Gorillaz

Exquisitely relaxed beats power a gentle, multilayered production from Danger Mouse (who got the gig after his Grey Album created a sensation online). Damon Albarn's melancholy vocals circle like a vulture above a youthful soundscape of piano, '80s samples, strings, celebrity cameos, and even a children's choir.

Four years after Gorillaz' 2001 debut, is Damon Albarn's cartoon side project still worth the
shtick? The answer is a qualified yes. Gorillaz' second studio album, Demon Days, is a
hit-or-miss pastiche of art pop, hip-hop, dub and dance. Producer Dan "The Automator"
Nakamura has been replaced by Jay-Z/Beatles remixer Danger Mouse, and he's taken the
group into subtler, more layered territory, embracing piano, strings, choir music... More >

Pop trip-hop as alternative reality, from fantasyland to apocalypse ("All Alone," "Dare"). (Grade - ***)