DVD & CD Reviews
CD - The Odd Couple - Gnarls Barkley
LISTEN to the first few tracks of the new Gnarls Barkley album The Odd Couple, and then listen to a couple of Nina Simone songs.
There's something funny going on, because despite Thomas Calloway sounding about as manly as it's humanly possible to do, it still sounds eerily like Nina's back and singing again.
There's a power to Calloway's voice, as if he's constantly having to restrain himself from making church bells vibrate and women faint away, and a few of the tracks on this album really celebrate those qualities, playing him as mournful and joyful, and full of as much soul as any listener could ask for.
It just seems a pity that in order to be more "down with the kids" he's teamed up with producer Brian Burton to form Gnarls Barkley, because Burton seems intent on going vocoder-crazy and leaving every other track sounding a little like Cher singing Believe.
Anyone who was a fan of St Elsewhere is probably going to be chuffed to bits with The Odd Couple, but I couldn't help wanting everything to be a little less produced, and a little more Nina.
AT
4:27pm Friday 11th April 2008
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