The internet’s supplementing yesterday’s news that Gorillaz will headline Coachella with the first listen from Plastic Beach, the animated experimentalists anticipated third LP. Guests galore on the album (Lou Reed, De La Soul, Snoop Dogg, Mark E. Smith, Gruff Rhys, Mick Jones & Paul Simonen, etc.), which Damon says is “the most post record he’s ever made.” According to Billboard, “Stylo” features Bobby Womack and Mos Def. An instrumental demo of the track leaked mid last year, but here it is with Mos and Womack, and Damon offering up the hook in demented disco stylo.
If that gets zapped, it’s also streaming here.
Check out the roll call on this tracklist:
01 “Orchestral Intro” (featuring Sinfonia ViVA)
02 “Welcome To The World Of The Plastic Beach” (feat. Snoop Dogg & Hypnotic Brass Ensemble)
03 “White Flag” (feat. Kano, Bashy & The National Orchestra For Arabic Music)
04 “Rhinestone Eyes”
05 “Stylo” (feat. Bobby Womack & Mos Def)
06 “Superfast Jellyfish” (feat. Gruff Rhys & De La Soul)
07 “Empire Ants” (feat. Little Dragon)
08 “Glitter Freeze” (feat. Mark E Smith)
09 “Some Kind Of Nature” (feat. Lou Reed)
10 “On Melancholy Hill”
11 “Broken”
12 “Sweepstakes” (feat. Mos Def & Hypnotic Brass Ensemble)
13 “Plastic Beach” (feat. Mick Jones & Paul Simonon)
14 “To Binge” (feat. Little Dragon)
15 “Cloud Of Unknowing” (feat. Bobby Womack and Sinfonia ViVA)
16 “Pirate Jet”
Plastic Beach is due 3/8 via Parlophone/Virgin. Fans thought they had unwarped the cover art, but they were wrong. It actually looks like this:
And according to gorillaz.com, something else is due in 32 days, 11 hours, and 15 minutes. And counting.
Elsewhere in Albarn: He’s working on a Royal Opera House-commissioned “proper” opera with Alan Moore (Watchmen); there’s a trio project with Flea and Tony Allen (last seen with Damon on The Good, The Band & The Queen); Blur recently unveiled the documentary of their short-lived reunion, No Distance Left To Run; and Damon has a killer contribution to “Saturday Come Slow,” a track from Massive Attack’s forthcoming LP Heligoland. Whew-hoo.
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Plastic Beach is a great title…
Looking forward to all the Albarn.
Kudos to Damon for still making more than worthwhile creative contributions as he could have easily rested on his laurels and piles of Blur cash.
This. I love Blur, but I’d argue that everything Damon Albarn has done on his own since Blur stopped making new albums is even more impressive. He’s really proven himself to be an incredibly creative and ambitious musician. At this point I look forward to pretty much everything he does.
No need to argue ? I completely agree with you. His ambition consistently matches his execution. Impressive.
actually strange (mean ‘not that good’ here) at first
then ‘groovyly’ addictive
now we need much more
This sounds like what would happen if Giorgio Moroder wrote the theme to John Carpenter’s They Live. There’s a very strong sci-fi dystopia vibe going on here. Great groove, very addicting as someone’s already mentioned. Can’t stop replaying it.
damnit. i hate when they remove the video before i get to hear it.
I just read on pitchfork that you can hear it on spinemagazine.com now.
thank you. youre awesome.
Awww, Noodle’s all grown up!
This post is so much win. Love the new song, and that tracklist is crazy in a very good way. I didn’t know it was possible but I’m looking forward to Plastic Beach even more now.
(Also… Monkey: Journey to the West wasn’t a “proper” enough opera for Damon? Oh, you crazy Brits. <3)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vixfuj-2BaY <—– working link
Gorillaz continues to be one of the more confusing, oddly appealing, and overall memorable side projects to have ever existed. Plastic Beach has got some high expectations for sure.
Orange is in…
A track with Gruff Rhys and De La Soul? How can that not be anything other than great?
Official YouTube link (legal): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SxlD74hvRk
This is the radio edit, official Gorillaz youtube has the real deal, in HQ: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SxlD74hvRk
I’m as big of a Gorillaz fan as the next guy, but was disappointed with this first single. Knowing Damon Albarn he will have a few gems on this album. I’m actually looking forward to hearing some of his material for the upcoming Olympics in London, where he has been selected for music coordinator, or whatever his official title is. Plus it is time for Blur to put an album out too. Blur fans are starved for a new one and had to endure Oasis albums and a new Verve album over the last 6-7 years with no Blur albums.
yeeeeeeeeeeeees!!!!!
Gorillaz kicks-ass!!!
Groovy track with an undeniably catchy beat….but I gotta say that i think the Bobby Womack singing will hurt the success of this song. Maybe not critically, but commercially for sure. I just don’t see this appealing to the US audience who ate up “Feel Good Inc.”
Tee hee hee hee hee!!! … whoops .. never giggled like a schoolgirl before.
I guess i like this track and am really looking forward to the record and live show.
That album cover is sweet, and I cannot WAIT to hear the Lou Reed song… my only fear for Plastic Beach is that it’ll have another horrible throwaway track like the spoken-word Dennis Hopper one
Crazy talk! The Dennis Hopper track is absolute genuis, the triptych of the final 3 songs, the seamless segue between them, an absolute joy!
they ripped off “Timewarp” by The Coach House Rhythm Section.
Blatant.
oh. you right man
Bobby Womack…WTF!? Damon youse so crazy! This album is gonna be another beautiful electronic mess, can’t wait!
Really looking forward to this one.
Compare this to anything off of the first album, and you’ll quickly realize how boring the Gorillaz (under Albarn’s supervision) have become. With the exception of Mos Def’s rapping, there isn’t a hint of excitement anywhere in the song. Albarn needs to bring back Dan the Automator and bring some actual FUN back into the project.
Oh, my. There are some very, very sexy cars in that music video. And… if Bruce Willis was pointing a gun at me, I’d be pretty damn scared too! http://tinyurl.com/PlasticGorillaz