Damon Albarn | ||
| Allmusic Biography : As the frontman for Blur and Gorillaz, Damon Albarn helped shape the British mainstream during the 90s and beyond, first establishing himself as a Brit-pop icon before expanding into hip-hop, opera, electronica, and world music. Born in London on March 23, 1968, he was raised in a bohemian household, studying a number of instruments (piano, guitar, and violin) during his youth and befriending Graham Coxon, a fellow student at the Stanway Comprehensive School, as a 12-year-old. Albarn later studied drama before joining the little-known synth pop outfit Twos a Crowd; at 15, he also won the regional heat in the Young Composer of the Year contest. While a student at Goldsmith University, he again crossed paths with guitarist Coxon, and together they formed a band called the Circus. With the additions of bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree, the group rechristened itself Seymour before finally settling on Blur upon signing to Food Records. Their debut single, "Shes So High," cracked the U.K. Top 50, while the follow-up, "Theres No Other Way," went as high as the Top Ten; however, the baggy beats and shoegaze-inspired textures of Blurs 1991 debut album, Leisure, earned the band unkind critical comparisons to the dying Madchester scene, and with the follow-up, 1993s Modern Life Is Rubbish, they consciously set out to evoke a more traditional pop sound. With 1994s Parklife, Albarns songs revealed an altogether new sophistication, his wry social commentaries and clever melodies evoking the great British pop tradition of bands like the Kinks and the Jam. The album made Blur the most popular and influential band in England at the time, and it captured a rabid cult following abroad as well. Although chief rivals Oasis quickly usurped Blurs dominance, 1995s The Great Escape debuted at number one nonetheless. Still, when the record slipped down the charts, the band was written off by the music press and spent much of 1996 in seclusion, although Albarn made the most of that time by releasing his solo debut, "Closet Romantic," which doubled as his contribution to the Trainspotting soundtrack. Blurs self-titled LP restored the bands luster one year later, as the single "Song 2" became an American hit. The same year, Albarn made his film debut in Antonia Birds Face, and Blurs full-length 13 followed in 1999. In 2000, Albarn debuted Gorillaz, his highly successful "virtual hip-hop group," which released four albums between 2001 and 2011. Other Albarn-driven projects arrived during the new millennium, too, from Mali Music -- an eclectic collaboration with Malian musicians like Afel Bocoum -- to the Good, the Bad & the Queen, a British supergroup featuring Paul Simonon, Simon Tong, and Tony Allen. Albarn also began exploring cinema and theater projects, co-creating the opera productions Monkey: Journey to the West and Doctor Dee, while also scoring a film adaptation of his sisters own book, The Boy in the Oak. Rocketjuice & the Moon, another supergroup featuring Allen and Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, released their first album in April 2012; a month later, a recording of the Dr. Dee opera -- inspired by polymath and advisor to Elizabeth I John Dee -- arrived. Also in 2012, Albarn worked with XL Recordings co-founder Richard Russell on The Bravest Man in the Universe, a comeback album from soul legend Bobby Womack. Albarn re-teamed with Russell for his first official solo album, Everyday Robots. Featuring cameos by Brian Eno and Natasha Khan from Bat for Lashes, Everyday Robots saw release in April 2014. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 9 Title: Ravenous Released: 1999-03-09 Tracks: 22 Duration: 1:14:31 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Hail Columbia (02:44) 2 Boyds Journey (03:03) 3 Welcome to Fort Spencer (01:42) 4 Noises Off (01:55) 5 Stranger at the Window (01:39) 6 Colquhouns Story (04:44) 7 Weendigo Myth (01:24) 8 Trek to the Cave (04:24) 9 "He Was Licking Me" (01:42) 10 The Cave (08:01) 11 "Run" (02:12) 12 "Lets Go Kill That Bastard" (03:52) 13 "The Pit" (04:37) 14 Ives Returns (00:50) 15 Cannibal Fantasy (02:14) 16 A Game of Two Shoulders (02:26) 17 Checkmate (02:18) 18 Martha and the Horses (03:17) 19 Ives Torments Boyd and Kills Knox (02:18) 20 Manifest Destiny (05:21) 21 Saveoursoulissa (08:40) 22 End Titles (05:00) |
