Albums I Adore (and Why You Should Too!): The Good, the Bad, and the Queen

     Welcome, one and all, to the fourth edition of Albums I Adore, talking and raving over the albums that are very near and dear to me. This episode, I'm covering another Damon Albarn masterwork, his 2007 album The Good, the Bad, and the Queen. This album comes from a supergroup of Damon on vocals, Simon Tong of The Verve on guitar, Paul Simonon from The Clash on bass, and afrobeat master Tony Allen working the drums. The group doesn't technically even have a name, since according to Simonon "names are for a marriage." Nethertheless, record companies, concert organizers and fans alike call the band by the name of their album. This album has roots in 2004, the same year the Demon Days recording sessions started, as Damon Albarn took a trip to Nigeria. he recorded with Tony Allen, who he recently started a partnership with recording in London several days a week before the trip, alongside Simon Tong who had just finished touring with Blur as a replacement for Graham Coxon on guitar. Along with them for the ride was producer Danger Mouse, a man who would become from my perspective very important to the album's sound, having been working with Albarn on Demon Days around the same time. The dark atmosphere of Demon Days would have a very lingering effect on this project, but we'll get to that later. Soon enough after the trip, Paul Simonon was played the demos by Damon and agreed to join the project, even if all those demos were scrapped to start over. After Demon Days had finished production, this new project was marching along before releasing Herculean as a single in 2006 and their album a few months after that. These recordings led to what I would consider Damon's best album that he has ever made. The album was described as being another dark concept album coming off of Demon Days, a "mystery play about London" and its people in times of violence, melancholy, longing and hopelessness. The London protrayed here, very much unlike the London described on Parklife and Modern Life is Rubbish from Blur, is one ravaged by wars that go nowhere and tidal waves sweeping people away. It's much less idyllic in the portrayal, one much more wrapped up in current events. This type of landscape is where our story begins...

1. History Song - This first track acts as a perfect opener to the album. It's very dark, moody and most importantly very foreboding. The track also works as not just the opening act, if you wanna think off this album as a narrative, but also on its own as a warning to people. "If you don't know it now, then it will do..." demonstrates that bad things can happen to the people who don't have an understanding of history and the wrongdoings of the past, becoming unable to prevent tragedies from occurring or even being an active participant in these activities. I really love those last few seconds as the drums and piano wind down, and the line "Sunday's lost in melancholy" works as a perfect metaphor for the London that gets described in this album.

2. 80's Life - It seems the most natural song to come after a warning to people who don't know their past would be a look into the past! I imagine this song as looking through this black and white film reel of a very idealistic view of the London of a different time. In terms of melody, it certainly does feel like one of the lightest on the album, covering up its dark lyricism. Damon says that the light has all gone dead, that everything is absolutely hopeless. Comfort is found in the sound of police sirens flying by before other tracks bring us back into darkness. The subject of war gets made loud and clear here and throughout the album, as Damon hopes for a world without endless war. This song is absolutely lovely, and its another track where I love the winding down at the very end here as well, a compliment that will extend to multiple tracks on the record.

3. Northern Whale - This song sounds like one of several tracks that sound like it could fit well at home with the catalog of Gorillaz. The synth work and pianos working together feel like something that would be right at home with D-Sides alongside tracks like Highway (Under Construction.) Tony Allen gets shafted for a drum machine here, but damn the beeps and boops of the synths here really pick up the slack here alongside the drum machine programmed by James Dring. This lyrics are about a whale who got stuck in the Thames River in 2006, whereas before the album it had been a love song towards Damon's partner Suzi as she went on a trip to Antarctica. This is also the first track to really bring tidal waves and water imagery into play on the album, which get brought up several times throughout the album.

4. Kingdom of Doom - The lyrics have some of the best imagery on the albums. I can truly picture ravens flying overhead a dingy bar filled with people drinking to ease away the pain of endless war while the band plays on a makeshift stage within. I especially like the piano work chugging along throughout. Really love the hook too. This was brought back alongside Three Changes on Damon's 2014 solo tour and I truly hope it can be brought back for any concerts for the upcoming The Good, the Bad and the Queen record for just how much fun everyone seems to have playing it. I totally get why this one has become a highlight for many people that listened to the album.

5. Herculean - A large part of the reason I even wanted to make this review in the first place was to talk about just how much I absolutely LOVE Herculean. First, I really dig the megaphone effect Damon is using here. This vocal trick certainly isn't new, he's been using it since Oily Water on Blur's Modern Life is Rubbish, although it's become synonymous with Gorillaz specifically for me now. It definitely adds to the atmosphere of this song I think. It's parts like that that make me feel like 2D is singing here in place of Damon Albarn, something that stretches across the entire album. It feels like 2D is taking a journey across the UK and seeing just how destroyed his home country is emotionally and making comments on them. I can also really feel like I'm actually in London with the narrator (2D or Damon or whoever) walking past the gasworks or looking out the window to seeing people's daily routines. I also want to use this song as a prime example of just how Danger Mouse's production adds to the album as a whole. The production here felt very layered and crisp. The static of the megaphone really meshes well with the keyboards and synths, which really works well with the drum machine and Simon Tong's guitar at the beginning. It's the type of production that encourages repeat listens to pick up on all the little details. The last two minutes of this track have to be Damon Albarn's finest moment in my eyes. After the second verse, the song descends into this heavenly outro where Damon's oohs are crushed behind the overpowering synths, the drum machine and the amazing choir work. The string section here provided by Demon Strings, who also worked on Demon Days, gels nicely with everything here too, even if they aren't as noticeable in the studio version as they are in the incredible live version. The outro helps to make this song work both as an incredible single and as the centerpiece to this album, as this outro feels like I have ascended to some higher plane of existence and I'm looking over London as it turns itself to hell. This track alone is proof enough that this is Damon's A-game in every aspect, lyrically and musically. It helps that Danger Mouse makes it sound like the best Demon Days track that never made it to the album.

6. Behind the Sun -  Speaking of Demon Days, this is another gem that I think could have worked well on that album, thanks to the presence of the megaphone-style effect, the wind sampling and the keyboards. I absolutely love how harmoniously Demon Strings and the keyboards work well together here. I really like the chorus for this one too, it's super pretty! The chorus also makes this song feel like it's taking a look back in time and comparing that to how the state of things is now, "looking at the people we've become" compared to that time far gone, "to the place where you played when you were young." Absolutely wonderful.

7. The Bunting Song - Now you may be asking "Well what exactly is bunting?" ...Or was that just me? I honestly didn't know until Damon Albarn pointed out what it was before a live performance of this track. As I've come to learn, bunting is this form of fabric often made into decorations for different occasions. It's often made into little triangle flags, like the bunting used at the live shows for this album, but they can come in a variety of styles and colors. Onto the track itself, it's another one with this really cool outro that only completes the sort of imagery I have in my head when listening to this thing. Kinda like the intro on Demon Days, I find myself imagining being in a haunted forest in the dead of night, searching around for something. This time around however, this expedition feels less horrifying and dark and more mystical in a sense. The pitch black skies I imagine from the Gorillaz track are replaced by rich purple hues. I imagine trees lined with bunting all around me as "the wild things" described in the song perform some kind of festival or holy ritual. As the traveler you don't quite get what's going on but you're so entranced by the experience that you don't dwell on it too much. It's a magical experience of a track, really.

