Gorillaz - Gorillaz
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Free Music Notes for Gorillaz
Free Music Review: Gorillaz Live
Hit: 5 Stars
This was a big show. So big that no one knew about it in Los Angeles. I said to some friends "I am going to see Gorillaz tonight." They said: "Are they playing tonight?" These are people who like the band and have the CD and have been playing it all year. Very few of the Britpop bands come here to the West Coast so this was an occasion. So much of an occasion that many of the mods and the big sideburn crowd decided to go to Bang! or somewhere else where you can pay ten dollars to listen to records that came out in the 1960s or seven years ago. The reality of this whole night was that Gorillaz announced two shows about two months back. When tickets went on sales it sold out in one day. So the smart people gave up and just figured that listening to Paul Weller and The Smiths at home was just as cool. In fact they might look in a chat room where they can all talk about how much they are into Brian Molko? Drink a beer and chat away about that one time you actually touched Morrissey?Actually I was still lurking in rainy San Francisco still getting over the thrill of Noise Pop and all the bands I saw, when I was thinking that I might actually go to Gorillaz. Since there was only one show in Bay Area and two in Hollywood, I decided to drive down south to have better chances of getting in. As luck would have it a ticket did appear out of nowhere and now we had to wade through the scalpers who were all practically giving away tickets. I have never seen so many guys selling tickets outside a venue. I guess that most people can't plan things two months in advance? Most of the gigs I go to are still at the last minute. Who knows? Gorillaz were going on in ten minutes. The Palladium is like Fort Knox. You can't bring anything in. It took about a half hour to get in.
By the time I bought two drinks (twenty dollars down the drain), and gotten my drinking wristband, I realized that I spent more on the drinks than the tickets. I think that water was four dollars. Do I sense another Woodstock 1999? Gorillaz were going on right then. They started with "M1 A1." It was appropriate. They played behind a screen. Damon Albarn was leading the group most of the way through. It was hard to tell how many people were behind there. The Gorillaz cartoons played throughout. They were slightly in sync with the music. Unless you were up in the first front rows I doubt that you could even see much of the band behind the screen. It was the suspension of disbelief. We were supposed to believe that these Banana Splits characters up on the screen somehow had something to do with the music. Back in the early days of MTV some bands like ZZ Top didn't want to do videos. If you wanted to see them you had to buy a ticket to their shows. Gorillaz are the exact opposite. They are touring an MTV video with incidental music as a footnote. I wonder why Britney Spears didn't think of this first?
By the time they did "5/4", one of the standout tracks, I could feel that the visuals now had something to do with the sounds. It was the Monkees all over again. Every three or so songs, they would have some cartoon play but it was hard to hear because people were talking. The audience itself was a mix of hiphop people and the TRL crowd. I was standing next to some 12-year girls who seemed to amuse themselves with in-jokes. I saw a Gorillaz CD at K-mart a few months ago. I guess that is where girls at the mall go to stay cutting edge? What happened to that lack of separation between life and art? Don't these girls know that Kurt Cobain was for real? That irony and being aloof was for clever fools who didn't want to stand for anything? Actually Gorillaz is not that new. Just the massive scale they operate on is.
John Lydon and Public Image did a similar behind the screen act in NYC twenty years ago. They had a white screen so you could see them. You could see their shadows. Then you could also see them on monitors. The audience's reaction was to riot and rip down the screen. The fans watching Gorillaz maybe had that impulse. Maybe they hoped that the wall would be coming down and they could applaud with all their hearts instead of with their minds. When Del Tha Funky Homosapien came out and did "Clint Eastwood" and "Rock The House" he went out of his way to acknowledged the audience and engaged them slightly. Which didn't need a visual. He was saying to them: "Hey, we are behind here, and we are not coming out, so just enjoy the show." Gorillaz didn't have it in their nature to show their face, but felt comfortable hiding behind a mask. Cobain they are not.
