Urban Art Association

GORILLA TO MONKEY!, by burnz on Jul 29, 2008 13:55:51 GMT 1,

DAMON'S DONE IT AGAIN, WHATEVER 'IT' IS.

Damon Albarn’s Monkey: Journey to the West has arrived in animated form and made a dazzling impact. The reinvention of these legendary characters of Chinese folklore first took flight last year in the form of an opera made alongside his Gorillaz sidekick, Jamie Hewlett, and acclaimed Chinese theatre director, Chen Shi-Zheng. Now, though, the ultimate stage is set. Albarn’s gang have created what will become icons of our Beijing 2008 experience.


Albarn’s career of experimentation has seen him hop from genre to genre with such an unparalleled degree of accomplishment as to render the tedious 90’s media image of him as the less edgy side of Britpop utterly null and void. The BBC also deserve some credit for their bravery as Monkey and his friends will form the opening titles to this summer’s Olympics and act as mascots throughout the games. Alongside his past works, as well as his dedication to the excellent Honest Jons label, Damon Albarn has secured his place in the annals of music’s true innovators.