8. Nature Springs - Tony Allen is at his finest on this track. While the album in general uses him very sparingly, when he is used it's awesome, this song being no exception. His drumming has a very nice groove to it that keeps this song afloat nicely. The outro also has to be one of my favorite moments from the album for just how perfectly every aspect comes together. Damon has this really good whistling section that comes in alongside a very solid Demon Strings performance, Tony's stable drumming and Paul Simonon's deep basslines, another one of my favorite parts of the track. Simon again has a really good part that blends in well to the track to make this all in all and outstanding performance from everybody in the group.

9. A Soldier's Tale - After the big outro of Nature Springs comes the quieter, stripped back sound of A Soldier's Tale. This album is filled with beauty, and this song in particular is absolutely beautiful! I adore the acoustic guitar here as Damon weaves a charming poem of a soldier and his thoughts and emotions during wartime, tying in nicely to the last track. There's also a hint of what's to come from Damon's solo work in one lyric, noting how "emptiness in computers" bothers him. Damon's solo album seven years after this one would tackle the relationships between man and technology at several points in that album. The whistling section in this one is really well done and adds to the track's atmosphere, as it did on Nature Springs. I love this song for just how calming and peaceful it sounds, it's almost like a really atmospheric adult lullaby!

10. Three Changes - I would like to thank Danger Mouse in particular for this track being on the album at all. He took a look at three different demos the band had made and somehow sown them all together into a very coherent whole. In part one, Damon describes the violence that has only increased in this very hectic form of London while Tony makes his mark on the track with his very prominent drumming alongside the organs and horns. Simon's guitar has this loud crunch to it that it has nowhere else on the album to really add to the madness, like it's becoming just as violent as the residents of London are. Part two slows things down a notch before racketing back up for part three. In terms of imagery here, I imagine this song as being in this dangerous graveyard where people passing by it become much more prone to random acts of violence, but unlike the last interaction a Damon Albarn project had in a spooky graveyard the band acts more as observers of this bizarre phenomenon than trying to fight it off.

11. Green Fields -  We're in the home stretch of the album, as the violence has started to subside leaving only a man to their thoughts. Back to that imagery I love so much, I imagine a return back to the bar from Kingdom of Doom after noticing the late night phenomenon of the last track, where the narrator is back on the bottle and reminiscing about London and how the violence that spread in Three Changes had come to rest, leaving behind a hometown that seems unrecognizable from what it once was, the "green fields" that "turn into stone." War, the environment, and violence has destroyed London, maybe even for good. Not all seems lost, however. The ravens flying across the moon have begun to rest as Damon sings of needing only destiny and dreams. Musically, Simon Tong really steals the show here, I love his steady guitar work and how he can really show off in the outro and chorus. I just adore how raw the guitar sound sounds here. Now the narrator leaves this pub, tired and broken looking back at the state of his home. But what does he see when he steps outside?

12. The Good, the Bad and the Queen - The man sees a sunrise, coming out of the clouds and judging all the satellites. People are starting to rekindle their relationships, the morning is calm and quiet and the narrator feels more alive than ever. There's the realization that despite all the troublesome times, despite the disputes and disasters, there will always be a younger generation who will be right on the front lines to combat injustice while many continue to work and play as they usually do. Maybe this whole experience wasn't quite the apocalyptic scenario it was built up to be. Because at the end of the day, there always will be a sun shining overhead. London will keep marching on. Also this is the best album closer I have ever heard from a Damon Albarn album (next to maybe Souk Eye.) This song works in a similar way to Demon Days' title track, a reminder that things won't be all so bad in the end, that there's always a light at the end of the tunnel to look forward too. I feel like any words i say cannot express just how powerful this ending feels, especially with how much the music does the talking here. The rest of this album has very powerful lyrics and haunting slow tracks to back them up. This track is a much faster and more upbeat affair to the rest of the album. Every single member fires on all cylinders as I feel wrapped up in warmth and light in over four minutes of pure power after the lyrics rest. While everyone in the group is at their A-game, I gotta give a shout out to Damon on the piano here. You can just hear the passion and feel the emotion on those keys. It's such a satisfying conclusion to this utterly fantastic album.


     So this is my favorite album ever, so it feels really damn good to just have my thoughts out there in a long-form format. It's for works like these that motivated me to even make the very blog you're reading right now. It feels refreshing to be able to flesh out my thoughts on the things that I love without having to conform to character limits. As long as I can write, i can feel fulfilled. Thank you for reading and I'll see you soon. Maybe the next post won't be about music, I'll be finding something else to tackle.

Albums I Adore (and Why You Should Too!): Gorillaz - Demon Days

Welcome to the third edition of a series where I talk about the albums I keep coming back to, ones I hold in high regard and are the best of the best. I can keep these records on repeat and never get tired of them. Last time, I had covered the latest Gorillaz album, The Now Now. This time we're stepping back into the animated band's universe for another go, this time for their sophmore outing (and magnum opus) Demon Days. It's certainly a grimmer affair compared to the summery Now Now or their debut album. Compared to the self-titled debut, everything also feels grander. It has more complex production, smoother animated music videos and boasting a larger guest list to match. The ideas and setting in place is also much grander than anything showrunner Damon Albarn had accomplished. Does the album crumble under this much more ambitious angle? Well look at the title of this post, that might tell you something. On to the track by track!

1. Intro - YOU ARE NOW ENTERING THE HARMONIC REALM! I would love to see anyone propose a better way to start off an album. Seriously, I'm up for any and all challengers. This intro feels like a walk through a vicious hellscape. Just imagine that it's the middle of the night, and you're walking through a forest. This forest isn't like any you've seen before. The trees are all dead, the sky is grey and lifeless, and it's filled with demons crawling out of any corner. They are not quite on the attack but lurking patiently with their hateful eyes lusting for a chance to strike. It's perfect for setting the mood!

2. Last Living Souls - This album has just begun and already one of my favorite tracks from this band's entire discography shows up! The wind sample from the intro crossfades here very nicely as this track expands on the feeling of traversing upon a hellish land. I love it when the acoustic guitar kicks in towards the middle of the track and the piano works so well underlaying it before that amazing string section kicks in. It all feels just so natural and the production so layered as the strings continue on into a reprise of the hook.  I am floored every time I listen to it, and I just stop doing whatever else I am doing when I'm listening to it just to take this track in. This is a song that encaptures you into the broken, jaded disaster of a world the album takes place in and promises to not let go. This paired with the instrumental intro is everything needed to prepare oneself for this experience, and it does this in such a captivating way.

3. Kids With Guns  - One of the best basslines on the record is right here! Demon Days was a record made with the troubles of modern day society clearly in mind, as this tackles the violence seen in everyday life. The Columbine shooting was no doubt on Damon Albarn's mind as he wrote this tune of guns "turning us into monsters." Desire is a powerful thing, and it can turn even the cleanest of human minds into destructive beings, both for themselves and the people around them. This track drills into you by its chorus that desire can lead people down violent paths, even the youngest and most fragile among us. I love the huge explosion of a crescendo this song undertakes in the last minute too, but it will not be the last of its kind on the album.