 | Album: 2 of 9 Title: 101 Reykjavík Released: 2001-05-28 Tracks: 30 Duration: 1:10:41 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 101 Reykjavík Theme (03:07) 2 101 Reykjavík Theme (remixed by Emiliana Torrini) (03:49) 3 Atlanta - Bath (00:39) 4 Journey Club-Frost (03:11) 5 Bar Beaten (00:58) 6 Bar Beaten (101 Terror City) (remixed by Curver) (06:42) 7 Flamenco Lola (03:47) 8 Shooting Gallery (00:41) 9 Suitcase (01:37) 10 Suitcase (101 Hangovers) (remixed by HÖH) (05:00) 11 Bar Hip Hop (01:48) 12 Teapot (01:26) 13 Egill S - Teapot (Mix) (03:18) 14 Fireworks Organ (00:43) 15 New Year #1 (02:21) 16 New Year #1 (remixed by Bang Gang) (03:32) 17 New Year #2 (00:50) 18 Glacier Memory (01:59) 19 Morning Beer (00:56) 20 University (01:38) 21 Dream Scene (01:04) 22 Stereo Blasting (Lola) (00:19) 23 Out of Church (01:25) 24 Mans World (00:32) 25 Bar Fight (01:07) 26 Bar Fight (remixed by Mínus) (03:06) 27 Big Party (02:41) 28 Glacier (04:04) 29 Dub Lola (03:05) 30 Reykjavík2k (05:16) |
 | Album: 3 of 9 Title: Mali Music Released: 2002-04-15 Tracks: 16 Duration: 57:42 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Spoons (05:19) 2 Bamako City (04:09) 3 Le Relax (03:51) 4 Nabintou Diakité (01:46) 5 Makelekele (04:24) 6 The Djembe (04:34) 7 Tennessee Hotel (03:41) 8 Niger (03:52) 9 4 AM at Toumanis (03:06) 10 Institut National des Arts (04:14) 11 Kela Village (03:10) 12 Griot Village (01:12) 13 Le Hogon (03:51) 14 Sunset Coming On (04:13) 15 Ko Kan Ko Sata Doumbia on River (01:04) 16 Les Escrocs (05:08) |
| Mali Music : Allmusic album Review : Following in the footsteps of his pop elders Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel, and David Byrne, Blur and Gorillaz leader Damon Albarn acts as a world music ringleader with Mali Music. Serving as a benefit to the Oxfam charity, this first release from Albarns own Honest Jons label sees Albarn jamming on a haunted melodica alongside Malian musicians. Albarn traveled throughout Mali and recorded the source material at various venues, from small bars to village streets. Primary players include guitarists Afel Bocoum and Lobi Traore, kora player Toumani Diabate, and ngoni player Ko Kan Ko Sata Doumbia. Albarn brought the recordings into a professional studio, adding guitars, keyboards, percussion, and effects to a majority of the tracks, and the result is a thoroughly chilled album. Layered and rich musical tones emerge from pianos, samplers, xylophones, and chanting choirs. Beats and keyboards mingle effortlessly with the exotic instruments. Its often quite difficult to decipher what sonic flourishes were recorded live and which ones were crafted afterwards via computer. Its obvious that Albarn has conceived the album with an enormous respect for the musicians and culture at the heart of the project. Whether pulsing with the frenetic energy of "Makelekele," laid-back and shuffling as on "The Djembe," or presenting a pristine, serene mood on "Tennessee Hotel," the album intrigues and impresses at every turn. Though he might have a diva reputation, from Gorillaz to his soundtrack work with Michael Nyman and on to Blur for that matter, Damon Albarn proves once again that hes a master collaborator. Mali Music is a brilliant, eclectic treat comprised of truly mesmerizing sounds. | ||
