A quick check of the news...

Finds that Hollywood wastes no time! It appears as though acclaimed filmmaker Spike Lee will direct a biopic based on very recently passed James Brown. I mention this because, besides being relevant to music, I feel Spike Lee deserves all the props he can and does receive. In addition to being a maven of the independent film world, he also directed his first $100 million box office smash this year with "Inside Man" and even more significantly directed "When the Leeves Broke: A Requiem in Four Parts." This has garnered Lee Special Achievement Honors for 2006 by the AAFCA (African American Film Critics Association) and also earned him a spot on AFI's Most Significant Moments of 2006 list. Spike Lee is a captivating personality and artist. Whether you agree or disagree with his expressions and statements, one thing you gotta give him is that he draws you in and challenges you, pushes boundaries aside and finds ways to consistently surprise and provoke his audience. And that is the sign of a truly accomplished and gifted visionary.

In much different news, Danger Mouse is about to pop up again and this time not with Gnarls Barkley, the Gorillaz, or MF Doom. Rather, the star producer and artist has something entirely different to offer us in the near future. Billboard reports:

The artist will serve as the leader of a producers' collective dubbed the Underground Animals, who will release a compilation album in 2007 via Downtown/Atlantic. The participants will be brought to life courtesy of animation from Adult Swim.

"We have some very celebrated producers and some up-and-comers, all of whom are arranged around Danger," Downtown co-founder Josh Deutsch tells Billboard.com. "Everybody is producing under a pseudonym." For the introductory album, the idea is that each song will feature a different producer working with a different artist, but "there won't be a reveal as to which producer is doing a given track," Deutsch says.

Billboard additionally reports that Gnarls Barkley are already gearing up for their next studio album, which may hit store shelves before the end of 2007.

Now I remember Danger Mouse back when The Grey Album controversy was spinning faster than Danger Mouse's turntable. I maintain that this effort is ingenious and no doubt helped launch his still rising profile into the atmosphere. He might just be the unlikely new Midas of the pop world, but really how does one accurately depict Gnarls Barkley and the Gorillaz? Maybe it's this unconventional artistic mysticism which makes Danger Mouse so profound and appealing. One thing to be said, though, is to keep an eye on his work. It may just pave the way to pop enlightenment, but at the very least it's guaranteed to lead somewhere new and interesting, as Cee-Lo certainly agrees.