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Making the video that made Gorillaz

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Re: Making the video that made Gorillaz

#41

Post by Lammy »

samplatt wrote: post #39
Lammy wrote: post #20

Thanks for posting this. I 'member seeing this video originally on MTV at like 3AM. Instantly captivated. I'm a huge fan to this day, but there's something uniquely special about all the Phase 1 stuff: the album, the B-sides (or “G” Sides lol), the explorable Flash Kong Studios site, the DVD, Jamie Hewlett's art†, the fact that the eponymous album as originally released is 55:55 (iykyk) There's also a track on Deltro…

>Deltron 3030 (an album I liked a lot more when it was new than I do now) I only discovered Deltron 3030 a couple of years ago, fucking love it. Why do you like it less now? Is there a controversy around it or him?

Nah nothing like that. I still listen to it pretty often in fact. I feel like Deltron says what it wants to say, and I enjoy what it wants to say, but it never tells me anything new. I still find new interpretations in all of the Gorillaz albums in a way that keeps them fresher even though I have listened them all to death, especially eponymous and Plastic Beach.

Gorillaz songs do a great job of saying a bunch of different things all layered together, like literally about the fictional band and simultaneously allegorically about capital-H Humanity and our collective perpetuity, the mortal coil, the [G]reat Work, whatever you want to call it. They're all super coded once you're willing to stop caring about the opinions of people who think it's weird/cringe to think about that kind of stuff.

“Fire Coming Out of the Monkey’s Head” is a great example of one I only recently feel like I “get” even though I've been listening to it for twenty years. Like, why Monkey? Just because Gorillaz, or have I looked in a mirror recently? Why a mountain? What shape are those, and where else have I encountered that shape? Without the truth of the eyes, I was blind. Probably still am to a lot of it :)

Or “Saturnz Barz” where the title is about bars in a musical sense but also bars as in jail (hint: you're in it — we all are. They have Broken Our Love.)

Re: Making the video that made Gorillaz

#42

Post by glenngillen »

zeven7 wrote: post #35
Lammy wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish I could but literally can't explain it because it's something I came to know via symbology and not via words, so I don't have the words to try and pass it on to others :( Have you ever seen Interstella 5555? It's a documentary actually.

I cannot parse this response

Me either. Maybe it's referring to something like this: https://www.instagram.com/talkingnummbers9/p/ChAWR1utPOB/

Re: Making the video that made Gorillaz

#43

Post by 4gotunameagain »

tptacek wrote: post #36
Lammy wrote: post #20

Thanks for posting this. I 'member seeing this video originally on MTV at like 3AM. Instantly captivated. I'm a huge fan to this day, but there's something uniquely special about all the Phase 1 stuff: the album, the B-sides (or “G” Sides lol), the explorable Flash Kong Studios site, the DVD, Jamie Hewlett's art†, the fact that the eponymous album as originally released is 55:55 (iykyk) There's also a track on Deltro…

I don't think Robert Del Naja is Banksy? I think that's kind of an urban legend.

I think every theory about banksy's identity is just a theory, no ?

It's really impressive he has managed to remain anonymous for so long, really.

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/...

Re: Making the video that made Gorillaz

#44

Post by Lammy »

glenngillen wrote: post #42
zeven7 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I cannot parse this response

Me either. Maybe it's referring to something like this: https://www.instagram.com/talkingnummbers9/p/ChAWR1utPOB/

No not like that, like as a general term for the Media Industry™ as arbiters for what ideas you're allowed to see and hear, like 555 fake area code in movies, like in The Heretic Anthem, etc.

Re: Making the video that made Gorillaz

#45

Post by ZeroGravitas »

tptacek wrote: post #37
zoklet-enjoyer wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're missing out! Gorillaz, Demon Days, and Plastic Beach are all great albums. Their other albums are ok. Blur is a great band too, pretty sure I like all of their albums. Also, if you like that rap verse, check out Del the Funky Homosapien/Deltron

If you love Demon Days and Plastic Beach, one of the things you probably also love (know it or not) is De La Soul.

De La Soul for legal contractual reasons didn't have their music on any streaming services until recently so a good time to revisit or to discover them.

Re: Making the video that made Gorillaz

#47

Post by kennyadam »

Lammy wrote: post #28
kennyadam wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What does 55:55 mean? I know ifkyk but idk and would like to k.

I wish I could but literally can't explain it because it's something I came to know via symbology and not via words, so I don't have the words to try and pass it on to others :( Have you ever seen Interstella 5555? It's a documentary actually.

I haven't, but it looks interesting so I'm grabbing a copy now :) Thank5555

Re: Making the video that made Gorillaz

#48

Post by [deleted] »

Lammy wrote: post #20

Thanks for posting this. I 'member seeing this video originally on MTV at like 3AM. Instantly captivated. I'm a huge fan to this day, but there's something uniquely special about all the Phase 1 stuff: the album, the B-sides (or “G” Sides lol), the explorable Flash Kong Studios site, the DVD, Jamie Hewlett's art†, the fact that the eponymous album as originally released is 55:55 (iykyk) There's also a track on Deltro…

[deleted]

Re: Making the video that made Gorillaz

#49

Post by Lammy »

kennyadam wrote: post #47
Lammy wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish I could but literally can't explain it because it's something I came to know via symbology and not via words, so I don't have the words to try and pass it on to others :( Have you ever seen Interstella 5555? It's a documentary actually.

I haven't, but it looks interesting so I'm grabbing a copy now :) Thank5555

Enjoy! Make sure it's a rip of the 2014 Blu-ray. I saw it in theaters in December and the “4K” remaster was totally butchered by running it through a sloppy AI-upscaling filter. Upscaling can be done well, but this is some of the worst I've seen in a while with outlines of objects & people shifting and wobbling from frame to frame even within a single scene. It was worth seeing for the theater-sound experience but looked awful lol

And please keep in mind that when I say it's a documentary I mean that in an allegorical sense, not that I believe there is literally a mirrored world of blue humans which we could travel to if only we had the technology. I see it as a depiction of an alternate way of being that Humanity could know if left to our natural predisposition toward Love and Oneness.

I see it as disclosure from Daft Punk about what happened to them after Discovery got so huge. It depicts the media industry as one tentacle of an inhuman system of control which lives forever by finding talented people whose work might lead others toward Oneness, pumping and dumping them, owning their work, and moving on to the next fad while the artists burn out to their coping method of choice (many depictions I won't spoil).

Scenes toward the end (sorry if vague — no spoilers!) do a great job depicting the actual “big bad” as an idea, a concept which only appears to take human form in rich and privileged people due to those people's own trauma but is actually something that's passed down to them. Some people would use the term “archon” but I tend not to because there are too many competing definitions. You'll notice how Crescendolls in their home “world” have no record label, no manager, no grueling tour schedule, no snooty award shows, no record stores — they just are, and it's a big party, and everyone is too busy having a good time and loving each other to notice the intruders who come to take ownership of them.

Re: Making the video that made Gorillaz

#50

Post by gopher_space »

zoklet-enjoyer wrote: post #3
CodeCompost wrote: post #2

I know they were a hugely popular band, but I the only song I know is the one from the video.

You're missing out! Gorillaz, Demon Days, and Plastic Beach are all great albums. Their other albums are ok. Blur is a great band too, pretty sure I like all of their albums. Also, if you like that rap verse, check out Del the Funky Homosapien/Deltron

Dr. Octagon has the same vibe.
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