Gorillaz

DAD	SON
The idea of a virtual band is not new I'm sure. There must be other examples, although things like the Rutles don't count. Anyway, the main mover here is Damon 'Blur' Albarn, about whom I have mixed feelings. I own Parklife but never listen to it. It was just something you did in the mid-nineties. I'm not mad-keen on his estuary English delivery either. However his worst excesses do tend to get buried in the Gorillaz project. 'Re-hash' is a reasonably pleasant, mildly psychedelic track with an acoustic guitar loop and a bit of sitar in the background. Reminded me of something you might hear on Sesame Street. He's in full flow on the second track '5/4' with  that kind of petulant 10-year-old voice he does. I can't really figure out much of what he is saying. Next we get distracted-Damon on 'Tomorrow Comes Today', then high pitched trancey Damon on 'New Genius (Brother)'. But this isn't all about him. The melodies are OK, but there is overuse of drum loops. 'Clint Eastwood' may be the best known track off this one. I find it a bit dull really. The rap is done by 'Del The Funky Homosapien'. Hmm. I'm guessing that's an alias. More repetitiveness and Albarnisms on 'Man Research (Clapper)'. 'Punk' is more fun, but Albarn still sounds like he's taking the mickey. Scritchy-scratchy bollix on 'Sound Check (Gravity)'. I tend to look up lyrics these days, I'm doing this at the same time as REM and you do need a songsheet for them, but Gorillaz lyrics are laughably sparse. Here is the entire contribution for 'Double Bass': "All of which makes me anxious; At times unbearably so", which is almost inaudibly uttered by Albarn halfway through. So you have to put a lot of it in the instrumental category. There's some nice twiddly keyboard stuff on it  (DB) though. Have I mentioned that one of our kids primary school teachers was Suzy B from The Cookie Crew? (Now Miss Banfield). Almost certainly, I'd mention something like that at the drop of a hat. Anyway, I'm reminded because the next track is 'Rock The House' (not the Cookies' late eighties era-defining 'Rock Da House'). Anyway, this is a De La Soul type piece of laid back hip-hop with brass stabs and all that. Quite good. '19-2000' is that one with the "Get the cool shoe-shine" lyric that they always used to use over those countdown list shows in the '90s that tried to convince us that Spangles, Spacehoppers and the three-day week were indicative of a happier age.'Latin Simone (Que Pasa Contigo)' drafts in some clapped out, probably Cuban, torch singer for a reasonably hideous mash-up. Getting fed up by the time we get to 'Starshine', although 'Slow Country' has a nice piano refrain, which is unfortunately ruined by Albarn's Kevin-the-teenager singing. UH! SO UNFAIR! We finish with 'M1-A1'. "Hello. Is anyone there" we hear in the background? Well to be honest I'm only still here out of a sense of duty. The guitar rock builds and this is the Blurriest track of them all, which isn't necessarily a recommendation. Oh, and whilst on the subject of Kevin The Teenager.....	So… how do I approach speaking about Gorillaz as a band?  You see, the band is unique in all of its members being animated characters (drawn by Jamie Hewlett, who’s art basically defines the band). The only constant, “real” member is the singer, Damon Albarn, who you may know from Blur. Anyway, for the sake of sanity, I shall only address Albarn as anything throughout this, as, otherwise, I would have to look up who was doing what, and, truthfully, I’m just too lazy to bother. Anyway, first up is 'Re-Hash', which basically sums up most of my thoughts on this album: bit droning, repetitive and monotonous, but good overall. “4/4” for those curious (which is no-one, I realise, but mention it mainly to annoy my father). Pretty much the same thing for a few songs. Titles are incredibly literal, as well. The second track, “5/4” is in 5/4. Got to say I like the guitar in this one, though lyrically it’s just strange. Next up, “Tomorrow Comes Today”, which, considering this was released in 01, must make tomorrow yesterday. 4/4 again. Not much else to say. “New Genius (Brother)” now, and… *sigh* this really isn’t giving me much to work with. 4/4 yet again, and just as monotonous. This is probably my least favourite on the album. The song does mix itself up with some brief interludes of DJ’s messing about. And now, the moment of truth, “Clint Eastwood”, which has nothing to do with pasta cowboys. This is probably the song that introduced most people to the Gorillaz, be it through the music video (that, on a brief tangent, I think is amazing), or hearing it on the radio. It is also quite different to the rest of the album, as this one breaks itself up with some actually decent rap breaks, although there do seem to be a few syllables that the rapper (Del the Funky Homosapian, or so says wiki-ididntwriteit) misses. 