Only two weeks ago GORILLAZ released their 8th album CRACKER ISLAND. Their best since their debut to my ears.
And as it happens with all big artists/bands a deluxe edition with
bonus tracks is released for fanatic fans. Gorillaz added 5 tunes on
theirs. A couple of new ones and alternate versions of other tracks.
It’s the fictional act’s, led by human voice and musical centipede Damon Albarn,
eighth studio album with 10 tracks on it and another stellar line-up of collaborators, including Thundercat, Tame Impala, Bad Bunny, Stevie Nicks, Adeleye Omotayo, Bootie
Brown and Beck. It’s produced by Gorillaz, Remi Kabaka jr. and eight-time Grammy
Award-winning producer/multi-instrumentalist/songwriter extraordinaire Greg Kurstin.
NME says: “The band’s first post-pandemic record eschews industry-busting rollouts or a concept-heavy narrative, instead showing their influence on pop’s present and future. While ‘Cracker Island’ doesn’t exactly ape a sound that’s proving already-popular, it does a fine job
of reminding everyone where much of the limitless thinking came from. Gorillaz take snapshots of a diverse music scene – from psych-fused pop to reggaeton – and put a unique spin on it. There’s no broad concept or industry-busting roll-out, just 10 pristine, richly satisfying tracks;
no more, no less.” Score: 4/5.
TUTV: Vocally, despite contributions of a star line up it’s Albarn‘s lazy voice that’s prominent on almost every song, as we know it. 10 familiar, mostly bluesy, synth-pop tunes except for the upbeat title track and New Gold, is what we get. Yes, smooth mid-tempo grooves dominate the record, even more than on previous LPs. But ALL grooves have a feel-good, mesmeric and slow hip-shaking vibe, so before you notice it, the relaxing party is over and you reach for the repeat button (which I did, anyway) for an encore and another happy-go-lucky ride. Music for drowsy moments on your favorite, imaginary island.
KEY SINGLES: Cracker Island / Skinny Ape / Silent Running
GORILLAZ drop their new LP, titled CRACKER ISLAND
with the world next year, on 24 February 2023.
Cracker Island is the eighth studio album from Gorillaz, an energetic, upbeat,
genre-expansive collection of 10 tracks featuring yet another stellar line-up
of artist collaborators: Thundercat, Tame Impala, Bad Bunny, Stevie Nicks, Adeleye
Omotayo, Bootie Brown and Beck. Recorded in London and LA earlier this year, it
is produced by Gorillaz, Remi Kabaka jr. and eight-time Grammy Award-winning producer/multi-instrumentalist/songwriter extraordinaire Greg Kurstin.
Murdoc about Gorillaz’s near future: “To all our followers, get ready for the biggest Times Square takeover since that other gorilla smashed the place up Bigger in fact cos there’s four of us. Thanks to the techies at Google, we’ve created the music video event of the century, so don your pink robes and come see Gorillaz like you’ve never seen us before. The future is nigh!”
But for now, we get another appetizer of the LP. A mesmeric lullaby, called SKINNY APE that surprisingly flares up at the last minute.
A stream of rattling rippers, jagged jams, and magnific musings
All 20 on Spotify.
.
TRACK BY TRACK
Band: AUS!Funkt Who: Post-punk misfits from Toronto, embracing in the process
the elements of electronica, dub, disco, garage rock and blues
while maintaining grittiness, simplicity, and repetitiveness.
GORILLAZ share new – their 8th – album, titled Cracker Island with the world next year, on 24 February 2023. As usual Damon Albarn invited a big-name cast of guests, like here for this song, called New Gold with Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker and Bootie Brown behind the mic.
Feel the vibe.
GORILLAZ: Instagram – All Albums
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Band: BURN THE LOUVRE Who: The musical project of singer/songwriter Jordan Speare
assisted by guitarist/bassist and friend Andrew Billone
Their debut album Silhouettes lands after all this
year’s singles (one per month) are released. .
Toronto‘s noise generator METZ celebrate the 10th anniversary
of their smashing self-titled debut LP with a new tour.
Along the tour announcement, the trio shared two tracks, of which one is
pretty special. COME ON DOWN features their longtime friend Joe Talbot
of Bristol punks Idles.