Gorillaz played most of the songs off the album except "Latin Simone." Del Than Funky did mostly freestyle raps that were closer to the recent "G-sides" release. It was a multi-media experience and more like something you would see in a museum. Even in that case the artist would show up at the opening. Damon Albarn and company would like music to be like a video game. They are a spectacle. They are like a Kiss for people who have Hello Kitty lunchboxes. All the mall kids and Japanese tourists could get their 30 dollar t-shirts and 20 dollar posters and feel like they survived this hour long event. Afterwards I was bombarded by CDs, flyers, and stickers. Where is the Goriilaz afterparty? I'll send in a video of myself in audience having an experience.
Free Music Review: Versatility without losing the listener.
Hit: 5 Stars
The self-entitled album really speaks for itself, but if you want to buy it; an in depth review by some geek who decided to spen the time to write it.-Re-Hash: Funny title for an opening track. Opening with the funky beats and meeting the guitar make you feel comfortable. It's makes the music that more real. The blend of electronic music with rock instruments is used throughout the entire album is done well.
-5/4: I hear there's a video for this one now, and I can't wait to see it, because this track is one of the greatest. Starts out with a guitar riff and Smash Mouth-like lyrics, and a grunge beat underneath the keyboard gives the music a moving beat.
-Tomorrow Come Today: The use of the piano and the reverbs on vocals make the song seem really slow. The sliding bass and the harmonica make for a soulfull sound without being depressive. It's a slow song. And it speaks for itself.
-New Genious: A bit faster than the track before it, but not by much at all. Another slow song with those floating melodies. It's a bluesy hip-hop like track with 2-D (they made up the names, might as well use them)vocals making it unrepetitive.
-Clint Eastwood: The crossover track. Once you've heard this song once, you remember the chorus (I mean he sings it like 35 times). Mad rhymes that are clear and unserstandable (sorry DMX), Del really gives the beat a totally different tone than the other tracks vefore it, but darn it; they just fit so well together! Explore the rest of the cd and then listen to this track and you'll appreciate Gorillaz forever.
-Man Research: Coming back down from our pop-phobia track, we experiment a little with the Kid Koala side of Gorillaz. Totally filled with layers of sound, a very interesting song to hear. While it is one of the more experimental tracks and may alienate the first few times around, still a good song once you've come to appreciate the feel of Gorillaz.
-Punk: I couldn't stop laughing when I heard this song! It is much like a punk cover that I was dying laughing! How true that the track should only be 1min36secs long (NOFX's Monosyllabic Girl: 58 seconds long. How many punks songs are actually anywhere near 5 min? I mean come on!). That's what Punk music is if you haven't ever heard from the genre of music. At least the main sound of it.
-Sound Check: I was toally thinking Linkin Park when I heard this track. The DJ scratch was just a lot like 'Crawling' and it stuck in my head. This is another of the experimental tracks. Starting out with the somber guitar and 2-d's stuttering vocal line ('Gravity-y-y-y-y-yyy') returns near the end of the track again.
-Double Bass: Take it away Kid Koalla. Bass lines and Turn table rockin in the background make this an exquisite track. Throwing different hooks and changing it up constantly, this song has lines of sounds instead of verses. I guess the chorus is the Bass use altogether. Breaks you into what electronica music is like.
-Rock The House: Del comes back for round two in this hip-hop track. This song always reminds me of just a couple of chums in downtown New York or Chicago, freestylin for each other. Dishin' out the rhymes that just run so smoothly, definitely another of the better tracks on the album
-19-2000: Yet another catchy tune by those silly homo(sapien)s. The blip and bleeps are just so hard to not recognize. The vocals are great and Noodle's back up vocals are great. A one two punch after Rock the House: you'll be swimming in musical nirvana after these two. Wait, though, the best is still yet to come...
