks. Same goes triple now for Mach3avelli.
posted by Ogre Lawless at 4:59 PM on June 15, 2006

I like this album too. It is the first Danger Mouse thing I really, really liked. I thought his previous stuff was sort of weak.
posted by sonofsamiam at 5:27 PM on June 15, 2006

So...things that are good are now hipster-friendly? What qualifies something as "hipster-friendly" -- something you're not getting?
posted by ghastlyfop at 5:27 PM on June 15, 2006

Does this mean I can make one-link FPP's to Louis Logic and Immortal Technique videos?

Who ever said you couldn't?
posted by smackfu at 5:54 PM on June 15, 2006

zzzzz....this is so 3 weeks ago
posted by doctor_negative at 6:04 PM on June 15, 2006

I don't think it's a fully hatched idea, but I love the casual throwaway nature of the whole thing and the fact that both dangermouse and ceelo can go on and do a million other things without being hung up on Gnarls Barkley, the end is built in to the begining, very smart.

Crazy (especially) is funky and soulful (and a tip of the helmet to Al Green) and about being bummed out and it's lighthearted in a way and DAMMIT fat little Ceelo dressed as Vader is hilarious.

It's a joke you mealy mouthed haters, it's a lark. Good lord. Hipsters indeed. I'm starting to like hipsters just because everthing that isn't some long ass Rush bass solo served on a whole wheat cracker in a windowless room is blamed on them. At least some people can have fun without swallowing a dose of castor oil first.
posted by Divine_Wino at 6:07 PM on June 15, 2006 [1 favorite]

St. Elsewhere is great. First CD I've bought in years, totally worth it.
posted by graventy at 6:08 PM on June 15, 2006

Is the brother on the keys supposed to be Lando?

The brother on the keys is D. Mouse and he's lookin' fairly Obi Wan to me.
posted by Divine_Wino at 6:10 PM on June 15, 2006

I would think that appearing on the MTV awards and Top of the Pops would make them most definitly hipster unfriendly. It's still a killer album either way.
posted by megamanwich at 6:29 PM on June 15, 2006

No question. St. Elsewhere is album of the year and we're not even half way through ...

Just a pity that they're not bringing Gnarls through the states anytime soon, as they're booked in Europe until late fall.
posted by grabbingsand at 6:30 PM on June 15, 2006

Au contraire, they're doing some California shows in July.
posted by smackfu at 6:41 PM on June 15, 2006

Solid album and cool video! DJDM's work with Gorillaz on Demon Days is more affecting to me (the better album?) but that goddamn Gnarls album is like a message from another universe. I wish I dug Cee-Lo's solo stuff half as much.
posted by waxbanks at 6:50 PM on June 15, 2006

No question. St. Elsewhere is album of the year

Pfft, more like Trials of Van Occupanther!
posted by ludwig_van at 6:50 PM on June 15, 2006

ikkyu2: He's wearing jedi robes. I think he's supposed to be "Generic Jedi". And what about Mace Windu?
posted by delmoi at 3:55 PM PST on June 15 [+fave] [!]

D. Mouse is the Palpatine to Cee-Lo's Vader, methinks.
posted by kosher_jenny at 6:58 PM on June 15, 2006

I am almost but not quite nerdy enough to debate this with you kosher_jenny. Perhaps if they had been dressed as Transformers I would take off the gloves, as it stands, I will say only this: Perhaps you are correct.
posted by Divine_Wino at 7:09 PM on June 15, 2006

Excellent live performance of a great song by a great band! Saw this a while ago on iFilm, and since then I've bought the album, which is excellent.
posted by Ricky_gr10 at 7:22 PM on June 15, 2006

Gnarls are alright, but Cee-Lo has yet to top his own solo stuff. It's basically what he's doing with Gnarls, only ten times more diverse and interesting. Plus, it's got the bling factor.

As for Dangermouse, I'd say nothing touches his DangerDoom project from last year.
posted by kar at 8:38 PM on June 15, 2006

I'm sure the background singers were all thrilled with what they had to wear.
posted by Juggermatt at 8:38 PM on June 15, 2006

I have several mix sessions on CD that Burton did prior to his Grey 'debut,' and they're very inspired (from his days spinning mid-week shows in downtown Athens, GA). His work as Pelican City was also a lot of fun. I helped shoot a few music videos for the trip-hop work on the Pelican City albums but am just thrilled by his current production, especially on the Gorillaz album.
posted by NationalKato at 9:14 PM on June 15, 2006

Can someone explain the name Gnarls Barkley to me? I saw this, linked to from the Wikipedia article:

'There's no story behind it [...] The name doesn't have anything to do with anything.' Not even Charles Barkley, the basketball player? 'Nope. It's just like everything else on this record. There was no conscious decision about stuff.'

But is there, uh, something I'm missing? Like the reporter, I assumed it was a (stupid and/or oblique) pun on Charles Barkley, but even then I have no idea what the hell 'gnarls' means. Don't puns have to have TWO meanings?

I feel really old.
posted by Ian A.T. at 9:46 PM on June 15, 2006

It's a great album and "Crazy" is wonderful and timeless, simple yet transcendant.

I'm a little irritated, however, that Danger Mouse will go in the history books as having "invented" the mashup.
posted by First Post at 9:47 PM on June 15, 2006

I assumed it was a (stupid and/or oblique) pun on Charles Barkley, but even then I have no idea what the hell 'gnarls' means

I figured it was like when people used to say "gnarly" a lot.

It's just something fun and goofy they thought up while they were high, I suspect.
posted by First Post at 9:49 PM on June 15, 2006

It's just something fun and goofy they thought up while they were high, I suspect.

I'll not have you casting aspersions on professional musicians, no sir.
posted by dhartung at 10:25 PM on June 15, 2006

i saw no "aspersions," no sir.

it's an "aspersion" to you if someone as characterized as being high? narc.

EVERYBODY DHARTUNG IS A NARC!
posted by Hat Maui at 3:37 AM on June 16, 2006

Crazy
as God intended.
posted by cccorlew at 6:47 AM on June 16, 2006

EVERYBODY DHARTUNG IS A NARC!

dhartung, stop snitchin'!!!
posted by lord_wolf at 7:55 AM on June 16, 2006

how many times to we have to kick this song until it is completely and totally ded?

also, how many costumes is it going to take to revive it?
posted by dminor at 12:22 PM on June 16, 2006

And they were all in graduation caps and gowns on the decidedly non-hipster Leno....

Nelly Furtado of all people has done a really spare, stripped down version of "Crazy." It's out there somewhere, for a probably illegal download.

(Was available and legal on a BBC site for a week after she did it on a BBC show so don't send the Feds after me....)
posted by ambient2 at 8:00 PM on June 16, 2006

Star Wars Schmar Wars - Have they done one dressed up as Danger Mouse then? Cos if Cee-Lo aint Baron greenback I'm a fuckin pidgeon
posted by criticalbill at 2:00 AM on June 17, 2006

The Nelly Furtado version is available here, and it's pretty cool. Thanks for the heads-up, ambient2.
posted by robcorr at 12:03 AM on June 18, 2006

how many times to we have to kick this song until it is completely and totally ded?

Paris Hilton is delaying her otherwise-completed album so that she can record her cover of "Crazy" for it.

So, probably sometime around then.
posted by First Post at 12:50 PM on June 18, 2006