Monkey in the USA, from Gorillaz friends Damon and Jamie
Damon Albarn, Jamie Hewlett & Chen Shi-Zheng Present MONKEY: JOURNEY TO THE WEST U.S. PREMIERE MAY 22-JUNE 8 AT 2008 SPOLETO FESTIVAL USA IN CHARLESTON, SC
Following sold-out runs in Manchester and Paris, Director Chen Shi-Zheng and GORILLAZ masterminds Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett's adaptation of MONKEY: JOURNEY TO THE WEST will make its Stateside debut with a May 22 preview performance followed by 17 shows staged May 23 -June 8 all at the 2008 Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina.
MONKEY: JOURNEY TO THE WEST was first staged June 28, 2007 in the UK at the inaugural Manchester International Festival, whose director Alex Poots suggested that world-renowned theatre, opera and film director Shi-Zheng enlist GORILLAZ co-creators Albarn and Hewlett to provide unique, modern musical and visual interpretations of the themes and characters of this most beloved work of Chinese folklore.
The result is a new opera for the 21st century based on an ancient Chinese legend reworked as a dazzling spectacle involving nearly 40 Chinese circus acrobats, martial artists and singers from China with an orchestra of Western and traditional Chinese instruments. Developed in Beijing, Paris, Berlin and London the show has had sell-out runs in Manchester and Paris.
MONKEY: JOURNEY TO THE WEST is performed in Mandarin with subtitles, its storyline chronicling the Monkey King's journey to enlightenment as it takes him undersea, to decadent banquets in heaven, through encounters with Spider Maidens and Skeleton Demons, and eventually to paradise. Hewlett's renditions of MONKEY's cacophony of characters combine with Albarn's debut opera score's deft integration of western and traditional Chinese instrumentation to create a wholly engrossing new universe that reinvents a legend with a thrilling combination of music and action.
SOLDIER BOY - Martina Topley-Bird featuring Gorillaz
Gorillaz' next appearance will come in the form of another collaboration with Martina Topley-Bird and Roots Manuva. For those fans who liked All Alone from the Demon Days album, get ready to hear "Soldier Boy," which will appear as a b-side on the new Martina Topley-Bird single Poison, out May 5th.
And you can listen to the song on the Gorillaz' myspace player now!
The excellent new behind the scenes Gorillaz documentary Bananaz gets its debut in February as part of the 58th annual Berlin Film Festival. As previously announced, this work has been years of the making, and the man behind the lens, Ceri Levy, will unveil his findings into the deep, dark world of Kong on the following dates in Germany's capital:
Festival panorama: 09-Feb - 15:30 - Colosseum 1 (Preview - open to public) 13-Feb - 20:00 - CineStar 7 (World Premiere - open to public) 14-Feb - 14:30 - CineStar 7 (open to public) 15-Feb - 22:30 - CineStar 7 (open to public)
We have two (2) tickets to give away for the premiere of Ceri Levy's brilliant new Gorillaz documentary Bananaz at this week's Berlin Film Festival. You and a lucky friend could be going to the premiere!
To enter this contest, you MUST have your own way of getting to the world premiere in Berlin. Transportation and accomodation will not be provided.
Sound good? Of course it does. Now here's the tricky bit: tell us your favourite Gorillaz memory or story via email at bananazcontest@gmail.com. Put "I want to go Bananaz" in the subject line and the best story will win the tickets. If you're our lucky winner, we'll contact you this week and the announce your triumph on this very page!
Again, you MUST be able to provide your own transportation and accomodation to be able to win this contest! Good luck!
Check out the official Gorillaz Meebo chatroom! Launched to coincide with Gorillaz' new compilation album D-Sides, out 19 November in Europe and 20 November stateside!
Murdoc, Gorillaz bass player extraordinaire recently got stuck into Facebook and participated in a webchat with fans on his very own profile(check it out!) . You asked the questions, now check out his answers below!
Aya Kuroki asked hello? Murdoc Niccals answered with Is it me you're looking for?
Anonymous asked I guess this was my question, What happened to the last Demon Days show in Vegas? Murdoc Niccals answered with Vegas baby, That's cowboy country! I bet the whole tour on red, and it came up black. What can I say?
Mariano Tello Nocetti asked Murdoc old pal, Where have you been? Murdoc Niccals answered with Hades. Long story.
Emma Barratt asked Hey Murdoc, what're you and the band up to at the moment? Long time no see. Murdoc Niccals answered with Well…It's funny. After the first album Russel had this big mad breakdown. He had the spirit of Del exorcised out of him by the Grim Reaper. Which kind of sent him mental. He tried to record a solo album but then he was saying that all these demons were flying out the speakers trying to eat him. Everyone thought he'd just gone loopy. "Living in a basement with Ike Turner". Turns out tho he was right. The Demons were real! You couldn't really make it up. So next thing we know is after Noodle disappeared after The El Manana video incident, we hear this voice coming out of the basin basement room of Kong. Out of a radio. Turns out that when these demons couldn't get hold of Russ, they grabbed Noodle instead. Dragged her downstairs, to Hades! So of course it fell to muggings here, (that's me), to go on some epic Odysseus type journey into The Underworld to try and rescue her. It's all tied up with contract I signed with Beelzebub that shoe-horned Gorillaz up the charts in the first place. He was cocked off about some late payment of my eternal soul, or something stupid. He as well as anyone should know that these type of payments take time to come through. I mean, well, everyone's got their demons to battle. It's just that mine take on a more physical form and have names like "Alichino", "Lilith", "Baphomet" "Sidragasum", "Xitragupten" and so on….I guess that's what you get if you're born in a mental asylum named after a demon called Belphegor. Still I was never bored as a child. Yup…never bored.
Have a look at this exclusive image of the contents of the D-Sides deluxe package below! In one of Gorillaz most spectacular packages yet, there are plenty of goodies to be had with this 2-disc set. In addition to fantastic new images from longtime Gorillaz friend and collaborator Jamie Hewlett, the amazing box also features badges, a patch and more new stickers! Also note that the release date of D-Sides has been amended to 19th November in the UK and 20th November in the USA.
Gorillaz return from the wilderness in November with their second collection of b-sides, unreleased tracks, remixes and rarities.
Titled D-Sides, the long-rumoured collection will be released via Parlophone in the UK on 5th November and in the US via Virgin a day later. The album will be released as 2-CD standard and deluxe editions, the highlight of which undoubtedly is a reworked version of live favourite "Hong Kong." Artwork and tracklisting as below:
CD1 1. 68 State 2. People 3. Hongkongaton 4. We are Happy Landfill 5. Hong Kong 6. Highway (Under Construction) 7. Rockit 8. Bill Murray 9. The Swagga 10. Murdoc is God 11. Spitting Out the Demons 12. Don't Get Lost in Heaven (Original Demo Version) 13. Stop the Dams
CD2 1. DARE (DFA Remix) 2. Feel Good Inc (Stanton Warriors Remix) 3. Kids With Guns ( Jamie T's Turns To Monsters Mix) 4. DARE (Soulwax Remix) 5. Kids With Guns (Hot Chip Remix) 6. El Manana (Metronomy Remix) 7. DARE (Junior Sanchez Remix) 8. Dirty Harry (Schtung Chinese New Years Remix) 9. Kids With Guns (Quiet Village Remix)