4/4 again, but interesting. Ends with a really long instrumental section though. Next up, “man research (clapper)”. WELCOME BACK TO MONOTONYVILLE! Few nice synths, though. 4/4 again. The next track, “Punk” does actually sound rather Punk rock, Green-Day-ish. Congratulations on that. Can’t pin down the time signature though. Now for “sound check (gravity)” and it sounds like the singer gave up. Most of the song is DJ weirdness. Not much to see. 4/4 again. “Double Bass” may be played on a double bass, but I am a pianist, not a bassist, so I don’t know. Bit monotonous. “Rock The House” is another one that got a music video, which I only watched once, and it really confused me. The music is alright. Del is back, and does all the lyrics this time. 4/4 again. Final music video track “19-2000” has a nice melody to it, but it does, again, fall into the trap of being rather monotonous. Lyrics are really deranged this time. “get the cool shoe shine” …what? 4/4. Little fact now, these next two songs are the last ones I wrote. Accidentally listened to some on shuffle. Now, “Latin Simone (Que pasa contigo)” does sound rather flamenco-ey (I know nothing about dancing, so don’t hate me if I got the term wrong) but I am not convinced Albarn knows how to speak Spanish. Next, “Starshine” which starts off sounding like it's being played through a gaming headset. One thing I have noticed with the whole album is that Albarn singing varies considerably, and he sounds a bit “eh”. 4/4. “slow country” now, and it has background noise that sounds like the end of the world. Its horrific. Song goes back to monotony town, but there are some nice 8-bit sounding synths. Finally, “M1 A1”, which does not give directions to the nearest pub. It feels a bit like a filler track at first, but the sampled vocals are nice, and the overall tone of the music accompanying it works well. Eventually it does break out into a more standard song. Cover art is the entire group In the jeep from the 19-2000 music video.
I have this. I'm not ashamed, although I was probably trying to cling on to some illusion of appreciating something not totally in the mainstream. Of course Albarn is actually about as mainstream as they come. However, I'm not going to pretend that I hate this just to generate some false jeopardy between me and my son. The 'Intro' is kind of doomy, with a bowed double bass melody. Albarn's vocals turn the can't-be-bothered up to 11, but there is something catchy about them, especially on 'Kids With Guns', which features Neneh Cherry doing some kind of pastiche of Salt n Pepa's 'Push It'. It shouldn't work but I'm afraid it does. 'Oh Green World' starts with elastic bands stretched across a shoebox before a splatty bass kicks in accompanied by blippy noises. Albarn's voice is delivered from the other end of a tin can and string phone. Again, it galls me to say it, but it's very listenable. They deploy that rock n' roll staple, the kids choir singing something inappropriate, on 'Dirty Harry', but of course you can't fault the beat loops and the way it grabs you. Same for 'Feel Good Inc.'. Maybe it is because I have listened to this a lot, but I do have to apologetically tell you that I really like it. Even the rappy bit in the middle is quite good. Other highlights include the Alvin + The Chipmunks vocal on 'All Alone', which also features some kind of proto-Ellie Goulding  in the form of Martina Topley-Bird. 'White Light' seemingly finds Albarn craving alcohol while playing a comb and paper. Then for me, the piece-de-resistance. Shaun Ryder (for it is he) basically chanting in his 'orrible manky accent on 'DARE'. I'll be interested to know what my firstborn made of him. Obviously I think it's great. Story song, 'Fire Coming Out Of The Monkey's Head' is narrated by Dennis Hopper sounding like one of those American guys who are somewhere between a motivational speaker, hypnotist and weirdo cult leader. In fact I guess I could have just said he sounds like.....Dennis Hopper. The subsequent 'Don't Get Lost In Heaven' is effectively a continuation/coda to the main song. It ends with a whimper. The title track ain't much cop. Sort of gospelly. So one thing I haven't covered, and which I know you'll all be eager to learn about, are the time signatures employed on all these songs.....	Five years on, and some major re-designs later, Gorillaz returned. ‘Shan’t dwell on any behind the scenes stuff to much though, as I did that far too much in the previous part, and I am on a rough word count of 600-700, so… the album opens with the creatively titled 'Intro', which does manage to set the mood for the whole album, which is that bit darker than the previous self-title. It features some nice, glitched up vocals. 