Photo: Chic & Artistic
Some girls spend a lifetime planning their dream wedding. Fortunately for Dave, Michelle wasn't one of them. Within 72 hours of meeting his bride-to-be, "The Buried Life"-er walked out of a Vegas wedding chapel with a smile on his face -- and a legally binding marriage license in his hand. It may not have been a deeply meaningful courtship, but we'd still like to offer the happy couple our heartfelt congratulations. Cheers to the newlyweds! You deserve an "A" for spontaneity -- and two thumbs up for your superb taste in Brit electro-pop music.
In between biting our nails (and wondering "will they or won't they?") during last night's "Buried Life," we couldn't help but appreciate the strains of Dan Black's patented 'wonky pop' seeping through our television screen. Trippy, surreal, hypnotic and bizarre, Black's got a knack for mashing up the unmashable -- borrowing beats from hip-hop, pop and electronica, and revolutionizing them with his high-pitched, genre-bending vocals (think Robin Thicke meets Smashing Pumpkins, with a pinch of Beck). So what's the wily Brit doing with four tracks on Dave's wedding soundtrack? Yeah, we don't know, either. (But as far as first dance songs go, we'll take Black's slick, trance beats over "Wind Beneath My Wings" any day of the week.)
The good news? You don't need to get married in Vegas to enjoy the musical stylings of Mr. Black. Although the London-born, Paris-based music artist (and former painter!) is still best known for his feud with the Notorious B.I.G. -- the rapper's estate balked at "HYPNTZ," his edgy 2008 cover of "Hypnotize" -- Black's debut album, UN, helped propel him into the mainstream. Natch, he's way more famous overseas (Black's song, "U + Me =" became a UK iTunes sensation and his single, "Pump My Pumps," was tapped for Lacoste's European campaign), but his inventive style (and all-around awesomeness) are already earning him a fanbase here in America. In addition to lighting up the "TBL" soundtrack (he's had six tracks so far this season), Black earned two 2010 VMAs nods for his video, "Symphonies" (check out the Kid Cudi remix!) and is currently wrapping up his North American tour.
So be like Dave and embrace the unknown by marrying a complete stranger watching the music video for Dan Black's dance track, "Alone," then peep two versions of his (one-time Biggie-inspired) single "Symphonies" after the jump.