Gorillaz
The Fall
(EMI Music/The internet)
This album costs zero dollars. Released via
gorillaz.com on Christmas Day 2010,
The Fall could be the biggest free album release this side of Prince taping his discs to British newspapers in 2007 - but even that cost a pound or two. Sure, Radiohead released
In Rainbows that year, but the element of guilt ("pay what you think it's worth") translated into at least
a couple of million for the band, and that was pre-physical release.
Gorillaz aren't interested in that. For the cost of an email address,
The Fall is yours. This also puts music critics in an interesting position. Arguably, a key value of music critics to their reading audience, is our willingness to test the artistic waters, musically speaking. To suggest, in part, whether an album is worth buying (or - these days - "downloading"). When music is free, that barrier to entry is destroyed. Here, listeners have nothing to lose besides time. The music critic is effectively defanged. So what you should do right now, before reading any further, is visit the
website, plug in an email address, and download your own copy. (Interestingly, the disclaimer at the bottom states that the album may not be "sold, transferred, altered or copied (including burning and uploading to the internet) without the express prior written approval of EMI Records Ltd". Good luck with that.)
This isn't a traditional Gorillaz album like
Plastic Beach or
Demon Days. It was written and recorded by head Gorilla Damon Albarn while the band toured North America in late 2010. All of the songs were arranged using an Apple iPad, though the production platform is less compelling than the notion itself. If Albarn really did manage to put all these musical thoughts to touchscreen while touring the States, it's to be applauded, as although the ideas contained within
The Fall aren't quite of the high standard exhibited elsewhere in the band's career, they're still largely enjoyable.
To cast a sweeping generalisation,
The Fall consists largely of downtempo electronica. The accompanying notes detail the 20 iPad apps used to create and manipulate the sounds we hear. Albarn self-records and produces, though it was mastered at Abbey Road Studios - the band
is signed to EMI, after all. The musical highlight here is third track 'Hillbilly Man'; built around a staggering beat and an eerie vocal hook that sounds like last gasps being wrung from drowning souls - it's every bit as good as the group's best singles. The deep bass throb and curious narrative of 'The Joplin Spider' is another of the album's best moments. Included late in the piece, 'Aspen Forest' is the only track to hint at
The Fall's unique method of creation: Apple keypad tones and remixed phone signal sounds are mixed into the track so subtly that it sounds like someone's texting right beside you. Penultimate track 'California And The Slipping Of The Sun' hits upon one of the most musically interesting phrases of the entire record, then frustratingly fades away to segue into the irritating, 30 second-long closer 'Seattle Yodel'.
As albums go, it's a bit of an enigma; like most of Albarn's work, it feels as though it'll take some time to properly come to terms with. This is a good thing.
Andrew McMillen