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Brian Joseph Burton, better known by his stage name Danger Mouse, is a producer and DJ whose most recent work is with Cee-Lo as the duo Gnarls Barkley. Gnarls Barkley's first single "Crazy" became the first UK number-one single based solely on downloads. He came to prominence in 2004 when he remixed The Beatles' White Album and rapper Jay-Z's Black Album to make The Grey Album.

He has also produced the second Gorillaz album, 2005's Demon Days, which earned him a Grammy nomination for Producer of the Year. In addition, he worked with rapper MF DOOM on the collaboration DANGERDOOM.

Biography

Brian Burton was born in White Plains, New York; he spent much of his childhood in Spring Valley, New York and lived in Athens, Georgia for a long time where his electronica work was released under the name "Pelican City". He also remixed work by several local artists, including Neutral Milk Hotel. From 1998 to 2003 Burton also created a series of remix CDs and records under the stage name Danger Mouse (inspired by the British cartoon series DangerMouse).

While in Athens, Burton took second in a 1998 talent contest and was asked to open for a concert at the University of Georgia featuring OutKast and Goodie Mob. Afterwards, Burton approached Cee-Lo, a member of Goodie Mob, and gave him an instrumental demo tape. It would be several years before the pair made contact again, but the two would eventually collaborate as Gnarls Barkley.

Burton's first original releases under the name Danger Mouse were his collaborations with rapper Jemini, including the album Ghetto Pop Life, released in 2003 on Lex Records. While the Danger Mouse debut was well received by critics, he did not rise to fame until he created The Grey Album, mixing a cappella versions of Jay Z's The Black Album over beats crafted from samples of The Beatles' White Album. The remix album, originally created just for his friends, spread over the internet and became very popular with both the general audience and critics, with Rolling Stone calling it "the ultimate remix record" and Entertainment Weekly ranking it the best record of the year. Danger Mouse was also named among the Men of the Year by GQ in 2004 and won the 2005 Wired Rave Award.

The Grey Album also got the attention of Damon Albarn, who enlisted Danger Mouse to produce Gorillaz' second studio album, Demon Days (much to the dismay of Gorillaz' record company EMI, which also holds the rights to The Beatles' records and had previously served cease and desist orders against Danger Mouse over the use of their material on The Grey Album). Demon Days earned Burton a Grammy Award nomination for Producer of the Year.

Danger Mouse's next project was The Mouse and the Mask, a collaboration with MF DOOM (as DANGERDOOM) about and for Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. The two had previously collaborated on the Danger Mouse remix of Zero 7's "Somersault", on the Prince Po track "Social Distortion", and on Gorillaz' "November Has Come".

In 2006, Danger Mouse and Cee-Lo (as Gnarls Barkley) released their first album, St. Elsewhere, which included the international hit single "Crazy". The follow-up single, "Smiley Faces", will be released on July 17, 2006.

Danger Mouse is set to release Kill Your Heroes, his second album with Jemini, in the summer of 2006. A collaborative album with Black Thought of The Roots is said to be in the works, as well as another collaboration with Damon Albarn.

Philosophy

In an interview for the New York Times Magazine, Danger Mouse described himself as an auteur, emulating his music production philosophy on cinematic directors like Woody Allen. "Woody Allen was an auteur: he did his Thing, and that particular Thing was completely his own," he said. "That's what I decided to do with music. I want to create a director's role within music, which is what I tried to do on this album (St. Elsewhere).... I have to be in control of the project I'm doing. I can create different kinds of musical worlds, but the artist needs the desire to go into that world.... Musically, there is no one who has the career I want. That's why I have to use film directors as a model."

Discography

Pelican City

Danger Mouse

References

External links

African American musicians | Hip hop DJs | Hip hop producers | Living people | New York musicians | Year of birth missing

Danger Mouse | DJ Danger Mouse | בריאן ברטון | Danger Mouse

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Danger Mouse".

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