-Latin Simone: By far, the best track on the entire album for me. The great piano mixed with the ranchero-style song. Once again the vocals are superb and stick in your mind. Keeping with the simple melodies that are just so darn good that you can't stop yourself from hitting the back button to hear that track again. You'd think you stopped at Starbucks on this wild hip-hop/rock/electronic album rollercoaster of an album. Still proving that one group can perform any type of music and still style it their way without losing the overall texture of the Latin jazz feel. Just *sniff*.... lovely (What's the matter with me? :) )
-Starshine: I'm getting dangerously close to 1000 words so Ill sum up the rest. Starshine is similar to Sound Check in that it has 2-d's crying vocals, only there isn't that hardness to it. More of a laid back sad song. Those old school synthesized beats are unique.
-Slow Country: A good song for winding down. It sounds upbeat while being laid back. The synthesized organ is great too.
-M1A1: Once you get through the first min1/2 of `Hello's then you can appreciate this song. The first you hear you're alright with it, but now I just skip the last ten seconds or so of HELLOOO so you can get to the meat of this great song. Has a Rage against the Machine feel to it.
-Dracula seems a lot like New Genious meets Clint Eastwood without the Del. Good track still.
-Suzuki Left Hand Method: The end track and stern reminder that great is only made through experimentation. I don't quite understand but the bong hit probably has something to do with the name. Grunge guitar riffs and hip-hip beats with a Japanese speech about music and progress. Violins play around like junior high Orch, and the piano has fun.
Free Music Review: One of my favorite CDs, ever...
Hit: 5 Stars
When I first heard of Gorillaz in 2001, my first reaction was "Eh". I didn't really care about them and Clint Eastwood didn't impress me too much. And that was that. Fast forward three years later to 2004, I decide to give Clint Eastwood another chance, and I found I like it much more, but I didn't bother with the rest. I was asked to burn this CD a while later and did, and I liked what I heard, so I decided to give it a listen myself.
But enough about that. This CD has impressed me very much. I love this this CD. It is a great album that mixes rock, hip-hop and techno all into one smooth mix. The result is just one great album.
Just a short intro to the Gorillaz, if you didn't know: They consist of 2-D (aka Damon Albarn from Blur) on vocals, Noodle (Miho Hatori of Cibo Matto) on guitar, Murdoc on bass and Russell (Del tha Funkee Homosapien) on drums as well as doing his raps.
It starts with Re-hash, which starts out with effects mixed with acoustic guitar. Overall a nice-sounding track and a good way to get it started. It then goes to 5/4, which is a nice short little track that starts with acoustic guitar and the vocals of 2-D. A cool song that's more on the rock side that is reminiscent of Nine Inch Nail's Closer at some part. The third track is Tommorow Comes Today, one of the singles. A slow paced song with an excellent tune. Excellent song that's one of the more serious-sounding ones.
The CD continues with New Genious (Brother). This is one of the weaker songs on the CD in my opinion. It works as another good "slower" song, but pales in comparrison to Tommorrow Comes Today, especially being right after it. Then follows Clint Eastwood, one of the highlights of the CD. This is just a great song. Awesome tune and use of vocals. The mixture of 2-D's singing of the chorus and Russell's rapping makes this one of the best songs on this CD. It then slows down with Man Research (Clapper). More on the hip-hop/techno side for this song, producing a strange sound with 2-D's "Yeah yeah ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya" and the scratching. A good and weird track.
Punk follows next and is the shortest song in the Gorillaz library at 1:38. Still a fun song nonetheless and a good song you'll find yourself clapping to. It's good to transition to Sound Check (Gravity). Sound Check is another good song, starting with a slower pace and 2-D's singing, then going into scratching and Russell's rapping in the background. 2-D's vocals and the bass of Murdoc makes for this to be one of the higher points of the album. Double Bass is next, and is an instrumental. I don't feel it's as good as the others, since the vocals in Gorillaz songs are an essential part, but a cool sound nonetheless.
