When Is An Album Not An Album?

You may know artist and music producer Brian Burton, aka Danger Mouse, from his 2004 mash-up The Grey Album or from the alt-hip hop duo Gnarls Barkley. His newest project is a collaboration with Mark Linkous of the band Sparklehorse.

Their album Dark Night of the Soul will be released, so to speak, on May 29th. Actually, the “album” is a 100-page booklet of original photos by film director David Lynch, accompanied by a blank CD. That’s right, no music. The record label EMI has scrapped the release of Dark Night of the Soul due to legal issues. Danger Mouse’s release of the blank CD serves as unofficial encouragement for fans to download it for themselves. If illegally downloading the album nags at your conscience, you can hear a streaming version on NPR’s Exclusive First Listen.

Guardian UK: Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse unveil new album – a blank CD-R!

(Photo by Leo Reynolds via Flickr/Creative Commons)