Selected by Russel From Gorillaz Off the back of Gorillaz’ second ‘Song Machine’ drop, we get Russel from Gorillaz to guide us on a musical odyssey via an expansive playlist of his top 10Trax.
You’d be hard done by if someone asked you to try and summarise the colossal imprint that Gorillaz have carved into the global musical fabric, pushing the boundaries of what a ‘band’ is and expected to be.
Since first entering the public consciousness almost two decades ago, in a world saturated with post-Y2K and MTV-centred ideologies and visuals, Gorillaz have remained a breath of fresh air; rising above the noise with a post-modern sonic output that extends far beyond the run-of-the-mill and the traditional.
Fast forward to this year and the unit are welcoming in the dawn of a new project: ‘Song Machine’ – an all-immersive, digital series of collaborations, released as and when they come, in a podcast-esque format – a refreshing bucking of the usual formulaic release schedule that has become the industry standard. Every episode features a track release, alongside visuals and a handful of ‘Machine Bitez’ – little chunks of recorded dialogue between the group and their collaborators, giving us a glimpse into the BTS happenings behind the curtain.
So far, we’re two episodes deep in the first series: episode one presenting the track, ‘Momentary Bliss,’ featuring Slowthai and Slaves; whilst episode two is spearheaded by the lilting melodies of famed Malian singer, Fatoumata Diawara on ‘Désolé’ who, hand in hand with 2D, croons her way through the tri-lingual ode to love.
But, in the meantime, waiting with baited breath for the next episode to drop, scratch the itch and tune into this eclectic playlist lovingly tended to by Russel, featuring tracks spanning all the way from the soothing jazz tones of Alfa Mist to the post-modern, industrial beats of Oneohtrix Point Never – we’ll see you on the other side.