Awesome Music / Gorillaz

Gorillaz

• "5/4". The second track that gives the listener a bigger glimpse into the world of Gorillaz.
• When "Clint Eastwood" first came out in the US, you couldn't go anywhere without hearing it or, to a lesser extent, "19-2000". Oddly enough, the Soulchild Remix of "19-2000" gets more airtime than the original, even being referred to as the original on radio stations!
• "Sound Check (Gravity)" — Epic enough already... and then those violins come in...
• "Punk" is one minute and thirty-six seconds of highly concentrated win. The Spacemonkeyz remix takes that win and turns it into a reggae song. Exactly as awesome as it sounds.
• "M1 A1" is Gorillaz in full throttle band. It starts slowly and scary, and it builds onto an awesome rock soundtrack. It feels like old school Blur, or even old school alternative rock.
• "Rock The House". Rhymes provided by Del make this track stand out yet still fit well into the album.
• "Slow Country" is a lovely, breezy tune that sounds like something out of Animal Crossing.

Demon Days (Album)

• "Feel Good Inc.". While it has stiff competition, it's considered the band's signature song for good reason. It really has everything: a memorable music video, an insanely catchy chorus, a memorable bass line and a harmonious blend of genres and styles. It features all of the best elements that define Gorillaz' unique sound, making it the perfect gateway drug to the virtual band's varied discography.
• "O Green World" makes the listener want to go out and punch zombies in the face over and over again.
• "Dirty Harry" is impressive for the fact that it has a beat almost as original and memorable as "Feel Good Inc.", though it stands out for having one of the most effective uses of A Wild Rapper Appears! with the surprise appearance from Bootie Brown. The song is just plain awesome even if you don't look into the politically-charged lyrics.
• "El Mañana" is a melancholy song that has an equally depressing video.
• "Every Planet We Reach Is Dead" has some great instrumentals.
• "November Has Come". Not only does it have an irresistible beat, but the song features none other than MF DOOM rapping over it.
• "All Alone" doesn't get nearly enough love. Not only does Roots Manuva spit some great, toe-tapping lines, but Martina Topley's vocal section in the bridge is ethereal.
• "DARE" just makes you want to get up and dance.
• "Fire Coming Out of the Monkey's Head" is a spine-chilling Spoken Word track featuring none other than Dennis Hopper. Hopper tells the story of the mountain called Monkey, which is worshipped as a deity by the blissfully naïve Happyfolk and steadily mined for precious jewels by the invading Strangefolk. Damon periodically pops in with some cheery verses about soldiers shooting unarmed civilians, as if to make the political commentary a touch more obvious for the hard of hearing. Still, a great track nonetheless.
• "Don't Get Lost in Heaven", which along with "Demon Days" makes up the finale of the second album, is just freaking beautiful.
• The haunting violin at the beginning of "Demon Days", followed by a gorgeous Gospel choir preaching about the ongoing downfall of society. It ends with a cautiously optimistic refrain, "Turn yourself around, to the Sun", that sticks in your head, giving you the best kind of chills...

