[Every weekday from Nov. 9 to Nov. 20, Song of the Day will survey the past decade, one year (and one song) at a time, with an emphasis on America's most popular music. These picks don't exactly qualify as musical discoveries, but they do have something to say about the 10 years we're about to leave behind. Song of the Day will return to new music on Monday, Nov. 23. —ed.]

When word broke that wily Goodie Mob vocalist Cee-Lo Green and RIAA-baiting producer Danger Mouse were going to collaborate as Gnarls Barkley, few could have predicted the final product. Their respective projects and productions were steeped in soul, with a little crazy-eye and a tendency to barrel in several directions at once, regardless of trends.

Built around a Spaghetti Western sample, the band's first single — the psychedelic soul song "Crazy" — was an instant viral hit. For what seemed like years, the song wound up hanging over the popular consciousness like a wistful being bearing its soul. It was immediate, yet uneasy: "I remember when I lost my mind / There was something so pleasant about that place / Even your emotions had an echo in so much space."

But when it comes down to it, "Crazy" was the one song everyone could agree on. Yes, there were multiple covers by famous people, but "Crazy" never felt like it belonged to anybody. Cee-Lo once called Gnarls Barkley "shapeless and formless," and, befitting the duo's numerous costume changes, the endlessly versatile "Crazy" never kept to one interpretation. Case in point: when Cee-Lo took the stage as Darth Vader at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards, the tempo was slowed to make the song a rolling ballad, lending serious heft to the words, "I can die when I'm done." It felt like a eulogy — the duo no doubt wanted to move on — but it remains a left-field soul wonder.

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Related Links

• Rock, Funk and Soul Make an Eclectic Whole
• Will Hermes: Top Ten CDs of 2006
• Gnarls Barkley and a Soulful Predecessor
• Gnarls Barkley Crafts an 'Odd' Hit
• Gnarls Barkley's Site
• Gnarls Barkley's Myspace Page

Gnarls Barkley is best known for its massive summer hit "Crazy," from the band's award-winning 2006 debut St. Elsewhere. The duo — composed of singer Cee-Lo and producer Danger Mouse — came out of the Atlanta hip-hop scene; both members had their own music careers prior to teaming up. Gnarls Barkley won two Grammy awards in 2007, for Best Urban/Alternative Performance and Best Alternative Music Album.

With the follow-up, The Odd Couple, Gnarls Barkley takes its winning formula even further. The album nicely meshes Cee-Lo's soaring voice and Danger Mouse's off-kilter production style with classic R&B, infectious hip-hop grooves and highly cinematic production that's influenced by jazz, electronic music and even Spaghetti Westerns. Cee-Lo and Danger Mouse talk with Fresh Air's Terry Gross about their craft and their new album.

Related Links

• Gnarls Barkley's Web Site
• Gnarls Barkley's MySpace Page
• Gnarls Barkley and a Soulful Predecessor

Former members of Olivia Tremor control return as Circulatory System: we've got a preview of new work from their upcoming album; Athens, GA neo-psych group Elf Power releases their best CD of the decade; The Black Keys get in touch with their softer side; folk singer Laura Gibson shares some old blues; Gnarls Barkley return as the 'odd couple'; West African artist Etran Finatawa has a powerful new collection of desert blues; and hip-hop chameleon Tim Fite produces his most ambitious record to date.

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Related Links

• Visit the Circulatory System Web site.

All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen has stumbled upon two albums recorded more than 40 years apart. He says there's a relationship between them.

Gnarls Barkley is the duo of rapper and singer Cee-Lo Green and producer Danger Mouse. Together, they were responsible for the 2006 smash single "Crazy." Their new album, The Odd Couple, is their second collection of forward-thinking soul and R&B.

Boilen points to a song like "Who's Gonna Save My Soul," which features samples from a spaghetti western and other elements that give the beat a dark sort of tension. "I love them, because it's great soul music," Boilen says. "But it's very much updated soul music. There's lots of stuff going on."

One day, Boilen was talking to a colleague who lent him a newly reissued Otis Redding CD. Though Boilen didn't think much of Otis Redding's albums in their day — too much filler, he says — having another listen to Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul gave him a new perspective.

