So Meta It's Ridiculous

[snurri]

One idea here at Mumble Herder that I never managed to get together was "Ernie and the Elephant Review Albums That Were Never Made," in which Ernie (of Bert and Ernie) and an African elephant (of Loxodonta Africana) would expound at length on collaborations by unlikely artists, à la Kot and DeRogatis on "Sound Opinions." The first feature was always going to be the never-released ('cause it was never made, get it? Am I overexplaining this yet?) Ramones Jones, in which George Jones shared lead vocals with Joey on covers of various hillbilly classics, show tunes, and an original called "Drunk Tank." The joke would be that since the recording happened during one of Jones's alcoholic binges, he claimed to have no memory whatsoever of the event, and blocked the album's release.

I am thinking about this today because there are certain artistic juxtapositions that seem so natural (like, say, Emmylou Harris and Tom Waits) or so perfect (how about Missy Elliott and the Pixies?) that it makes me sad to think they have never happened and likely never will. Forget fantasy baseball, I want fantasy super-groups. In a world where Bing and Bowie got it together, why can't PJ Harvey and Can?

Since this entry is less than a complete thought, I put it to all y'all: what artists, living or dead, real or fictional, would you lock in a studio together if you ruled the world?