4. O Green World - Can this be the theme song for that new Swamp Thing TV series that's coming out? But in all seriousness, this is Demon Days leaning on alt-rock, as the guitars twang along to 2D crooning about the polluted, deserted environment he finds himself within. It's another great piece that helps to truly flesh out the setting. This world is dirty, distorted, lacking of purpose as it screams to be cleaned up and brought back to a better place. I really dig the synths kicking it up a notch more and more as the song reaches its dramatic conclusion, changing up from noise to loneliness with only the lone bell playing.

5. Dirty Harry - In true Gorillaz fashion, it seems like it's time to bring in collaborators. While those last three tracks were 2D by his lonesome, with the exception of some backing vocals in the end of Kids With Guns, here in the album is where the collabs really come to the spotlight. This track is also one of the most explicit in its politics, with Bootie Brown's reference to George W. Bush's infamous "Mission Accomplished" speech. May 1, 2003 was when Bush made an announcement signaling what was supposed to be the end of the Iraq war. Little did the world know on that day that the war was far, far from over. Two years on from that speech, leaves Bootie Brown playing the role of a soldier who feels like he's been played for a fool and wants to return to his normal life. The use of the children's choir works nicely alongside 2D and I'm pretty fond of the catchy synthwork here. This song helps to ground Demon Days back to earth, to keep it feeling integrated with our reality.

6. Feel Good Inc. - HAHAHAHAHAHA! This was my first exposure to Gorillaz, as had been the case for many around my age. My oldest sister played this track a lot on her computer back when the song was popular, and I heard it blaring on radios all the time during the mid-2000's. The music video was also immensely familiar to me when I first got into the band and watched all the videos, even if I'm not exactly sure how I saw it. Maybe they played it back when The N used to play music videos in-between shows? Was it online or on MTV? However I came across it, Feel Good Inc. became the first thing that many think of when they think of Gorillaz or even Damon Albarn or De La Soul. Mainstream radio isn't wrong in liking this though, this song is great! The transition is seemless between alt-rock and hip-hop, the bassline is sick, 2D is in top-form vocally and De La Soul pulls off a great performance as well.  There's a great hook and the laughing feels like the perfect addition, because it helps add to that oppressive vibe the track has. As a centerpiece to the album, it's just about perfect. And who do I have to pay to get a flying windmill island of my own?

7. El Manana - Best track on the album by far, and it's in my top 10 favorite Gorillaz songs (maybe I should post that somewhere?) It's a stunning piece of chamber pop and I'm really into how the string section accentuates the track. It feels kind of like a preview, alongside the next track, of the musical direction of The Good, The Bad, and the Queen that was recorded after the sessions for this album and released almost two years later.  The odd time signatures make this track very feel unique. I really love the imagery that this song creates, one of stormy days and loneliness, of long nights of self-reflection, finding yourself trapped in thoughts and feeling lost and powerless. It envokes a man who's lost something, or everything he held dear, preying to some higher power and hoping to restore happiness or a sense of well-being to their life. It's truly a masterpiece that deserves to be mentioned among the greats in the animated group's career, and Danger Mouse's finest work on the record.

8. Every Planet We Reach is Dead - First of all, is this the best Gorillaz song name or what? The title feels like it would be for some post-apocalyptic psychological horror sci-fi film that becomes a cult megahit after doing mediocre in the box office that everyone who's seen it says that everyone else "just didn't get it." This is also the best use of the string section on this album, because they add so much gravity to this track, making it feel otherworldly and even theatrical. Ike Turner's piano feels very sporadic and the synths unorganized, leaving in its wake a cacophony that can be heard out in SPACE SPACE SPACE SPACE. It feels grand, it feels bold, it feels chaotic, and it feels fascinating. This is 2D baring his soul for what's left of the world to see. I can truly bask in this song's emotion, get myself lost in its world as I am swept up in its world. It gives me chills, lots of chills.

9. November Has Come - MF DOOM. That is All.

Ok, maybe that can't be it, right? Of any of the guests here, MF DOOM dominates the track he is on the most. With his staple flow and odd lyricism, he makes his presence on the album known without compromising anything. There's some pretty nice guitar here from Noodle and 2D delivers a fine hook, adding to the dark atmosphere, but all other aspects of the track just pale in comparison to DOOM doing what he does best on the track. Everyone's favorite supervillain doesn't disappoint with his dastardly deeds here.

10. All Alone - "I've finally found a place where I can be alllll..... ALONE." 2D takes a backseat here, even moreso than on the last track. Roots Manuva and Martina Topley Bird take up the majority of the track. May I say that Martina's part is heavenly? The hard hitting synth beat ceases, almost like a slew of lights are pointing directly at Martina during her voice as the string section plays and Noodle strums along. It almost feels like there was a faint glimmer of light in this bleak world, before harshly getting pulled away from it before the listener gets too comfortable basking within it and finding themselves trapped in darkness once more. Let's not forget the other collaborator, Roots Manuva. His bars are nothing short of passionate and fit really nicely into the groove from the synths. He's definitely one of the best performers on the record for sure.

11. White Light - So I read this comic a month or so ago called Buzzkill. It was a miniseries about a superhero who got his power from abusing drugs and, relevant to this next song, alcohol. This feels like the track that would be going through the main character's head as he fought crime. He became reliant on this alcohol, he needed it to generate his powers, even if it was destroying him. Now it's all I can think of when this song comes on. Otherwise, White Light feels like a throwback of sorts, going back to 1999 when Blur's 13 was released. It was an album that shocked fans, both newer and older. 13 had a sound much heavier, more abrasive and definitely less commercial friendly than anything the Albarn-led quartet had released before. It's sound leaned much more heavily towards punk rock and art rock, mixed with experimentation with keyboards and synths that would eventually lead to the experimentation found on the self-titled Gorillaz album. White Light calls back to this era with its wailing guitars and simplistic synths. It's not too unlike tracks like B.L.U.R.E.M.I. or Battle in a way, it's just given the Danger Mouse touch. It also has another "looking towards the light" moment like All Alone did, as the electric guitar is swapped out for an acoustic one and 2D is replaced by a lovely choir that slows things down for a moment before picking right back up where it started. The band is all around sounding great here, with Russel's pounding drums and Murdoc's bass sliding alongside.

12. DARE - I guess this album needed more singles? DARE encourages you to get up and dance along like Noodle is in the very well animated music video for it. It's an odd switch from the punk rock of White Light and an even weirder transition to the next track I'll be talking about, but that doesn't mean it doesn't serve a purpose. It's a lighter song on the album, one where you don't quite feel like you're trapped in the gloom and doom of a deserted dystopia even as the catchy lyrics might be saying something about peer pressure. It's got a pretty OK chorus and an alright instrumental to dance along to. Shaun Ryder is certainly a cool addition and bounces off of Noodle well. It's almost like this song lures you into a sense of comfort before the rag quickly gets taken from under you later on....

13. Fire Coming Out of the Monkey's Head - The instrumental hits hard on here. I mean REALLY hard. I'm pinning that one on Russel being on his A-game here in possibly his finest moment on the album. Dennis Hopper also completely nails it on the head with his spoken word tale of invaders intruding on peaceful creatures and bringing darkness into their lives. "There were no screams. There was no time. The Mountain called Monkey had spoken. There was only Fire and then... nothing." That line especially is delivered super well. This is one of the more politically charged tracks on the album, except unlike Dirty Harry the relations to the foreign wars for oil and resources is portrayed through tales of strange creatures. 2D after Hopper's last line talks about a small town in the USA to firmly ground the album back into reality. If it didn't before, it will now. Maybe this horrific, violent, polluted world isn't quite a sci-fi premise, but something very near. The demon days are now, in every town in America, and possibly the world at large as it succumbs to darkness. Brilliantly done, Gorillaz.