Closing cracker AMENDS is my kind of electrical eruption.
It’s an imposing Led-Zeppelin-like heavy blues-rock knockout
including unhinged wah-wah electricity. Nasty stuff!
No, it’s not Jimmy Page on guitar, or is it?
. ON: Facebook – Bandcamp
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
American/Celtic punks DROPKICK MURPHYS have their 11th album, named This Guitar Still Kills Fascists out on 30 September. The LP accentuates
the sharp-cutting lyrics of the late great and heavily influential (ask Bob Dylan)
American folk hero Woody Guthrie (1912-1967).
If you’re a Murphys fan you know what to do when
this massive chant ALL YOU FONIES comes on.
Yes, screaming your lungs out.
Band: DEAD LEVEE Who: Old-school no-nonsense five-piece rock
band from Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.
New singleSHOUT is a wallbreaker, a let-it-all-out loud haymaker.
Think The Black Crows and Guns ‘n Roses have a nasty rollicking riff fight.
I wonder if it’s Axl Rose who’s screaming his head off in the end.
Holy riff smoke.
Play it to the max.
. DEAD LEVEE: Facebook
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
(Pic by Turn Up The Volume!)
Boston‘s noise rock icons PIXIES have no intention whatsoever to retire.
They have a new – their 9th – album out on 30th September. It’s baptized Doggerel.
This taster, titled DREGS OF WINE
off the new LP is a burning belter.
Expect a rollicking ripper bucking up all the way. A sterling crackerjack that
scurries full tilt with steamy swagger pushed by a flat-out rhythm section,
storming guitars – think Black Sabbath‘s Paranoid riff – and James‘ lively
vocals. When the sizzling chorus kicks in, it’s go mental time.
Tell all your friends about this exuberant score!
. ALEX JAMES: Facebook – Instagram
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Band: DETROIT REBELLION Who: Singer/songwriter/guitarist Jeff Tostee uniquely exploring
a world of gritty blues and garage rock with drummer Micaiah
Castro, taking their name from the 1967 Detroit Riot
New single: CLAP OF THUNDER
From the forthcoming – 3rd – album Fake News, due this fall.
This red-hot-roaring corker thunders all the way with
turned-up decibels for the psychotic guitar-charged chorus.
Think Queens oF The Stone Age fronted by Jack White.
Next year, on 23 April, they’ll share their new longplayer ATUM: A Rock Opera In Three Acts with the world,
with no less than 33 songs.
The first single is an uppercut called BEGUILED.
A mid-tempo upper with a rotating heavy metal riff.
Nice one, Billy.
. THE SMASHING PUMPKINS: Facebook – Instagram
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Artist: JEEN Who: All-round Canadian singer/songwriter who has written for many recording
artists such as ‘Great Big Sea’, ‘Serena Ryder’, ‘Res’, ‘Hawksley Workman’, ‘Brendan Canning’, ‘FUWA FUWA’, Martin ‘Doc’ McKinney and more. She was a member of ‘Cookie Duster‘ with ‘Brendan Canning‘ of ‘Broken Social Scene‘.
New single: CHEMICAL EMOTION
It’s the lead-off track of new – her 6th – album Tracer, out October 21st.
Jeen: “It’s about letting yourself drift in the flow of everything and hanging
on as hard as you can to what makes the shitty parts more tolerable.”
After only one spin, you’ll know that Chemical Emotion is a mesmerizing humdinger. Jeen‘s emotive voice bewitches right away, the mid-tempo cadence emphasizes
the meditative reflection perfectly, the compelling chorus brings Alanis Morissette
to mind, and overall the orchestral sonority and the layered harmonies lead to
a thrilling triumph.
And I know it sounds trite, but you made impossible possible sometimes
Band: YEAH YEAH YEAHS Who: Pop/rock trio from New York fronted
by the gorgeous Karen O
Today their new – 5th – longplayer Cool it down is out,
their first in 8 years. A few weeks ago my ears started
trembling when single BURNING came through my
speakers.
Artist: AYU Who: Singer/songwriter/producer born in Bern (Switzerland), and living in Hamburg (Germany) delivering a mixture of contemporary pop, future-thinking electronics,
catchy RnB tunes and sweet indie.