4/4. Next, 'Last Living Souls”, and like re-hash from the last album, this sums up my feelings for the whole album. There is much more going on here, or at least there seems to me. There are less distorted guitars, and Albarn seems to actually be trying to sing more this time round. Overall, it is rockier than hip-hop. 4/4, but a rather high tempo. Now, 'Kids With Guns', which, while Albarn does seem at first to be back to slow monotony, it does fit the tone of the song. There are some female vocals in the chorus, which I believe are sampled, but I can't tell where from. 4/4. 'Oh Green World' briefly brings back “Starshines” headset, but quickly moves on to more organic sounds, with the odd synth bleeps and, along with the distorted sound of Albarn throwing up all over the microphone. 4/4 I think, but could be 8/8. Next up 'Dirty Harry' which is probably the most up-beat and “poppy” song on the album. Almost all synths here, and I wouldn’t class the track as anything special. It stands out for its music video though, which was interesting. Not much to say. There is some rapping on this one but wiki-lies doesn’t list who does it. 4/4. Next up, and probably the most well-known Gorillaz track: 'Feel Good Inc.' (ft. De la Soul). Lyrics are bit odd here and there, but the music is well done. The guitar especial sticks out at all times, no-matter what it seems to be doing. The rapping from De la Soul is a bit odd, and again they seem to miss some stuff, but it works. Another bizarre music video with this one, but slightly less psychotic than the others released at the time (don’t worry, I’m getting to that). “El Mañana” which had another music video, which I only watched once, and I don’t intend to again as it was so boring. Common, Gorillaz, you’re a virtual band, you can get away with the madness! Anyway, the song is alright. Bit generic if you ask yours truly. Groany lyrics from Albarn. The guitar is as simple as it gets. Compare this to 'Every Planet We Reach Is Dead' which starts off with some interesting synth loops, before going into monotony. Synths pop back during a sort of instrumental chorus, but its so rare that it feels a bit forced. I feel like I am giving the impression I don’t like this album. I do like it, a hell of a lot more than the self-title, but I find that the songs that didn’t get music videos are a little too far of the mark. I say that, then 'November Has Come' turns up. This may seem more monotony, but I like this one. It’s just that bit more dark than the others, which fits what I feel the album wants to be tonally. Next 'All Alone'. PITCH SHIFTING! ARGG!!!! Yet more rapping, but, unlike the rest, this is quite fast, which sets it apart. Not really sure what’s going on in here. More nice synths though. 'White Light' and, oh god, this is singing? It sounds like some kid humming through a microphone. Then again, this is Albarn we are talking about, so that may not be too far off. There isn’t much else to say here, other than the bizarre vocals. Now, for 'DARE'. Remember when I said I was getting to the psychotic music videos? Here it is. The music video for this featured one of the characters dancing around in front of a giant, severed head…yea… said it was nuts. Can’t tell if Albarn is actually singing this one. If he is, his voice has been modified to sound scarily feminine. More misheard lyrics. "never get no ham”…okay…not much actually musical going on. Weird voices at the end, kinda just yelling at each other. Now 'Fire Coming Out Of The Monkey’s Head', featuring Dennis Hopper. This one feels a bit preachy, with its overall moral being “man, you greedy”. Yea, totally never heard that one before. Not much going on here, but it’s not bad. This follows into “Don’t Get Lost In Heaven”, which is a bit more turned down and sorrowful than the rest of the album. Albarn actually sounds like he is trying to sing. There is also a decent choir (or at least that’s what it sounds like). With the only other thing being a piano in the background, there isn’t much to say. Finally, the title track “Demon Days”, which continues the laid back sound of 'Don’t Get Lost In Heaven', but this time has Albarn back to not trying.  Hell, if you don’t strain your ears, it’s hard to tell he’s even there. More choir. This does feel like a proper closing track, which is something I find a lot of albums struggle with. Shame the rest of this one’s quality has been hit or miss. Cover looks like something you would find in the worst art expo ever, otherwise known as the Tate modern.
