AMERICANWAY

{ MU S IC } FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Burton, Jones, Luppi and White When in Rome Famed producer Brian Burton (aka DANGER MOUSE) teams up with Italian composer DANIELE LUPPI for his latest game-changing album. { By Kevin Raub } On the heels of his critically lauded Broken Bells album and as a precursor to one of his most high-profile projects to date — produc- tion of a forthcoming U2 record — producer, composer and sonic auteur Brian Bur- ton (better known as Danger Mouse) brings us Rome (Cap- itol, $14), an album in the vein of an epic spaghetti Western soundtrack. The record, a collaboration with Italian composer Daniele Luppi that was more than five years in the making, features guest vocals by Norah Jones and Jack White and evokes the 1960s work of Ennio Mor- ricone. True to its name, the album was recorded in Rome, where Burton and Luppi dusted off a 20-year-old tape machine, revived a spider- infested echo chamber and hunted down a vintage harp- sichord to ensure Rome’s authenticity. AMERICAC N WAW Y: Brian, you were born in 1977. What could you possibly know about spaghetti Westerns? BRIAN BURTON: I got into spaghetti Westerns when I was in college. I had taken some film classes, and when I started seeing these films, the first thing that jumped out to me was the music. I hadn’t really heard anything like that before. I found out about Mor- ricone and started seeking out anything like it over the years. AW:W You paid for vintage recording equipment with bottles of wine. Is this cultur- ally acceptable? DANIELE LUPPI: Well, thank God my contacts were so deep into Roman society, I could afford to bother some very respected musicians and ask them to borrow their vintage instruments, because there was no way to rent that stuff. I was raised that way — that the least you can do is give a very good bottle of wine to someone who was doing you a favor. AW:W Are you expecting profits from Rome to be paid in wine as well? DL: I would say if a few thousand records come with a wine payment, that would be good. But hopefully the rest will come with monetary compensation so I can afford to accompany the wine with some great food! AW:W What was the grand- est Italian moment you experienced while working in Rome? BB: Every day, no matter when we finished, we’d always go to this same restaurant. They served basically the best food I have ever had in my life. It was open every single night, and every single night it was amazing. Talking pop with the Elected’s BLAKE SENNETT { By Hunter Hauk } Song Envy As a former member of the now-defunct indie- rock group Rilo Kiley, Blake Sennett has a wealth of experience crafting catchy pop tunes. But the 34-year-old California native has another outlet for his melody-rich songwriting chops too: His band, the Elected, just released its third album, Bury Me in My Rings (Vagrant Records, $11). After listen- ing to the group’s summer-perfect collection of easy-breezy ditties, we had to know which other pop songs Sennett wishes he’d written. He spills: KATY PERRY, “TEENAGE DREAM” “It’s so effortless. Katy’s got such a good voice, and the song has an ’80s quality.” BEYONCÉ, “IF I WERE A BOY” “I think Beyoncé could sell even the crappiest song. But there’s something interesting about the song’s perspective that I hadn’t heard before.” MICHAEL BUBLÉ, “HAVEN’T MET YOUYET” “He’s totally [awesome] at singing. It’s a secret little guilty pleasure.” Lyrically Speaking “His heart was a house that was abandoned / With no one to haunt it, just you if you want it.” The Wooden Birds, “Cross My Heart” Two Matchsticks (Barsuk Records, $12) AA.COM/AMERICANWAY JUNE 15, 2011 19

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