 | Album: 4 of 9 Title: Dr Dee Released: 2012-05-07 Tracks: 18 Duration: 48:13 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 The Golden Dawn (03:56) 2 Apple Carts (02:36) 3 O Spirit, Animate Us (03:48) 4 The Moon Exalted (05:42) 5 A Man of England (03:17) 6 Saturn (02:05) 7 Coronation (01:10) 8 The Marvelous Dream (02:23) 9 A Prayer (01:33) 10 Edward Kelley (03:29) 11 Preparation (03:01) 12 9 Point Star (01:32) 13 Temptation Comes in the Afternoon (02:05) 14 Watching the Fire That Waltzed Away (02:37) 15 Moon (interlude) (00:28) 16 Cathedrals (03:00) 17 Tree of Beauty (02:00) 18 The Dancing King (03:23) |
| Dr Dee : Allmusic album Review : Officially, Dr. Dee is Damon Albarns first solo album but thats the tiniest misnomer. Ever since Graham Coxon left Blur during the recording of Think Tank, Albarn has been the unquestioned director of his projects, his authoritative stamp evident on Think Tank, all three Gorillaz albums, Mali Music, the Good, the Bad & the Queen, and Rocket Juice & the Moon, so Dr. Dee doesnt exactly have the shock of the new even though its certainly willfully odd. An opera -- not a rock opera, or the first opera Albarn has written, as he has 2007s Monkey: Journey to the West under his belt -- Dr. Dee concerns itself with the story of John Dee, the 16th century mathematician and occultist who was an advisor to Elizabeth I and is said to be the inspiration for Marlowes Faustus and Shakespeares Prospero. Rich material for an opera, in other words, and Dr. Dee is certainly thick with ideas, Albarn not running away from his signature tropes so much as using them as a launching pad for a stately, lugubrious collection of minor-key instrumentals, skeletal pop songs, plainsongs, and madrigals. Much of this is intriguing, yet as an album if not a production, Dr. Dee stays just this side of compelling, always threatening to veer into surprising, dangerous territory yet never quite succumbing to the risk. And that is where Dr. Dees roots in the stage show: perhaps it is a bit stuffy and hidebound for art rock, but taken as a theatrical production, its adventurously cerebral, an album to ponder if not quite embrace. | ||
 | Album: 5 of 9 Title: Bankbusted Nuclear Detergent Blues Released: 2013-04-20 Tracks: 6 Duration: 41:45 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Soft Soap Flakes Kill (07:35) 2 Our Wonderful Culture (08:01) 3 It’s the Economy That’s Stupid (06:53) 4 Shock ’n’ Awe - What’s It For? (03:29) 5 Mutually Assured Destruction = MAD (08:25) 6 Talkin’ Bout Degeneration (07:22) |
 | Album: 6 of 9 Title: Live at the de de de der... (15 November 2014) Released: 2014 Tracks: 27 Duration: 2:08:13 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Spitting Out the Demons (05:29) 2 Lonely Press Play (04:36) 3 Everyday Robots (04:14) 4 Tomorrow Comes Today (03:31) 5 Slow Country (03:45) 6 Slow Country (reprise) (00:39) 7 Kids With Guns (04:22) 8 Three Changes, Part 1 (02:34) 9 Three Changes, Part 2 (02:19) 10 Bamako City (06:23) 11 Sunset Coming On (05:57) 12 Hostiles (04:34) 13 Photographs (You Are Taking Now) (04:38) 14 Kingdom of Doom (02:59) 15 You and Me (06:59) 16 Hollow Ponds (05:05) 1 El Mañana (04:52) 2 Dont Get Lost in Heaven (02:31) 3 Out of Time (03:29) 4 All Your Life (07:39) 5 End of a Century (03:54) 6 The Man Who Left Himself (03:40) 7 Tender (09:29) 8 Mr. Tembo (04:32) 9 Feel Good Inc. (06:08) 10 Clint Eastwood (07:28) 11 Heavy Seas of Love (06:13) |
 | Album: 7 of 9 Title: Everyday Robots Released: 2014-04-25 Tracks: 12 Duration: 46:44 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Everyday Robots (03:58) 2 Hostiles (04:09) 3 Lonely Press Play (03:42) 4 Mr. Tembo (03:55) 5 Parakeet (00:43) 6 The Selfish Giant (04:47) 1 You and Me (07:05) 2 Hollow Ponds (04:59) 3 Seven High (01:00) 4 Photographs (You Are Taking Now) (04:43) 5 The History of a Cheating Heart (04:00) 6 Heavy Seas of Love (03:43) |