Rock the Party is the only song on this album consisting of only Russell's vocals. A cool song mixing his usual drum beats and trumpets to make a good dancing track. His raps are good, as usual. 19-2000 follows and is one of the better known songs, and is the one featuring the rather cute voice of Noodle, the guitarist for the band, saying "Get the cool, get the cool shoeshine". Though I feel the Soulchild remix on G-Sides is far better, still an excellent song. After that is Latin Simone (Que Pasa Contigo). This is song made to sound like a traditional Spanish romantic song, with a Gorillaz beat added to the background. Featuring the vocals of Ibrham Ferrer, this track is one of my favorites, though many people don't like it because of the Spanish vocals.
The thirteenth is Starshine, which has an excellent tune, but with limited vocals/lyrics. The music more than makes up though, as this is one of the more trippy songs on the CD. The next song is Slow Country, my personal favorite. With an excellent piano intro and excellent use of sound effects, combined with 2-D's excellent vocals, this song excels above most others. An amazing song overall. M1 A1 follows. The build-up is a tad bit too long (nearly half the four minutes...) but the following isn't bad, a guitar-driven track. Good to listen to if you can put up with the build-up.
Towards the end is Dracula, with an interesting sound to it. Just a good song overall, one of the longer ones on the CD. And finally is Left Hand Suzuki Method, which is just interesting, mixing strings, hard guitar and Noodle speaking to make a loud, strong rocking beat. At about 3 minutes, it's over, leaving a space until 5:30, where the Ed Case Remix of Clint Eastwood starts. It's basically a faster mix of Clint Eastwood with different vocals added in with the usual chorus. A cool version of Clint Eastwood.
If you don't feel like reading all that, my ratings:
1. Re-hash - 8.5/10
2. 5/4 - 7.5/10
3. Tommorow Comes Today - 9/10
4. New Genious (Brother) - 8/10
5. Clint Eastwood - 10/10
6. Man Research (Clapper) - 8.5/10
7. Punk - 8/10
8. Sound Check (Gravity) - 9/10
9. Double Bass - 7.5/10
10. Rock the House - 8.5/10
11. 19-2000 - 8/10
12. Latin Simone (Que Pasa Contigo) - 10/10
13. Starshine - 9/10
14. Slow Country - 10/10
15. M1 A1 - 7/10
16. Dracula - 8.5/10
17. Left Hand Suzuki Method - 8.5/10
17.5. Clint Eastwood (Ed Case Remix) - 8.5/10
Free Music Review: The future of modern music and what it does to your stomach.
Hit: 5 Stars
I'm leaning against the wall of the bathroom wondering if I'm gonna throw up.
It's too much.
In order to write this little review I tried to grapple with this album, I tried to swallow it whole. I tried to digest it and I hurt myself. This album is too rich and too multidepthed to allow a simple synopsis. It's too complex to digest quickly. There are too many styles and too many layers. This is a dizzying collection of endless experimentation and surgically brilliant production. And it won't stop.
It's sheik and smooth like the models on the covers of magazines you don't buy but can't help staring at. It's funny too. It's funny in a covert coy way. Like a kid's tv show that secretly pokes fun at adult themes like sex and politics. It's funny enough to make you laugh. But just as your chest swells for a little cute giggle you catch the charred death scent of a cigarette and you can almost taste the burn of cheap whisky in the back of your throat: That's the dark brooding shadows this album casts as you spin it so idly.
And that's why my stomach and mind threaten to rebel (and expel.) How can you devour something with such a range of tastes? You can't eat something salty and sour, spicy and sweat, hot and cold... Maybe a few of these combinations are delectable but the whole array? It'd kill you... you'd choke...
Thank god the album doesn't force its schizophrenic characteristics on you all at once.
Instead the Gorillaz deliver these tastes in subtle sly hints and nudges. And most people would be utterly ignorant of the Band's brilliance if they did not provide the LP with multiple listens. It requires slow and careful consumption. Take your time. Don't try to stuff your face. You'll hardly know what your eating and surely be left uneasy.
