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Bands to Watch: Danger Mouse and Jemini

By: Chris RyanWHO: Brian “Danger Mouse” Burton, a rail-thin,bookish producer who prefers a furry mouse suit to Rocawear, andJemini the Gifted One, a burly Brooklyn rapper with a nasty nasalflow.

SOUND LIKE: The odd couple’s remarkable debut, Ghetto Pop Life, is an alternate-universe party record in the tradition of the Pharcyde (who guest on “Medieval”) that peppers the cinematic sweep of Dr. Dre with exuberant indie quirks. Jemini kicks streetwise lyrics espousing the finer things in life (girls, guns, hubcaps, himself), while Burton dreams up a full choir singing about full clips.

THE MOUSE WENT DOWN TO GEORGIA: A hip-hop kid from Westchester, New York, Burton migrated South for his higher education. “College in Athens [at the University of Georgia] was like indie-rock central,” he says, remembering the days he worked at a record store with members of the Elephant 6 collective (Neutral Milk Hotel, Olivia Tremor Control, et al.). “It was the first time I had been exposed to stuff other than hip-hop, and it kind of blew my mind.”

GET YOUR SQUEAK ON: “When I’m on the train with the mouse suit, people just look at me and say, ‘What the fuck are you doing?’ but I feel more comfortable with it on!”