Plastic Beach

• "Stylo" contrasts Bobby Womack's signature soulful wails against Damon's droning, melancholic word-salad vocals. The song frantically builds until it feels like something is about to go horribly off the rails, best represented in the kick-ass music video in which Murdoc and the gang are relentlessly chased through the desert by a Cowboy Cop played by Bruce frickin' Willis!
• "Rhinestone Eyes" is one of the biggest favourites of the album. Damon sounds great and the melancholic instrumental is the highlight, especially when it gets heavier. Although Jamie and Damon ran out of money to produce a proper music video, a dedicated fan brought the draft animatic to life after several years of hard work, showing how much love this song rightfully gets.
• "On Melancholy Hill" is one of the most raw, beautiful, and lingering songs in recent memory. And it's even better live.
• "White Flag" is even more amazing played live, where Damon comes out at the end waving a giant white flag. Cue the audience going nuts.
• "Empire Ants". Ask any hardcore Gorillaz fan their favourite song from the band and you'll likely hear this one mentioned more than most of the big chart-topping singles. It is, without doubt, one of their most beautiful tracks, and, like any of their best work, it smashes together two completely disparate genres to create something fantastically unique. The first half sung by Damon is like an ethereal lullaby — calm, soothing, folksy. Then it awesomely transitions into a hard-hitting electronic dance track by Little Dragon, featuring sombre lyrics from their lead singer, Yukimi.
• "To Binge", also featuring the talents of Little Dragon. This one feels like a twisted Surf Rock track about finding love through addiction and strife.
• "Broken" is another bitter, sombre track with environmentalist themes. The song probably isn't about traditional romantic love as such, but the shared love between mankind and the world we inhabit slowly getting eroded away, with nobody willing to change their ways.
• "Cloud of Unknowing". If it can make Murdoc tear up, you know it's powerful. When it's played live, it's even more heartbreaking and awestriking.
• "Glitter Freeze" is purely instrumental save samples, with some absolutely wild synths.
• The title track, "Plastic Beach", doesn't get enough love. There's something bold and striking about that opening, followed by 2D's catchy autotuned lyrics: It's automated computer speech, it's a Casio on a plastic beach...
• Even the first song, "Welcome To The World Of The Plastic Beach", featuring a very chill Snoop Dogg slowly rapping over an even slower brass band track. Hell, when paired with the orchestral intro, the pair pretty much serve as the perfect sign of what's to come on the CD.

The Fall 2011

• "Revolving Doors". 2D busts out a killer ukulele loop while singing about his endless cycles of depression and painkiller addiction once again, though he ends it on an extremely sobering note: "Seems I was born for this..."
• "Amarillo" is flat-out gorgeous.
• "Hillbilly Man" has huge amounts of awesome, just lying in wait for someone to get to 1:50. Guttural noises? In this case, yes please. And that's not even BEGINNING to mention "The Parish of Space Dust".
• "Joplin Spider" has the overbearing synths and noises that hearken back to phase one.

Humanz

• "Saturnz Barz", the first single and music video from the album, is infectious, trippy, beautifully animated, and proof that Gorillaz hadn't lost their touch after a long hiatus.
• "Ascension" is a ferocious beast of a track, giving off the feeling that the world's about to end, so it's time to party.
• "Andromeda" is such a mellow and chill track, however melancholic it seems since Albarn explained that it was dedicated to the late Bobby Womack and his mother-in-law. During one of the last verses, his voice seems to break and he sounds close to tears, making it all the more raw and heartfelt.
• "We Got the Power" is a fast-paced and uplifting anthem that is entirely appropriate for the current political climate and tension. The song's only flaw is that there isn't more of it. It's a simple reminder that we all have the power of human compassion no matter where we're from or what our personal beliefs are.
• "Strobelite" is possibly the grooviest song on the album. It has a spark in it that sets the entire track ablaze.
• "Charger" can be best described as "hypnotic," with its repetitive, droning guitar loops, striking performances by 2D and Grace Jones, as well as one of the catchiest hooks in the entire album.
• "Let Me Out" sounds both beautiful and haunting, thanks to great soulful singing by Mavis Staples and the chilling social commentary in the lyrics alluding to the uncertain future of all American minorities under the Trump regime.
• "Garage Palace" is quiet, yet incredibly smooth with Little Simz' cool, rapid-fire rapping set to a simple, yet groovy, driving beat. The live version has Simz provide much more vigor to her performance, and it's just as awesome.
• "Out of Body" is a subtly brilliant mix of bouncy, mysterious, and chill, perfectly balancing the soft yet tight rapping from Kilo Kish, the cool and haunting whispers from Zebra Katz, and the gorgeously soulful singing of Imani Vonshà, all set to a simultaneously apocalyptic yet increasingly euphoric dance beat.
• "Momentz" is a pounding jam that's surprisingly effective as a pump-up jam. Some think that the bass is a tad overbearing and trying too hard to be a club anthem, but maybe that's just part of the charm.

