"For Legal Reasons, enclosed CD-R contains no music. Use it as you will."

Dangermouse vs. EMI - Round 2.

Without EMI kicking up a fuss over his controversial Beatles / Jay-Z mashup "The Grey Album" most people would not have heard of DJ Dangermouse.

Now the cheeky samplist is at it again, using a legal battle with EMI to boost publicity for his new project, a collaboration with Sparklehorse, David Lynch and a host of guest vocalists.

This week he released the following statement:
Danger Mouse's new project Dark Night Of The Soul consists of an album length piece of music by Danger Mouse, Sparklehorse and a host of guest vocalists, along with a collection of original David Lynch photography inspired by and based on the music.

The photographs, which provide a visual narrative for the music, are compiled in a limited edition, hand numbered 100+ page book which will now come with a blank, recordable CD-R. All copies will be clearly labeled: 'For Legal Reasons, enclosed CD-R contains no music. Use it as you will.'

Due to an ongoing dispute with EMI, Danger Mouse is unable to release the recorded music for Dark Night Of The Soul without fear of being sued by EMI.

Danger Mouse remains hugely proud of Dark Night Of The Soul and hopes that people lucky enough to hear the music, by whatever means, are as excited by it as he is.

Surely EMI cannot block the sale of a blank CD, and whether the album is any good or not, this approach to sidestepping a costly legal battle is sure to win the project a lot of free publicity.

In the meantime, keep an eye on http://dnots.com/ for more updates and download the album from here.