The Dandy Warhols Are Sound is the release of Grammy Award

Grammy Award

A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...

-winning soul mixing engineer Russell Elevado

Russell Elevado

Russell Elevado , is a recording engineer and record producer based in New York City. Elevado's achievement for recording and mixing contemporary R&B recording artist D'Angelo's critically acclaimedVoodoo album, gained him a Grammy award in 2000...

's original mix of The Dandy Warhols

The Dandy Warhols

The Dandy Warhols are an American alternative rock band formed in Portland, Oregon in 1994. The band was founded by singer-guitarist Courtney Taylor-Taylor and guitarist Peter Holmström, with keyboardist Zia McCabe and drummer Eric Hedford later joining. Hedford left in 1998 and was replaced by...

' 2003 studio album, Welcome to the Monkey House

Welcome to the Monkey House (album)

Welcome to the Monkey House is the fourth studio album by American alternative rock band The Dandy Warhols. "We Used to Be Friends" was a popular single from the album, which later went on to be the theme song for the cult TV show Veronica Mars....

. It was released on 14 July 2009.

Prior to the release of Welcome to the Monkey House, the band had been pressing for a version mixed by Elevado, whose credits include D'Angelo

D'Angelo

Michael Eugene Archer , better known by his stage name D'Angelo, is an American R&B and neo soul singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He is known for his production and songwriting talents as much as for his vocal abilities, and often draws comparisons to his influences,...

's Brown Sugar, The Roots

The Roots

The Roots is an American hip hop/neo soul band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are famed for beginning with a jazzy, eclectic approach to hip hop which still includes live instrumentals...

' The Roots Come Alive

The Roots Come Alive

The Roots Come Alive is a live album from the group The Roots. It was recorded in Zurich, Switzerland; New York City; and other places and released November 2, 1999. An enhanced double-CD edition containing six extra tracks was also released with a limited pressing...

, Common's Like Water for Chocolate

Like Water for Chocolate (album)

Like Water for Chocolate is the fourth studio album by American hip hop rapper Common, released March 28, 2000 on MCA Records. It was a considerable critical and commercial breakthrough for Common, receiving generally favorable reviews from major magazine publications and selling 70,000 copies in...

, and Alicia Keys

Alicia Keys

Alicia Augello Cook , better known by her stage name Alicia Keys, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and occasional actress. She was raised by a single mother in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan in New York City. At age seven, Keys began playing the piano...

' Songs in A Minor

Songs in A Minor

Songs in A Minor is the debut studio album by American recording artist Alicia Keys. It was released in the United States on June 5, 2001 by J Records. After graduating from high school, Keys signed with Columbia Records to begin her music career. She recorded an album in 1998 under the label,...

, among others. Contrary to the band's wishes, the Elevado mix of Monkey House was shelved by Capitol Records

Capitol Records

Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...

, and an alternate mix by Nick Rhodes

Nick Rhodes

Nick Rhodes is an English musician, is best known as the keyboardist of the pop rock band Duran Duran...

 of Duran Duran

Duran Duran

Duran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...

 was put out instead.

As Taylor-Taylor describes it, "There are two different approaches to mixing. One is very slick and clean, and Welcome to the Monkey House fits more into that category. Are Sound, however, has a sneakier profile. It seems very lo-fi and earthy, but the fact is, it's extremely precise."

Track listing

Reception

The album received a lukewarm critical reception in comparison Welcome to the Monkey House

Welcome to the Monkey House (album)

Welcome to the Monkey House is the fourth studio album by American alternative rock band The Dandy Warhols. "We Used to Be Friends" was a popular single from the album, which later went on to be the theme song for the cult TV show Veronica Mars....

, with Uncut

UNCUT (magazine)

Uncut magazine, trademarked as UNCUT, is a monthly publication based in London. It is available across the English-speaking world, and focuses on music, but also includes film and books sections...

magazine writing "an LP that once raved shamelessly now shuffles, twitchily." The A.V. Club

The A.V. Club

The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...

, which praised Welcome to the Monkey House, also wrote, "This mix, by soul engineer Russell Elavedo (D'Angelo, The Roots) is basically a tasteful killjoy. The bass is reduced to human levels, most of the synths are purged, and the drums sound thin and trembly. The first Monkey House is full of consistently aggressive hook-mongering; this version is all deliberately becalmed jamming and repetition."

External links

• The Dandy Warhols Are Sound at The Dandy Warhols' official website