Started listening to Plastic Beach about a week ago. My first thoughts were similar to that of Demon Days, sounds good but nothing stands out. It seems like with Gorillaz, at least in my case, you need to give their albums a few listens to really feel their sound. Well, after a few listens I found some keepers, unfortunately not as many as in Demon Days.
Stylo was the first single from the album, released at the end of January of this year. Though it’s not my favorite, it’s among the better ones, some others being Superfast Jellyfish, On Melancholy Hill & Plastic Beach. But we aren’t here to discuss those, we’re here for the best (of the best), and those would be…
Empire Ants (for one). The song is split in two, the first half with vocals from 2-D (or Damon Albort in reality), with some pleasant, dreamlike instrumentals; and the second half with vocals featured from Little Dragon’s Yukimi Nagano, with a beat that’s straight 80’s XTC (or is that just me, I didn’t live through much of the 80’s). The song takes you to another reach, typical of Gorillaz. It’s my #1 pick, followed closely by Broken.
Broken is a little like the first part of Empire Ants, in that it has a pleasant & smooth sound (other than that, not so much). What I particularly like about this track is its soul-striken lyrics, instead of the usual drug induced ones (those can be fun too, though). They really capture the heart …or maybe that’s just my sensitive side… Anyways, it’s a well thought out track, and good for the those times of heartache … actually, that may not be the best idea (but listen to it nonetheless).
Finally, I just wanted to touch (a little) on some of the tracks that aren’t worth listening to: Sweepstakes (gets stuck in the head, and not in a good way), Some Kind of Nature (sorry Lou, ya just don’t do it for me here), and Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach (Snoop I expect much more with a beat like this). The other tracks on the album are fairly good, but I haven’t warmed up to them quite yet. Tell me what you think, and let me know what your most/least favorites are?
[audio:EmpireAnts.mp3,Broken.mp3|titles=Empire Ants,Broken]
Download: Empire Ants | Broken
Japanese Standard Edition & Experience Edition:
Stylo Music Video:
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIJICVkbyyM
(it’s entertaining, so I decided to include it)
Artist Information:
Genre: Electronica, Hip-Hop, Trip Hop, Rock
Formed: 1998
Creators: Damon Albarn | Jamie Hewlett
Members: (fictional)
Stuart Pot (2-D): Vocals, Keyboard
Murdoc Faust (Alphonse) Niccals: Bass
Russel Hobbs: Drums
Noodle: Vocals, Guitar
Label(s): Parlophone Records | EMI Music
Albums: Gorillaz | Demon Days | Plastic Beach
Similar Artists: Hyperstory | Deltron 3030 | Radiohead
Links: Gorillaz.com | Wikipedia | MySpace | Facebook | YouTube | Last.fm | iLike | Y! Music | AllMusic
Track Information:
Album: Plastic Beach
Release Date: March 9, 2010
Featuring (on Empire Ants): Little Dragon
Buy Links: Amazon | Amazon Mp3 | iTunes
