Since Danger Mouse was based in the Los Angeles area and DOOM lived in Atlanta at the time, the two had to get creative about how to get music to each other.
After working with the president/creative director of programming, the pair hammered out a deal by which the Cartoon Network would help sponsor the album, contribute vocal talent, and promote the album on the channel accordingly. Danger Mouse had already forged a relationship with the network, producing music for the channel earlier in his career. For those of you who haven’t gotten blasted out of your mind and channel-surfed during the small hours of the night, Adult Swim is an animation block made up of often experimental and absurdist programming, each episode roughly 10 minutes in length. DOOM appeared as a guest on another two Danger Mouse productions (including Gorillaz’ “November Has Come” and a remix of Zero 7’s “Somersault”), establishing solid chemistry.Įventually they had an idea to record an album of tracks inspired by the Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim programming. The pair got along and decided to continue working together. After breaking through as a hip-hop producer, he was also being enlisted to team with artists across many genres.ĭOOM and Danger Mouse first worked together on “Social Distortion,” a track featured on Prince Po’s first solo album, The Slickness (2003). Riding high from the Grey Album remix project, he was receiving raves for his production on Gorillaz’ Demon Days (2005), released just months before. Meanwhile, Danger Mouse was in the midst of his rapid ascent. During the brief lull, fans were clamoring for more material from the underground hero/rap recluse. Food (2004) and still basking in the serious acclaim he had earned during an incredible run from 2003 to 2004. When The Mouse And The Mask hit the shelves, the Metal-Faced Villain was about a year removed from MM. The Mouse And The Mask isn’t ranked amongst the top tier of their respective discographies, but it is still fun and irreverent in ways that few hip-hop albums ever bother to attempt. Teaming with the Cartoon Network and Epitaph Records, DANGERDOOM appealed to fans of the realm of adult-skewing animation, as well as dope hip-hop. With the release of The Mouse And The Mask 15 years ago, the emcee and producer combined to form DANGERDOOM. The album features Cee-Lo Green (also of Gnarls Barkley), Talib Kweli, Ghostface Killah, Money Mark and the cast of cult cartoon show Aqua Teen Hunger Force and ten years on remains DOOM's best selling album to date.Happy 15th Anniversary to DANGERDOOM’s The Mouse And The Mask, originally released October 11, 2005.īrian “Danger Mouse” Burton and Daniel “MF DOOM” Dumile were on such a hot streak in the mid ’00s that they made sponsored content sound fly. "The Mouse and the Mask" was produced by Lex super-producer Danger Mouse and masked supervillain MF DOOM. The inner sleeves, visible through the outer at first glance pattern based on an Ishihara test, but inside the circles in the pattern are tiny icons depicting a different disasters - climate change, acid rain, holy war, nuclear leaks. Design by EHQuestionmark, the outer sleeve is made from thick translucent textured plastic with DOOM's mask printed on cover, and mouse ears on each side of the mask forming a pattern that looks like a Rorschach test (a technique reused in another Danger Mouse project six months later). Lex has a history of lavish packaging but this remains one of the lushest sleeves in the catalogue.
Previously only available in Europe in limited quantities, this is the first time many fans will be able to get their hands on a double vinyl copy of "The Mouse and the Mask". Standard shipping is £3.20 to the UK £4.30 ($6.40) to the USA.
#The mouse and the mask download
For the first time in a decade Lex are reissuing DANGERDOOM's "The Mouse and the Mask"Īll orders will receive an immediate download of the album.