Danger Mouse
Photo: Gary Miller/ FilmMagic

It was poised to be one of the coolest, most unusual albums in a short history of great collaborations: producer Danger Mouse working with experimental rockers Sparklehorse and filmmaker David Lynch for an album titled Dark Night of the Soul, featuring guest spots from the Flaming Lips, the Strokes' Julian Casablancas, Iggy Pop, the Pixies' Frank Black, the Shins' James Mercer and a handful of others.

And then the business got in the way. According to reports, EMI Music blocked the release of the album, due out in July, over a contractual dispute. (A spokesperson for EMI could not be reached for comment at press time.) TheTripwire.com reported that Danger Mouse, who made his name producing the widely bootlegged The Grey Album, did what any forward-thinking, former renegade mash-up artist would do: He decided to release the album as a blank disc.

"Danger Mouse's new project, Dark Night of the Soul consists of an album-length piece of music by Danger Mouse, Sparklehorse and a host of guest vocalists, along with a collection of original David Lynch photography inspired by and based on the music," a spokesperson for Danger Mouse told MTV News in a statement. "The photographs, which provide a visual narrative for the music, are compiled in a limited-edition, hand-numbered 100+ page book, which will now come with a blank, recordable CD-R. All copies will be clearly labeled: 'For Legal Reasons, enclosed CD-R contains no music. Use it as you will.' "

Movie-style posters hyping the project popped up all over Austin during this year's South by Southwest festival, building anticipation for the long-in-the-works project. But the source told Tripwire that due to an unspecified ongoing dispute with EMI, Danger Mouse could not release the music he recorded for the album without facing the possibility of being sued by the label. "Danger Mouse remains hugely proud of Dark Night of the Soul and hopes that people lucky enough to hear the music, by whatever means, are as excited by it as he is."

Translation? Songs from the album, which started leaking on May 7, can pretty readily be found online for download by intrepid fans. A spokesperson for Danger Mouse could not be reached for comment at press time.

• Danger Mouse
• Sparklehorse

Shelby Lynne performs at A Sounds Eclectic Evening  
Photo: Jay Morel

LOS ANGELES — One of Southern California's most esteemed radio shows took to the stage Friday for an inaugural concert celebrating diverse artists ranging from singer/songwriter Elliott Smith to country-fried rocker Shelby Lynne.

A Sounds Eclectic Evening, named after flagship National Public Radio station KCRW-FM's "Morning Becomes Eclectic" show, began as an emotional showcase of the world's top songsmiths and ended as a hip-hop salsa party that had the packed Wiltern Theatre audience dancing down the aisles. (Click for photos from the show.)

Los Angeles' own Ozomatli headlined the benefit for KCRW with a rousing set of tunes mostly culled from their new album, Embrace the Chaos. The 10-member outfit looked like a hip-hop ska version of Slipknot, though not nearly as chaotic.

Bassist Wil-Dog Abers and guitarist Raúl Pacheco provided the majority of their Cypress Hill-like vocal tag teams, though trumpeter Asdrubal Sierra piped in for a few of the Latin-flavored numbers.

Ozomatli's latest single, "1234," proved to be the audience favorite, as the mostly white crowd waved its hands to the tune's Afro-Cuban beat.

The rest of the performances Friday were of a different breed, with the possible exception of a few Lynne numbers. Promoting her new record, Love, Shelby, she mixed the intimacy of a singer/songwriter with the attitude of an arena star by belting out the heartfelt lyrics she is known for with the vigor of a Las Vegas veteran like Bette Midler or Cher.

Pete Yorn, Smith, Badly Drawn Boy and Sparklehorse, on the other hand, let their lyrics be the sole stars.

Smith and Badly Drawn Boy both played short, acoustic sets from a small stage in front of the main curtain. Smith played all new material from his upcoming album, while Badly Drawn Boy opened by singing some new songs over prerecorded tracks — "karaoke-style" as he put it — and closed with some familiar numbers.

Badly Drawn Boy, stuffed between the subdued Smith and the even quieter Sparklehorse, provided a needed pick-me-up with his between-song banter. After introducing a few tracks from the new "About a Boy" soundtrack, he improvised a gag about his band being too ugly to bring onstage.

Covered in a stocking cap pulled down to his brow and illegally taking drags off a cigarette, Badly Drawn Boy garnered heavy applause (from fans such as Meg Ryan and Tracey Ullman) for The Hour of Bewilderbeast tracks "Once Around the Block" and "The Shining." He dedicated the latter to Osama bin Laden, asking the terrorist to make his next target "the twin cheeks of my ass."

Smith, who wore a skin-tight thrift store T-shirt and sported Willie Nelson-like pigtails, debuted new material that varied little from his past catalog of fairy tale folk with twists of pop.

"These [versions of the new songs] are very different than how they will sound on the record, but this is how they started out," Smith said in his dressing room after the show.

Yorn's set perhaps best summed up the title of the concert, as he powered through an eclectic set list that had equal moments of raucous rock 'n' roll splendor ("For Nancy (Cos' It Already Is)") and pour-your-heart-out grandeur ("Just Another").

"KCRW is a hell of a station, and I would go out of my way to help them," Yorn said shortly before taking the stage. "It's a really cool bill, and I am honored to be a part of it."

Opening duties for the evening fell to Sparklehorse, whose dreamy noise pop was a good introduction to both the concert and KCRW in general. Singer Mark Linkous kicked the vocal effects into high gear for most of the set, which focused on the tender love songs from their recent album, It's a Wonderful Life.

KCRW's music director and founder of "Morning Becomes Eclectic," Nic Harcourt, said the A Sounds Eclectic Evening will certainly be an annual tradition, if not more.

"It would be nice to expand it to some kind of tour, if we could find the time to do it," said Harcourt, who is credited with helping break R.E.M., PJ Harvey, Beck and many others. "I first thought about this a couple of years ago. We waited for the timing to be right, and my boss told me at the beginning of the year to go for it."

Harcourt has already spearheaded the release of a pair of CDs based on the show, including last spring's Sounds Eclectic compilation (see "Beck, David Gray, Travis On Live Radio Album").

• Ozomatli
• Pete Yorn
• Elliott Smith
• Shelby Lynne
• Badly Drawn Boy

October 31 [14:00 EDT] -- If one of the guys doing lighting for Sparklehorse during their opening stint for Radiohead looks familiar, don't be surprised.

Jonny Greenwood, Radiohead's guitarist, has stepped up to help out the band behind the board while the two groups are touring together in Europe.

Fans in the States may have noticed Greenwood filling the same role for Teenage Fanclub who opened for Radiohead in the U.S. earlier this year.

Greenwood and his Radiohead counterparts, who are still riding high on the airwaves with the clip for "Karma Police" [2MB QuickTime], aren't expected to return to the States until next year.

• Radiohead
• Sparklehorse