| Everyday Robots : Allmusic album Review : If there ever were a modern rock star who could be called an auteur, itd be Damon Albarn. As the leader of Blur, he was responsible for the groups grand themes, taking credit for the birth of Brit-pop circa 1993s Modern Life Is Rubbish, but his signature -- a sly, theatrical blend of melodic post-punk and new wave undercut by electronic exoticism and a thirst for world music -- grew ever more distinctive in the projects he pursued after the groups 2003 dissolution, surfacing in the dystopian future of Gorillaz and the glum present of the Good, the Bad & the Queen. He didnt hide within a collective so much as embrace collaboration, using other musicians to accelerate exploration, with all the different musicians underscoring his own world-view. Albarn is not without a collaborator on Everyday Robots, his first official pop solo album (he released the experimental opera Dr. Dee under his own name in 2012). Hes produced by Richard Russell, the head of XL Records, and Damons co-producer on Bobby Womacks 2012 comeback The Bravest Man in the Universe, a sparse electronic soul album that shares some skeletal characteristics with Everyday Robots. Russell assists Albarn in shaping Everyday Robots into a quiet, contemplative extended meditation on modernity and the past, a record that seems personal but stops just short of confessional. "Hollow Ponds," which intercuts pivotal vignettes from throughout his life, acts as the autobiographical centerpiece but often the lyrics that stick depict the isolation of modern technology, the "everyday robots on our phones" who press play when theyre lonely. Underneath this high-tech alienation, whats left unspoken is how Albarn and Russell are hardly Luddites. Everyday Robots embraces modern technology -- its rhythms are digitized, electronic instruments are interwoven with acoustics, spoken samples are deployed strategically -- which doesnt undercut Albarns disconnection thesis so much as underscore his resignation at existing in the fractured present. This is the key dichotomy of the album; its surfaces are Spartan, its tempos slow and measured -- it quickens its step only at "Mister Tembo," a joyous ode to the birth of an elephant -- but its a soulful album, not chilly. Its sadness is a warm, enveloping melancholy that harks back to the floating psychedelic dissociation of "This Is a Low" while touching upon the digital desolation of Demon Days. Upon repeated listens, the sorrowful undertow of Everyday Robots becomes a comfort, a balm for moments of alienation; its the kind of record that when youre lonely, you press play. | ||
 | Album: 8 of 9 Title: Live at the de de de der... (16 November 2014) Released: 2014-11-16 Tracks: 25 Duration: 2:09:56 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Spitting Out the Demons (05:00) 2 Lonely Press Play (04:31) 3 Everyday Robots (04:05) 4 Tomorrow Comes Today (04:01) 5 Slow Country (04:30) 6 Kids With Guns (04:11) 7 Three Changes (05:14) 8 Bamako City (06:30) 9 Sunset Coming On (06:08) 10 Hostiles (05:05) 11 Photographs (You Are Taking Now) (04:39) 12 Kingdom of Doom (03:13) 13 You and Me (08:22) 14 Hollow Ponds (05:29) 1 El Mañana (04:43) 2 Dont Get Lost in Heaven (02:32) 3 Out of Time (02:26) 4 All Your Life (06:26) 5 End of a Century (05:17) 6 The Man Who Left Himself (03:30) 7 Tender (08:38) 8 Mr. Tembo (05:44) 9 Clint Eastwood (06:40) 10 Feel Good Inc. (06:30) 11 Heavy Seas of Love (06:23) |
 | Album: 9 of 9 Title: Songs From wonder.land (Original Cast Recording) Released: 2016-04-15 Tracks: 13 Duration: 41:40 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Entre Act (01:32) 2 wonder.land (01:47) 3 Fabulous (03:16) 4 Me (05:17) 5 Secrets (03:51) 6 In Clover (02:57) 7 Avatars Holding Page (02:01) 8 Who Are You (05:32) 9 Im Right (02:55) 10 Everyone Loves Charlie (04:44) 11 Japanese Duchess (01:42) 12 Man of Broken Glass (03:02) 13 Alice Saw (03:04) |