Gorillaz - Plastic Beach

Gorillaz - Plastic Beach (***)
album review for the skinny

Last year a couple of L.A. producers gathered an all-star cast of guests for an album about peace, love and understanding: N.A.S.A.'s The Spirit of Apollo was an idealistic dream that proved impossible to execute. Gorillaz' third album Plastic Beach is reminiscent because its impressive and wide-ranging cast list – Snoop Dogg, Lou Reed, Mos Def, Mark E. Smith and more – has gathered to grumble about consumption and pollution issues, and because the variety of guests has forced Damon Albarn into some dizzyingly eclectic styles.

When Snoop's drawl gives way to bongo rapping and a shimmering synth line is replaced by an ornate flute melody, you have to check you're not set to shuffle. The star of this show is Bobby Womack, whose pained warble adorns Cloud Of Unknowing and brilliant first single Stylo; beyond that, there's a lot of filler. That's the problem with all-star albums: it's hard to cut the lesser tracks when you made them with your heroes.

N.A.S.A. - The Spirit of Apollo

N.A.S.A. - The Spirit Of Apollo (**)
album review for the skinny

Picture the scene: two well-connected but unsung DJs meet at a Hollywood Hills party and find they share an ideological vision of, like, peace and love for all mankind, and no hatred between like, races and countries, y'know? So they search through their bulging contacts list for guest collaborators - David Byrne, Chuck D, Kanye, Tom Waits, M.I.A., George Clinton, half the Wu-Tang Clan, and more, who can't say no to such rock-solid ideals - and boom: The Spirit Of Apollo is born, like a celeb-stuffed Up With People album produced by Diplo's weird stalker friend. It's a classic case of trying too hard: so many cameos are great for publicity, but ticking off their appearances and wondering about their thematic deviations make them more a distraction than anything else; and that theme, loosely held but heartfelt, is just too trite if your perception goes no further than "money is the root of all evil".