14. Don't Get Lost in Heaven - Corruption is everyone, and 2D notices it, from the cities to the mountaintops. A choir warns against going too far into the world of addiction, because it might be a world one may never return from, at least not fully intact. The piano is very lovely on here, but this song acts less as an individual chapter in the saga of Demon Days and more as part one of the final track....

15. Demon Days - The crossfade is incredible and every moment of this song is absolutely breathtaking. Never has any piece of music since Kom Susser Tod stirred up so many chills in me, from the beginning strings to 2D's falsetto to the choir in its full intensity to the almost reggae influence in the beat change. This song is brewing with pathos. Everything comes to a head here, all the lessons learned from the album are wrapped up, telling tales of the world becoming worse with each passing day. How does humanity respond to all this horror? They don't. They numb themselves with mindless forms of escapism just for a day, an hour, a minute or even a sliver of a second away from things. If you find distraction, than the realities can become seem much farther away. But maybe, just maybe, it's not too late. What if there's still...hope? Maybe, just maybe, we can turn our heads around and see that there's a light. It's a light that's burning so brightly because it represents all the optimism and goodwill and pride and hope and happiness and humanity that can be found on earth. Even when it seems like the world is so hopeless, maybe we can all just look to the sun, observing just what exactly makes earth so great to begin with, and start to pick up pieces from there. It's a brand new day after all.

It's certainly been a great experience revisiting this album and being able to put my thoughts into words. It's works like these that motivate me to write, so that each and every day I can get just a little bit better, a little bit more wise in my use of words, to be able to truly convey my experiences and even understand myself more in the process. This album is simply a masterpiece that defies all genres and expectations to create something that's still just as groundbreaking and relevant now as it was in 2005, and I will never not be astonished by that fact. I hope that I did this album justice, and that the people who end up stumbling upon my blog who somehow never heard Demon Days do. It's a modern masterpiece of music and animation that cannot be praised more. Thank you for your time.

Circle of Friendz - Human(z?)

Ok, so that was a minute. Haven't made anything resembling a proper blog post with proper structure since June 28th, when I tried cashing in on the hype of The Now Now with my own two cents on the album. Hopefully my writing chops, minimal as they are, haven't gotten weak. Back to business with the Circle of Friendz!

Who is this by? Rag'n'Bone Man
What did he do for Gorillaz? Sung on The Apprentice, found on the deluxe version of Humanz.
When was this released? February 10, 2016
Where was this recorded? somewhere in the UK during 2015-2016
Why is should you listen to this?
Rag'n'Bone is the most recent to the music scene of the artists I have covered thus far. Human is his debut, and so far only, full-length album. He also had some EPs, both solo and with collabs, but this is his first major outing. Damn, is it a great first impression! Speaking of great first impressions, the opening track Human certainly works as one for themes the album comes back to later. It's a song of, simply put, humanity. It's about how the narrator isn't some holy power that everyone can come to thinking that their problems can be solved, getting mad when he gets honest in his responses. This record seems to cycle through different parts of humanity, such has family on the tracks Life in Her Yet and Odetta and death in the tracks Lay My Body and Die Easy. The album seems the most focused on love and relationships, both ones that are failing or have failed like in Fade to Nothing or Skin or relationships that are on smoother waters like As You Are. I think this diversity in subject matter under the very basic premise of an album around humanity works well with the diversity in sound thanks to the several different producers. It all meshes well together for the most part, thanks to the almost divine voice of Rag'n'Bone Man. He's got this really deep, soulful voice that brings with it this power to each track. His vocals nail whatever emotion he's trying to envoke, be it loneliness, hope, anger or anything else. 

I will say however that I'm not big on the track Wolves. It's just an OK track, certainly not one of my favorites on this record but it's not untolerable. I just feel like it's darker sound doesn't quite fit inbetween the smoother sounds from the rest of the album, particularly the two tracks it sandwiches itself inbetween, Lay My Body and Healed. I wouldn't mind seeing Healed and Lay My Body switch places after removing Wolves. Healed could work as a good way to complete a character arc for the narrator, finding a light in darkness and feeling, well, healed! Lay My Body would still work as a reminder that no matter what, all humans have to pass on, some in darker ways than others like a suicide. Healed would be like the Good End to Lay My Body's Bad End, like in a visual novel where two different routes lead to different results. 

Even with this minor setback here, there's still a great album within this. So many great tracks about different parts of the human experience can be found here, and the instrumentals are all strong. Special props goes to Odetta, which gives me some Everyday Robots vibes from its beat (and it almost sounds like 2D is on backing vocals?) The effects on Skin are really cool in the first verse and bridge with that muffled effect to the instrumental. Be the Man is another one of my favorites here, having this really nice beat that doesn't leave your head and a nice message about having faith in a relationship to boot. He may just be a rag and bones, but he certainly has more than enough backbone and support to have a bright future ahead of him in the industry. I'll be cheering him on all the way.

I give Human by Rag'n'Bone Man a 9/10.

Albums I Adore (and Why You Should Too!): Gorillaz - The Now Now

I'll admit it. I'm a pirate. As soon as I heard word of leaks, I got to them pretty quickly. That's how I'm able to write the post you're seeing now this fast, after all. I'll be repenting for my sins by buying the vinyl set soon (and who wouldn't, with all the cool art inside?) Maybe even the cassette, too, because if there's one thing I love, it's novelty. Although I'd snap up a physical release for this anyway, with just how damn good this thing is. I'm getting too ahead of myself, so I'm resetting myself and getting back on track to review the new Gorillaz LP, The Now Now.

1. Humility - Summer jam of the season confirmed! This album is starting off pretty damn strong, as this track is in my top three on the album, and surely one of my top 10-15 Gorillaz tracks of all time. Let's start by saying I love the guitar on here, provided by one of only three guests George Benson. It's just so damn groovy here, and it really slides in well with this bright track. Does anyone else think that this reminds them of Ghost Ship from The Magic Whip? This song seems like it could slip in perfectly on that album. Plus this song is easily one of the group's most replayable. I've heard this track close to 30 times by now and I still can't get enough of it.  I had honestly been in one of the happiest moods I had ever been in thanks in part to this coming out. I felt like I was 2D in the video, happily skating along through life, finally being someone at ease with myself and not letting things get me too mad anymore, feeling almost invincible. If a song can make me feel like that, then there's really gotta be something to it, shouldn't there be?

2. Tranz - DO YOU LOOK LIKE ME? DO YOU FEEL LIKE ME? I see we're only two tracks in and already at the "punk" song. Looks like Murdoc may have had more of an influence on this album than he thinks. This song always gets me pumped up every time it's on and never fails to get me chanting along (however horrific I may sound in the process.) It feels almost hypnotizing, but I can't imagine why...

3. Hollywood - I thought when listening to this feature packed single live months before the album release that this was gonna feel more like several of the cuts off of Humanz, being a little faster paced and upbeat. What I got in this studio version was something a little more chilled out, and I honestly think I like this direction a little better after giving the studio version several spins. It's got a nice hook from 2D, some fun if not as polished verses from Jamie Principle, and a great verse from Snoop Dogg. It's always nice to have Snoop Dogg around it seems. Makes me wanna check out the real Hollywood for myself someday.

