Wow, you can listen to 40 minutes of an amazing Damon Albarn interview with Paul Morley.
He talks nineties/noughties nostalgia, stuff about the new opera with Alan Moore, Blur being over, the end of British imperialism...and the upcoming period of "winter" for Britain (eek), his own insignificance, Gorillaz, and pretty much everything else he's ever done.
Listen and read here
On the new Gorillaz album Plastic Beach
"... I'm making this one the most pop record I've ever made in many ways, but with all my experience to try and at least present something that has got depth. I think pop music is a great place to get new ideas across ... The only danger is knowing when you are doing good work, how many people might be affected by it ... and you try not to become too knowing, which is really hard to avoid. When I did the first Gorillaz records I allowed my original guide vocals to stay, to say, "Hey, it don't mean much, they don't say much," but this time I thought, "Fuck it, I might not say things totally successfully, but I've got to get clear again."
The promise of a perfectly crafted Damon Albarn pop song is making me more excited than I have been in ages. It seems like Plastic Beach is going to be more precise than the previous two "organic" sounding Gorillaz albums. Not that they aren't epic, but revisiting Blur this summer has made me nostalgic for the crisp perfection of songs like The Universal.
Damon also gives a rundown of the collaborations on Plastic Beach. Snoop Dogg, Mos Def, Bobby Womack, Barry Gibb, and Lou Reed are all mentioned!
[Guardian]
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6 comments:
Oh thanks so much for the link, the interview is great! I'm so excited about this new gorillaz album! :)
And I love the fact that Damon's collaborations always make me discover great artists.. I'm listening right now to Bobby Womack, I love it :p
Could you just tell me who he mentions as the best pop artist, I think he said La Roux, but I'm not sure.. thanks!
Cheers!
Yep, it was La Roux. :)
Just listened to this last night...wonderful. Damon was in quite a cheerful mood.
Great interview, very informative. I"m greatly looking forward to the new Gorillaz album, although the (alleged) end of Blur is downright sad!
yeah, the end of Blur is quite depressing, but understandable. They're all off doing their own thing...Dave's canvassing for votes, and there must be an infinite number of reality shows Alex could be on ;)
Yep...while Graham (surprisingly) has been pretty vocal about wanting to do more in the future, Damon (and even Alex) are pretty adamant about NOT doing it...what an about-face from even 2 years ago...
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