The Now Now

• "Hollywood" is a funky, bass-heavy track featuring Jamie Principle and Snoop Dogg who remind the listener that the aforementioned city can and will blind you with the false promise of fame and luxury.
• “Humility” is a breezy, upbeat summer tune perfect for the beach.
• "Tranz" is the second single from The Now Now, and is a fun, catchy synth tune that feels like a callback to The 80's.
• "Idaho" is a soft-spoken and lovely organ and guitar ballad.

Song Machine

• "Momentary Bliss", featuring rapper slowthai and punk band Slaves, is a bright, punchy, energetic-as-hell track, with a killer mixture of electronica and punky Britpop only Gorillaz could pull off.
• "Aries" sees the band channel their inner Joy Division and New Order, no doubt due to thanks to Peter Hook himself providing his signature bass. With additional help by Georgia, the song is groovy, retro, and breezy in the best ways possible.
• "Friday 13th" is one of the most offbeat and unusually-produced songs in the Gorillaz discography, but within lies a chilled-out, reggae and dub-inspired bit of psychedelia that's both depressing and beautifully tender in its emotion.
• "PAC-MAN" has a thick beat that recalls the heyday of the G-funk era. The instrumentals get an added punch-up when Schoolboy Q takes over, although the beat switches subtly again as the rapper glides over its woozy outro.
• "The Pink Phantom" is a somber piano duet between 2D and none other than Sir Elton John, with 6LACK providing some smooth rhymes. The song has a solid beat that helps set the tone, the piano work is gorgeous, and Sir Elton John's voice sounds just as much like honey at age 73 as he did back in the 1970's.
• "The Valley of the Pagans" is a lively and blissfully hedonistic mix of funk rock and synthwave, featuring amazing vocal chemistry between 2D and none other than Beck, sounding as fresh and youthful as ever.
• "Opium" sees Gorillaz meeting up with EARTHGANG for an Afrobeat epic, building up with an extended drumbeat intro before blasting into a melancholy, but lush and driving number wistfully observing the chaotic state of the world and dreaming of a happier future.
• "MLS" is one of the oddest, yet most colorful, even cutest Gorillaz crossovers to date, featuring the sweet group vocals of Japanese girl group CHAI and an uncharacteristically upbeat and energetic JPEGMAFIA, set against a laid-back, but bouncy beat. Unexpected and kooky, yet undeniably Gorillaz.
• "How Far?", a collaboration with Skepta and the late Tony Allen, to the latter of whom the song is dedicated. With Allen's rich, lively drumwork and Skepta's intricate lyrics about the dangers of being famous in a dark world, it's a moody yet cinematic cut dripping with suspense.

Non-studio releases

• From D-Sides: "Rockit", a song in which about half of the lyrics are blahs.
• Also from D-Sides: "Stop the Dams". Incredibly beautiful, peaceful, nostalgic, and hopeful...
• "Doncamatic". Some would rather forget this song was ever recorded. Others adore the way the desperate vocals wash over the cold horns. No matter which position you take, it's not an easy song to forget.
• "Murdoc is God" is, as Murdoc put it, "One chord and the truth."
• "DoYaThing", recorded for the promotion of a line of Gorillaz-themed Converse sneakers and featuring Andre 3000 from Outkast and James Murphy from LCD Soundsystem, is all kinds of crazy awesome. The full 13 minute version features an extended outro reminiscent of LCD Soundsystem, or some older Gorillaz tracks like White Light, Glitter Freeze, or Punk, accompanied by Andre screaming and wailing about how he's "the shit" over and over. And that entire bit was IMPROVISED. Amazing.
• "Hong Kong" has been a really underrated track, with its surprisingly peaceful, almost zen-like use of violins and beautiful guzheng accompaniment. Watch it here live.
• "Sleeping Powder" is a stupidly catchy number with a ridiculous music video to match it. Gets bonus points for being written in one day, as Damon's response to people who wanted more of 2D's voice on Humanz. He even acknowledges it in this live performance, showing that he does care about the characters and knows how much the fans care about them too!

Aw, what the hell, it would probably be easier just to say that everything ever put out by Gorillaz counts as Awesome Music.

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