AYU seduced me before with her infectious tunes and this one
is another one to embrace. Tremendously sticky with an irresistible I love-you chorus.
Artist: AUGUST GONZALEZ Who: Drawing from an array of influences ranging from hip-hop, indie-pop,
to pop-punk, Gonzalez is an artist that refuses to be put into a box.
Gonzalez serves an effervescent cocktail of hip-hop-pop-rock sparks
inviting you to jump out of your lazy couch for a hip-swaying two-step.
Make your move here…
August Gonzalez: Instagram
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Band: WIDOWS GOLD Who: Riveting rock outfit from Costa Messa, California that
made an auspicious entrance onto the music scene last year.
New single: I CAN’T HELP YOU
From their upcoming debut LP, out January 2013.
Expect a melancholic smooth guitar pop uplifter. The brisk combination of a jaunty rhythm section, flickering guitars, a toe-tapping melody, a contagious chorus, and last but not least Madeline Star‘s soulful and romantic voice, turn I Can’t Help You into a glam gem.
For this new composition, the duo’s minds went down memory lane
to get inspired by the musical preferences of their
adolescent years.
They came back and cemented the experiences of those bygone
times for the future, in a song. The End Of The Beginning is a shoegaze rainbow,
but one that’s sepia colored. The mood is blue-sky, idyllic, and halcyon. So is
the musing’s slo-mo progression, Frøkedal‘s foggy vocals, and the glowing
synth waves.
This is a firm energizer with a resistless pick-me-up groove
and a highly stimulating sonority from start to finish. Its lively
melodiousness, vigorous vivacity and zealous vocality make
you reach for the repeat button again and again.
GORILLAZ share their new album, titled CRACKER ISLAND
with the world next year, on 24 February 2023.
Cracker Island is the eighth studio album from Gorillaz, an energetic, upbeat,
genre-expansive collection of 10 tracks featuring yet another stellar line-up
of artist collaborators: Thundercat, Tame Impala, Bad Bunny, Stevie Nicks, Adeleye
Omotayo, Bootie Brown and Beck. Recorded in London and LA earlier this year, it
is produced by Gorillaz, Remi Kabaka jr. and eight-time Grammy Award-winning producer/multi-instrumentalist/songwriter extraordinaire Greg Kurstin.
Following the title track, we get a second taster. NEW GOLD
features Tampa Impala‘s Kevin Parker and trip-hopper Bootie
Browne. It’s a terrific pop/rap energizer injected with shots
of adrenalin.
Gorillaz kicked off their world tour in Uruguay last April. That night,
they played two new songs, of which one is called CRACKER ISLAND.
The band just shared the recently recorded studio version, and is now
streaming all over the Internet. Orchestrator Albarn invited bass player Thundercat to play along.
It’s a tantalizing feel-good tune. It’s pure Gorillaz…
9/11 – Vancouver, BC @ Rogers Arena
9/12 – Seattle, WA @ Climate Pledge Arena
9/14 – Portland, OR @ Moda Center
9/17 – Las Vegas, NV @ Life is Beautiful Festival
9/19 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Vivint Smart Home Arena
9/21 – San Francisco, CA @ Chase Center
9/23 – Los Angeles, CA @ Kia Forum
9/26 – Phoenix, AZ @ Footprint Center
9/28 – Denver, CO @ Ball Arena
9/30 – Austin, TX @ Moody Center
10/01 – Irving, TX @ The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
10/03 – Chicago, IL @ United Center
10/05 – Detroit, MI @ Little Caesars Arena
10/06 – Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena
10/08 – Montreal, QC @ Bell Centre
10/11 – Boston, MA @ TD Garden
10/12 – Brooklyn, NY @ Barclays Center
10/14 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Met Philadelphia
10/17 – Columbia, MD @ Merriweather Post Pavilion
10/19 – Alpharetta, GA @ Ameris Bank Amphitheater
10/21 – Orlando, FL @ Amway Center
10/23 – Miami, FL @ FTXArena
GORILLAZ – the let’s have some fun project of Damon Albarn and visual
artist Jamie Hewlett – released its eponymous debut album 20 years ago,
on 26 March 2021.
TURN UP THE VOLUME 