4Ever Songs: Gorillaz ‘Feel Good Inc’

But on that fateful December day, in a gilded ballroom in New York’s Gotham Hall, all that changed: the Gorillaz — four cartoon characters from the U.K. — scored an astonishing five Grammy nominations, including a Record of the Year nod for their track “Feel Good Inc.”  Gorillaz co-creator Damon Albarn recalled the involvement of producer Danger Mouse into the recording process.

Divus Julius presents: Gorillaz

 In 2000 when 2-D, Noodle, Murdoc Niccals and Russel Hobbs poked their (virtual) snout into the first Gorillaz EP, Tomorrow Comes Today. We discovered fascinating biographies behind each character, a new mythology for worshipers of electronic music, classy phrasing and weird R&B and later in 2005 we found out that Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett were the almighty creators behind it all.  Now, in 2022, after some albums they have shared their new track, ‘Cracker Island’.

4Ever Songs: Blur “Girls and Boys”

More than twenty years ago Damon Albarn taught the world that all you really needed to create a social spectrum-spanning anthem of the people was “girls”, “boys,” and “love.” 

Blur is the product of the hedonist scene where young people would get together in warehouses and factories to consume MDMA and dance all night. That influence is very obvious in “Girls and Boys”, which talks about intense nights at a bar in Mallorca, a sister island to Ibiza. There are rumors that Damon Albarn wrote it when he travelled there and experienced some nonstop partying. “Girls & Boys”—released March 7, 1994—was the lead single from Blur’s third album Parklife. 

Divus Julius presents: Damon Albarn

Damon Albarn is a major pop artist music, and more broadly pop culture of the past 30 years. Author-singer-songwriter of Blur, mastermind behind the Gorillaz phenomenon, producer of African artists, post-modern opera composer, he is considered in the UK as a major public figure.

He has released a new song, “Particles,” the latest offering from his next solo album, The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows.

Music by Bergman: The Good, The Bad & The Queen

The Good, The Bad & The Queen are a supergroup that need no introduction, made up of Damon Albarn (Blur, Gorillaz), Paul Simonon (The Clash), Tony Allen (Fela Kuti), and Simon Tong (The Verve). This project first saw the light in 2007 in the form of a debut album The Observer called “one of the most surprising and magical albums Damon Albarn has been responsible for.” After eleven years of silence, this past November they released Merrie Land, their highly anticipated comeback and an album unquestionably influenced by the current political and social landscape. Straddling the line between melancholy and hope, this work is a reflection upon what it means to be British in our times, an era of indeterminacy as evidenced by Brexit and the international panorama.

Hit of the week: Gorillaz “Saturnz Barz (Spirit House)”

Where other artists tease with glimpses of their forthcoming albums, Gorillaz, the ever-shifting musical entity headed up by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett, is flooding the zone, releasing four new songs from their forthcoming album, Humanz, which is due out April 28.

The complete album will consist of 14 tracks, 19 on the deluxe version, and will also be available as a “super deluxe vinyl box set” with each of the 14 tracks on a separate 12” slab, backed by an alternate version. A list of the album’s featured artists includes Vince Staples, Peven Everett, Popcaan, De La Soul, Danny Brown, Grace Jones, Mavis Staples, Pusha T, and Carly Simon, with actor Ben Mendelsohn narrating the album interludes.

Here’s the music, and note that the Hewlett-directed six-minute video “Saturnz Barz (Spirit House),” which contains clips from all four songs, is available in both regular and, via supported web browsers, 360-degree versions.

Songhoy Blues, l’indie africà

Hi ha una nova generació de músics a Mali i, sens dubte, un dels seus caps visibles és aquesta banda d’indie amb gran influència del blues. Les seves cançons, que beuen de John Lee Hooker, BB King o Jimi Hendrix, aquelles que Garba Touré escoltava de petit a casa amb el seu pare (que va ser percussionista d’Ali Farka Touré), parlen de respecte, de reconciliació i de pau. Després de ser la revelació de l’àlbum ‘La Maison des Jeunes’ de l’últim Àfrica Express, comandat per Damon Albarn i Brian Eno, van publicar el seu àlbum ‘Music in exile’ i protagonitzen, al costat d’altres músics malians, el documental ‘They will have to kill us first: Malian Music in Exile ‘ que es podrà veure a l’In-Edit 2015. Aquesta nit a La2 de l’Apolo.