The new Gorillaz album leaked.

nor apocalyptic, etc.

Somebody pls explain the appeal of this on any level. You pick!

Umm, i like it because it sounds good to me i guess. I dig the little electro zaps in the beat, the repetition without becoming boring, the cool ascending tones before the choruses and then out of nowhere bobby womack! The sounds and vibe of Stylo seem reminiscent of hip-house or something i can totally see it droping into the intro of Snap's "the Power" anyway this is a fantastic album imo. especially the last 6 or so songs. "To Binge" stands out to me, with a great song over a backing of shiny Casio reggae-bossa presets. and the second womack song: "The Cloud of Unknowing" is incredible.

Guardian streaming the whole album
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2010/mar/01/gorillaz-plastic-beach

Great song, and that video = wow.

>they have pulled out all the stops for this the animation is brilliant

completely otm - I had no idea what they'd come back with, but this is superb.

so far so good, although MES track needed more MES

the highlight so far is "sweepstakes."

OTM

I like this far better than the last couple. It's way less busy, like they've been dipping into Massive Attack's weed stash.

shooting at a police officer in pursuit barely registers to me when it's cartoon monkeys behind the violence.

is Willis a cop?

no, the police officer who starts the pursuit.

what does ILM think of Plastic Beach? it comes out tomorrow and i have yet to hear it, love the single.

its very good.
as to be expected, i fell for the sucker punch and got the experience edition (full booklet/dvd/extra online gubbins).
not watched the dvd yet, but tis a lovely package.
like demon days, its going to take a few listens to all sink in, but for a mass appeal commerical release, i think the lads have excelled themselves.
as said earlier by float up, just when i think this project is all played out, they come back and just raise the level.

there's only one low-point: "some kind of nature" where lou reed pretty much phones it in (do we expect much else at this point?) and that song is followed-up by a rather the-good-the-bad-the-queen-sounding "on melancholy hill." those tracks being side-by-side like that, and working as the centrepiece of the album no less, really takes the groovy momentum out of the whole thing.

sure, albarn might sound better when he has a foil, like a dangermouse or a coxon, but his ear for picking collaborators is amazing. it's great to hear how each collaborator becomes a character in the gorillaz world; at this point it's virtually impossible to dissociate the guys in de la soul from who the gorillaz are.

There's nothing funnier than buying an album, you haven't heard yet in a record store and vibing to the awesome music they are playing in the checkout line while you're waiting, only to discover it's actually the album you have in your hands.

That just happened to me with this.

Empire Ants is bloody fabulous.

I think this gets off to a weak start but the stretch from Stylo to On Melancholy Hill is magnificent.

I don't think this is anywhere as good as the debut or Demon Days. Albarn produced the album himself and he acquits himself fine, he just doesn't have the same sense of space and texture that Danger Mouse (or Dan the Automator, with his sample-based stuff) has. It's not bad, though.

Honestly both of the first two albums took a looooong time to grow on me. I know I dismissed both of them (outside the singles) at one point, only to slowly finding myself really falling hard for the whole thing. I think Demon Days had, quite literally, a whole year period to sink in before I really loved it. These records have always been slow burners for me.

I think this one is even more cohesive than "Demon Days." Fewer standouts, but damn good.

Lol @ Snoop actually having a worthwhile guest spot, too.

i'm liking this much more then i thought i would.

The vocal melody of "Broken" really reminds me of some other song, but I can't place it- it's driving me crazy.

yes, i hear it too. what is that?

good god Lou Reed sounds like William Burroughs now

Have Gorillaz Ripped Off An Old Eddy Grant Song?

i hear the similarity, but i think it's sufficiently different not to be a ripoff.

personally, i think he's wishing on a prayer with this one.
hardly any similarity between the two tracks.
app. he tried the same thing with a track akira the don produced for lethal bizzle.

There's nothing funnier than buying an album, you haven't heard yet in a record store and vibing to the awesome music they are playing in the checkout line while you're waiting, only to discover it's actually the album you have in your hands.

You know what, for me that really puts me off.

I'd rather get it home or in the car without hearing it in the damn shop.

It doesn't even have to be 'never heard before', just "not in the shop I'm queueing in, plz"

This thing is great. Really like the Bashy & Kano track, which really surprised me.

^^^ this, only without the surprise because I had no expectations

pretty much every track on this has at least one amazing thing going on in it

a lot of amazingness is tied up in intrasong transitions, like the move from symphonic work to beat in "White Flag" and the transition into electro on "Empire Ants"

So true. A lot of my favourite Gorillaz moments come when a new vocalist enters (cf Womack on Stylo or Martina on All Alone)

Definitely the best Gorillaz album so far, and also the best thing Damon Albarn has done since "Blur" in 1997. Has there ever been a more stylistically varied selection of guest acts on one album?

someone's been listening to NaSa...

oh man that switch in ''empire ants'' made me hit the repeat button repeatedly on a car trip this weekend. love ''rhinestone eyes'', the track with MES, the one with lou reed (with a piano very reminiscent of cale's stuff on songs for drella)... ah there's a lot of awesome sounds and songs. also love love love the picture with murdoc holding a copy of hunky dory in a lifeboat in the cd booklet.

Yeah, love pretty much all of those tracks. But I really really wish they'd have given MES a little more room to do his thing.

i don't like the drums on this thing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thkbZegMua8

"Superfast Jellyfish" makes me want for Damon Albarn and Gruff Rhys to do something more together. Would have been a brilliant duo.

I read somewhere that they met up quite some time ago to try and collaborate, but wound up getting pissed drunk instead.

Oh OK. These things happen. :)

Second half of "Empire Ants" is one of the tracks of the year.

Yukimi's voice is perfect in it too.

Rhinestone Eyes is my favorite.

that second half of empire ants IS awesome, but all too short so we made an extended edit of it, which you can hear here: http://soundcloud.com/clubclique

Excellent, but no dl? :(

cheers! here y'go

"The page cannot be found"!

for some weird reason the ? in the original url has been changed to %3F
try this though http://www.mediafire.com/?zloyfjnitdo

Awesome, thanks!