Music → Gorillaz - The Singles Collection 2001-2011 (2011) FLAC

Perhaps the most striking thing about the music on offer here is how stripped down it is.

The influence of dub and hip hop looms large, especially on tracks featured from their
first two albums, their self-titled debut of 2001 and its 2005 follow-up, Demon Days.

These see simple instrumentation bedded down over programmed drumbeats that sounded nostalgic
even at the time of release. (Once upon a time they’d even have been described as ‘baggy’.)
But Albarn’s alter ego seems to allow him to shake off concepts of indie credibility that he
may otherwise have clung to, aiming instead for the pop jugular with the simple melodies of
Feel Good Inc and Clint Eastwood, whose loping gait does nothing to diminish that chorus:
"I’ve got sunshine in a bag", a sly reference to the actor’s classic The Good, the Bad and
the Ugly (also the inspiration for the name of another Albarn side project, The Good, the Bad
& the Queen).

Eastwood’s there again on the brilliant Dirty Harry, another shuffling beat underpinning an
uplifting children’s choir until Bootie Brown takes the mike.

Albarn’s social conscience is also in evidence here, the kids singing "I need a gun to keep
myself from harm", an idea echoed (obviously) in Kids With Guns. 2010’s Plastic Beach birthed
four further singles, but they made less of an impact, despite the fact that they see Albarn
pursue a more commercially pop route:

Superfast Jellyfish demonstrates an attractive lightness of touch, while On Melancholy Hill
reflects its name perfectly, Albarn sounding glum over a candyfloss minor-key pop classic that
deserved to peak far higher than 78 in the British charts.

Sadly there’s nothing here from their iPad album, The Fall, and instead we’re given the sped-up,
somewhat disorientating Ed Case/Sweet Irie version of Clint Eastwood. But that fails to distract
from the fact that Albarn has, against the odds, proven himself to be one of the most inventive
of the UK’s high-profile musicians over the past two decades.

Admire the riches this national treasure has bestowed upon us.

There’s plenty to smile about, though Gorillaz remain no laughing matter.
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1. Tomorrow Comes Today 3:13

2. Clint Eastwood [Explicit] 5:42

3. 19-2000 3:27

4. Rock The House (Explicit) 4:09

5. Feel Good Inc (Album Version) 3:42

6. Dare (Radio Edit) 3:33

7. Dirty Harry (Single Edit) 3:50

8. Kids With Guns 3:46

9. El Manana 3:51

10. Stylo (Radio Edit) [Feat. Mos Def And Bobby Womack] 3:53

11. Superfast Jellyfish (Feat. Gruff Rhys And De La Soul) 2:58

12. On Melancholy Hill (Radio Edit) 3:28

13. Doncamatic (Feat. Daley) 3:20

14. Clint Eastwood (Ed Case / Sweetie Irie Refix) [Edit] 3:41

15. 19-2000 (Soulchild Remix) 3:29
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