"When you hear his voice on this — I didn't appreciate it well enough as a kid," he says. "And that band — I mean, this is what became Booker T and the MGs. The musicians are gorgeous, tasteful — listen to that Steve Cropper, that guitar. I miss this music."

It sets the work of Gnarls Barkley in perspective, Boilen says, compared to today's more straightforward throwback soul acts, such as Amy Winehouse or Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings.

"There's a lot of invention going on in Gnarls Barkley," he says. "And that's what I love about music, is when one piece of music advances the next. And it's growing, and it's changing, and it refers back, but then it pushes it forward. And so that's what I find in the Gnarls Barkley record that I love so much."

Related Links

• Gnarls Barkley Web site
• Gnarls Barkley MySpace page
• An 'Odd Couple' and Madonna Release Albums
• Rock, Funk and Soul Make an Eclectic Whole
• Download-Only Hit Song 'Crazy' Tops U.K. Charts

Lizzie Goodman from Blender magazine discusses Gnarls Barkley's latest CD, as well as albums released this week by The Raconteurs, Madonna, and The B-52's.

The Raconteurs' lineup is made up of old friends Brendan Benson and Jack White of The White Stripes, with help from The Greenhornes' rhythm section (Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler). The band released its second album, Consolers Of The Lonely, as soon as it possibly could after the album was mastered. Goodman appreciates the early gift; she says the record "sounds like summer."

Following Gnarls Barkley's unexpected success with the huge 2006 crossover hit "Crazy," Cee-Lo and Danger Mouse didn't give in to the temptation to try to top themselves. The Odd Couple sees the duo digging deeper with its complicated, soulful, and even dark R&B songs, while still maintaining a quirky style.

New Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Madonna returns next month with a new record titled Hard Candy. The first single, "Four Minutes to Save the World," finds the pop icon teaming up with Justin Timberlake and producer Timbaland.

It's been 16 years since the last album by The B-52's. But with Funplex, the group does what many of its peers have been unable to do: make an album that will please its longtime fans, while staying fresh and modern.

Related Links

• Remembering Tomorrow: Carrie Brownstein on The Raconteurs
• 'Love Shack' That Inspired B-52s' Hit Burns Down
• Rock, Funk and Soul Make an Eclectic Whole

In keeping with the increasingly fragmented, multi-media world in which popular music is disseminated and heard, some of the year's best music wasn't released in the familiar CD format. While the album — conceived as a suite of songs meant to cohere as an aesthetic and sometimes narrative whole — has not completely disappeared, CD sales dropped five percent in 2006, as did the notion of the album as many performers' primary mode of expression. Increasingly, music is being distributed in new formats such as single songs for computers and iPods, tunes plucked from MySpace, music videos available on YouTube, as well as ringtones for cellular phones.

Here, in alphabetical order, is the best music of 2006:

Citizen Cope, Every Waking Moment (RCA) — Cope (real name: Clarence Greenwood) makes a swampy, funky rock with slurry vocals that convey clear, concise emotions.

Bob Dylan, Modern Times (Columbia) — Big juicy songs written, sung, and performed with shocking urgency.

Eagles of Death Metal, Death By Sexy (Downtown) — Insanely catchy hard-rock, with choruses you'll be singing along to the first time you hear them.

Fiery Furnaces, Bitter Tea (Fat Possum) — Siblings Matthew and Elinor Friedberger turn in another knotty, pretty, passionate collection of art songs that never veer into dull artiness.

Ghostface Killah, Fishscale (DefJam) — Street stories told with grimly articulate humor.

James Hand, The Truth Will Set You Free (Rounder) — Hand has got that old-fashioned/new-fangled country music dichotomy down in a way that few performers can imagine, let alone execute so smoothly.

Ben Kweller (ATO) — Twenty-something singer-songwriter delivers spritely, yet mature, power-pop.

Nellie McKay, Pretty Little Head (Black Dove) — Endlessly inventive, eclectic singer-songwriter who draws from everything from Tin Pan Alley to hiphop.

