Music Reflection: Gnars Barkley's Odd Couple

Category: By Christian
I've been a fan of CeeLo since back in the day. During my high school years, you could often find me rocking "Goodie Mob" in my cd player during bus rides around town. It hit. The flows were tight. It was unlike anything else on the market at the time.

Fast forward 10 years, and CeeLo is still bringing a different type of flavor. He's not a part of a rap group anymore, per se. Now, he has teamed up with Danger Mouse to wreak havoc on the music scene and all across the airwaves.

My initial impression of The Odd Couple was that it was a very challenging album to listen to. It's almost as though Cee and Danger were having a competition in the studio. I imagine Cee furiously pouring out his heart on a legal pad and feeling as though he was taking it to another level, only to have Danger pass the headphones and share some sick beats that raised the bar a whole 'nother notch. The sample would then send Cee back to his notepad, his poetry bubbling up and frothing over more intensely than before.

So what do you get when you combine downbeats, dissonant harmonies and uniquely transparent lyrics? A freaking awesome album, that's what. The word that best describes it is "gritty". It is just so reminiscent of those vintage WuTang cuts circa the mid- to late-1990's. In some ways, I'm a little bit surprised that the label gave these guys the freedom to create and produce such an atypical album for mainstream consumption. But then again, even the labels are willing to throw us a little steak in the midst of the blizzard of cotton candy on occasion.


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