OUT NOWReleased on blink-and-youmissed- it limited edition vinyl, this first completely solo album from the man who brought you Blur and Gorillaz is actually a collection of demos.Recorded in various hotel rooms in America during Blur’s tour this year, after hours, and with just a 4 track recorder for company, the result is predictably lo-fi and fragmented. Of the fourteen tracks here, a few are just instrumental doodles on which comment can hardly be passed, and more than half fail to break the two minute barrier. These are literally Damon’s birth pangs as he attempts to bring the world some more songs, equipped only with skeletal guitar, drum machine and keyboard. Whilst there isn’t anything that screams “future hit”, a few of the more complete efforts such as the catchy, cheeky ‘Rappy Song’ and the haunting ‘Five Star Life’ are easily as good as most Blur B-sides, and stand up to repeat listens. ‘American Welfare Poem’, whilst not possessing a complete set of lyrics and featuring more than a few bum notes, is an interesting slow number musing on the state of the US welfare system, and might well make it to full LP track some day. This is, of course, the man who brought us ‘Beetlebum’ and ‘Song 2’ – his ear for a tune shines through the murk on quite a few occasions.Mostly though, as Damon has repeatedly tried to hammer home in the press, this is “for the fans” – a chance to take an intimate look into the creative process behind his songwriting. And for that reason it succeeds -interesting as it is now, it’ll be one to look out for again when the forthcoming new Blur EP and Gorillaz second album (both due this year) finally emerge. It must also go down as one of the first times someone has released a snapshot of their work in such a manner before the actual songs have been released (as opposed to including works-inprogress in a retrospective box years later), so his innovation is to be commended; not that this makes the tracks sound any better. Worth a look if you own more than three Blur albums; anyone who really couldn’t care less what Mr.Albarn gets up to in US hotel rooms should avoid it like the plague.Archive: oth week HT 2004
