Damon Albarn’s Honest Jon’s Revue, July 12th 2008 – Lincoln Center

There are few times that I can say that I was at the best show in the city, which in someway might be the best show in the country; at least for one night. Saturday, July 12, 2008 at 8:00 p.m. in Lincoln Center, I saw Damon Albarn’s Honest Jon’s Revue. This was the show to be at. It was not sold out. It was not widely advertised, but the right people were there. David Bryne from the Talking Heads sat three rows in front of me. Much of the New York music Industry came in there casual yet cool (but not hipster) clothes into the sometimes stuffy air of the Avery Fisher auditorium to see a show of mostly African Music; of musicians who most of whom have never left Mali, according the guy who arranged the travel. He was sitting right behind me.

Of course, Damon Albarn is the lead singer of Blur, The Glorillaz, and The Good, The Bad, and The Queen. Honest Jon is a music label from England where all the performers belonged to.

I feel more unqualified than usual to review this. I have never heard African music before; not like this anyway. I loved it. It was a joy. It was unpretentious. Everyone was just having fun.

To his credit, Albarn would hide when he felt that too many people were looking at him, and not playing proper attention to the musicians.

The music arranged to very traditional music to a great brass section to some Senegalese dudes rockin’ out in French. Totally kicked ass!

Albarn played the last song. It was a happy performance, and I was glad I didn’t need to be rushed to hospital afterwards, because I was very sick that night. I was ready to see the show and go to the hospital right afterwards. Oye Vey!

I wonder if Radiohead can beat this.

D-Sides – Gorillaz (2007)

D-Sides because these are the B-sides to the Singles off of Demon Days. So, I guess these are the tracks that didn’t make it on the album. From the sound of it was probably a good thing. Demon Days was a perfect album and maybe the best of the decade. These tunes are in the same vein but not in the same league. With exception of Hong Kong, the rest of these songs are probably only great for Gorillaz fans, which D-Sides is a must have.

Must Download Hong Kong

Hong Kong is a beautiful Damon Albarn ballad which is done with someone on a traditional Chinese instrument where the strings are plucked with devices that are placed on each finger, which I think is called a Gu zheng.

Other goodies are We are Happy Landfill, and The Swagga ( or “Whoo” Song).

What disc really is is a good groove album, something to put on at the beginning of a party when people are arriving. Gorrillaz have always been a mixture of cool non-pop music presented through, you know the guy from Blur. This release is less hip-hop and more trance, reggae, electronic and groove with some cool vocals.

The second disc is just nine remixes, and most of them are the song Dare, which just reminds me you how good Demon Days is. The one cool thing that D-Sides proves is that the right songs got on Demon Days. Don't get me wrong. D-Sides is great, but not for everyone.

The Good, the Bad, and the Queen – Live from Soho (itunes Exclusive EP) – 2007

The Good, the Bad and the Queen, the self-title debut, has been the best album I have heard so far this year. In April of 2007, they put an out live EP in New York while on tour. It was part of the “live for itunes” series. (“itunes” is Apple’s popular mp4 music store.)

The band played five tracks:

The History Song
Herculean
Behind the Sun
Natural Spring
Three Changes

In many ways this EP was better than the album. Of course, the album has more tracks. However, this EP sounded better. Even though it was a live recording, you can’t really tell that there was an audience present, expect for the claps at the start. What I really like about this recording was how clear everything sounded. The strings sounded beautiful here as oppose to the how they sound on the album, which pushed down and flatted in the background. The vocals, acoustic guitar, and electric bass sounded like you were in the same room.

The band had been touring for a while before they preformed this live session and you can hear how tight they were playing together at this point. Of course, the band members are all stars. Paul Simonon of the Clash, Damon Albarn of Gorillaz and Blur, Simon Tong of Verve, and Tony Allen make this band. All are all veterans and masters of their craft.

I am not normally a fan of these “live for itunes” series. I think of these itunes only recordings as a waste of money, because they seems to be neither a real live performance with a big audience to affect the music nor a proper studio performance where everything as perfect as it can be. However, this time, you are either getting a brilliant supplement to the original album or a well made sample of the band, depending on how you look at it.