Damon Albarn forms yet another new band, the world goes comatose with boredom

nah imo 'Herculean' and the title-track bring it big-time, and some of the other songs have quite a bit of appeal

Albarn basically never makes absolute untrammeled shit and I am sure I will at least investigate this, although I wish he'd indulge his art-prog tendencies a little more extensively

A bit like Tony Banks, who tends to form a new band each time he releases a solo album.

I really like the Good the Bad and the Queen album a lot (I am the only person I know with this opinion).

think its the best thing Albarn's been involved in tbh

I just... I dunno, I couldn't really distinguish much of a difference stylistically between GTB&TQ and Gorillaz. It was all disembodied vocals, the odd rap, a few guest spots, some quite nice dubby basslines, and a perceived "World Music" influence (a gong Albarn's been banging on since at least 1995). And this looks to be the same, more or less.

Might have been easier had he just relased all those albums (save for maybe the Gorillaz ones) as Damon Albarn. Even the last Blur album was in a lot of ways effectively a Damon Albarn album. Sure, it had Alex James on it, but it was Damon's band, Damon's ideas, and it sounded nothing like Blur other than his voice.

It doesn't even need that!

Way back, I got the impression for some reason that Gorillaz was someone else's project that Damon guested on. One listen to "Rok Da House", specifically the ocinara, and I knew it was Damon's project.

As great as this year's Gorillaz album was, I'm all for more projects from Albarn. The Good, The Bad & The Queen was a fantastic project on paper, a decent band for a couple of tracks, but a boring and plodding band over the course of an entire album.

i just came here to post that this thread title made me lol
want to get out before i am suffocated by the toxic boredom that is damon albarn's recent output

Way back, I got the impression for some reason that Gorillaz was someone else's project that Damon guested on. One listen to "Rok Da House", specifically the ocinara, and I knew it was Damon's project.

Yet both of the first two Gorillaz albums had very profilic producers who never work on an album without stamping it with their own trademark elements.

As for the third one it is maybe more Albarn's work. All the more, it is a great one, easily the best thing he's done since "Blur" i 1997.

This is a first for me, but, yeah, Geir OTM.

I wish he'd indulge his art-prog tendencies a little more extensively

Damon Albarn doesn't have any art-prog tendencies, ffs! Your definition of 'art' as a prefix to music is widening every day.

yeah I need to kick that habit. also he so does! did you hear 13?

YES. And nothing on it sounds 'art-prog'.

fine, but just saying, the dude's on the record as digging quite a bit of 70's prog, and he's often experimented with 'artier' music (see the blur songs 'essex dogs' and hell most of 13)

my definitions are lazy but fuck it i wanna see damon make the sort of wild unpredictable maelstrom he's clearly capable of making

idk what 'art-prog' is, i guess, but i think '13' probably qualifies

tbh the main reason why this new group is interesting to me is because it's the first thing I've seen in a while that points towards him doing more stuff in the vein of "Music Is My Radar", which is one of my favorite Blur songs

ah well if they're going in that direction I am totally on board

The GBQ album was such a slog because it was (here it comes) fucking horrifically mixed and mastered.

nick it's nearly time for you to give your Best-Mixed Albums Of 2010 - any potentials?

Hmmm, LCD Soundsystem, Laura Marling, Menomena, Owen Pallett...

i really cringe at the way gorillaz are part of some marketing campaign for one of the uk broadsheets (is it the sunday times?), sort of like the perfect symbiosis of embarrasment. i can just imagine the meeting where they all thought "we need to show young people we are forging ahead into the multiplatform age...what musicians will we use?" and then gorillaz was what they came up with.

i genuinely can't think of a worse band, conceptually or musically, just a tepid hash of digital age leftovers.

You GENUINELY can't think of a worse band than Gorillaz? Really?

Are you just being lazy or have you not heard any music other than Gorillaz in the past 10 years?

i genuinely can't think of a worse band, conceptually or musically

If you honestly can't think of a band worse than Gorillaz on either count, you aren't trying very hard at all or you have been fortunate enough to not hear very much bad music.

Hahahahha

everything they stand for disgusts me. sorry guys!

Can you tell me exactly what they stand for?

I mean, if you don't like the concept of a cartoon band, fair play, but it seems like its a lot more than that for you.

I get what Ronan is saying re: their shilling for the ST and their transparent digital-cartoony bollocks concept

but quite a lot of the music is pretty good imo

seriously what do Gorillaz stand for

well, ok-to-pretty-good - not much is truly special although the first three non-intro tracks of demon days come very close

i'm with Garda, Gorillaz are the worst of the worst imo

God you guys are so lucky to have never had to hear what shitty music really sounds like. Can't believe you've never encountered even a local band that sounds worse. I'm so jealous!

A handful of really great pop tunes.

"Flea, of course, is an anagram for Fela and Flea is so into this music – so that's been great"

Has he ever explained his wandering focus by noting that "Damon" is an anagram for "Nomad"? "blond maaan" also seems evocative of something.

also "a bland moaan"

woops, I mean "a bland roman"

what's wrong with gorillaz conceptually (at least in comparison to other cartoon bands)?

i had written off gorillaz as boring pastiche, but i've only really heard their singles. then a friend played me this tune the other day and damn, it's got moments: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zT6OeBeWT8g

or at least a super hot beat + roots manuva sounding good.

the thing is, what es "El Manana" a boring pastiche of?

Anyone who wants to form a band with Flea needs to look at their life and look at their choices.

flea is kind of having a renaissance as an art-rock session dude (thom yorke, hallogallo, etc)

never heard "el manana" btw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-bwcMxlySk

"Flea, of course, is an anagram for Fela and Flea is so into this music – so that's been great"

Has he ever explained his wandering focus by noting that "Damon" is an anagram for "Nomad"? "blond maaan" also seems evocative of something.

― da croupier, Wednesday, November 3, 2010 4:17 PM (26 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Blur had a song called "Dan Abnormal" iirc

maybe not pastiche, but kinda boring and 90s-ish?

anyway guys obviously there's probably worse music in the world, yeah, but listening to a singer i've always barely tolerated even when he was in a good band duet with over the hill backpack rappers over clunky Automator/Danger Mouse beats is just not my idea of a good time

no automator nor danger mouse beats on the most recent gorillaz album, tho! :)

(i love all three albums but i can certainly see how someone who dislikes albarn in general would not enjoy them to the same degree.)

yeah, but that's just to say "they suck". hardly the worst thing ever. worse than limp bizkit or barenaked ladies or whatever else you happen to hate? anyway, was never much of a RHCP fan, but flea's pretty great, and the idea of some adventurous production on top of him & tony allen getting down is pretty appealing, i gotta admit.

And, what, maybe a total of 6 songs in their entire discography with "over the hill backpack rappers"?

"Stylo", "Sweepstakes" (Mos Def)
"Superfast Jellyfish", "Feel Good Inc" (De La Soul)
"Clint Eastwood", "Rock The House" (Del The Funkee Homosapien)

Seven, if you want to count MF Doom as an "over the hill backpack rapper".

plus "clint eastwood" rules, hardly matters what the dude carries his school supplies in

so just their biggest singles

xp

Point taken, although, "DARE" with Shaun Ryder was actually their biggest UK single.

Damon Albarn doesn't have any art-prog tendencies

Depends on your definition. Parts of the "13" album were heavily influenced by krautrock.

it's practically the same bunch he's been working with on and off for the last 5-10 years, non?

Non.

Has he ever explained his wandering focus by noting that "Damon" is an anagram for "Nomad"?

Also "Anal Nob Dram".

or damn banal

Banal? Damn.