Chuck Klosterman on Gnarls Barkley in NY Times Magazine

June 19, 2006

Chuck Klosterman on Gnarls Barkley in NY Times Magazine

There's a lot of weird stuff going on here. The minimization of Cee-Lo's role to further the myth of Dangermouse as visionary mastermind:

...in a larger sense, Gnarls Barkley is really just one person, and that person is Burton. Cee-Lo is essential, but he's essential in the same way Diane Keaton was essential to "Annie Hall": he is the voice that best incarnates Burton's vision, so he serves as the front man for this particular project. Burton will aggressively insist that Gnarls Barkley is a two-man game, but that seems more magnanimous than accurate...

The placement of Gnarls in a "rock & roll" context, as if rock is still the sun around which all pop revolves:

"St. Elsewhere," by Gnarls Barkley, is an unlikely fusion of alternative pop, psychedelic R&B and postmodern hip-hop, and it was constructed differently from the vast majority of mainstream rock 'n' roll albums. And if "St. Elsewhere" does well over the long haul, its success will be a direct result of the way it was made, a blueprint that contradicts the conventional way in which rock bands are supposed to create music...

But I think the main problem (and explanation for his portrayal of Ceelo as pawn in Danger's master plan) is that he seems to be wandering around with the Gnarls press packet as his only guide, so he never fully catches on that it's the mechanics of their hype, in itself, that's the key to the Gnarls Barkley story.

This really makes me appreciate how deftly Sasha and Kelefa Sanneh map out their terrain for the Times/New Yorker readership, and consistently get all the basics right. I wish one of them had written a primer for Klosterman before he wandered off into the woods and got lost.

EDIT: Looks like the peanut gallery is with me on this.

Posted by jsmooth995 at June 19, 2006 04:46 PM

Comments

"This really makes me appreciate how deftly Sasha and Kelefa Sanneh map out their terrain for the Times/New Yorker readership, and consistently get all the basics right."

I never thought about explaining it like that, but yeah - they have an amazing ability to get the facts straight.

However, there is the time Sanneh lazily labeled Kwaito as "hip-hop"

See: http://www.hiphop-blogs.com/hiphop/2005/08/is_south_africa.html

Posted by: Hashim at June 19, 2006 06:12 PM

Man, fuck Chuck Klosterman. This reads like he has *no idea* who Cee-Lo is and how great his work has been for years and years.

"On the surface, Cee-Lo looks like the vortex — he wrote the lyrics and sings the vocals on every song, including "Crazy,"... Yet even while "Crazy" is Cee-Lo's song, it's still Burton's design. It's the product of a singular vision, which is (more or less) the whole idea."

Perhaps they could have illustrated the article with an image of Chuck patting Cee-Lo's bald head while saying "run along, now!"

Posted by: Anil at June 19, 2006 06:51 PM

I like Chuck for his rock 'n' roll writing, but who in the blue hell decided it was cool to give him a hip hop assignment?

Also, did you ever weigh in on the Sasha/Magnetic Fields nonsense?

Posted by: sparkle shortz at June 19, 2006 11:04 PM

who cares either way?

the album is ill, chuck klostermann doesn't really matter, and this album isn't really hip hop anyway.

it's just good music.

Posted by: dan at June 20, 2006 05:32 AM

WOW this fool paints Cee-Lo as DM's friggin footstool! Blah! They are a heck of a team. I love the LP... the Crazy-ness reminds me of that JDavey LP. Both are in regular rotation ...

Posted by: Nina Morena at June 20, 2006 09:01 AM

I wonder what Kloserman will say or write when the first Gnarls Barkley remix drops, if one hasn't already been assembled and shipped out to radio stations.

I mean, if DJ Premier remixed "Crazy" with Cee-Lo's soulful vocals on top, I'm sure Danger Mouse would love it, auteur or not.

Posted by: James at June 20, 2006 12:48 PM

blah...give me the latest awolone/daddykev project anyday over this

Posted by: cv at June 20, 2006 03:38 PM

How in the hell can he listen to the lyrics which Cee-Lo wrote and performed and divide the duo like that? Is he an idiot? Does he even know who Cee-Lo is? That's like saying Outcast is really just Andre 3000...

Posted by: ODEMIC at June 26, 2006 07:57 AM

I don't know much about hip-hop, but I know heavy metal - a topic on which Klosterman purports to be some kind of expert. If he's half as ignorant about hip-hop a he is about rock, all hip-hop fans have my deepest sympathy.

Posted by: sumOldGuy at June 28, 2006 11:19 AM

Totally agreed. A little late on the draw, but this article really got under my skin...

Posted by: Kristopher Monroe at July 2, 2006 04:10 AM

Klosterman pisses people off no matter what he does and I find that hilarious. It's an interesting take on a "band" that does not yet have him (or me) convinced. I just love the "hip-hop expert" or "heavy metal expert" mentality. It's such a joke. Klosterman never professes to be an expert. Get a life.

Posted by: Justin Kunkel at July 12, 2006 08:26 PM

what does gnarles look like

Posted by: rmorse5746 at October 25, 2006 09:08 PM