Blur's "No Distance Left to Run" was nominated for the same category but lost out to The Door's film "When You're Strange".
As much as I love The Doors, it's a pity indeed that they robbed Blur of its nomination.
60s Rock Band The Doors
I've included links in the post to the winners' work. Feel free to leave a comment on what you think of the pieces. Personally I really think Jeff Beck's instrumental is nothing compared to Gorillaz's. It does not have flair, and sounds like an orchestral piece rather than a "pop" performance.
Gorillaz screams "Pop" in their sound, artwork and just everything!
I'm watching the Grammy Awards Clive Davis Party live online. Still a day before the real awards. Both Blur and Gorillaz were nominated this year, and it's the FIRST TIME Blur's ever received a Grammy Award. Ironic isn't it, how it's been years since they made any album and it's still the first time ever that they got nominated.
Blur's documentary No Distance Left To Run was nominated for Best Long Form Music Video.
Best Long Form Music Video
1. NO DISTANCE LEFT TO RUN - Blur
2. WHEN YOU'RE STRANGE - The Doors
3. THE GREATEST EARS IN TOWN: THE ARIF MARDIN STORY - Arif Mardin
4. RUSH: BEYOND THE LIGHTED STAGE - Rush
5. UNDER GREAT WHITE NORTHERN LIGHTS - The White Stripes
Gorillaz's were nominated for 2 awards:
Best Pop Instrumental Performance
"Flow" -- Laurie Anderson
"Nessun Dorma" -- Jeff Beck
"No Mystery" -- Stanley Clarke
"Orchestral Intro" -- Gorillaz
"Sleepwalk" -- The Brian Setzer Orchestra
Best Short Form Music Video
Johnny Cash – "Ain't No Grave / The Johnny Cash Project"
Eminem and Rihanna – "Love the Way You Lie"
Gorillaz, Mos Def and Bobby Womack– "Stylo"
Cee Lo Green – "Fuck You!"
Lady Gaga – "Bad Romance"
Bruce Willis in Stylo
Lets see if Gorillaz or Blur notches up an award! Keep checking this site for updates!
Dear readers, I'm extremely tired after a long Saturday in college. Had class from 10:00am in the morning till 6:00pm at night. Fun eh?
Just before I head off to bed, I thought I'd fulfill my promise of reviewing some more of Gorillaz's The Fall ("...the first ipad album in the world!"). To read Part 1 of the review, click here.
4 - Detriot
I feel more awake after listening to this tune. It's fresh, clear and catchy, although very raw. Sorta techno, steady beat and rhythm all through out. It's more like an experiment in the beats and pop of the 80s... those disco hits. Highlights are the tune in the middle - love it. Short but sweet.
***
I'm thinking an empty disco. Perhaps it's the hours before a big party at the club, and the DJ's testing out his new tune. He's head-bobbing and wearing dark sunglasses. Disco's empty, yet the lights and everything are fully blasted. Air-conditioning makes the room chilled, ice cold.
Ice-cold room, empty only with the sound of Detriot
5 - Shy-Town
Damon is high pitch here. Very. The keyboards play a huge part in the song, with long notes played on and on. Shy-town has a strange atmosphere to it, sort of ghostly and reserved. There are also alien-radar sounds at the beginning of the song. Damon speaks in his monotone - Friday, Chicago and then starts singing. We hear waves and sounds of water. A beautiful song indeed, and one that could've made it to Plastic Beach with a little more refining.
***
Underwater. Submarines. Damon and Paul Simonon in their pirate hats and striped outfits, sailing to sea in a tiny wooden boat.
5 - Little Pink Plastic Bags
The tune's funky. Dark. Damon utters - "Little Pink Plastic Bags...blowing on a highway...they don't know where they'll go...they'll just float there" and then his voice goes off into echos. Long periods of whirling follows, sounds like some kind of fan or machine's backdrop. I think this song's the most unique song on The Fall. The tune's really wacky and it grows on you as you listen.
It's another lonely Friday night and I'm in my college dorm. Piles of assignments glare at me from the tops of my shelves. Since I'm in full procrastination mode, and I only have Gorillaz to keep me company, I'm going to present to you my track by track review of Gorillaz's "ipad album" The Fall (Released December 2010). I'll start off by introducing the album and then reviewing the first couple of tunes.
Messy desk, overdue coursework, college dorm
From Montreal to Vancouver via Seattle, Texas and Toronto, over 32 days on their North American Tour this autumn, Gorillaz recorded a musical diary. Recorded on tour, on an iPad, this low-key album (click here to listen to stream for free on the band's website) is the sound of Damon Albarn blowing trees and tweaking apps on his ipad as the American mountains rolls by his tour bus window.
The result is a collection of 15 tracks, some with vocals, some without, some combined performances and some solo.
The music was recorded during spare time while on the road. "I did it because there's a lot of time that you just spend staring at walls essentially. And it was a fantastic way of doing it" says Damon Albarn. "I found working in the day, whether it's in the hotel or in the venue, it was a brilliant way of keeping myself well." Adding that the collection is "..like a diary, I literally wrote everything on the day in each place and there's a strange sort of sound of America and its musical traditions that comes through. It feels like a journey through America."
A physical release is planned for later in 2011. The full track listing is:
Phoner To Arizona
Revolving Doors
HillBilly Man
Detroit
Shy-town
Little Pink Plastic Bags
The Joplin Spider
The Parish of Space Dust
The Snake In Dallas
Amarillo
The Speak It Mountains
Aspen Forest
Bobby In Phoenix
California And The Slipping Of The Sun
Seattle Yodel
Lets go through what you get with this album, shall we? I will review the first 3 tracks.
Oh, and I've included pictures of how I picture the song when I listen to it. Maybe it'll help you visualize and set the mood...
1 - Phoner to Arizona
Slightly techno. Reminds me of Stylo, especially the 80s bass beat that runs all the way through the song. No vocals, quite repetitive. It seems like a perfect B-side to any Plastic Beach song, it's pretty much Damon's style. Fades away at the end. Nothing special or spectacular, just a plain old tune that could have been polished.
***
When I listen to Phoner to Arizona, I'm imagining a night out. It's late and everyone's leaving the party, bar, club. You're walking home alone in the cold dark street. Yellow lights from the lamp-post streams down and casts a shadow.
Feel the mood...
2 - Revolving Doors
One of my favourite tracks on The Fall. Damon sings in his drowning croon and repeats "Revolving Doors" over and over again. The song describes him sitting in an American diner and watching the "foggy days" outside his window. He reflects on his life and just sings. The tune is a repeating little tune, quite catchy. Reminds me of Damon's Opera (Monkey Journey to the West) and also the song Hong Kong on Gorillaz's b-sides album D-Sides.
***
I'm just thinking revolving doors, revolving around and around. Spinning. It's a blur of people in and out. Beatles music on cue.
3- Hillbilly Man
The song begins with Damon singing about free lanes with a gentle guitar sound in the background. He's talking about driving away and the song's really mellow. Then halfway around 1:25, beats come in. The whole song changes mood. I'm not sure whether it's on purpose or not, but Damon's voice seems to be getting raspier. Rasp is then followed by the chorus, which chants Hillibilly repeatedly. Don't really like the rasp. Didn't Damon quit smoking?
***
I didn't know what "Hillibilly" was so I did a Google search. Can't stop laughing at the results:
Hillibilly - "Unsophisticated person" - Google Dictionary
That's the end of tonight's The Fall review. I'll continue on next time, please subscribe to the blog or bookmark it! You can always follow the RSS Feed on the sidebar on the right.
What do you think of The Fall and the songs above? Disagree ?
