Does That Make Me Crazy?

First, a quick note - this week brings us another birthday worth noting. The founder of Exitfare has gotten a year older, and the blog itself has made its first run around the block. Having created it on his birthday in 2005, it's grown to an impressive size in the last three-sixty-five, so give it a look. I check it often, myself.

But now, on to business...

Finally, finally, the new Gnarls Barkley album, St. Elsewhere has made its way into my heavy rotation. I'd stayed away from downloading or streaming "Crazy" because I wanted to hear the album's entirety. One shot, no single or sneak preview. The hype monster that had grown all around the duo's name had become so big and scary that I simply had to give in to it.



Ahh Gnarls...half Cee-Lo, for whom I'd loved madly during the days of Cee-Lo Green (especially 2004's ...Is The Soul Machine), and half Danger Mouse, who catapulted himself into notoriety with the Grey Album - a perfect mash-up of Jay-Z's Black Album and the Beatle's White Album - which is the only release I can think of in the last several years that was an unauthorized, fairly-illegal musical venture that blew its way through the charts.

St. Elsewhere is going to make its way into many people's top ten this year. Lacking anything that can be considered a lull in the album, it plays well from start to finish, giving Cee-Lo the kind of breathing room he needs to stretch his versatile singing. My personal favorite aspect of the album, always, is the lyrics. Always something that has kept me hooked, whether it was Goodie Mobb, Cee-Lo Green, or older Gnarles. After months of brouhaha, you'll still want to get your hands on this gem.