They should call this Rubber-Multidimensional-Moldable- Beach.
Plastic Beach weaves in so many moods and styles that one minute you think it's some hip-hop side project and the next you're blown away by a simple Casio beat that is taking you on a trip. Featuring guest appearances by everyone and their mother (Snoop Dog, Mos Def, Lou Reed, The Fall's Mark E. Smith, Little Dragon, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, and more)
Sinfonia ViVA does the honors by opening the album with a string induced melody. Snoop Dog then takes the ropes on 'Welcome To The World Of The Plastic Beach'. 'White Flag' starts out as a sultry Morrocan delight, until Kano and Bashy take over with a trashy but delicious beat that you can't help but head bop. So this whole time you're thinking that this is the basic Plastic Beach platform. But "Rhinestone Eyes" goes back to the essence of Gorillaz with Damon Albarn's voice talking/singing? his matter-o-fact melody. From then on the whole album changes in sounds and styles. If you've already heard 'Stylo', the album's first single, then you've already had a taste of the way synth, beats, and raps are deliverd in Plastic Beach. Bobby Womack's voice is killer on this track and Mos Def enhances it. Of all the great songs on the album, however, 'Empire Ants' is my absolute favorite. It's so freaking simple that it sounds complex. Drum machine beats magically drop in like water, while Damon sings a melancholy melody. The part that really gets me is at the 2:19 mark where synth kicks up the beat and while still a gloomy song, little pieces of disco glitter flow in by way of Little Dragon's voice. I
While there's a significant number of guest drops on this album, it is easy to see that Damon Albarn is at the core of it all. I could continue talking about each track but there are 16 of them, therefore its not going to happen. You honestly just need to get it.
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