| Short NME piece on forthcoming Monkey LP "people who like Gorillaz will be really into it" |
[posted by 2-J on Thursday 8 May 2008|01:26am] |
This week's issue of NME magazine has a short article including comments from Damon about the forthcoming Monkey album which is slated for a summer release. (Monkey is the Chinese Opera for which Damon wrote the score and Jamie worked on as lead designer). The comments echo almost exactly those included in the BBC article that caused such a storm last week ( Gorillaz-Unofficial's coverage here ) but are a little more straightforward. The article states that the comments, like those reported by the BBC previously, were made at backstage at the Love Music Hate Racism carnival.
Damon says: "We're putting out something in the summer which people who like Gorillaz will be really into. But be warned - it is all sung in Mandarin. It's got elements of Monkey... the imagery is all related to that, of course. It's not quite like the opera, though> I'd say it's more influenced by Gorillaz - but it's not Gorillaz. I don't quite know what it is yet, but it'll be good. I'm so excited about it. It's taken a long time to make, so it'll be nice to get a record out. I haven't had one out for ages. Ive got lots of stuff [written], it's just finding when it's appropriate to do it. I just like working with lots of different musicians. I get a real thrill out of it.". See the scan, including a new picture of Damon, by clicking 'Read More' below.
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| Bananaz to show at the Edinburgh Film Festival |
[posted by 2-J on Wednesday 7 May 2008|13:13pm] |
Gorillaz' documentary film is to show at the Edinburgh Film Festival that takes places in Scotland in June. This follows on from previous Bananaz screenings at the Berlinale, SXSW and Indie Lisboa film festivals.
The screenings are as follows:-
Fri 20 Jun, 21:30 Cineworld 7
Mon 23 Jun, 17:15 Cineworld 3
Tickets are £8.00, £6.40 concessions and they go onsale this Friday. They can be bought from the official Edinburgh Film Festival website here.
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| 'Soldier Boy' revealed to contain parts of unreleased Gorillaz track 'Snakes and Ladders' |
[posted by 2-J on Tuesday 6 May 2008|16:54pm] |
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The sleeve of Martina Topley-Bird's latest single 'Poison' which features as a B-Side the track 'Soldier Boy' was officially released yesterday. Soldier Boy had been previously officially announced to feature Gorillaz. The credits on the CD single reveal that Soldier Boy "contains elements from the sound recording "Snakes and Ladders" by Gorillaz". The writing credit for the song is Gorillaz-Martina Topley Bird-Roots Manuva-Leila Arab. See a fuller scan by clicking 'Read More' below.
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| Gorillaz censored in China |
[posted by 2-J on Tuesday 6 May 2008|15:53pm] |
Some news concerning two recent official Gorillaz releases in China - D-Sides and the DVD Demon Days live have been partially censored there.
More and more Western artists are officially releasing music in China but albums face the official state censors before being released which sometimes results in tracks being cut from the final runnning order. Famously, the Rolling Stones were banned from playing certain songs when they came to China ( see the BBC report from the time here ) and the same songs were removed from the band's compilation '40 Licks' in its Chinese version. Tracks being removed from albums is by no means uncommon in China today and Gorillaz are not the only artists to have encountered this problem.
It's hard to get information about Chinese releases on the internet but thanks to an ebay seller the tracklisting of some of Gorillaz' recent official releases in China has been revealed. D-Sides (check the listing here ) has Hong Kong and Happy Landfill removed from CD1 (Hong Kong no doubt for the potential political overtones, Happy Landfill possibly for the use of the word 'shit' - although the Chinese censors do not give official reasons for their cuts) whilst all three versions of Kids With Guns were removed from CD2 (presumably the censor objected to the association of kids with guns). The Chinese do get a free poster with the album, however! Demon Days Live has also been officially released in China (check out the listing here ) and features a similarly cut tracklisting ( more of the live visuals were cut than the performances. The full list of cut songs is: 'Intro', 'Kids With Guns', 'O Green World' and 'White Light').
Gorillaz' first official release in China was the album Demon Days, promoted with a special press conference in Beijing in September 2005 (Gorillaz-Unofficial's coverage from the time here ). It is not known which tracks were removed, if any, from that album.
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| Another Portuguese review of Bananaz |
[posted by 2-J on Tuesday 6 May 2008|15:51pm] |
Information is still quite scarce about the Gorillaz documentary film Bananaz so we're collecting everything we can at the moment. Check out another Portuguese reviewer's blog here, reviewing one of the recent screenings of the film at the Indie Lisboa film festival in Lisbon, Portugal.
