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I'll be upfront and reveal my biases in advance - David Lynch is a fantastic artist, and I also have a passion for music that is virtually guaranteed never to be played on popular radio stations (not that I'm a music snob, I just fail to understand why so many people indolently listen to the same formulaic, mass produced, sterile sounds spoon-fed to them by indifferent media outlets). So when news of the music collaboration Dark Night of the Soul (DNOTS) started to leak out around April of this year, I became quite excited. Written by Danger Mouse (of The Grey Album fame) and Sparklehorse, DNOTS also promised the involvement of David Lynch. A music video, I thought, cool. But wrong. The collaboration was much deeper...

'Danger Mouse, who has been a fan of Lynch's for many years, approached the filmmaker about a possible project. The artists worked together and were inspired by each other -- Lynch making photographs influenced by the original songs that Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse were creating.'

However, just one small problem. As explained on the Dark Night of the Soul Official Site -

'Due to an ongoing dispute with EMI, Danger Mouse is unable to release the recorded music for Dark Night Of The Soul without fear of being sued by EMI.'

Neither Danger Mouse or EMI, the record label, are going into the details...

Fortunately for us, the entire album can be listened to (legally) on the NPR Music website, and the illustrated book (together with a blank CD and the message 'For Legal Reasons, enclosed CD-R contains no music. Use it as you will') has been published.

My copy of DNOTS arrived earlier in the week, and Lynch never fails to impress me. A giant head lies in the middle of a 1960's family dining table in Grim Augury #1, a blurred image of a young child plays with a monster in Just War #1, quarter of a cookie remains on a plate, a suburban man in underpants arrested by three police officers (one armed with a dripping garden hose), a suited figure falling through space surrounded by Christmas decorations, a midnight barbeque in a garden containing a plastic flamingo... The images are a blend of banal and beautiful, mundane and madness.

The tracks are also superb. As well as Lynch singing (surprisingly well), the album features The Flaming Lips, Julian Casablancas, Suzanne Vega, and Iggy Pop, amongst a congregation of other talent. Lynch's auteurship is stamped across the album, and while listening to the tunes at three in the morning, you almost expect to encounter a backwards speaking, red suited dwarf while making yourself another cup of steaming black coffee.

For those fortunate enough to be living / passing through Los Angeles, the Michael Kohn Gallery
is exhibiting fifty of Lynch's photographs until 11 July 2009, to be viewed as DNOTS plays throughout the gallery. According to their press release 'The installation encourages a fully enveloping experience that surpasses the individual visual or auditory elements.' An opportunity to shroud oneself in a Lynchian world - heaven or hell? If Lynch's films are anything to go by, I'm guessing both.

External Link:
DNOTS on NPR Music