Collaborations include: Snoop Dogg, Little Dragon, Lou Reed, Mos Def, Bobby Womack, Gruff Rhys, Mark E. Smith, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Kano, Bashy, De La Soul, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, sinfonia ViVA, and the Lebanese National Orchestra for Oriental Arabic Music.

I like the album as a whole but if I had to pick some favorites I’d say: “Empire Ants” which features Little Dragon. Yukimi Nagano’s voice is amazing here and sounds really great with Albarn’s. “Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach” because Snoop Dogg is awesome. “Superfast Jellyfish” because that chorus is ridiculously infectious. Also have to mention On “Melancholy Hill”, this track is great and features no collaborations, just Albarn’s voice and production.

Best line in Superfast Jellyfish: “Shower my habits while you dine like rabbits with the crunchy, crunchy  carrots (oh, that’s chicken!)”

Although the first Gorillaz album is still probably my favorite, this album is definitely some pop  awesomeness. I love that Gorillaz always manages to pop out sweet albums that feature very different sounds. Looking forward to hearing them bonus tracks. I’m hoping this release will bring some new Kidrobot Gorillaz toys. I am such a nerd.

I assume we can expect the next album in 2015?

LISTEN:

Stream the entire album on NPR

Yukimi Nagano kicking ass

I fell in love with Little Dragon’s debut album in 2007. An amazing mix of soul, house, electronic and pop music. Has anyone noticed Sweden keeps popping out the sweetest bands?

I was initially a little disappointed with Little Dragon’s second album, Machine Dreams. I found the album to feel a little more stiff than their first, and frankly, a little boring (still, there are some amazing songs to be found here).

That being said, Little Dragon’s show at Le Poisson Rouge mainly featured songs from Machine Dreams and live, the songs sounded, well, alive! While an encore was expected, I didn’t think that they would keep kicking ass for almost an extra half hour. Yukimi Nagano is the most badass performer I have seen in over a year. She’s got an amazing voice, she can dance, and she makes you want to move. Yukimi Nagano is just fucking cool.

They are amazing live, so do yourself a favor and check them out the next time they’re in New York City. In the meantime…

http://www.myspace.com/yourlittledragon