Gorillaz

Style and legacy

Writers and critics have variously described Gorillaz as art pop, alternative rock, hip-hop, electronic, trip hop, pop, dark pop, alternative hip-hop, rap rock, indie rock, bedroom pop, dance-rock, new wave, funk, worldbeat and experimental rock. The band's aesthetic and general approach have been described as postmodern. According to AllMusic, Gorillaz blend Britpop and hip-hop, while The Guardian described the band as "a sort of dub/hip-hop/lo-fi indie/world music hybrid". According to PopMatters, the band's early work foreshadowed "the melding of hip-hop, rock, and electronic elements in pop music" that grew in significance in the next decade.

Clint Eastwood

"Clint Eastwood" is a song by English virtual band Gorillaz, released as their debut single and the lead single from their self-titled debut album on 5 March 2001. The song is named after the actor Clint Eastwood due to its similarity to the theme music of the film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

The song is a mix of electronic music, dub, hip-hop and rock. The verses are rapped by Del the Funky Homosapien, portrayed as a blue phantom in the video, while the chorus is sung by Damon Albarn.

Recording

Demo versions of "Clint Eastwood" were originally recorded by Damon Albarn on a four-track using a drum machine and guitar. A re-recording similar to these demos was recorded into Logic for use as a backing track. According to engineer, Jason Cox, "Damon gave us the OK to set fire to it on stage, but we said 'No, you can't set fire to that! It's a classic!'", and it ended up being used on the song as well as some other tracks on the album. The drums are provided by a drum machine. Multiple keyboards were used including the Moog Rogue and Roland JV for bass parts, a piano, and the Solina String Ensemble for string sounds. The main instrument used in the song is the melodica, which Albarn used to make the basic track as well. The...

Reception

"Clint Eastwood" received widespread acclaim from critics, who praised the catchiness and the blend of hip-hop with alternative rock. Alex Needham of NME praised the Ed Case Remix, stating that it "hauls [the track] down the dancefloor of Twice As Nice, where all the disparate elements fall into place and the jarring culture clash suddenly makes perfect sense. A little shift in perspective and, suddenly, you've got a West London Basement Jaxx, embodying a more interesting – and accurate – vision of England than anything Blur (Albarn's other project) have dared to attempt."

Music video

The animated music video was directed by Jamie Hewlett and Pete Candeland. It starts with the Gorillaz logo in red against a black screen, and the following quote from the 1978 film Dawn of the Dead: "Every dead body that is not exterminated, gets up and kills. The people it kills, get up and kill" in Japanese then in English. This phrase was deemed offensive in some countries and a censored version was produced that omits this intro. The video and song name is a reference to the famous Western starring actor Clint Eastwood, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. An interpolation of the yell from the film's theme song, in particular that film's protagonist Tuco Ramirez (Eli Wallach)'s leitmotif, can be heard at the beginning of the video,...

Tomorrow Comes Today

"Tomorrow Comes Today" is a song from British virtual band Gorillaz's self-titled debut album Gorillaz and was their first release when issued as an EP in November 2000. The first three songs from the EP ended up on their debut album, however, "Latin Simone" was heavily edited, and dubbed into Spanish, for the album release.

The new version was sung by Ibrahim Ferrer, and renamed "Latin Simone ". The original version is sung by 2-D and appears along with "12D3" on some versions of the later-released compilation album G-Sides.

Music video

Directed by Jamie Hewlett, the video for the title track consists mainly of static drawings of the band members placed against real photographs and time-lapsed video footage of London streets. Some of the drawings are animated, especially the ones featuring 2-D singing. This is due to the video having an extremely short deadline compared to its follow-up "Clint Eastwood".

On Melancholy Hill

"On Melancholy Hill" is the third single from British virtual band Gorillaz's third studio album, Plastic Beach. The single was released on 12 June 2010.

"On Melancholy Hill" is certified Platinum in the UK.