4. Kansas - The beginning of this one certainly reminds me of Every Planet We Reach is Dead. "I'm not gonna cry" was exactly was I was thinking listening to this whole album. It works as a pretty infectious hook by the way. This has a pretty great beat to go alongside it too! It's just so pleasant to listen to as 2D goes on this lonely journey through Kansas with a broken heart. Songs like this were exactly what I was hoping for in a purposed 2D solo album.

5.Sorcererz - This was my second favorite single off the album. I just love that Junior Dan from the self-titled album is back on bass here! It's got this super catchy chorus that's just absolutely infectious and it's gotta be the one that gets me dancing the most off this album (however horrific that may be in the process.) Did I mention that "Everybody mining their own inner vision" is such a cool lyric?

6. Idaho - When I heard the live version of this back in fall, it seemed like a somewhat straightforward country song done entirely though acoustic guitar. It was an intriging choice of song to play a few months after the very dance focused angle of Humanz and a fine and calming song in its own right, but not something I came back to much. This studio version blew that original performance out of the water. The production was what really made this song work in my view. It's a lot more atmospheric and feel almost otherworldly now in its fully finished stage. Plus I noticed how the lyrics got completely switched around for this, so sadly no Bruce Willis namedrop like in the live version.

7. Lake Zurich - It's a miracle! Somehow a transition from atmospheric country music to 80's synths works! It's the best instrumental Gorillaz has ever done, hands down! While I was a little weirded out as to exactly why any sort of instrumental got released as a single, it works as a great proof-of-concept to the album's direction towards 80's synthpop. The synths knock it out of the park on this track by the way. I love the weird mumbled chatter going on towards the middle of the song too.

8. Magic City - This one is very close to my top three on this album, like it's soooo close.  I adore the beat here, the lyrics are so precious and I love the guitar here from Noodle. I have heard that Graham Coxon playing guitar here on this track, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was. The guitars feel ripped straight out of something like Lonesome Street off Blur's The Magic Whip. I love the imagery of having a billboard on the moon too, I'm just not sure why.

9. Fire Flies - Really feeling some strong Everyday Robots vibes here in this slower, atmospheric track. It's nice that this track experiments with having different time signatures compared to the rest of the album, it really helps give this a unique sound. It's just ok during the first verse, but it really takes off by its chorus. "All you ever get from the sonnet is the court of the fallen man" is another beautiful lyric in an album in an album that seems full of them.

10. One Percent - I was floored when I heard this track for the first time. It's another track that carries with it echoes of Everyday Robots, but it's honestly better than almost anything from that album, as much as I love it. By far one of the most emotional tracks that Damon Albarn has ever written. The most impressive thing about it is how it can carry all this emotion and deliver it in just over two minutes, being the shortest of the record's eleven tracks. Everytime this song comes on brings chills all over me, bringing me the same otherworldly sensations that Idaho does on this record and tracks like Stop the Dams from D-Sides or A Soldier's Tale from The Good, the Bad and the Queen do at other stops in Damon's discography. The first time I walked away from this track, I knew that it was an absolute masterpiece and one of the best Gorillaz songs ever put on record. However, it somehow does not take my number one spot for being the best song on this album, settling for number two. Now what does?

11. Souk Eye - This may very well be the best song Gorillaz has ever made. There. Attack me in the comments all you want, throw negative karma at me on Reddit, it doesn't matter, I'll take it on! Never have I loved every facet of a Gorillaz track so much since Stop the Dams, the track that had up until this point been crowned the honor of best Gorillaz song. I love these lyrics, lines like "If loving you's a felony now, then I'm a renegade" are just so great. I absolutely adore the beat change, turning from a Latin-influenced ballad to incredible dance song all the while feeling completely natural. I love the piano clinking along throughout the ending. I love that Demon Strings seems to be back for this track, particularly for the outro. That fade out is giving me some serious Tracy Jacks from Parklife echoes and it sounds gorgeous. There couldn't have been a better pick for a closer than this, it's perfect in every way.

That ends The Now Now. At this point and time, it's equal to Demon Days as my favorite Gorillaz album, with so many highlights and gems that make up some of the best of the animated group's discography. Ace is a great replacement for Murdoc while he's out being a jailbird, he's really holding it down on these tracks. I seriously cannot thank Damon Albarn and James Ford enough for bringing this brilliant cycle of introspective tracks to fans, and to Jamie Hewlett for bringing some of his best live visuals and awesome artwork to the album and shows. I see The Now Now as what The Fall could've been with more time attached to the songs. All in all, it's Damon's best work since The Good, the Bad and the Queen all the way back in 2007, which i will be covering very soon. Well I gotta run soon, so enjoy the album! It's truly something special to me, maybe it'll be to others.

Albums I Adore (and why You Should Too!): Puffy Amiyumi - Nice.

Ever since May, I have been on a roll reviewing albums for the Circle of Friendz project, taking a look at an album from almost every single Gorillaz collaborator. Another common thread between those album is not just the animated band that they worked with on a track, but also the fact that I am very new to the vast majority of these records. When I see what album I review next, it's one that I have never heard in full or at all before I started the project. As I was working on one of these reviews, I had the idea to do another album review series, but with works I'm a lot more familiar with. While Circle of Friendz focuses on a great Unown of sorts, going into albums and even genres I wouldn't have looked much into otherwise, I wanted to do a series that focused more on charted territory. This series takes a look at the albums most near and dear to me, ones I have recognized from front to back and have become very familiarized with ever since I started taking a dive into the world of music. While I will be covering some albums that people who like Circle of Friendz may already love very soon, this time I want to go completely in another direction, not getting myself involved in any of Damon Albarn's shenanigans for a minute.

I want to talk about J-pop, more specifically Puffy Amiyumi. I had already covered them in a past article, talking about their three-season animated series on Cartoon Network from back in the mid-2000's. I had started rewatching the show last year, and after getting some ways into the series I had already grown fond of what music from the band's discography was being used. Soon enough, I had tried out their two-disc compilation album 15 and absolutely adored it. The album was close to two hours, but I didn't feel that at all. Right after that, I dove straight in to the albums themselves, first diving into a compliation album made to tie into the TV series. My next stop was Nice, the 2003 album that had come out not long before the show went into production, using a handful of tracks from this in the show itself. While the two compliation albums I had heard before were fun, light pieces of J-pop that I really got into, Nice was when I knew I had stumbled upon one of my favorite bands as the album absolutely floored me in ways japanese music hadn't before. 

On a side note before i begin, the ways reviews will be handled is a little different than from the Circle of Friendz posts. While in those reviews, albums are talked about in a more general sense, as I dive into what makes the album listenable as a whole as opposed to dissecting each individual track, Albums I Adore will go a little more in-depth. These will be handled as track-by-track looks into just how great these records are, focusing in more on every track's strengths. The numerical scores will be ditched as well for these. Now with all the intro stuff out of the way, let's dive into why Nice is one of the nicest albums I've heard.

1. Planet Tokyo/Akai Buranko - This album goes on a powerful start, and I definitely see why this got an English version. This song of any of Puffy's tracks that weren't used as theme songs seems to be the one people remember, although I think Cartoon Network using the song constantly when advertising the show helps out with this. It also helps that this song gets you SO PUMPED UP! It's got a catchy hook and there's some of my favorite guitar work on the album. I don't think there could've been a better opener choice than this!