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| Danger Mouse mentions Demon Days in Q magazine interview piece |
[posted by 2-J on Friday 2 May 2008|18:08pm] |
The latest issue of Q magazine, out today in the UK (Dave Grohl cover) has an interview with producer Danger Mouse, who was responsible for production duties on Gorillaz' second album Demon Days. Danger Mouse gives his thoughts on some of his past projects, and of Demon Days he says:-
"After The Grey Album, pretty much every major label was calling, trying to sign me. I sat with some of them and told them these crazy ideas I had for records and they all walked away. None of them could understand why I didn't want to do anything like The Grey Album again, except for Damon. So I went to London, met him and we clicked straight away. At first he didn't want me to do the whole Gorillaz album or anything. He was curious about me, to see whether we could work together. The first track we did was Dirty Harry, which was a really raw, stripped-down demo. I had this vision of choirs and Gregorian chants and rapping, and Damon was like, well, go ahead and do it! But Damon's songwriting is the strongest part of that record, not any fancy production. It's only when you have really good songwriting that you can do all the other stuff. That's what allows me to do what I do. He gave me respect and that sense of confidence. His is the biggest single influence anyone's ever had on me."
To see scans of the whole article, click 'Read More' below.
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| Portuguese review of Bananaz (UPDATE: with translation) |
[posted by 2-J on Friday 2 May 2008|00:40am] |
here is a Portuguese blogger's review of the Gorillaz documentary film Bananaz which has had two showings at the Indie Lisboa film festival in Lisbon, Portugal. Gorillaz-Unofficial's Portuguese skill is somewhat lacking but readers with at least some Spanish will get the general idea! If any Portuguese fan can translate the whole thing, send it in!
UPDATE 02/05/08 :- Nikolaz Rble2 has sent in the translation below! Many thanks.
"Indie Music: Bananaz-flavoured bubble gum
Today the Music section of Indie Lisboa is filled up with songs, images, shows and bananas. After Patti Smith, "Eraser (Rascunho, author)" passed through....
Bananaz - Ceri Levy (UK), 2008
Here we have , fresh from the oven, a documentary about Gorillaz, virtual band created a decade ago (!) by the frontman of Blur Damon Albarn, and Jamie Hewlett.
Noisy and uninhibited, this film lets us know everything about the whole creative process done by the rebel kid of britpop and the co-creator of Tank Girl showing us the starting point of the most sui generis band in the world. The four animated members also appear, but the minds behind them take control with their comments, conversations, revealing raw criticisms about pop culture, media, downloads, musical culture differences between the US and the UK (The documentary catches discussions about digressions of the 'monkeys' in the land of Uncle Sam) and their complaints about the terrible smell that some big guy from the staff left in the toilet. But overall, apart from its great structure the documentary allows us to get closer to the making of songs like Clint Eastwood or Dirty Harry, and how the varied collaborations with other musicians happened -Something remarkeable: the scene in which an ecstatic Albarn receives musical master Ibrahim Ferrer at his studio, who put his voice and cuban soul into the track Latin Simone."
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| 'Monkey soundtrack LP " [a] bit like Gorillaz"; out July' - Damon |
[posted by 2-J on Monday 28 April 2008|15:38pm] |
At yesterday's London, UK music event the Love Music Hate Racism carnival, Damon Albarn Gorillaz co-creator spoke to a BBC journalst about his upcoming projects. Although he didn't explicitly reveal that his next record would be the Monkey soundtrack LP, the clues were there (unless he's making another record that's 'all in mandarin', features a 100 piece chinese choir, 80-90 musicians and which is being finished off concurrently with the Monkey soundtrack - not very likely). Damon said he hoped to have the record out in July and that it sounded "[a] bit like Gorillaz as well". This is not the first time one of Damon and Jamie has referred to the close affinity with parts of the soundtrack record and Gorillaz. Fans don't now have long to wait to decide for themselves.
Original report on the BBC site here, overexcited NME rehash here. Monkey is the Chinese opera on which Damon acted as composer and Jamie Hewlett lead designer.
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| Bananaz shows at Portuguese film festival |
[posted by 2-J on Sunday 27 April 2008|03:37am] |
The Gorillaz documentary film Bananaz has picked up showings at another film festival (after making its world debut at the Berlinale film festival and with some follow-up screenings at the SXSW film festival in Austin, Texas). The film is showing at the Portugese film festival Indie Lisboa. The first screening took place on 24 April and there will be another screening at 10pm local time on 2nd May. Both showings are at the Forum Lisboa. Check out the official listing for Bananaz on the festival website here.