Let your mind nibble on the acoustic guitars driving delicately before you tackle the pounding funky bass lines. And only then try to sample the electronic pops and pings. And if you can stomach all that and still keep your composure while adding the synth enhanced atmosphere of the keyboards ONLY THEN try to attack the vocal diversity that this album radiates with.
And if you can manage all that, go ahead and try the next song- cause its nothing like the last.
Underground hip hop savvy moments bob and nod beside blues and rock elements. All of which seem content to share elbow space with electronic and dub theatrics. Pop cues abound in clever debuts threatening cheapen the albums depth- but they are a ploy. They are lures for the unwary, daring you to grow complacent and assume your hearing something you've heard before. BUT these touches are a tease- almost like the masterminds of this album want to remind you that they COULD make hopelessly hip and catchy songs like "Clint Eastwood" all day, but then you'd miss the noir hauntings that inhabit the album's seedy underbelly in tracks like "New Genious (Brother)".
The Gorillaz's S/T first release screams and croons and beeps and blurts. It hums and bumps, drives and thunders. It is inspired and eons ahead of its time. This album either came from the future or is a masterpiece that will help shape the future.
Me? I'm out of the bathroom and adhered to my headphones. Don't be a fool. Take your time, drink plenty of water and enjoy one of the best albums of 2001, one bite at a time.
Free Music Review: hip hop punk
Hit: 5 Stars
thank god i have mtv2 in my room, otherwise i would have never even heard of gorillaz. if u like hip hop or just punk, then this cd is for u. i do not like punk but this cd is very much influenced with a great hip hop vibe. the main reason why is bought this cd was because of del (the funky homosapien) who appears on two of the tracks. but even without del, i realized that there is still a good hip hop sense in here. here's reviews on the songs that i enjoyed the most.-tomorrow comes today: great beat, nice harmonica sounds. cool lyrics. an all around chill song.
-new genious: i like the lyrics a lot on this song. nice, sad vocals and slow yet cool beat. nice use of violin.
-clint eastwood: perfect blend of alternative and hip hop. simple yet wonderful beat. well thought-out chorus and phat (i mean PHAT) rhymes from del. nice use of various music elements and intruments.
-sound check: starts out slow with only the piano background and moves into a phat beat laced wit nice scratching and mixing. smooth lyrics, creative beat.
-double bass: extremeley strange yet creative jungle groove. all beats and music, no lyrics. still, one of the stand outs.
-rock the house: my second favorite track. sick beat. i mean crazy beat. creative rhymes from del. extremely catchy and dancable chorus and creative use of the flute. so phat.
-19/2000: my favorite song on here. tyte music that sounds like a video game song. simple beat. great lyrics and an original approach to any kind of music. what makes it the most interesting is the unique vocal abilities of miho hotari. adds a real weird sense of being in an anime.
-latin simone: great beat. i mean great beat. very easy to bob ur head to this song. very relaxing and smooth. full of no lyrics other than a spanish ballad that fits smoothly into the jazz/soul/hip-hop vibe of this track. lotta versatility aand variety.
-slow country: reminds me alot of "rock da house" with the rhythmic piano sounds. cool lyrics, great chorus. tyte music elements in this song. dont knoe how to describe it exactly. but its great.
-dracula: great beat and music that really does give a sense of the horror of dracula. haunting sounds and lyrics make dracula seem real.
-left hand suzuki method: great hip hop beat. strong and loud, kinda reminding me of pharaoe monche's "get up." yet they ingeniously and sarcastically add a happy little "mary had a little lamb"-type sound. still, very good. great track. no singing, just a news reporter in the background every once in awhile.
* there is a hidden bonus track. wait till 5:30 has passed on "left hand suzuki method" and u will here the "ed case remix" of "clint eastwood." much faster and funkier. reggae/trip hop vibe. the only part i dont like is that del's rhymes are replaced with new rhymes.
very versatile cd. this is an essential to anyone who appreciates creative sounds. trust me you've never heard n/e thing like this before. hip hop and punk all in one. blended with jazz, classical, latin, and global sounds. at least give it a listen.