My son has submitted his latest copy, so I am behind the game. My interest in Gorillaz was transitory, I bought Demon Days, liked it and then decided it was as much of them as anyone would ever need. The 'Orchestral Intro' was oddly familiar, since I am concurrently listening to ELO, so classical pretensions figure strongly in my current listening regimen. This seems much more hip-hop oriented than the first two albums with Snoop Dogg turning up on 'Welcome To The Plastic Beach'. I just don't know about him. I suspect he's a talentless waste of time, but he does at least seem to possess a degree of self-awareness that might be endearing. I suppose Gorillaz unique selling point is the mash-ups of different styles, so the semi-classical/semi karnataka backing to Mr Bashy and Mr Kano's rap on 'White Flag' (any further from Dido you could not get) does add a bit of interest. Alas, Albarn is now the weak point. His bored vocal on 'Rhinestone Eyes' is just an irritating reprise of things he's done before with Gorillaz. The Moroder-ish 'Stylo' is quite good, if you like your Euro electro boogie seasoned with a Mos Def vocal and Bobby Womack squawking in the middle of it. Personally I prefer it plain. De La Soul are back for the excellently titled 'Superfast Jellyfish' and add some character and fun to the proceedings. It plays rather like an episode of Spongebob. I had to look up Little Dragon, who are on 'Empire Ants' and, of course, they are a Swedish electronica outfit. Albarn provides some of the words, he still seems very tired, but the Swedish dudes seem to know what they are doing. Next up, it's the pasty-faced senior shop-steward of northern indie art-noise, Mark E Smith himself. He has never, ever appealed to me. 'Hit The North' is just about acceptable. 'Glitter Freeze' must be trying to say something about the disgraced Gary of that ilk. The style is very much the pounding percussion of his hits. Smith doesn't contribute much to be honest a couple of spoken lines, and he sounds quite upbeat. For him. Speaking of grumpy old bastards, here's Lou Reed, being forced to sing over a typical beepy electronic melody seemingly knocked together in five minutes using the programming that came with the keyboard. But Reed is good value even here. It's not his fault after all. 'On Melancholy Hill' and 'Broken' are OK. The former in particular has a pretty tune. The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble are recruited for 'Sweepstakes' and it has a nice jolly Cuban salsa backing to the hip-hop vocal from Mr. Moseley Def. I'll say this for Damon, he has an impressive address book, because for the title track we get Paul Simonon and Mick Jones. All these luminaries from the rock world must see something I don't in him and his little project. 'Plastic Beach' is interesting enough and the resemblance to an eighties videogame soundtrack is probably intentional. Japanese-Swede Yukimi Nagano of Little Dragon is back on 'To Binge', a rather nice piece of cheesy lounge pop. In fact if there is any takeaway from this album I'd say I'm tempted to check Little Dragon out. Bobby Womack is back on 'Cloud Of Unknowing' and a better Holly Johnson impression I've never heard, and here's the rub; I'd have liked it better if it had been Holly. Finally 'Pirate Jet' has something of Nancy Sinatra's 'Sugartown' about it, but doesn't approach its genius.	I expect to hate this album. I am writing my opinions on the music basically as first impressions. I may be wrong. I may love this one. But I expect to hate it. Why? Almost every track features an artist that isn’t Gorillaz. Call me odd, but I prefer Gorillaz when it’s just…Gorillaz. Anyway, enough procrastination, let’s get into this! The album starts with the creatively titled 'Orchestral Intro', which I feel is trying to do what 'Intro' did for demon days, and set an overall tone for the album. It works, to a point, and I do like it. Oh, and no more time signatures. No point when it’s almost all 4/4. Next up, the equal creatively titled 'Welcome To The World Of Plastic Beach' featuring…oh God… please no… Snoop Dogg. WHY! The instrumental is actually quite nice, with some distorted chanting from Albarn, but God is Snoop tone deaf. I can’t even tell what key he is meant to be in. also, the lyric “the revolution will be televised” was done better by Blue Stahli. My suspicions of me hating it are beginning to