British Actress Gemma Arterton has been named woman of the year at the GQ Men of the Year Awards, which was held at the Royal Opera House in London. The Kinks star Ray Davis received the outstanding achievement prize, while Damon Albarn”s cartoon group Gorillaz were named best band. Former Oasis star Noel Gallagher was [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Damon Albarn’
Massive Attack To Release Heliogoland February 9
December 1st, 2009 |
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MASSIVE ATTACK SET TO RELEASE FIFTH STUDIO ALBUM
HELIGOLAND, ON VIRGIN RECORDS FEBRUARY 9, 2010
 Massive Attack |
Legendary trip-hop duo Massive Attack are set to release their highly anticipated fifth studio album, Heligoland, on EMI’s Virgin Records on February 9, 2010. Last month, the duo released their first new material in three years, giving fans a preview of Heligoland with a four song EP titled Splitting the Atom, which features two album tracks and two album track remixes.
Heligoland features an all star cast of guest vocalists including Damon Albarn, Hope Sandoval, Martina Topley-Bird, Guy Garvey, and Tunde Adebimpe. Long time cohort Horace Andy makes a return alongside Massive Attack founding members Robert Del Naja (3D) and Grand Marshall (Daddy G). Damon also plays bass on “Flat Of The Blade” and keyboards on “Splitting The Atom,” while Portishead‘s Adrian Utley plays guitar on “Saturday Come Slow.” The band also collaborated with DFA‘s Tim Goldsworthy on selected tracks. The cover artwork features an original image by Del Naja.
Over the last three years Robert Del Naja has written and produced soundtracks for a number of films and documentaries, including Trouble In The Water, 44 Inch Chest, In Prison My Whole Life, and Gomorra, the latter for which he won the David Di Donatello Award for Best Song. Earlier this year, Massive Attack won the Outstanding Contribution to British Music Award at the Ivor Novello Awards. In September, Massive Attack headlined this year’s Bestival ahead of their first full UK tour in three years, and are expected to announce a U.S. tour next year.
Heligoland Track Listing
1. Pray For Rain – featuring Tunde Adebimpe
2. Babel – featuring Martina Topley-Bird
3. Splitting The Atom – featuring Robert del Naja/Grant Marshall/Horace Andy
4. Girl I Love You – featuring Horace Andy
5. Psyche – featuring Martina Topley-Bird
6. Flat Of The Blade – featuring Guy Garvey
7. Paradise Circus – featuring Hope Sandoval
8. Rush Minute – featuring Robert del Naja
9. Saturday Come Slow – featuring Damon Albarn
10. Atlas Air – featuring Robert del Naja
Massive Attack tour dates available here.
Afrobeat Legend Tony Allen New Album Hits 01/12
November 4th, 2009 |
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NIGERIAN AFROBEAT LEGEND TONY ALLEN’S WORLD CIRCUIT/NONESUCH DEBUT
SECRET AGENT TO BE RELEASED JANUARY 12
“At nearly 70 the man Brian Eno reckons is perhaps the greatest drummer that ever lived
is reveling in his heritage, and it’s contagious.” —Q
 Tony Allen |
Tony Allen — best known for his work as drummer and musical director for Fela Anikulapo Kuti, one of Africa’s most influential artists — makes his World Circuit/Nonesuch debut with Secret Agent, January 12. Following its European release earlier this year, Secret Agent has received generous critical praise. The Guardian proclaimed, “There is no question that Tony Allen is a genius, one of the greatest percussionists in the history of popular music,” while Observer Music Monthly said, “If you’re wondering why Afrobeat is hip, start here.”
Together with Fela Kuti, with whom he played for 15 years, Allen co-created Afrobeat — the hard-driving, horns-rich, funk-infused, politically insurrectionary style that became such a dominant force in African music and is now one of Africa’s most popular styles among international listeners.
Allen produced Secret Agent, which was recorded with his touring band of musicians from Nigeria, Cameroon, Martinique and France. The music is square in the Afrobeat tradition — rhythmic tenor guitar, funky keyboards, call and response vocals, and full-throated horns — with a few twists (including keyboard player and arranger Fixi’s accordion on some tracks). Allen’s playing meanwhile draws on four different styles — highlife, soul/funk, jazz and traditional Nigerian drumming. At Afrobeat’s heart is the beat, even more prominent now than it was in Fela Kuti’s legendary Afrika ’70 band.
