D-Sides

Performer: Gorillaz
Engineer: Jason Cox; Charles Lam; Steve Sedgewick
Producer: Joseph Mount; Ann Yeung; Tung Tang; Cox; Joel Martin; Soulwax; Gorillaz; Junior Sanchez; Matt Edwards; James Dring; Hot Chip; Danger Mouse
Distributor: EMI Music Distribution

Notes: Gorillaz: Noodle, Russel Hobbs, Murdoc Niccals, 2-D. Additional personnel: Jacqueline Fu, Mazy Yap & Kids From Lok Sin Tong Primary School, Neneh Cherry (vocals); MC Yan (rap vocals); Joseph Mount (various instruments); Wei Man Chen (zither); Oliver Langford, Antonia Pagulatos, Alice Pratley (violin); Hou Shih Chieh (erhu); Emma Owens, Stella Page (viola); Izzi Dunn (cello); Johnny Yim (keyboards); Al Mobbs (double bass); Danger Mouse (drums, programming); Tung Tang (percussion, programming); James Dring (programming); Rosie Wilson (background vocals); The Reykjavik West End Brass Band, Hrafnkell Fl�ki Einarsson, Katrin P�lmad�ttir, Ashildur Akad�ttir, Olafur Bielawski, Haraldur Prastarson, Einar Palmason, Magn�s Andersen, Hugi Beyer Gunnarsson, Oskar V�lundarson, H�rdur Bjarkason, L�rus Halld�r Gr�msson, Morton Wilson, Jamie Hewlett, Curver, DJ Magic, De La Soul, Einar �rn, Kaktus, Shaun Ryder, The Bees, Ghostigital. Although the grand collaborative project of the first Gorillaz album had been mostly narrowed down to Damon Albarn and a few cohorts on 2005's DEMON DAYS, the music remained no less genre-smashing and fun. D-SIDES, a two-disc set of B-sides and remixes, proves just how inventive and appealing even the Gorillaz' loose ends can be. Like most B-sides sets, D-SIDES lacks the cohesion of a regular studio album, but therein lies its charm. The stylistically freewheeling, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach Albarn employed with later Blur albums is here, but pushed further, encompassing everything from doo-wop to dub to hard rock to film music. The remix disc, which features work by the DFA, Metronomy, and Hot Chip, is sharper and more focused, without sacrificing the feeling of wild pastiche that makes the Gorillaz tick. The Gorillaz B-sides and remixes collection D-Sides just emphasizes that Demon Days could have just as easily been called Damon Days. Even though Damon Albarn worked with collaborators like Danger Mouse on the second Gorillaz album, Albarn was its main sonic architect, and this is made even clearer by the songs that didn't make it onto Demon Days. Where the album honed a paranoid, melancholy -- but always accessible -- vibe, D-Sides is charmingly loose and eclectic; the stoned, rag-tag shuffle of "Don't Get Lost in Heaven (Demo)" is far more engaging, or at least immediate, than the choir and strings-bedecked version that appeared on Demon Days. The layered, doo wop-inspired harmonies and pianos on "Highway (Under Construction)" bear the marks of fiddling around in the studio, but appealingly so -- and that goes double for the new wave/electro ramble "Rockit," on which Albarn makes "blah blah blah" sound almost profound. D-Sides finds him working in styles he couldn't fit on the album (although "Spitting Out the Demons"' dubby gloom comes the closest to Demon Days' final cut): "68 State"'s moody synth noodling could soundtrack an anime dystopia; "Hongkongaton" fuses dub and music hall; and "People" could be the mutant offspring of Britpop and synth pop. While many of D-Sides' tracks are sketches, the full-fledged songs are just as good as what ultimately appeared on Demon Days. "The Swagga," er, swaggers from retro-futuristic pop to messy, freewheeling rock, fulfilling the promise of rowdy snippets like "Murdoc Is God." Albarn also finds room for some surprisingly vulnerable moments; "Hong Kong," with its strings and shamisen, feels like a distant cousin of The Great Escape's "Yuko and Hiro," and "Stop the Dams" closes D-Sides' first disc on a quiet, heartfelt note. For longtime Albarn fans, this part of the collection is a lot of fun -- a trip through his scraps and oddities is still more rewarding than many other artists' magnum opuses. D-Sides' remix disc is, somewhat surprisingly, more focused than the actual Gorillaz B-sides are. It's no surprise that Albarn has gathered an on-point cast of remixers, including Metronomy, Hot Chip, and the DFA, who begin the disc with its best track, a belligerent, percussive version of "Dare" that strips the song down to little more than Shaun Ryder's voice, percussion, and the odd buzzing synth. "Dare" inspired two of the disc's other standouts, a remix by Junior Sanchez and one by Soulwax. While not all of the remixes hit these heights, overall it's a fun set, and a good complement to the eclecticism of D-Sides' first disc. ~ Heather Phares

Spin (p.98) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[This collection] has some surprises, especially the zither-adorned 'Hong Kong' and protest song 'Stop the Dams'..." Uncut (p.94) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "Gorillaz' second round-up of offcuts, noodles and sketches still has an excellent strike rate." Q (Magazine) (p.133) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[I]t's fascinating to discover tracks such as 'People,' an early sketch for 'DARE' with vocals by Albarn himself..."

The Gorillaz is Blur frontman Damon Albarn's hip-hop/electronica cartoon concept band. While real-life participants have included such luminaries as Dan the Automator, Danger Mouse, Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, De La Soul, and Shuan Ryder, the Gorillaz are represented by 2D, Murdoc, Russel, and Noddle--four animated rock-&-roll apes created by comic book artist Jamie Hewlett. One might imagine a virtual band to be a tough sell, but in fact the Gorillaz have released two successful full-length albums and scored international hits with 2001's "Clint Eastwood" and 2005's "Dirty Harry."

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