Background

The song was originally written by Damon Albarn during the production of The Good, the Bad & the Queen's self titled album. Fellow Gorillaz member Murdoc Niccals stated the following about "On Melancholy Hill" in an interview: The Melancholy Hill – it's that feeling, that place, that you get in your soul sometimes, like someone's let your tyres down. It's nice to break up the album with something a little lighter. It's good to have something that's a genuine pop moment on every album. And this is one of those.

Music video

The music video was released worldwide on 14 June 2010. It was originally made exclusively available via iTunes, but was uploaded to the band's official YouTube channel a few days later. A teaser for the video was released on 9 June 2010, and stills of the video were published on writteninmusic.com on 11 June 2010. The video begins with huge ocean liner M. Harriet under attack by two Vought F4U Corsair fighter planes. A ship attendant finds Noodle in her room, offering to escort her to the lifeboats. Noodle says nothing, but walks over to a briefcase containing a Thompson sub machine gun and walks down the hall past the attendant with the gun. The song begins with Noodle opening fire with the sub machine gun at the two oncoming fighter...

Feel Good Inc.

"Feel Good Inc." is a song by British virtual band Gorillaz featuring American hip-hop group De La Soul. Released on 9 May 2005 as the lead single from the band's second studio album, Demon Days, the single peaked at No.2 in the United Kingdom and No.14 in the United States, topping the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart for eight consecutive weeks and appearing on the Billboard Hot 100 year-end rankings for both 2005 and 2006.

The song peaked within the top 10 in 16 countries, reaching No.1 in Spain, Poland and Greece. The song has been certified eight-times platinum in New Zealand, five-times platinum in Canada, and five-times platinum in the United Kingdom.

Writing

Damon Albarn wrote "Feel Good Inc." on the way to perform at Coachella with Blur in 2003. It was the first time he had been through the "amazing windmill valley", as Albarn recalls it, which inspired the song's chorus "windmill, windmill for the land".

Background

The main themes of the "Feel Good Inc." video are intellectual freedom and the media's dumbing down of mass culture. Jamie Hewlett said in an interview that some scenes in the video were inspired by Hayao Miyazaki, specifically the windmill-powered landmass, which has been compared to the flying island of Laputa from Miyazaki's 1986 film Castle in the Sky. On 26 April 2022, the video was re-uploaded to the Gorillaz YouTube channel with commentary from virtual band member Murdoc Niccals. The music video was filmed in February 2005.

New Gold

"New Gold" is a song by British virtual band Gorillaz, featuring Australian music project Tame Impala, and American rapper Bootie Brown, marking the latter's second collaboration with the band since "Dirty Harry" in 2005. The track was released on 31 August 2022 as the second single from their eighth studio album, Cracker Island.

"New Gold" reached number four on the US Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart and peaked at number two on the US Alternative Airplay chart. At the APRA Music Awards of 2024, the song was shortlisted for Song of the Year.

Background

"New Gold" has been in production since 2020, and its earliest teaser was a post on Noodle's Instagram from 1 February 2020. However, the track was not included on Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez, because, according to Damon Albarn, they "never seemed to get [their] tune finished". He also hinted that the song might finally be released as a part of the second season of Song Machine. It was first played live during the Gorillaz World Tour 2022 on 19 August 2022. The song was eventually released on 31 August 2022 as the second single for Gorillaz' eighth studio album Cracker Island.

19-2000

"19-2000", sometimes written "19/2000" and also known as "Get the Cool Shoeshine", is a song from British virtual band Gorillaz' self-titled debut album Gorillaz. It was the second single from the album, released on 25 June 2001 in the United Kingdom.

"19-2000" reached number six on the UK Singles Chart and number 34 on the US Billboard Mainstream Top 40 chart. It was particularly successful in New Zealand, where it reached number one for a week in September 2001.