Secret Agent is Allen’s first release since he became a founding member of The Good, The Bad & The Queen (alongside Damon Albarn, Paul Simenon and Simon Tong). This association has helped encourage a recent upsurge of interest in Afrobeat. Over the years Allen has appeared on dozens of albums and his continued relevance in 2009 — fans of hip hop, funk and jazz clamor for his recordings — speaks to the staying power of the Afrobeat music that he helped create in the 1960s.
Massive Attack: New EP
Features TVOTR Tunde & More
August 28th, 2009 |
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Followed By New Album In February
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Legendary trip-hop duo Massive Attack has announced the release of their first new material in three years – an EP of four new tracks due for release October 6. The lead song “Splitting The Atom” features Robert Del Naja (3D), Grant Marshall (Daddy G) and Horace Andy, while TV On The Radio frontman Tunde Adebimpe guests on “Pray For Rain.” The EP also has remixes of two new tracks: “Psyche” and “Bulletproof Love.”
Massive Attack will release their much anticipated fifth studio album In February, 2010. This time around sees collaborations with Damon Albarn, Hope Sandoval, Martina Topley-Bird, Guy Garvey and Tunde Adebimpe.
Massive Attack will headline this year’s Bestival on Friday, September 11 ahead of their first full U.K. tour in three years that begins on September 17 in London.
EP Track Listing:
1. Splitting The Atom
2. Pray For Rain
3. Bulletproof Love (Van Rivers and The Subliminal Kid Remix)
4. Psyche (Flash Treatment)
Massive Attack Tour Dates:
09/17/09 Thu Brixton Academy London, GB
09/18/09 Fri Brixton Academy London, GB
09/19/09 Sat Brixton Academy London, GB
09/21/09 Mon Sheffield Academy Sheffield, GB
09/22/09 Tue Birmingham Academy Birmingham, GB
09/24/09 Thu Leeds Academy Leeds, GB
09/26/09 Sat Manchester Apollo Manchester, GB
09/27/09 Sun Manchester Apollo Manchester, GB
09/28/09 Mon Glasgow Academy Glasgow, GB
09/29/09 Tue Glasgow Academy Glasgow, GB
09/30/09 Wed Newcastle Academy Newcastle, GB
10/02/09 Fri De Montfort Hall Leicester, GB
10/03/09 Sat Oasis Centre Swindon, GB
10/06/09 Tue Olympia Theatre Dublin, IR
10/07/09 Wed Olympia Theatre Dublin, IR
10/22/09 Thu Jahrhunderthalle Frankfurt, GER
10/23/09 Fri Palladium Cologne, GER
10/27/09 Tue Heineken Music Hall Amsterdam, NL
10/30/09 Fri Tempodrom Berlin, GER
11/10/09 Tue Zenith Paris, FRA
11/11/09 Wed Zenith Paris, FRA
11/25/09 Wed Eishalle Deutweg Winterthur, SWI
Blur Greatest Hits Collection
July 24th, 2009 |
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Capitol/EMI TO Release Career-Spanning Blur Collection
Midlife: A Beginner’s Guide To Blur, On July 28
25-Track 2-CD & Digital Collection Spans Band’s Seven Studio Albums
 Blur |
On July 28, a new 2-CD and digital collection of 25 tracks spanning Blur‘s seven studio albums will be released. In addition to presenting the band’s standout album cuts and singles together for the first time Midlife: A Beginner’s Guide To Blur also includes a long out-of-print track, “Popscene,” a single from 1992, which is exclusively available on the new collection.
Blur was formed in Colchester, England in 1989 by singer and keyboardist Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree. In 1990, Blur signed with Food Records and the band’s debut single, “She’s So High,” reached Billboard’s Top 50, while the follow-up single, “There’s No Other Way,” hit the Top 10. In 1995, Blur won an unprecedented four Brit Awards and went on to win the Ivor Novello Award for songwriting. Two of the band’s albums, Parklife and 13, have been nominated for the Mercury Music Prize.
Midlife: A Beginner’s Guide To Blur Track List
CD 1
1. Beetlebum
2. Girls & Boys
3. For Tomorrow
4. Coffee & TV
5. Out Of Time
6. Blue Jeans
7. Song 2
8. Bugman
9. He Thought Of Cars
10. Death Of A Party
11. The Universal
12. Sing
13. This Is A Low
CD 2
1. Tender
2. She’s So High
3. Chemical World
4. Good Song
5. Parklife
6. Advert
7. Popscene
8. Stereotypes
9. Trimm Trabb
10. Badhead
11. Strange News From Another Star
12. Battery In Your Leg