manifest. At least I could listen to the instrumental alone. Now 'White Flag' which I guess is my cue to surrender all hope that this may be good. Featuring Kane Robinson…whoever that is (no, not going to research. Can’t be bothered). More tone deaf rapping. According to the title this also features “Bashy, Kano and the National Orchestra for Arabic music”. It does sound Arabic, and the rapping is alright in places. It’s not that this is bad. It just doesn’t feel like Gorillaz. WHERE IS MY FEEL GOOD INC. DANG IT! Now 'Rhinestone Eyes' features nothing. And, while I still can’t abide Albarn to a point, this is refreshing. It almost feels like a song from Demon Days. A groovy (did I just type that out loud) beat. Actually pretty good. Now, 'Stylo' (Ft. Mos Def and Bobby Womack.) this had a music video featuring Bruce Willis. And that’s about all I have to say on the video. And again, it feels like Gorillaz. And it actually has Albarn in it. Never thought I would be so happy to hear Kevin the Teenagers voice. 'Superfast Jellyfish' (ft. Gruff Rhys and De La Soul). Let me tell you, De La’s last appearance with Gorrilaz was far better. This just seems generic. Now 'Empire Ants' (ft. Little Dragon) and it starts off well enough. Albarn singing again. It feels very relaxed. The kind of thing that you listen to when you're alone on a beach in “summer” (whatever that is.) I like it. About half way through, it changes entirely, though. It kind feels like 2 tracks in one, which makes me think of American Idiot. It’s still good, but back to fairly generic and toneless. Next 'Glitter Freeze' (ft. Mark E smith. At this point I am half expecting one to say “ft. Shia LaBeouf”.) it’s just synth beeps and bloops. I realise, as I listen to stuff like Celldweller and Blue Stahli, this should be right up my alley, but I don’t like it. It feels stiff and forced. Now “some kind of nature” (ft. Lou Reed). Both albarn and lou sing, but they both sound indistinguishable to the point where it feels like they are both giving a bad impression of each other. Again, the instrumental is nice, but I can’t abide the lyrics. Well, now for something I can finally say I like: 'On Melancholy Hill'. Maybe it’s because it sounds like Albarn is singing a song by fun, but it’s just as calm as the others, but it does feel like he’s trying. It has a really nice bass, as well, to the point where it just punches through it. Now 'Broken' which, while nothing spectacular, and really being your standard Gorillaz affair, with the lack of that on the album, I do briefly feel like I am listening to Demon Days again, despite the tonal differences. “Sweepstakes” (ft. Mos Def) and oh god…. WHAT IS THIS! The rapping is just as tone deaf as before, but the instrumentals is just as awful this time. I would class this as almost unlistenable. I think it may even be in free time. I can’t bare it much longer, so let’s go to 'Plastic Beach' (ft.  Mick Jones and Paul Simonon). Why can’t this band do title tracks right? Almost all of my problems with Demon Days apply. Actually, this one is better than Demon Days”, and is actually quite nice, but is still very repetitive. “To Binge” (ft. Little Dragon) is also tolerable. Maybe something I would actually listen to. Vocals are sung for once, instead of rapped or half-heartedly spoken. Although, I can’t be the only one who hears “Something Stupid” in this? Penultimate (finally): 'Cloud of unknowing' (ft. Bobby Womack and sinfonia viva). Which starts off with beach sounds, and then goes into singing. It isn’t from Albarn, but, whoever it is (all the featured artists make it hard to keep up) obviously doesn’t care. The instrumental (if you can call it that) is slow and droning. I am literally getting a headache listening to this. Finally (FINALLY!) 'Pirate jet'.  Opening up it does have a slight sea shanty feel, as well as a strange mix of… I guess cyber punk styling. Not much. The beat is made up of Albarn chanting 'Pirate Jet'. The lyrics are hard to hear at worst. And… that’s it. FINALLY! This album is long. And it annoys me. While I didn’t like Gorillaz, it was far better than this, and for this to follow Demon Days, one of the few hip-hop albums I like… it annoys me. There are a few diamonds in the rough ('Stylo' and 'On Melancholy Hill'), but it’s mainly tone deaf rapping. I really hope The Fall is better. Album art is nice, though, depicting the titular plastic beach.