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| Listen to 'Soldier Boy' online (Martina Topley-Bird featuring Gorillaz) |
[posted by 2-J on Friday 25 April 2008|14:25pm] |
The Gorillaz myspace is streaming in full the track 'Soldier Boy' by Martina Topley-Bird and featuring Gorillaz and Roots Manuva.
Check it out here. The track appears as a B-Side to Martina Topley-Bird's forthcoming single 'Poison', out on May 5th on CD single and digital download package.
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| Roots Manuva also features in Gorillaz / Martina Topley-Bird collab |
[posted by 2-J on Thursday 24 April 2008|03:27am] |
As previously reported on Gorillaz-Unofficial.com, Gorillaz are set to feature on a B-Side to Martina Topley-Bird's new single 'Poison', out 5th May on CD and digital download package. The B-Side, called 'Soldier Boy' will also, it has been revealed today, feature UK rapper Roots Manuva [source: Independiente press release]. The press release says that "Manuva's lyrics cut into Martina's soft vocals "Soldier Boy, wide open, you know what to do". The result is an endearing mix that showcases Martina's chameleon-like approach to music styles."
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| Gorillaz-Unofficial.com interview with Jamie Hewlett |
[posted by 2-J on Friday 18 April 2008|03:11am] |
Jamie Hewlett, Gorillaz co-creator, recently kindly agreed to sit down for a chat with Gorillaz-Unofficial.com to answer a variety of fan questions that have been raised on the main site and forums. Along with Jamie's perspectives on Bananaz, D-Sides, input on what's up with the Gorillaz movie, he also takes a look back at some of his other projects from the last year as well as taking time to clear up some Gorillaz trivia points!Click here to view the interview. Many thanks to Jamie for his continued support to the site and without whom none of this would have been possible!
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| Forthcoming Martina Topley-Bird track to feature Gorillaz |
[posted by 2-J on Thursday 17 April 2008|02:54am] |
Bugman reports that according to a post on Martina Topley-Bird's website her forthcoming single 'Poison' (out May 5th) will have as a B-Side a track called 'Soldier Boy' which will feature Gorillaz. Check out the posting on the official site here. Martina Topley-Bird of course featured on the track 'All Alone' on Gorillaz' 2005 album 'Demon Days'.
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| Gorillaz songs feature in two forthcoming video games |
[posted by 2-J on Thursday 17 April 2008|02:52am] |
Jaq writes "Thought you'd like to know that Feel Good Inc. is appearing in a new Wii game, Battle of the Bands. The game plays out like Guitar Hero, but using the wii remote's motion capabilities to hit beats rather than that of a guitar.The game is centered towards multiplayer, as two different genres of bands battle it out to play the selected song. For example: A Mariachi band and a Country band face off. The leader in the current round will be performing the song, either country or mariachi style." Check out the game's wikipedia entry here or coverage of the game on IGN here. The game will be released on April 21st in North America, release dates elsewhere to follow.
Also set for release in June in Europe is Singstar Volume 2 for the PS3 games console. This karaoke game is officially stated to feature an as yet unnamed Gorillaz track (however it won't be Feel Good Inc, since the first PS3 Singstar game, released last year in Europe and this May in the US, already featured that song). More news as we get it on this one. Check out the story on Gamespot here.
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| Murdoc's question answered by Madonna - Q Magazine May 2008 |
[posted by 2-J on Saturday 5 April 2008|02:52am] |
In the current (May 2008) issue of UK Music magazine Q, there is a cash-for-questions feature on Madonna, which sees her answering questions sent in by other celebrities. Murdoc has a question included (see the scan below!).
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| EDITORIAL |
"OF DRUMMERS, GHOSTS AND EXISTENCE"
"This is why, after reading the recent interview with Mr. Hewlett, I was stunned. He said, “But I don’t know if I accept the idea he’s underused. He has had quite a lot happen to him." For a good ten minutes, I sat, rocking back and forth in my chair. How could it be that Russel Hobbs was not an underused character? Sure, he speaks in Rise of the Ogre, in interviews. Sure, he went though the emotional pain of first witnessing the death of his best friend, then being possessed by him, then having his soul ripped from his body-but still. Why does Jamie think that Russel is just as equally used as, say, Noodle?
Once I started to ponder the idea further, however, I realized something"
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| UPCOMING... |
BANANAZ
Feature length documentary film (92 minutes duration) taking a behind-the-scenes look at the Gorillaz project, featuring footage shot over 7 years. Made in cooperation with the Gorillaz co-creators. Select showings have already taken place at the Berlinale, SXSW and Indie Lisboa film festivals. Screenings upcoming at the Edinburgh International Film Festival: Fri 20 Jun, 21:30,
Mon 23 Jun, 17:15 : tickets and details here.
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