Background

"19-2000" was accompanied by a completely new version of the song, called the "Soulchild Remix", which was produced by music producers Damien Mendis and Stuart Bradbury. Mendis was asked to remix a track off the album in the hope that it would give it crossover potential, in the same way as the Ed Case remix of "Clint Eastwood" had. Mendis was given a copy of all their demos and finished tracks for the album, being told to "pick [a song] that you can produce, remix or whatever into a hit single". Mendis was unsure which track to choose, and only when he was told that Jamie Hewlett was already working on the video for "19-2000", did he make his decision. Tina Weymouth and Miho Hatori contributed backing vocals to "19–2000", whilst Damon...

Music video

The video, directed by Jamie Hewlett and Pete Candeland, blends traditional animation with computer animation. It features the Gorillaz driving their Geep (as seen on the cover of the album) along a twisting highway. Their journey includes conquering a vertical loop, jumping over a gap in the road, and being pursued by a UFO. Eventually, they face a colossal moose, which Murdoc attempts to obliterate with a pair of missiles. However, the moose sneezes at the last second, redirecting the missiles towards the Geep. The resulting explosion sends the vehicle skidding down the road and leaves the Gorillaz covered in black ash.

Aries

"Aries" is a song by British virtual band Gorillaz featuring drummer Georgia and bassist Peter Hook of the bands Joy Division and New Order. The track was released on 9 April 2020 as the third single for Gorillaz' seventh studio album, Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez.

It was part of the Song Machine project, a web series which involved the release of various Gorillaz tracks featuring different guest musicians over the course of 2020.

Music video

The video, directed by Jamie Hewlett and Tim McCourt, features the band members driving vehicles across a highway landscape in Morocco. 2-D and Murdoc are riding together on a motorcycle, followed by Noodle in a dune buggy (where just prior she is texting someone about 2-D's whereabouts and has grown concerned for him) and finally Russel in a golf kart. Near the end of the video all four of them ride up close to one another. As 2-D continues to sing, Murdoc pulls out a syringe and smiles in a sinister fashion.

Dirty Harry

"Dirty Harry" is a song by British alternative rock virtual band Gorillaz, featuring Bootie Brown, from their second studio album, Demon Days (2005). "Dirty Harry" peaked at number six on the UK Singles Chart, and number fifteen on the ARIA Singles Chart.

Music video

The video was released on 25 October 2005, sent to those on the e-mail list on Gorillaz' official website. A thematic follow-up to the band's "Clint Eastwood", it refers to the film of the same name, Clint Eastwood being the lead actor in the movie. "Dirty Harry" was the first Gorillaz music video to be shot on location, with filming taking place in the Namib Desert in Namibia. The group had initially planned to use a computer-animated desert, but found it more practical and cost-effective to film in a real one.

Rhinestone Eyes

"Rhinestone Eyes" is a song from British virtual band Gorillaz featured on their third studio album, Plastic Beach.

Background

The song was initially intended to receive a full release as the fourth single from Plastic Beach, with copies of the physical promotional single being sent to radio stations across the United States. However, just days after the copies were issued, the band made the decision to issue non-album single "Doncamatic" instead.

Music video

A storyboard version of a possible music video for the song was released on 4 October 2010 to the band's official YouTube channel. The storyboard begins by telling the story of how all four of the band members reunite on Plastic Beach, with the return of Russell and Noodle. The opening scene shows Russell and Noodle heading to Plastic Beach, with Noodle riding on the top of Russell's head, as he eats a hammerhead shark. The Boogieman then appears at the top of Plastic Beach, with Murdoc and Cyborg Noodle discovering him. Cyborg Noodle begins to shoot at the Boogieman, as he hides behind a statue of Pazuzu (the one on the cover of the band's album D-Sides). The Boogieman then jumps into the ocean, with 2-D noticing him from his room, and...

She's My Collar

"She's My Collar" is a song by British virtual band Gorillaz, released on their fifth studio album Humanz. It features guest vocals by Kali Uchis, who accompanies lead singer Damon Albarn throughout the track.