2. Tokyo Nights - I keep getting the I'M IN LOVE part stuck in my head and try to keep myself from yelling out the hook whenever it comes on. It's a very nice piece of electropop that won't leave your head for weeks. You'll notice that lots of tracks all across this record have some pretty infectious hooks, and this could be one of the best examples.

3. Angel of Love - The weirdest thing about this track is that sometimes I honestly forget this one was on here. Usually when people say that, that's for tracks that are super boring or forgettable. This one isn't boring at all though! It's one of the slower tracks on here, something you turn on just to chill out. It's very relaxing in that way! I love the horns during the instrumental break too, they really make this song feel like something off a Round Table ft. Nino record.

4. Sayonara - This was in the top 3 tracks on the record for me when I first discovered the record, until I listened to the final tracks of the Japanese release some time later. It still stands as an album highlight for me, however. This is a great piece of guitar pop about leaving behind a friend you love as you set off on a new path for yourself. The marimba really adds to the song too.

5. Invisible Tomorrow - Now the album steers towards more energetic pop rock again like on the first track. This has to be one of the best tracks to sing (or scream) along to on this entire album. There's also three different versions of the track for different releases. The one on Nice, no matter what country you got the album from is the original Japanese. Then there's an English version that's on the Scooby Doo 2 (of all things!) soundtrack and on the Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi album tying into the TV show. There's another english version of the track on the mini-album 59 that came out the year after this. All three of these tracks go in very different directions lyrically. Invisible Tomorrow is about heading out towards an uncertain tomorrow, never looking back. Friends Forever is basically what the title says, a song about friends staying together no matter how tough things get. So Long Zero describes a breakup and leaving someone you didn't love anymore. Of these, So Long Zero is DEFINITELY the weakest of the three, the vocals feel unusually weak compared to the rest of the discography. It felt very unsure and kinda uneven. Invisible Tomorrow and Friends Forever are on equal footing in vocal delivery, but I like Invisible Tomorrow the best. It's got the strongest message of the three.

6. Thank You - Yumi wrote and sings solo on this charming little piece. This track is about having boys and girls coming together to talk with each other and connect as people and it's so charming and adorable and I really like it. I had been watching through the series when I heard this one and it was really funny to think that Yumi had made this one when what I had in mind was less her real-life personality and musical style, which I hadn't done much research into then, and more the Yumi of the animated series, who I expected to be behind more rock focused tracks like Planet Tokyo.

7. Long Beach Nightmare - Right after a Yumi-driven track comes an Ami driven one. This one is a pretty fun summer jam (and I will be talking lots about summer jams in my next post!) It feels so breezy and like I'm hearing this playing out from a portable radio on the beach (you know, if I was a beach person...) This is another fun sing along of the several on this album.

8. Your Love is a Drug -  Love is an addicting thing for sure, and I can certainly attest to this. This song feels so damn accurate and close to home describing the way I felt the first time I fell in love back in middle school. When I did, I felt like I was on cloud nine whenever I saw her, and just how much i felt like my life turned around after I started talking to her. This song totally captured that special time in my life in the form of a fun rock song, and one of the duo's most relatable tracks in my eyes. I also see this track alongside Planet Tokyo as being an attempt to get on pop radio and it honestly wouldn't stick out too much I think.

9. K2G - My second favorite song on the album. For the readers who remember Teen Titans, this song played in Mad Mod's introduction episode during season 1. When I watched that season a few years ago, I thought the episode itself was terrible and almost none of the jokes landing. What I did like though was the montage that used this as background music. I loved the music in that sequence and I really appreciated having this track on here, really gave the episode a bright spot. It's a fast, upbeat and super catchy ska track (First my kablam post, then the selecter and now this? I seem to be attracted to ska lately.) A great track to bounce around the house to.

10. Shiawase (Happiness) - My third favorite song on the album. This is a soothing, lowkey acoustic track. It feels like I'm hearing Ami and Yumi gathered around a campfire singing this to each other late at night before heading off to bed. It's a good way to settle things down after K2G and honestly would've been a great comforting way to end off this great album. Everything about the track, from the guitar to the harmonies, feel very comforting to me. It's happiness in song form!

Here's where things diverge. I alluded to earlier about different versions of this album. There's one track listing for the Japanese release and a different one for the North American version. The Japanese version starts with a Japanese language version of the opening track, with an English version for the NA release. The tracks afterward carry on just the same until after track 10, Shiawase. The NA version may have had different tracks because the last two tracks of the Japan release were tracks that had been released on the U.S. exclusive compilation album An Illustrated History just a year before. Let's dive right into the NA version before doing the Japan version.

11a. Urei - This track feels like this should've been a background song during one of the fights in Teen Titans. Heck, this song actually went along great with the fights whenever I read the comics based on the original cartoon. It's got a powerful hook and could go great with whatever fight it gets paired with. This one is a NA exclusive, but is only in Japanese, for some odd reason.

12a. Teen Titans Theme - T-E-E-N T-I-T-A-N-S TEEN TITANS LET'S GO!! ANYONE born after the early 90's who watched Cartoon Network could probably recite this bad boy from heart. This one honestly took a bit to grow on me but damn if this isn't one of the best cartoon theme songs out there. It's catchy as hell and that chant is damn near hypnotizing!  I totally get why this song was on Nice, the series had just started around that time, and it was a perfect opportunity to advertise.

Now let's move onto the softer Japanese tracks

11b. Atarashii Hibi - This is a sweet little track about a woman buried in stress from relationships and works, never able to have much fun with her life. She dreams of escaping this life just for a little while, wanting to go on a trip without anyone knowing or going on a treasure hunt. This one doesn't go for a radio-friendly chorus in the way that the other tracks do, a little odd but it's so fun that it works.

12b. Tomodachi (Friends) - I'M HERE, I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS! Not only is this my favorite song off this album, it's also my favorite Puffy Amiyumi track and one of my absolute favorite Japanese songs in general. First off, just the name makes it feel like this would've been a great ending song for the cartoon. Second, This song is the definition of comfy. It's so calming and I will admit that I teared up just a little when I saw the live performance. God, this song is not just a great little summary of this album's strengths, but also just what I love about this group. It's the ultimate feel good song for the ultimate feel-good album.

Nice is a charming little album that's packed with great moments. It's also extremely consistent in ways even other Puffy albums weren't, it's all super good! This is a pinnacle of 2000's J-Pop in my eyes, and I can't thank Ami Onuki and Yumi Yoshimura enough for this gem of a record. Here's to hoping that a new album is down the pipeline soon, but I'd be just fine with the single-focused angle that they have gone in the last six years. Anything to keep them making music.

Next on the Albums I Adore, it's gonna be a surprise! Let's just say that it's a great summer album...

Bye Bye Boo~

Circle of Friendz: Pauline Black/The Selecter - Celebrate the Bullet

Before I begin, I will be reviewing the Now Now very soon here. Leaks have come and BOY I have some things to talk about! Aiming for a June 29 release date for that post. See you then, and let's get to the review.