I'll leave all the technicalities to Pat. Albarn starts (starts?) to annoy on this one. His pissed-off vocal is wearing thin. He doesn't get started until the second track, with the opening 'Phoner To Arizona' being a bleepy farty thing with a Daft Punk-ish uber-electronic vocal. There's more collaborations with Mick Jones and Paul Simonon and I'm currently also embroiled in The Clash's back catalogue (partly because of listening to them on the Plastic Beach album). By halfway through I was pretty bored. Maybe a lot of this stuff would grow on you, but the aforementioned Daft Punk or Air are more interesting and, well, French, if you like this kind of electronica (which I generally do). Apparently Albarn composed the album on the road while touring Plastic Beach on his iPad. I believe it. He's a man who clearly believes he can get away with anything and put it out. 'Amarillo' isn't a cover of the Tony Christie hit. That would have been hoping for too much. That's followed by a particularly irritating item, 'The Speak It Mountains'. A lot of spoken word which is slightly out of phase, like when you have a DAB and an FM radio on the same station at the same time, the DAB is always slightly behind. Well it's like that but probably more annoying because its intentional. Bobby Womack is back on 'Bobby In Phoenix', which is OK although the swampy acoustic guitar is ruined by the electronic backing in places. By the time we get to 'California And The Slipping Of The Sun', I'm too disinterested to be angry about the stupid noises and daft title. Just to rub salt into the wound the final 'Seattle Yodel' is everything you'd expect and worse. Sorry Son. You may well love it, but I can't be doing with this any more.	ITS OVER! FINALLY. One more album and I never have to think about this band again. And good riddance, too. This is also the only album I do not have prejudgements about. I only hope the quality is in contrast with the title, although how you fall further than Plastic Beach I do not know. Anyway, first is 'Phoner To Arizona', which, along with having a great title, breaks the trend of orchestral openings. I must say I quite like it. It’s fairly minimal with instruments, but it does work. Also, by popular demand, the return of time signatures. Its 4/4. Not much to say. Although the track is far too long, and isn’t diverse enough to maintain interest. Next up is 'Revolving Doors', which has some nice plinky plonky guitar. Albarn still can’t sing, however. It is quite nice, all things considered. I am beginning to feel good about this album. Don’t ruin this, Albarn! Strangely, its 8/8. Well, not strangely. It’s just 4/4 measured differently, but it’s still a nice change of pace. Now 'HillBilly Man' which sounds like it was improvised on the spot. The guitar is very simple, but eventually the entire tone changes to that of techno hip hop. No clue what Albarn is saying though. Mind speaking up a bit? I must admit, I find myself tapping along to this one. 4/4 I think. Might be 8/8, though. It’s a bit hard to make out. 'Detroit' starts with the sound of Albarn screaming during a dentist’s surgery, and continues with the sound of what would happen if Robocop joined a band, which, considering the name, may actually be a safe assumption. Definitely 4/4. Its ends a bit abruptly, though, even with a fade. 'Shy Town' is more funky techno goodness. I guess it may be a bit generic, but I quite like it. This might even be free time. There is no real beat to help, so… who knows. Still no clue what Albarn is on about, though. 'Little Pink Plastic Bags' is where it starts to get repetitive. It’s all simple drum loops that any fool with cu-base could put together. Weakest track so far, in my opinion. 'The Joplin Spider' is bizarre. It has some sampled voices at the beginning, which I have no idea what they are saying, and then you are hit with a synth tone that makes your head want to explode.  Again, no easily identified time signature. 'The Parish Of Space Dust' begins similarly, but instead of a jarring, grating synth tone, there are multiple synths layered and actually making noises that resemble music. Albarn’s voice is actually comprehensible for once, but that does not mean it is good. Not bad though. 'The Snake In Dallas' is weird. It’s got some elements of ska thrown in with the typical techno hip hop. I quite like it. 'Amarillo' now. And, no, this is not the way. Its got some nice, slightly bashy synthy guitars, that dissolve into the same synthetic monotony of the rest of the album. And yet I still kind of like it. Nothing special though. 5/4 (I reckon). 'The Speak It Mountains' starts with weird talking. It takes about 40 seconds to actually get to the song. And when you do, all you get is a phone ringtone. With no real beat, the time signature is slightly hard to make out. It feels like Albarn wants you to think this one is cleverer than it actually is, honestly. 'Aspen Forest' is kinda boring. Have you ever heard a scale played? Well, this is that. Over. And over. Nothing much to say. 4/4. Course it is. ‘Bobby In Phoenix” is a lot of twangy guitar. And it features Bobby Womack. His inclusion here is much better than he was in Plastic Beach. Again, can’t help but quite like this one. Very slow 4/4. ‘California and The Slipping Of the Sun’ once again has a bit of talking at the beginning, and a lot of weird synths, but, again, I quite like it. I feel like I sound like a broken record at this point, but I really don’t know what to say. Its decent. Not great, but certainly bearable. 4/4. It does eventually do some weird bouncy stuff though. I don’t know, honestly. Finally, (finally!) ‘Seattle Yodel’ which is just yodelling. Nothing to see here. And that’s Gorillaz. While I certainly don’t like them, I must say that their occupation of some part of “the mainstream” was good. The world needs something like this, no matter how crap, really. I still hate them though. Cover art is the bands singer sitting in front of a synthesiser. So, at least they were honest about its content.