Gorillaz were an excellent exercise in reminding me as a youth that it was okay to build this sort of fantasy world and make it real. It was more than okay, it was cool.
Thanks for posting this. I 'member seeing this video originally on MTV at like 3AM. Instantly captivated. I'm a huge fan to this day, but there's something uniquely special about all the Phase 1 stuff: the album, the B-sides (or “G” Sides lol), the explorable Flash Kong Studios site, the DVD, Jamie Hewlett's art†, the fact that the eponymous album as originally released is 55:55 (iykyk)
There's also a track on Deltron 3030 (an album I liked a lot more when it was new than I do now) which I have tagged as “feat. 2-D” instead of “feat. Damon Albarn” because come on :p https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxd_eDTbBMQ
It's also kinda funny that 2D's entire existence is just a stupid pun on Robert Del (lol) Naja a.k.a. “3D” (a.k.a. Banksy?) from Massive Attack, although the later Gorillaz albums strayed from the trip-hop thing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unTP4rn0nc4
I wish I could but literally can't explain it because it's something I came to know via symbology and not via words, so I don't have the words to try and pass it on to others :(
Have you ever seen Interstella 5555? It's a documentary actually.
Nah nothing like that. I still listen to it pretty often in fact. I feel like Deltron says what it wants to say, and I enjoy what it wants to say, but it never tells me anything new. I still find new interpretations in all of the Gorillaz albums in a way that keeps them fresher even though I have listened them all to death, especially eponymous and Plastic Beach.
Gorillaz songs do a great job of saying a bunch of different things all layered together, like literally about the fictional band and simultaneously allegorically about capital-H Humanity and our collective perpetuity, the mortal coil, the [G]reat Work, whatever you want to call it. They're all super coded once you're willing to stop caring about the opinions of people who think it's weird/cringe to think about that kind of stuff.
“Fire Coming Out of the Monkey’s Head” is a great example of one I only recently feel like I “get” even though I've been listening to it for twenty years. Like, why Monkey? Just because Gorillaz, or have I looked in a mirror recently? Why a mountain? What shape are those, and where else have I encountered that shape? Without the truth of the eyes, I was blind. Probably still am to a lot of it :)
Or “Saturnz Barz” where the title is about bars in a musical sense but also bars as in jail (hint: you're in it — we all are. They have Broken Our Love.)
This is 100% a guess as I'm not from any Commonwealth country and didn't grow up seeing them, but maybe this one? Timeline fits (1999), location fits (article says he's from Sydney), it's the only one I found that combines 2D animation with 3D animation, and some of the shots look surprisingly similar to the Clint Eastwood and Rock The House videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4xf475Du9E
I always forget if it was Candeland or the other guy who was prominent in early Gorillaz productions, but suffice it to say, those videos spawned quite the rad pedigree.
EDIT: Forgot to add that, since this is a Gorillaz-related comment section, I'm obligated to state my personal esoteric theory that DD/PB/HZ constitute Albarn's attempt to reboot Dante's Divine Comedy. (Among all the other fantastic things those albums are.) (Think about it.)
> The drum beat is just the Rock 1 preset of the Suzuki Omnichord
I wonder if you need to pay royalties or get permission for that kind of thing... or is license to use it commercially included in the price of the instrument?
IANAL, but you don't need a license to publish yourself playing a piano or a guitar, and synthesizers are also musical instruments. That said, I'm not sure that's ever been tested in court, so if someone wanted to be a right-wing asshole about it, like take over Suzuki and try to get royalties from every hit song that used it, I guess it might be interesting.
I remember as a kid putting that cd in my computer and driving the car from the "19-2000" music video around. The physics were so mind-boggling to me at the time. I loved it. This article is bringing back those memories.
Actually, I'm not sure if that demo/game came from the CD or from a promo website. It's been so long I don't remember.