My Chemical Romance, The Black Parade (Reprise) — hard rock/emo downer that's an elating upper.

Willie Nelson, You Don't Know Me: The Songs of Cindy Walker (Lost Highway) — Decades-old honky-tonk tunes, most under three minutes, stuffed with witty, poignant wordplay.

Scritti Politti, White Bread Black Beer (Nonesuch/Rough Trade) — Almost 30 years on, Green Gartside is still mustering post-punk intensity within his one-man, plays-all-the-instruments, pop scenarios.

Yo La Tengo, I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your A** (Matador) — Framed by a pair of long, magnificent feedback rave-ups, this album also contains some of Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley's finest concise pop tunes.

Reissue of the year:

Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, Legends of Country Music (Columbia Legacy)

Singles/Songs:

Beyonce, "Ring the Alarm" (Columbia)

Gnarls Barkley, "Crazy" (Downtown)

T.I., "What You Know" (Grand Hustle/Atlantic)

Justin Timberlake, "SexyBack" (Jive/Zomba)

Related Links

• Nellie McKay
• Gnarls Barkley
• My Chemical Romance
• Ghostface Killahs
• Willie Nelson
• Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys
• Johnny Cash
• Live, It's SNL and Cash! Plus: Digitize Your Stereo
• Bob Wills, the Fiddler of Western Swing
• 'You Don't Know Me' Celebrates Cindy Walker
• Ghostface Killah's 'Fishscale'
• 'The Black Parade'
• Gnarls Barkley and His Sum of Parts
• Download-Only Hit Song 'Crazy' Tops U.K. Charts
• Nellie McKay's 'Pretty Little Head'

Writer and reviewer Will Hermes shares his favorite albums of the past year. Hermes is a frequent contributor to NPR's All Things Considered and writes for Spin Magazine, The New York Times and Entertainment Weekly. He's also the co-editor of Spin: 20 Years of Alternative Music.

Hermes recently appeared on NPR's live, online call-in edition of All Songs Considered to help count down listener picks for the year's top ten CDs.

Youth Radio's Anyi Howell would like to nominate a tune for the title "Song of the Summer": "Crazy," by Gnarls Barkley. It may not be the No. 1 hit, but it's the song that seems to be everywhere right now.

Related Links

• Anyi Howell at 'Youth Radio'
• Gnarls Barkley and His Sum of Parts
• Download-Only Hit Song 'Crazy' Tops U.K. Charts

Passionate hard rock from Pearl Jam; Seattle's next big act Mountain Con; A farewell release from Grandaddy; Sweden's colorful pop group The Concretes; A hip hop wonder hit by Gnarls Barkley; Remembering guitarist Django Reinhardt; Music from Kenya's Extra Golden; Experimental space rock from Mogwai.

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Already the subject of considerable overseas hype, Gnarls Barkley finds DJ/producer Danger Mouse collaborating with Cee-Lo, co-founder of the Atlanta hip-hop collective Goodie Mob. The duo's debut single, "Crazy," is music for an integrated world: It synthesizes rock, soul, and funk into a unique, eclectic whole. Sporting a soulful groove and a memorably soaring chorus, it's perfect for every environment, from cars to dance floors.

Danger Mouse produced the infamous Grey Album — which blends The Beatles' White Album with Jay-Z's Black Album — and he recently received a Grammy nomination for his work with Gorillaz. "Crazy" continues his hot streak: The song is the first ever to top the British charts while solely available as a digital download.

It says a lot that "Crazy" adds up to more than the sum of Gnarls Barkley's storylines, from its well-known members to its British buzz to its moniker's nod to basketball's round mound of rebound. As refreshing and upbeat as any hit in circulation, the song ought to dominate radio playlists throughout 2006's warm-weather months.

Listen to yesterday's 'Song of the Day.'

The hit song "Crazy" by the duo Gnarls Barkley — a collaboration between singer Cee-Lo and producer Danger Mouse — has topped the British pop charts, based exclusively on download sales. Madeleine Brand speaks to DJ G-Money about the historic hit.