Mad Max

Every year I de-hype myself for Comic-Con. Unless you want to go stand in line for 8 hours, surrounded by what isn’t exactly the most hygienic demographic in the world, all you are going to see is some crappy Iphone video of things you already knew were happening. So every year I tell myself I don’t care about Comic-Con, and every year they put out something that makes me squeal like a six year old girl. No, it wasn’t the grainy cell phone video of Superman about to burn the shit out of Batman’s chin, nor was it Josh Brolin holding up one of those Hulk smash gloves, not even the pictures of anorexic Wonder Woman. Oh no, the thing that stole my heart was a man named Max. It has been almost thirty years since the road warrior went beyond thunderhome, and I don’t care what Tina Turner thinks. We need another hero.

                 

Missed it on a Monday

Sometimes there just isn’t enough time to listen or watch everything that comes out. Life is a zero sum game, and the time spent listening or watching one thing takes away from something else. So this is a place to catch up on those little blind spots where life got in the way of the important stuff.

I feel the need to preface this with the fact that I am a huge Gorillaz fan. In my mind Demon Days is about as close to the voice of God as we are going to get. They were my first favorite band and ignoring a few months, Plastic Beach was a rough time in my life, they have held that crown without too much serious competition. So it is with great shame that I admit that I hadn’t listened to D-Sides until about a week ago. Sure it is just a b-sides album, but that is like not looking at one of those DaVinci sketchbooks if you were like really into DaVinci or something just because he never finished them, I guess. All I know is that analogies are hard, and this album is sweet.

The first disc starts off with an industrial techno instrumental jam that will get you scooting around in your chair. It keeps this high energy going till it takes a more melancholy turn at “Hong Kong”, which despite it being the least Gorillazish song on the album is perhaps my favorite. While certain songs, such as “Bill Murray” and “Spitting out the Demons”, possess a bit of that distinct Gorillaz feel the album as a whole comes across more as a solo Damon Albarn album, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. There is definitely some great stuff to be found on the album, including an odd version of “Don’t get Lost in Heaven” where Damon channels his inner Bob Dylan, but it is undoubtedly not a cohesive project. It lacks a single rapper or vocalist besides Albarn, which may make sense due to its status as a collection of b-sides it is very opposed to the entire concept behind the Gorillaz.

The second album is a collection of remixes which I found to be hit or miss. There are definitely some standouts, including the technofied Soulwax remix of  “DARE”  and “Dirty Harry” sung entirely in Mandarin, which are definitely worth a listen. Most of them are forgettable at-best, and a couple I couldn’t even make it to the end. While Disc 1 has been on rotation since I first listened to it, I haven’t gone back to Disc 2 much at all. There is definitely nothing that jams like that Ed Case remix of “Clint Eastwood”.

While it lacks the collaborative nature that defines the Gorillaz it still stands as a pretty damn good album in its own right, especially for a collection of b-sides and demos. If you’re fan of Albarn the album definitely delivers, but it doesn’t quite scratch that Gorillaz itch. We'll just have to hope for the day Damon gets his shit together and calls up Dangermouse, and I’ll be damned if that isn't a dream worth fighting for.