Gorillaz ft. Beck - "The Valley of the Pagans"

 

Gorillas team up with Beck for this gloriously fun party song. It's a good way to get your week off right.

Gorillaz ft. Robert Smith - "Strange Timez"

 

The Cure's Robert Smith provides his iconic vocals to the latest Song Machine offering from Gorillaz, the kinetic dance track "Strange Timez."

Gorillaz ft. ScHoolboy Q - "PAC-MAN"

As part of their Song Machine series, Gorillaz releases this funky tribute to the 40th anniversary of Pac-Man. Really love the groove and vibe of this track.

Gorillaz ft. Peter Hook and Georgia - "Aries"

Gorillaz returns with a new single in their Song Machine series. This time they recruit former New Order bassist Peter Hook on bass duties along with up and coming synth-pop goddess Georgia on drums. It's turning out to be one of my favorite Gorillaz tracks. It's a playful update of the New Order sound and is completely charming.

Gorillaz – “Désolé” (Feat. Fatoumata Diawara)

Gorillaz returns with this bouncy track with Malian singer Fatoumata Diawara.

Jam of the Day: Roses Gabor - "Turkish Delight"

From her debut record Fantasy & Facts, UK singer Roses Gabor, best known for her work with Gorillaz and SBTRKT, throws down this infectious house track.

Jam of the Day: Gorillaz ft. D.R.A.M. - "Andromeda"

Gorillaz makes a welcome return with this ode to a soul club in 1980s Colchester. It's a sparkling house track that shimmers with warmth.

Album Review: Neneh Cherry - Blank Project

Neneh Cherry
Blank Project
Rating: Woof Daddy

Swedish artpop/R&B/hip-hop diva Neneh Cherry never follows trends, preferring instead to blaze her own. On her debut album Raw Like Sushi she combined elements of hip-hop, pop, R&B, rave, electronic music, and anything else she fancied, and distilled it into one of the most stunning debut records of all time. Despite hit singles like "Buffalo Stance," "Manchild," and "Kisses on the Wind," radio didn't quite know how to handle her, and her trajectory sort of flat-lined. Even with the brilliant follow up Homebrew, there seemed to be no place to pigeonhole her. Her third record, the underrated Man, was never even released in the United States. So instead of changing her sound to conform with popular conventions, Cherry just kept doing her own thing, collaborating with artists that she fancied (Gorillaz, Youssou N'Dour, Peter Gabriel, The The, Kleerup) and staying out the limelight. Only 18 years after the release of her last solo record, Neneh Cherry has come back stronger than ever on her fourth solo album, the blistering Blank Project. Recorded and mixed in a 5-day period, the record was produced by Four Tet (Kieran Hebden) and features work with prior collaborators RocketNumberNine.

What is most noticeable right off the top is how Cherry is still doing what she wants to do, without copping to current trends. Blank Project is a lean, minimalist offering, speaking to electronica, jazz, hip-hop, R&B, and pop without directly referencing any of them. Starting off with the hypnotically austere "Across the Water," Cherry speak-sings over a quiet drum beat with no other accompaniment, the silences in between creating caverns of loneliness.



Things perk up a little more as the album progresses, however, aside from percussion and simple synth lines and bass buzzes, the focus is mainly on Cherry's voice, which has grown deeper and more mature. Title track "Blank Project" finds Cherry slithering around a pounding drum beat with a undercurrent of deep bass that pulsates and curls around her voice.



On standout track "Naked," Cherry brushes up against a skittering beat, 808 percussion, and simple synth lines. "Spit Three Times" is a slow burning track full of snarl and menace. Most of these tracks could find easy kinship with the best of Massive Attack circa Mezzanine. The tracks know when to explode and know when to hold back, always curled up like a snake ready to attack at a moment's notice. The squeltchy, slinky "Cynical" punches and spars against Cherry's sassy vocal, while Cherry slows things down to a hush on the mantra like "422" which is merely ghostly, atmospheric synths, muted percussion, and chimes.



While the album itself has a very bleak, dark feel to it, there are moments of levity, like on the collaboration with her Swedish compatriot Robyn "Out of the Black," which finds the two singers having a funky, fun lark.



And on closing track "Everything," Cherry mixes up cut and paste snippets of her vocals with her own one take vocal track. Her voice playing up against itself as she scats and sings over the 7+ minutes of art-blasted drone funk. It is a brilliant way to end the record and is Cherry's way of saying, this is me, accept me for who I am, or move on.



