This came out in 2002 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
Success can be the most inconvenient to happen to a group. Just look at Gorillaz, the “virtual band” featuring Blur’s Damon Albarn, Cibo Matto’s Miho Hatori, Dan (The Automator) Nakamura and others.
Adopting cartoon-character personas, they put out an album last year apparently as a lark, but damned if it didn’t take off. So now they’re scrambling to follow up with tours and new product. Fans didn’t go ape for the live version which recently debuted in Toronto. Maybe they’ll go bananas for G Sides, an EP of remixes and leftovers. The remixes (like most remixes, frankly) are forgettable, but the five unreleased cuts are better; The Sounder is a bluesy hip-hopper, Faust is angelic elevator music, Ghost Train is Teutonic soul-funk, Hip Albatross is a freaky sound collage, and 12D3 is a hypotically smoky little meditation. Not brilliant — but also not too bad for monkey business.
