BBC Review
The scope and depth of Plastic Beach is staggering.
Mark Beaumont 2010-02-26
The Plastic Beach back story – colourful fluff about cyborg bassists, kidnapped singers and islands made of trash – might make you think the whole cartoon band conceit is wearing a bit thin. Listen, though, and it makes more sense than ever.
Only behind such a distracting smokescreen could Damon Albarn get away with conducting a project as sprawling, daring, innovative, surprising, muddled and magnificent as Plastic Beach: not just one of the best records of 2010, but a release to stand alongside the greatest Albarn’s ever been involved with and a new benchmark for collaborative music as a whole.
Not that you’d think that from the first couple of tracks. After a meandering, seagull-strewn string intro, Snoop Dogg phones in his contribution to lounge rap number Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach. You’d be forgiven for assuming Gorillaz had found their place as Damon’s token hip hop side project. Then, the first handbrake turn in what will be a head-spinning ride. White Flag opens as the world’s only Shinto Bollywood track before Kano and Bashy trade anti-war, anti-crime and anti-religion rhymes over trashy Casio beats. It’s the first of a plethora of jaw-dropping surprises on what might possibly be the least predictable album ever made.
From here Plastic Beach simply flies. Rhinestone Eyes (brilliant) is all 80s synths and M.I.A. skipping chants, first single Stylo (also brilliant) manages to merge Bobby Womack’s soulful croon and Mos Def’s raps into something resembling a Gary Numan or Grace Jones track from 1983, and Superfast Jellyfish (particularly brilliant) finds Super Furry Animals’ Gruff Rhys delivering an OutKast-meets-The Rentals elastic pop bouncer in keeping with his colourful cartoon surroundings, right down to the trumpets that sound like a sad clown at the end.
The celebrity guests all step up to the raised bar. Lou Reed’s fragile turn on Some Kind of Nature is the kind of New York piano charmer he does best, and Mark E. Smith is a spectral, menacing presence on Glitter Freeze. But it’s when Albarn takes centre stage that Plastic Beach really thrills: Empire Ants is a trickling ballad to rank alongside Blur’s best, and On Melancholy Hill is a hazy pop gem with the sugary 80s sparkle of Strawberry Switchblade or early Lightning Seeds.
The scope and depth of Plastic Beach is staggering. For anyone frustrated that Blur never quite managed their White Album, look no further.
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Comment number 1.
At 20:21 26th Feb 2010, Joseph Adams wrote:Hooray. Now to see how well it does in the charts.
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Comment number 2.
At 21:36 1st Mar 2010, Judas72 wrote:Heard it at: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124114812
Thoroughly enjoyable album. I will definitely be buying this one! :-)
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Comment number 3.
At 15:38 3rd Mar 2010, Dannyboy182 wrote:Am I the only one who thinks that this album is terrible? I loved the previous albums but this one just generally sounds terrible, maybe I'm old skool and don't appreciate change as much as others but this album neither sounds like Gorillaz nor does it have an endearing quality to it.
The first few tracks sound as if a drugged up teenager has messed around on a keyboard for half an hour. Story to the album or not, I can not imagine any of these tracks being in the top 40, not that I give a sh*t.
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Comment number 4.
At 20:37 3rd Mar 2010, GFK283 wrote:I remember thinking demon days was terrible, having only heard Feel Good Inc. I wasn't used to the new sound. I'd suggest giving it a chance, listen through the album a few times and see if you still hate it.
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Comment number 5.
At 18:43 11th Mar 2010, DaBaBa88 wrote:Staggering compared to a videogame soundtrack perhaps. It is so staggering and edgy that I am sure a few of these tracks will end up in my local department store soundtrack in a few years, as buy socks or something. I read elsewhere these were chosen from over 70 tracks, if so, the other 54 must really stink...
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Comment number 6.
At 01:26 18th Mar 2010, Cornholio wrote:It's not like the other albums. It's the Gorillaz on holiday. Getting off the plane, diving straight into the polluted sea and coming up smelling of roses. If I get 4-5 songs I really like off an album, I’d think myself lucky. Off this I get 9. I don’t care if it doesn’t hit the singles chart, this is an collection.
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Comment number 7.
At 22:45 28th Mar 2010, sirocco wrote:album off the year,easy. anyone who doesnt like it clearly doesnt like originality,mood,diversity...just music,in a nutshell.
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Comment number 8.
At 00:45 30th Mar 2010, shakySpursforthecup wrote:So laughable to hear some of the reviewers selfish stance on other people's creativity:
- "It wasn't what I expected, so I can't possibly like it!"
Damon Albarn and his collaborators are creating amazing music. Whether or not it sounds like previous albums (and by the way, the second album was almost as big a leap from the first as this is from the second), or whether it sells big is not going to change his musical philosophy, and that is such a rare thing for anyone who has his level of commercial success. Cherish it while you can...
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Comment number 9.
At 21:37 9th Apr 2010, james wrote:This is a fantastic album. I bought it last week opened the old Jack D out and sat there and listened to the whole album all the way through. I felt fully relaxed and was blown away by the depth of the sounds from all the tracks. I am not going to compare it to anything it felt fresh and full of original material. It may not be for everyone but it’s better than listening to the soppy remixed rubbish that circulates the charts on a weekly basis. It’s a buy recommendation.
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Comment number 10.
At 08:45 21st Apr 2010, Millie wrote:This album is brilliant! I've always thought the whole Gorillaz thing was a stupid concept to begin with, and their first two albums were merely mindless, spineless pop stuff; in fact parts of Demon Days were downright awful. But with Plastic Beach the quality of material's finally caught up to the creativity and the ambition behind it all. Props to Damon the stylistic chameleon.-
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Comment number 11.
At 09:43 3rd Jun 2010, hans_gatwick wrote:I have to say Stylo is one of the best tracks i've ever heard, It's full of tight nervy energy which threatens to explode at any minute (which it does when Bobby Womack delivers his extraordinary vo
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Comment number 12.
At 09:44 3rd Jun 2010, hans_gatwick wrote:cals)
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Comment number 13.
At 02:21 17th Aug 2010, jason tride wrote:This is a sick album. I love UK hip hop, it's so much fresher than Canadian hip hop.
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