Discography
70 releases – 4 under his own name, 57 in other groups and 14 credits on others' music Edit
- Show everything (70)
- Released as Damon Albarn (4)
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In other groups (57)
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Credits on others' music (14)
- Tracks on others' music (14)
Has worked with
Has been in these groups
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In the News
( 3 stories between 25th September 2009 and 28th April 2010 )A 16th Century-Inspired Opera? Must Be Damon Albarn
Apr, 28 2010
Damon Albarn's third Gorillaz album Plastic Beach has barely touched down on record store shelves, but he's already moving on to his next project: typically, it's not a conventional "next project" — a fourth Gorillaz album or a new Blur record, say — but an opera about a 16th century alchemist.
It's the second time Albarn has worked on an opera inspired by the 16th century: Monkey was based on a Chinese novel from the same period. "It's based on the life of John Dee," Albarn told New York magazine about the new project, "who was a very influential force in Elizabethan Europe, especially England. He was responsible for creating the concept of the British Empire. So he affects all our lives in one way or another. He was an alchemist. It's about his life."
Dee was one of the most educated men of the early modern era, and was considered a scholar on a huge variety of subjects. "I've just been reading about Hermetic magic and catalysts and philosophy," Albarn said, "which is what all of his stuff is based on — Euclid and Pythagoras and all of that stuff." The project will involve Watchmen creator Alan Moore and Gorillaz cohort Jamie Hewlett, but it's still a long way from fruition: Albarn admitted he would be researching the project for another six months before even beginning to write it.
Forthcoming Gorillaz Release Will Be Deep Pop
Dec, 4 2009
Fresh from the hugely successful Blur reunion, lead singer Damon Albarn is now planning to revisit his Gorillaz project and has announced details of their forthcoming third album, Plastic Beach. According to Albarn, the album is a direct response to the manufactured pop and celebrity culture which is currently so pervasive. "I'm making this album the most pop record I've ever made in many ways, but with all my experience to present something with some depth to it,” he told The Guardian. “I've tried to connect pop sensibility with trying to make people understand the essential melancholy of buying a ready-made meal in loads of plastic packaging. People who watch 'X Factor' might have some emotional connection to these things, that detritus that accompanies what seems the most essential thing in people's lives these days, the celebrity, the voyeurism." There’s a little irony in a fictional cartoon band making a stand against fakery, but while Gorillaz may be shallow in a dimensional sense, there’s no excuse for fully 3-D humans. Judging by the first two Gorillaz albums, Plastic Beach will certainly be worth a close listen.
Damon Albarn
Sep, 25 2009
According to reports in the UK, Damon Albarn is the favorite to be appointed artistic director of the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2012 London Olympic Games. During the Beijing Olympics, Albarn worked with illustrator Jamie Hewlett on music and graphics for the BBC's coverage of the event. Albarn grew up in East London where most of the Olympic events will be held, so it's thought he would be capable of organizing a show which would have a particularly strong local flavor. As the frontman for Blur, Albarn was a leading figure in the Britpop scene of the mid-90s. Albarn then created Gorillaz, the hugely successful animated hip-hop group, also in tandem with Hewlett. In 2006 he formed The Good, The Bad & The Queen with members of The Clash, The Verve, and Tony Allen, drummer for Fela Kuti. Last year Albarn and Hewlett created an opera based on an ancient Chinese legend, and released an accompanying soundtrack called Journey to the West by Monkey. Albarn faces competition from Oscar-nominated film director Stephen Daldry; a decision on the appointment is expected within six months.
