The Good, The Bad & The Queen -
Damon Albarn/part three


Here is where my world imploded from the awesomeness of the following collaboration: Damon Albarn and Danger Mouse, uber-producer extraordinaire, musician and songwriter. With a little help from Simon Tong (The Verve), Paul Simonon (The Clash), and Tony Allen (Fela Kuti) they formed a supergroup which they never bothered to name but ended up being called The Good, The Bad & The Queen because it happened to be the name of their album. The album was released in January 2007 with tentative plans to work together on subsequent projects but as of now nothing has been released to the public.


"Herculean" 

"Nature Springs"

"Green Fields"

This is a good point for me to segue over to my other musical idol, Danger Mouse, who I will talk about on some future posts. Hope to see you then!


Cheers, Stacey

Gorillaz - Damon Albarn/part two


As Blur was winding down into their last album, Damon Albarn and his friend and flat-mate, Jamie Hewlett, were planning their next project; a virtual band called Gorillaz. The band was comprised of entirely fictional cartoon characters that over the years have featured several musical contributors with Damon Albarn being the only permanent fixture. Their compositions encompassed different musical genres; alternative rock, hip hop, and electronic.


Their first album, Gorillaz, was released in 2001. They've since released four albums, with the most recent being The Fall, released in 2010.
  

"19-2000 (Soulchild Remix)" from Gorillaz (2001)

"Kids with Guns" from Demon Days (2005)

They received a Grammy award in 2006 for "Feel Good, Inc."

And the very lovely - "On Melancholy Hill" from Plastic Beach (2010)

The next step in his winding illustrious career lead him to form the super-group of my dreams with members of The Clash, The Verve, and uber-producer Danger Mouse.  That's for my next post!


Cheers, Stacey

Blur - Damon Albarn/part one

Yesterday's post got me to thinking about about British music in general and how much my own tastes have been influenced by one artist in particular....Damon Albarn. There's so much to say about him and all of the projects he's been involved in over the years that I am going to do so in three parts, so please stick with me. 


Anyone who was of age in the 90's knows him most likely from fronting the band Blur, who among being known for their influential Manchester sound, also were known for their feud with the band Oasis. I'm loving Noel Gallagher's new album, but I don't think you can compare the two. Blur simply was a much better band in many ways, by outlasting, outperforming, and pushing themselves creatively over the years. Okay, I'll get off my soapbox now!


Blur's first album, Leisure, was released in 1991, with the hit "There's No Other Way", leading the charts in the UK at no. 8. I have so many memories of playing this album non-stop while I was living in Madison, WI. I had heard nothing like it before and was immediately hooked on the whole Manchester sound. There were other bands getting in on the act, like Happy Mondays, Inspiral Carpets, Stone Roses, and the Charlatans (who I also got hooked on for many years). Blur kind of epitomized the whole sound to my American ears though and they definitely stood the test of time looking back now.


"There's No Other Way" from Leisure (1991)

"Chemical World" from Modern Life is Rubbish (1993)

"To the End" from Parklife (1994)

"The Universal" from The Great Escape (1995)

"Song 2" from Blur (1997)

"Tender" from 13 (1999)

There were seven albums in total, with their last one, Think Tank, being released in 2003. The band unfortunately broke up soon after this release. I myself mourned their dissolution, but I didn't grieve for long because by this time, Damon Albarn was already involved with his new project, Gorillaz, which I will follow up with in part two.


Cheers, Stacey

The British Invasion


So this is my first post on this blog and I hope I don't screw it up!


This will be a place for me to post my thoughts and links to whatever I happen to be listening to at the time. If anyone finds me and happens to discover a new band or singer they like I will be overjoyed. I spend a lot of time listening and trying to discover new music so nothing is more enjoyable to me than sharing that sense of discovery with other folks!


Lately I've been gravitating to British bands again (quelle surprise!). Somehow that's where I always find myself. The two I've recently downloaded are Clayhill and the Boxer Rebellion. I discovered Clayhill in a roundabout way. Their singer is Gavin Clark who has sung on many Unkle albums, who are a great favorite of mine. I found myself particularly enjoying the Unkle songs that he happened to sing on and looked him up on Wikipedia (not today...it's down!). The article mentioned that he also was a member of Clayhill, a British folk band. I can see why they get that designation but they are definitely alt-folk rock in my opinion.


Their most recent album, Afterlight can be downloaded on iTunes for $4.99. A fantastic deal! 


"Grasscutter" from Afterlight

"One Nerve" from Afterllight

"Northern Soul" from Afterlight

The other band I've been listening to endlessly this week is the Boxer Rebellion, also based in London. In actuality, the singer is American, lead guitarist is Australian, but rest of the band is British and their sensibility is certainly British.


"Caught by the Light" from The Cold Still

The hauntingly beautiful "Both Sides are Even" from The Cold Still

"The Runner" from The Cold Still

Are they not amazingly talented? I can't believe I had never heard of this band until now! How many other great musicians and bands am I not hearing because commercial radio sucks? Thank god for Pandora and Spotify!!


If you want to leave a comment please do so...I would love to hear from you.


Cheers, Stacey