Label: EMI Records
Release: 2006
Many artists eventually want to build the equivalent of what the Beatles did with their conceptual artistry on St. Pepper’s Lonely Heart Band, but most of them don’t have the balls to go over the top the way those weirdos, the Grammy-winning Gorillaz, do. They’ve proclaimed themselves the biggest band in the world – in terms of quality. And they can be that physically too, since they gave up having bodies and became binary code, computer animation on huge screens, from which they address and provoke you during their live shows. No shortage of ego there. Gorillaz (or Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett) have come out with a new DVD, full of surprises and sublime, gorgeous melodies that can hit you right in your bare core. But more than musically, they know how to wow you with visuals, playing games with your optic nerves and brain synapses. Content-wise, they put cynicism and sarcasm front and center, in a way that’s very untypical for pop. Gorillaz reshape pop into its very opposite, smash clichés, and that’s their unmissable trademark.
With Phase Two: Slowboat to Hades, Gorillaz provoke you and invite you on a journey through their chaotic world of mental mind games and manipulation. The name fits what you get as an unsuspecting visitor, buyer, owner of this DVD. It’s a visual interpretation of the last album, Demon Days (2005). You might think you’d get everything handed to you on a plate, but no chance, because Gorillaz demand a non-instant, non-linear effort to get to the core, which you’ll never fully grasp. Whether there even is one is the question, since there’s the occasional feeling of formalism, of bare form and hidden meanings that actually aren’t there. Aesthetics outgrow substance. L’art pour l’art is one possible premise. Beauty is fragmented and there are no shortcuts. Even when you first peek into this universe, you realize anarchy is the guiding principle. Before you find what you’re looking for, the search can wear you out pretty badly, and the whole thing can become too much and you just lose interest.
Gorillaz DVDs aren’t for the faint of heart. Anyone without patience and plenty of free time can give up pretty quickly. Out of 41 clips, by randomly clicking around the interactive menu (the interface is like some adventure game, and you know you need nerves of steel for those), you can easily find 16 or even fewer. Most of the clips repeat several times on the different floors of the Gorillaz mansion you wander around in. The rest can stay hidden till the very end. That’s the main flaw of this product.
But let’s move on to the bright side, to lift your spirits! While you watch the videos, the animations (sketch stages of how individual videos and scripts came together), the parodies of MTV shows (like the ironic tour of their home in their own version of MTV Cribs) and the live footage, you realize the visuals are way above average, polished to a high standard (both sound-wise and graphically); no doubt Jamie Hewlett is one of those graphic designers few can match. Just watching the music videos is enough to set a new resolution standard for every DVD music video you’ve seen so far – ‘Rockit’, ‘Dirty Hary’, ‘Feel good Inc’, ‘El Manana’ and ‘Dare’. But the clips don’t play long enough for you to forget the headaches you had finding them. Soon you’re back in a world with a hellish interface that tests your will to find the next dose of audiovisual pleasure, while prehistoric polyphonic ringtones and other junk you’ve sadly run into more than once grate on your nerves. Take it or leave it. ‘Dirty Harry’ shines as a video, though you’ve already had your fill of it on TV screens. All the more intense, then, is the empathic immersion in the concert atmosphere during the MTV Music Awards performance, and I could go on.
Still, there are gems. One of them is the minimalist artistry of the sketch ‘Murdoc Is God’ – a simple cross on a noiseless virtual celluloid strip, which would shine projected on the wall of some bar, club or place nearby where you go for a beer or a juice. The typically English humor, reminiscent of the legendary Monty Python, is one more reason you simply have to watch this DVD. If only to have Murdoc address you in his version of the Queen’s Christmas speech. ‘Hail Satan’ settles scores with James Blunt’s latest musical masterpiece as if it were the announcement of the apocalypse. Anyone need a Valium? I’d rather not list everything, because there’s just too much. And one more thing: the bonus CD-ROM included in the package treats you to sixteen computer games, a cherry-picked selection of desktop backgrounds and screensavers. All that’s asked of you is a few hours (in my case a bit more than three) of your time and a good dose of good humor.
Slowboat To Hades is a product that goes beyond the narrow criteria of the pop culture offering and absolutely spoils you rotten. If you’re a fan, after this gift you can end your life happy and die with a smile on your face. And whoever isn’t one might say next time that not everything pop necessarily sticks in your throat like a bone. Even stomachs won’t suffer too much, because with this DVD it’s mainly about quality, a wealth of ideas, and a richness of the sort you didn’t dare hope for but got anyway. I recommend watching it and wish you long-lasting enjoyment, seasoned with the right amount of laughs and fun!
Lineup
2D (a.k.a. Stu Pot) – vocals and keyboards
Murdoc Niccals – bass
Noodle – guitar
Russel Hobbs – drums
Production
Gorillaz Production
Track List
1. Feel Good Inc. Video
2. Dare Video
3. Dirty Harry Video
4. El Manana Video
5. Rock It Video
6. Feel Good Inc. Animation
7. Dare Animation
8. Dirty Harry Animation
9. El Manana Animation
10. The Swagga (B Side Visual)
11. Bill Murray (B Side Visual)
12. Spitting Out The Demons (B Side Visual)
13. Kids With Guns From Demon Days Live In Manchester
14. People (B Side Visual)
15. Samba At 13 (B Side Visual)
16. Murdoc Is God (B Side Visual)
17. Demon Days Album Ad
18. Demon Days Live DVD Ad
19. Demon Days Live Manchester Mash Up
20. Dare Ringtone Ad
21. GES Mobile Games Trailer
22. Celebrity Takedown DVD Trailer
23. MTV Europe Music Awards Performance
24. Feel Up Live Performance
25. Brit Awards 2006 Performance
26. El Manana Live In Harlem
27. Brit Awards Rehearsals
28. Gorillaz Live In Harlem Sting
29. Hip Hop Machine Ident
30. Mexican Jailer Ident
31. Fairground Ident
32. Capsule Hotel Ident
33. On The Island G Bite
34. The Lost G Bite
35. Noodle VMA Acceptance Speech
36. Murdoc Alternative Queen’s Speech
37. Murdoc Record Company Thank You
38. Noodle Dare Interview
39. MTV Cribs
40. Monk’s Montage
41. Polar Bear Gags
+CD: games, computer wallpapers and screensavers
DVD RUNTIME: approx. 163 min