Blank Project is uncompromising Neneh Cherry at her best. There is almost no filler here, each track building off of and complementing each other. I only hope that it is not another 18 years before we get more new music from this trail-blazing artist. Blank Project is seminal Neneh Cherry.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and piques one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.

Gorillaz - "DoYaThing" Video

Here is the official video for the Gorillaz track "DoYaThing" featuring Andre 3000 and James Murphy.

Gorillaz ft. Andre 3000 and James Murphy - "Do Ya Thing" Preview Clip

You can listen to a 30 second clip of the collaboration between Gorillaz, Andre 3000, and Jame Murphy, made in connection with Gorillaz inspired Chuck Taylors. Full track can be listened to here.

Gorillaz: The Fall

Gorillaz
The Fall
Rating: Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It

Even I will admit that this album is pretty impossible to review from a "major release" standpoint, because it is not a major release from Damon Albarn and Company. Written and recorded on their North American tour using only apps found on the iPad, The Fall is more of curiosity than an album to fawn over and curl up with.  With that out of the way, it is definitely an album to sift through and find something to enjoy.  The Fall is pretty much split down the middle with simple ballads and electronic experimentation.  While I enjoyed the looseness and "let's try this to see what happens" attitude, I definitely find myself drawn to the more fleshed out songs.  "Revolving Doors" is a standout, featuring another lovely, fragile vocal turn from Albarn:



His voice always pairs well with acoustic guitars laid over a bed of analog synths and drum machines. 

Another key track is "Amarillo," with its stuttering drum programing, twinkly synths, and Albarn's haunting cry "Put a little love into my lonely soul."



Bobby Womack shows up again on one track, "Bobby In Phoenix," giving a wonderfully restrained vocal over a blues guitar background



The middle of The Fall features "Shytown," with it's swirling keyboards and falsetto vocal from Albarn, which segues into "Little Pink Plastic Bags," all droning bass synth and chanting vocals, which really makes the point of the album come into focus, that it is like leafing through Albarn's tour journal, getting patches and snippets of life on the road, his impressions of the United States, some more thought out while others are just fragments.





The rest of the album is a bit hit or miss to me, as it is mostly made up of instrumental, impressionistic sketches, some of which are more fleshed out than others.  Lead track "Phoner to Arizona," glides by smoothly, surfing on a 50s Sci-Fi wave of bloopy keyboards



"Detroit," pays homage to the techno scene which formulated there with a light and breezy Carl Craig like track:



The remaining pieces give a nice feel for the time and place in which they were made, but most don't leave an indelible impression.  Luckily, Albarn was wise to make most of these tracks very short.

The Fall is a interesting curio from the always fascinating Damon Albarn, and it being free is a nice bonus.  And for being recording using only iPad apps, it sounds remarkably polished and well produced, with almost no indication of low quality.  I doubt that this will be the wave of the future for other bands or for Gorillaz, but as a keepsake from their journey and experience touring the states, it is a lovely Christmas gift from Albarn.

Rating Guide

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top albums of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and peaks one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been trimmed or polished.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.

Videos of Last Week

Ok ok, I got lazy last week with the holiday, so sue me. Here is a delayed posting of the videos from last week that made my turkey moist.



Live video from a past Combichrist show. I saw them with Kurt, Dan, Janis and Ian last week. Was a good show. Nice energy and fantastic light show.



Gorgeous song and video from singer Jamie Woon. He used to be a standard singer/songwriter until he fell in love with dubstep (of the Burial mold, not the wonky, wobbly sort that Kurt loves). Somehow he actually convinced Burial to work with him on his debut album that comes out in the Spring.



New single from Brit post punk band White Lies. The song really sounds like it could be straight off their first cd, but it is pleasant enough. Looks like they spent a fortune on this video though. ET as a candy bar.



Charming cover of the xx's "Crystalized," from Damon Albarn's Gorillaz.



Beautiful song and video from Iceland's Olof Arnalds, featuring Bjork on backing vocals.



So glad that Florence and the Machine are getting the recognition they deserve. Amazing performance from Saturday Night Live.



I got a new tattoo a couple of weeks ago and got incessant questions as to what it was. It is the Aphex Twin logo which is featuring throughout the video for his song "Windowlicker." The video is NSFW.