Who is this? Pauline Black, lead singer of 80's two-tone ska group The Selecter
What did she do for Gorillaz? Sang on an alternate version of Charger found on the Super Deluxe version of Humanz (which unless you want to shell out hundreds of dollars for the vinyl set, can only be found through less official means.)
When did this come out? February 27, 1981
Where was this recorded? Horizon Studios
Why should you bother? So far, I have reviewed five different albums for this so-called Circle of Friendz project. In each of these five album reviews, I had talked in very general statements about the music involved and how they made me feel. When I made those past reviews, I had focused much more on the instrumentals and how the lyrics can blend in with them. With this particular album however, it was the opposite to an extent. I wasn't very concerned with the instrumentals on this album as much as I was the lyricism found within. That's not to say that the instrumentals were unimportant or bland. The darker take on ska presented here works wonders with its lyrics (I guess you could call it Dark Pop?) I was just utterly fascinated by the songwriting here. I believe that a few, if not all, of this LP takes on some kind of narrative. While I only started thinking about a narrative around track seven, I could see elements of one looking back at my notes from the start of the record. First, let's set the scene.

The setting is sometime on late 70's-early 80's Britain. Britain is going a recession, and naturally people feel... uneased with themselves. They're growing poor and it feels like the whole world is crashing down around them. It's here where we find our protagonist. They're a somewhat typical person, devoting their life to work and their relationship. On the news, however, they see stories of financial crisis, of homes getting taken away, and maybe they're wondering if or when the very same could happen to them. Let's just say that it did. Track one opens up with a song about a failing relationship, (Who Likes) Facing Situations. The relationship is one frought with communication problems or maybe just a lack of sympathy for what the other is going through. The next track, Deep Water, was originally a reflection from Pauline about her frustrations on an American tour, but I saw it as a fictional character study. This song dives in deep, alongside the third track Red Reflections, into a person finding themselves in a personal hell. Their house has been sold off, a relationship has been shattered and they find that they have dark thoughts inside in a moment of self-reflection. The next track, "Tell Me What's Wrong," could be the person trying to talk to a friend they go back years with before avoiding them and asking why they were abandoned. This encounter sets off a further spiral towards madness. The next track could be seen as an aftermath of this meeting. With many relationships broken and being in serious financial trouble, the protagonist goes insane. The next track involves the protagonist making a bombscare (it's literally called Bombscare!), possibly as a way to stick it to the former friend that they talked to. Washed Up and Left for Dead feels like this character's entire situation summed up, as "nobody told him he was just not wanted," one left out by friends and never fitting in, feeling washed away by the world but hungry for fame. After getting jumped by thugs and nobody helps out, he's left out in the cold at night, able to reflect on how everything has gone to shit, signaling a change in themselves towards anger. They're fed up, and ready to burst. Side one ends there.

Side two picks up on an explosive start, the title track single describing just how the anger felt throughout the album manifests itself. The protagonist turns violent, and the track acts as a warning from Pauline to the protagonist that using violence won't bring back everything that they had lost, their money, their friends or their relationship.  Selling Out Your Future shows the protagonist going into hiding after committing the crime, complacent in the fact that they're selling out their future for a peace that may never come. The narrative I find with this album seems to come to a pause with the next track, Cool Blue Lady... or does it? The character in that track is one who gives others everything despite never getting it in return, one who's shut out by society. This isn't exactly unlike our main character, and in fact I read Their Dream Goes On as an intersection of these two characters done from the main's perspective. I took the line "I look at you turn electric blue" as The Cool Blue Lady and the main character see each other on a street corner, if only for a quick glance. Maybe they could have found things to share in common, finding some strength in each other. The final track doesn't add to either character's narrative, but instead focusing on the world those two live in. Bristol and Miami tells a tale of two places on entirely different parts of the globe suffering the same thing. Both are in states of ruin, the people within them turning to music, possibly as a means of escape. To "listen to the echo of the street" is to hear out about the troubles people are facing, and to go help them at a time for need. Even if they're from different countries, they still go through many of the same struggles.

Celebrate the Bullet is a great representation of the troubles found not just within members of The Selecter themselves, but also within the world at large. It's got some fascinating stories to tell, with a moving way of doing so. I encourage anyone to give this disc a spin or six, just to see what they can take from it. It's just as relevant now as it was back in 1981, in my eyes.

I give Celebrate the Bullet an 8.5/10.

Circle of Friendz: Sweetie Irie - DJ of the Future

Yahallo! So somehow it's been the longest amount of time between Circle of Friendz posts (one week.) Well I did say that there isn't a schedule (at least I'm pretty sure I did...) However, I wanna try to make these posts somewhat frequent.  Don't wanna seem like I'm slacking after all, and there is lots of material to get through with this project. There's just one more thing before I start. That new Gorillaz track, Fire Flies? It's great. Like, really great! I'm a big fan of Everyday Robots, Damon's solo album, and the track really gave me some Everyday Robots vibes, or maybe like a tidied-up version of a track meant for The Fall. At the same time, I could also see it going on the latest Blur album, The Magic Whip, as it could fit well alongside tracks like Pyongyang. Now with that gushing out of the way, let's get on to the review, taking a look at another less-known and discussed collaborator with Gorillaz.

Who is this? Sweetie Irie
What did he do for Gorillaz? Rapped over the Ed Case remix of Clint Eastwood on the self-titled record, as well as on the rare track Dub Dumb, found on the PS2 game MTV Music Generator 2.
When did this come out? Sometime in 1991, haven't found much info about an exact date.
Where was this recorded? Pavilion Studios and Easy Street Studios
Why should you care? It's a pretty ok summer album, so it's the perfect time to reviewing this! It's got some bright, summery instrumentals to it to listen if you just wanna chill out a bit. However, Sweetie Irie's vocals were a little rough on the ears for me at first, even if I started to settle with them somewhat quickly. Speaking of quick, this record is a pretty quick listen, or at least it felt that way. It's ten tracks long, but it felt like maybe 5. I really dig the piano on Winery, even if I didn't care that much about the rest of the track. My favorite tracks come towards the album's end, with Sweetie's best deliveries on Good Understanding and having a nice contrast to Aswad on the album closer On and On. Speaking of that, the guests all do a pretty good job on this one. They all seem to bounce off of Irie well here, the aforementioned Aswad and and the guest on the track Call Me being the most notable among them. All in all, it ended up being an OK listen, even if I won't be particularly reaching for this much in the future or slotting it into playlists.

I give Sweetie Irie's DJ of the Future a 6.5/10.



P.S. For those still reading, I have another new "segment" of the blog I'm adding in soon, alongside my other new segment Talking Too Much About Cartoons, which you can check out here. I'm doing another music related series of posts called Albums I Adore (and why you should too!) AIAWYST is gonna be about, as the long title says, about the albums that are near and dear to me, those 9's and perfect 10's that I keep reaching to listen to often. It's about the albums I can't stop thinking about, those whose songs have been buried deep into my brain and cannot leave, making a great impression on me. The way the reviews are structured will be somewhat different to Circle of Friendz as well, but will have some albums very related to Gorillaz and its close friends along the way, alongside whatever extra unrelated goodies I wanna share (spoiler: expect lots of J-pop.) It's a series I'm already feeling really good about, and I haven't even written any of the things yet! My first post in this series will come directly after my next TTMAC, which I will keep secret. I will say to think of the first album post as almost a companion piece to the next cartoon post I will be doing. Be on the lookout for both those segments, and of course more Circle of Friendz and anything else that comes to mind soon!

