There's a long roster of unsung heroes in musical history. People who died long before their time, leaving small, unheard bodies of music that change the lives of those who hear them- Nick Drake, Elliott Smith. Bands who totally changed the way modern music works but are probably entirely unknown to the audiences of the bands they influenced- Kraftwerk, The Velvet Underground. Cult heroes who inspire worrying but euphoric devotion from their fans- Pavement, Big Star. These guys are often little known, little heralded and only gain respect and recognition as time passes on. You could find hundreds of die hard 30-somethings who will spend hours telling you why Stephen Malkmus from Pavement is the greatest lyricist of the past 25 years. Or why Nick Drake is probably one of the greatest guitarists of all time (I'd be one of those). I love it when people are devoted to someone who is totally unknown, even sometimes by the indie community as well as the mainstream.
But Damon Albarn- frontman of Blur and Gorillaz, two of the world's most critically and commercially successful bands- is, I think, a criminally unsung hero. Even in the indie community. Like I just said, the list of unsung heroes who disappeared without a trace goes on and on. Damon has the peculiar position, I feel, of being a musician who has hardly left the charts or public eye for the past 20 years, and yet remains unsung in the way he should be.
This post has been prompted by the release of the video for new Gorillaz single "Doncamatic (All Played Out)";
Doncamatic (feat. Daley)
Gorillaz Featuring Daley | Myspace Music Videos
I took a few listens but I've quite warmed to it actually, even if Daley does look like a horrendous Topman clad indie Cindy. But watching this video and thinking about the sheer scale of Gorillaz right now, I realised that- even in the midst of Blur reuniting last year- no one seems to have ever really said that Damon Albarn is one of the most gobsmackingly brilliant musicians, not just of the past 20 years, but ever. He is up there. He really is a genius.
Just think about it! Blur. Blur really were (and hopefully still are!) a sen-SATIONAL band. First album Leisure was pretty standard as debuts go, but starting with an ok debut isn't a bad thing. It gives us a marker for how far Blur and Damon went and have gone. Damon himself said it's "awful", so the bloke's got some self awareness! Plus, it had "She's So High" and "There's No Other Way", which are still awesome.
Modern Life Is Rubbish was the first major event of Britpop, and is still a phenomenal album and showed that Damon Albarn was a mastermind. He oversaw a total makeover for the band, both in sound and image. And by gosh it worked. That album is where Damon started to exhibit that stunning quality possessed by few other musicians- Blur and Thom Yorke being good examples- of being able to cast his keen, magpie eye around and pick the most sublime influences, then bleed them together into a cohesive whole that has a single idea and tone, but has reference points coming out its ears- and it still very much his own. Parklife did that as well even more so, to produce a definitely superior album. Some of the songs on that album just blow me away every time. "Parklife". "This Is A Low". "Girls & Boys". "Bank Holiday". "Badhead". "Tracy Jacks" (I'm slowly doing the whole album...)
The Great Escape was a bit messy, but still full of fantastic, very distinct songs, and on the albums after that- even when Graham Coxon (most underrated guitarist ever) left on Think Tank- it became clear what a powerhouse Damon was, even though Blur relied on the individual talents of all the members.
And after Blur? Damon devoted himself to Gorillaz. Some people have been getting sceptical of Gorillaz recently, citing that for a group so large, they lack any real resonance or soul (that particularly came up during their last minute Glastonbury headline slot) I firstly would disagree but also say that that's slightly not the point. I don't think Gorillaz are, were or ever will be a massively life altering band. But I do know that they make stunningly good, epically subversive, unremittingly original pop music.
The first album, Gorillaz, is a fascinating melting pot of sounds and genres, and produced some great hits. Demon Days was Damon's attempt at full world domination, and it came off in spectacular style. Exepertimental, funk infused, pop hook laden hip-hop? This from the same guy who pretty much started Britpop, arguably one of the whitest things ever? Genius. Pure genius. It is in no way too much to call Damon Albarn a pop Mozart.
And now Plastic Beach has made us all realise that this is Damon's world and we're just living in it. Oh and he wrote an opera. And he's just recorded an album on an iPad. And Blur are probably doing something again next year. Does the man sleep?
So why is Damon an unsung hero? Well. He's a household name. He's all over the radio. Yet I think familiarity and his constancy has led to us forgetting that despite his huge presence and commercial appeal, he is making, and always has made, music that pushes boundaries. That's one of many phrases that gets batted arounded so much that no one give a toss when they read it any more and probably assume that whoever it's being applied to is just messy and pretentious. But not Damon. He's always been one step ahead. Always grabbing hold of whatever influence fills his beautiful head and reshaping it in his own image. That inventiveness, which he pulls off with an almost elf like mischief, is what has made him probably the most important figure in pop today. I mean is there really anyone else? And it's definitely what has helped him adapt and survive unlike ex-rivals-but-not-really-rivals Oasis who made crap then, made crap for the whole of this decade and are now making crap in their new projects. But it's not like Damon has adapted for adaptation's sake, just to be able to survive and carry on his career. This guy cares. Really. In every interview I've seen he's always been 2 things.
1) Potentially a wee bit drunk
2) Earnest. So, so earnest.
And that just gives him the perfect cocktail of everything which I think you need to make good music. True musical ability. Musical knowledge. An awareness of the times. A heart for what you're doing. A desire to communicate. And earnestness.
Damon Albarn is a genius. He is a national treasure. He really is an unsung hero. I was blessed enough to see Blur at their reunion gig on the 3rd of July 2009. It was the best gig I've ever been to. And Damon had me in the palm of his hand. He had that crowed in the palm of his hand. And right now, he's got the whole musical world in it too.
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