{"id":88929,"date":"2012-05-15T14:12:55","date_gmt":"2012-05-15T18:12:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/88929\/rise-fall-gorillaz\/"},"modified":"2012-05-15T14:12:55","modified_gmt":"2012-05-15T18:12:55","slug":"rise-fall-gorillaz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/88929\/rise-fall-gorillaz\/","title":{"rendered":"THE RISE AND THE FALL OF GORILLAZ"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><font face=\"helvetica\" size=\"3\">Who would have thought, when Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett teamed up in the late nineties, that Gorillaz would still be around today?\u00a0 They themselves didn&#8217;t anticipate such longevity for their side-project.\u00a0 They hinted Plastic Beach would be the last Gorillaz album.\u00a0 One year later, The Fall was released.\u00a0 It was recorded over thirty two days, during the North America Tour 2010 &#8211; on an iPad.\u00a0 It is a short album, containing half-baked experiments.\u00a0 Some of it sounds like it was made by a sedated five-year-old.\u00a0 Albarn has taken the fall, so to speak (apparently it was all his idea).\u00a0 It does not match the high standard Gorillaz set on the first three albums.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Gorillaz - Tomorrow comes Today\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5S3gF5gkegY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"helvetica\" size=\"3\">The &#8216;cartoon band&#8217; released the eponymous debut album in 2001.\u00a0 It was an instant success.\u00a0 Gorillaz appealed to a lot of people.\u00a0 A wide range of genres were mixed together (pop, rock, electro, hip-hop, trip-hop, dub, reggae, ska, punk, etc).\u00a0 The whole album has a laid-back &#8216;trippy&#8217; feel to it.\u00a0 Gorillaz seemed to have even more fun on the second album &#8211; despite the dark theme.\u00a0 With vocal performances from Shaun Ryder, Roots Manuva, Neneh Cherry and Martina Topley-Bird (plus a narrative piece by Dennis Hopper) the quartet attracted even more attention.\u00a0 Demon Days is a very polished album, with slick production by the brilliant and prolific Danger Mouse.<\/font><\/p>\n<p>http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=DNG_lFShmkE<\/p>\n<p><font face=\"helvetica\" size=\"3\">Following each of the first two albums, collections of the b-sides and remixes were released (G-sides and D-sides).\u00a0 There was no P-sides after Plastic Beach (another good album).\u00a0 Gorillaz released an awful once-off single, with Daley on vocals.\u00a0 It was announced there would be another Gorillaz album.\u00a0 The Fall isn&#8217;t a complete disaster (Revolving Doors and Bobby In Phoenix stand out).\u00a0 It has a certain charm to it.\u00a0 However, Plastic Beach would&#8217;ve been a more fitting conclusion for Gorillaz.\u00a0 There&#8217;s something to be said for quitting while you&#8217;re ahead.\u00a0 The Singles Collection 2001-2011 was released towards the end of last year.\u00a0 It contains no songs from The Fall.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Stylo - Gorillaz (Highest Quality)\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/kj7PGkYX1xk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"helvetica\" size=\"3\">Grand National started out as a Police tribute band.\u00a0 The debut album (Kicking The National Habit) was released in 2004.\u00a0 Even though it&#8217;s all original material, the Police influence comes through loud and clear.\u00a0 Some of it is also reminiscent of The Clash.\u00a0 Grand National clearly favours post-punk and new-wave music.\u00a0 There are also elements of ska, reggae and dub.\u00a0 Talk Amongst Yourselves sounds a bit like New Order.\u00a0 The compilation B-sides, Remixes And Rarities was released three years later (an odd move for a band which had only released one album).\u00a0 There has been one more Grand National album (A Drink And A Quick Decision) but I haven&#8217;t heard it.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Grand National - Talk Amongst Yourselves\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/L4TcbvqTx84?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"helvetica\" size=\"3\">Gravenhurst is one of the few non-electronic artists on the Warp label.\u00a0 The debut album (Flashlight Seasons) was quickly followed by an EP (Black Holes In The Sand).\u00a0 Both have a similarly dark and melancholic feel.\u00a0 Nick Talbot writes the songs and plays most of the instruments &#8211; and sings.\u00a0 The music is soft and strangely soothing, considering the dark subject matter (eg. Loneliness, psychosis and even rape).\u00a0 Fires In Distant Buildings is a natural progression (and a longer album).\u00a0 Influences range from New Order (The Velvet Cell) to The Doors (See My Friends).\u00a0 Psychedelic rock is blended with the usual folk music.\u00a0 The Western Lands was released in 2007.\u00a0 Ghost In The Daylight was released earlier this month.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"GRAVENHURST &quot;Black holes in the sand&quot; (2004)\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/M-rQLse-gl4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><font face=\"helvetica\" size=\"3\">Groove Armada has released six albums over the past fourteen years.\u00a0 All you need is The Best Of Groove Armada.\u00a0 It contains all the hit singles, from 1998 to 2003.\u00a0 There have been two albums since then (plus a remix album).\u00a0 They received good reviews (I haven&#8217;t heard the whole albums).\u00a0 An updated singles collection (GA10: 10 Year Story) was released in 2007.\u00a0 I&#8217;m sure there will be another update &#8211; especially considering there have been several non-album singles.\u00a0 This industrious band is showing no signs of fatigue.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Groove Armada Superstylin&amp;apos;\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Wed_2Xe_FSM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong><font face=\"helvetica\" size=\"4\">Further listening<\/font><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=FvQKxjguykE&#038;feature=results_main&#038;playnext=1&#038;list=PL27436B593C9F86EF<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Ghost train - Gorillaz\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/1YXbG5UKN_g?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Qfl_V6OdsIk<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Who would have thought, when Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett teamed up in the late nineties, that Gorillaz would still be around today?\u00a0 They themselves didn&#8217;t anticipate such longevity for their side-project.\u00a0 They hinted Plastic Beach would be the last Gorillaz album.\u00a0 One year later, The Fall was released.\u00a0 It was recorded over thirty two [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[5192,5193,5194,5195,108],"class_list":["post-88929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music","tag-gorillaz","tag-grand-national","tag-gravenhurst","tag-groove-armada","tag-music-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88929\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}