Such cool videos. I listened to Gorillaz a lot when they first came out. Incidentally I’ve been listening to them lately as I’m learning to play the bass and the “Feel good inc.“ riff is super cool yet beginner friendly. By listening to it I got back into the band again
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Gorillaz were an excellent exercise in reminding me as a youth that it was okay to build this sort of fantasy world and make it real. It was more than okay, it was cool.
If anyone has the Japanese minidisc kids with guns and they wanna part with it https://www.discogs.com/release/16025872-Gorillaz-Kids-With-...
my email is in my profile!
There's also a track on Deltron 3030 (an album I liked a lot more when it was new than I do now) which I have tagged as “feat. 2-D” instead of “feat. Damon Albarn” because come on :p https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxd_eDTbBMQ
It's also kinda funny that 2D's entire existence is just a stupid pun on Robert Del (lol) Naja a.k.a. “3D” (a.k.a. Banksy?) from Massive Attack, although the later Gorillaz albums strayed from the trip-hop thing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unTP4rn0nc4
And RIP Gorillaz-Unofficial https://web.archive.org/web/20071222221958/http://www.gorill...
† https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/13ub5EfL6YHel5_Gn36v4...
edit: and the art Jamie Hewlett is editing in the article's photo was part of the 19／2000 single: https://www.discogs.com/release/66714-Gorillaz-192000/image/...
Have you ever seen Interstella 5555? It's a documentary actually.
I only discovered Deltron 3030 a couple of years ago, fucking love it. Why do you like it less now? Is there a controversy around it or him?
Gorillaz songs do a great job of saying a bunch of different things all layered together, like literally about the fictional band and simultaneously allegorically about capital-H Humanity and our collective perpetuity, the mortal coil, the [G]reat Work, whatever you want to call it. They're all super coded once you're willing to stop caring about the opinions of people who think it's weird/cringe to think about that kind of stuff.
“Fire Coming Out of the Monkey’s Head” is a great example of one I only recently feel like I “get” even though I've been listening to it for twenty years. Like, why Monkey? Just because Gorillaz, or have I looked in a mirror recently? Why a mountain? What shape are those, and where else have I encountered that shape? Without the truth of the eyes, I was blind. Probably still am to a lot of it :)
Or “Saturnz Barz” where the title is about bars in a musical sense but also bars as in jail (hint: you're in it — we all are. They have Broken Our Love.)
It's really impressive he has managed to remain anonymous for so long, really.
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/...
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>The Beatles: Rock Band Trailer/Opening Movie
>Motorcity
>Tron: Uprising
>Love, Death, and Robots: Ice
I always forget if it was Candeland or the other guy who was prominent in early Gorillaz productions, but suffice it to say, those videos spawned quite the rad pedigree.
EDIT: Forgot to add that, since this is a Gorillaz-related comment section, I'm obligated to state my personal esoteric theory that DD/PB/HZ constitute Albarn's attempt to reboot Dante's Divine Comedy. (Among all the other fantastic things those albums are.) (Think about it.)
1. The drum beat is just the Rock 1 preset of the Suzuki Omnichord: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDX6l9_58RA
2. Del tha Funkee Homosapien wrote the full lyrics in 30 minutes with the help of the book "How to Write a Hit Song": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq2qSq6NpNY#t=373
3. The first version of the song didn't feature Del, but the British group Phi Life Cypher: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZM-DK3b5yuo
I wonder if you need to pay royalties or get permission for that kind of thing... or is license to use it commercially included in the price of the instrument?
Includes: "STYLES, VOICES, PERFORMANCES, PATTERNS, ARPEGGIOS"
https://usa.yamaha.com/about_yamaha/proprietary_rights_notic...
There are limits to prevent copying of raw sounds and reselling.
Actually, I'm not sure if that demo/game came from the CD or from a promo website. It's been so long I don't remember.
Here's a widescreen ver: https://archive.org/details/final_drive
It was a cool demo of the new-at-the-time 3D features in Macromedia Shockwave 8.5 (Director; not Shockwave Flash)
"I'm useless, but not for long
The future is coming on"
https://youtu.be/KQBlt1sfUhY?si=2WeBcrrQ1zDxZPi0