Circle of Friendz: Snoop Dogg - Doggystyle

Man, the last few days have been fun for Gorillaz. The new chat bot to talk to Murdoc has been hilarious to play around with, seeing his many different well-written responses. His answer when people ask about Ace Gangreen would be very interesting to delve into, since the two of them apparently go way back (maybe this could be in the TV show?) Little fun things like that make the Gorillaz project feel more immersive for its listeners, especially with the Alexa add-on featuring his voice actor. The musical side of the project has had some nice discoveries too. The summer festival tour has begun, and with it has come several new tracks from The Now Now. Sorcererz, Tranz, Magic City and Souk Eye all got revealed, and I heard them from the livestream of the Rock am Ring show. However, I will not review these tracks until the studio versions release, but I'm very excited to talk about them soon. Speaking of the new album, I must have gotten real lucky here, with the subject of this post being one of three guests on The Now Now. As with last time, I'll be doing the 5W format, like with the Bashy.com review.

Who did this? Snoop Dogg

What did he do for Gorillaz? Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach, a live rendition of Clint Eastwood, and the upcoming track Hollywood. Gorillaz also gave back to Snoop by appearing on Sumthing Like This Night on his album Doggumentary.

When did this come out? November 23, 1993

Where was this recorded? In Los Angeles and North Hollywood, recording at The Village Recorder, Complex Studios and Larrabee Studios North and West.

Why should you listen to this? Snoop Dogg, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Calvin, Snoop, Snoop Lion. Whatever you call Snoop Dogg, you have certainly seen him on TV or heard one of his hit singles on the radio at some point. When I just started getting into Gorillaz and music in general, he was one of the few names I had recognized beforehand. With this debut album, I can certainly tell why he became one of the most iconic figures in rap music, even extending way beyond rap. First off, Snoop Dogg makes some very entertaining verses here, spinning tales of sex, violence, weed and gangs, doing it in a way that can put a smile on people's faces with his iconic smooth deliveries The next reason is definitely the hooks. The hooks here are all great and feel specially engineered to get into your mind and make damn sure that they and the man behind them stays in the public mind. Gin & Juice, Serial Killa, Who am I, lots of these tracks have killer hooks attached to them. The beats and production are pretty great, these classic groovy beats headed up by Dr. Dre, coming off an album called The Chronic where Snoop had been a major guest on. This teamup definitely bounces off each together well on these tracks, Snoop's lyrics being well fit for Dre's style of G-funk beats. This is another album on the Circle of Friendz with a revolving door of guests, and all of them lay out some great deliveries here that are utilized well with Snoop. My personal favorite of the bunch here has gotta be Lady of Rage, she did awesome on For All My Niggaz and Bitches! All the tracks here are pretty good, although I'm still not quite sure if Pump Pump was the strongest way to end the album on. It's a decent track, but it isn't as memorable as the work that comes before it. Another problem is found not quite with the album itself, but later pressings of it. The track Gz Up, Hoes Down is taken off of later pressings and not available on streaming services because of clearence issues. It's a damn shame because it's one of my favorite tracks on the album. Even if it falls short time-wise, it certainly doesn't fall short musically, because the sampling is great and the track is just sooo smooth.

Snoop Dogg's debut outing is an absolute classic hip-hop album, filled with tracks that have defined rap for the decades to come. Dre and Snoop have a powerful relationship here that I can't hate. I give it an 8/10.

I know lately that I have been pretty heavy on the music posts lately. This is mainly because the Circle of Friendz project is one that will take me a while, as i still have 70 something albums to get through. However, there will be some anime posting down the line soon. Spring is ending and summer is starting, so it's definitely a good time to start planning some end of season thoughts about the spring anime season. This will still take a few weeks however, since nothing has finished just yet. Expect those and some other fun surprises on here soon!

Circle of Friendz - Bashy - Bashy.com / other random gorillaz related things

First off, before i start this next post, I have to apologize. In my post introducing the Circle of Friendz, I posted a link to a Google Doc that included a link that should have led to my list of albums that I was planning to review for the Circle of Friendz music project. As it turns out, I had left the link on private. I'm not exactly sure if I'm cut out for this whole blogging thing. But that link is fixed, and includes two more albums included thanks to recent news regarding the new Gorillaz album.
Check out the link here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1h0g9igOh1MBj9lQjmpnMLjpuxsBR25GJaP-mhgXGIb8/edit?usp=sharing

Onto some brighter news, it seems to be a busy day for Gorillaz fans. Let Me Out collaborator Pusha T dropped a pretty brutal diss track against Drake days after dropping his latest album, Daytona. This heightened an already longstanding feud between the two going back the past 5 years. A new group featuring two members of the Gorillaz live band, bassist Seye Adelekan and guitarist Jeff Wooton, is releasing a track with November Has Come collaborator MF DOOM later today. This new group, known as Youth of the Apocalypse, has been around for only a year and are already knocking it out of the park with their first feature being such a revered name like DOOM. Most importantly, a clip of a conversation between Damon Albarn and Zane Lowe have revealed some very tantalizing details about the upcoming Gorillaz album. Damon revealed that the new album only has two tracks with collaborators, as the track Hollywood features Jamie Principle and Snoop Dogg and opening track Humility features George Benson on guitar. Otherwise, it's all 2D. He also noted that James Ford produced the album, who also work on several Arctic monkeys LPs and the latest Little Dragon album. Humility is also getting released tomorrow before the album itself! I have heard the leak of the track, but I wanna wait on forming full opinions until I can get my hands on a studio version (and possibly accompanying music video.)

I wanna switch things up for this next review, since lord knows I don't exactly have a flood of things to say about this one compared to my last review, Squire for Hire. I decied to use the entirely original and honestly never before used 5W system (I'm copyrighting that), using Who made the album, What the artists did for Gorillaz, When the album was recorded and released, Where it was recorded, and Why you should or shouldn't give the album I am reviewing a spin or six.

With all of that out of the way, let's get into the next album on the Circle of Friendz project.

Who made this? Bashy, also known as Ashley Thomas
What did they do for Gorillaz? Rapped on White Light and on live versions of Clint Eastwood.
When did this album happen? November 17, 2008
Where was it recorded? somewhere in the UK, can't find a recording studio.
Why you should care? Well, the mixtape certainly has a sense of humor. Lines like "I'm gonna go vandalize a phone booth" on the track I See People are pretty good. Most of the beats and the production are decent. Not just that, but the majority of deliveries by Bashy here certainly got some power and energy to here, such as the live cut Rampage Set. Some highlights of the beats on this tape include the track Hype on the Road and the electronic beats of Mind Out. My favorite track on this album has to be Feelings, a song fast both in length and in its pounding drums. The beat here feels like it would have a home on an old school Toonami commercial. I honestly wish this track was a bit longer, so I can stick with that great beat and have more time for the horns. The track Superheroes is another favorite of mine, not really because of any impressive beats or standout production, but because it hits a soft spot with me with its fast flying verses about the superheroes of Marvel and DC. No surprise that a comic nerd would like a track like this. However, the tape as a whole doesn't exactly go beyond a 6.5 or maybe a light 7.

If you like Myspace references and late 2000's grime, you might love this. For others, you might be able to get a few laughs out of this thing. You'll still get annoyed by the constant repeated samples and sound effects.

This album gets a 6.5 out of 10.