There’s a certain stench in the air. Some dark little critter oozing and swirling in the oily waters. Sounds, like a faded orchestra, emanating from dead hollow shells. A stinky, slinky snake made of potent gases, slithering on its way through the concrete jungle of life.

THE FUTURE. It’s upon us. It’s nigh. It’s leering at you from across the bar.

The future, our global obsession, is suddenly so very close. TOMORROW COMES TODAY. (They did try to warn us.)
So, what’s this ‘future’ turning out to be like? Spaceships, Jetson-style hair-do machines (why haven’t they invented these yet? Whyyy!!), intergalactic speedracers, 2001, 1989…?

Nah – it’s turning out to be even more bizarre than all of that COMBINED…

It’s filthy, it’s dirty, it’s consumerism + depth = religion, it’s elements of Gotham City, it’s waste, it’s copy+paste, it’s computer-simulations, games and over-stimulations, it’s dangerous, it’s hilarious, it’s somehow strangely beautiful, it’s… Plastic Beach.

Do you want to HEAR the future? Friends, hobos, lunching men – lend Gorillaz your ears!

This album was always gonna be killer. Damon Albarn + Jamie Hewlett together have always = Bananaz. The most complete package a band could possibly be. Not only is the sonic and the visual out of this world… there’s also so much story there!

Speaking of story, if you haven’t been following the tale of Gorillaz since their last show in NYC in 2006… um, why not? Check out twitter.com/MurdocGorillaz and gorillaz.com – Right. Now.

Anyway, to summarise, the band have been up to some weird bidness. What with Russel being tormented to the point of insanity by demons, Noodle being blown up / dragged off into the underworld, Murdoc being hounded by pirates for trading dud weapons, and 2D being kidnapped against his will… well, it hasn’t exactly been a ‘quiet’ few years.
Thankfully, Murdoc grew restless (and broke) and decided to do another Gorillaz album. Yes! Yesssss!!!

Emerging out of mist, grime and everything in this world comes Plastic Beach, a floating island of junk and chaos somehow representing the strange way plastic has become an organic feature of our even stranger planet… and what comes next is the music.

Which is what makes this next part of the post kinda hard for me to articulate. How, in the name of the wee man, could anything I say do justice to the work of Mr Albarn?? The following may involve words that have no apparent meaning, so bear with me!

What I can say is this: Damon is literally out of this world, one of my favourite geniuses of all time, and this sh*t is just what you’d expect from the Maestro himself – EFFING WHAT!!!! Pure WICKED send-your-imagination-into-overdrive, phonic DYNAMITE!!! Literally, because I actually exploded upon first listen! (True. I am now slime on the wall. Albeit very very happy slime with dubious writing abilities.)

Seriously though – leave it to Murdoc & crew to effortlessly meander through countless genres whilst taking you on one easy ride! Starting with seagulls, beach sounds, a symphonic piece, sliding into phat bass, brass and Snoop Dogg cool, dipping into a dusty Arabian alleyway, then landing smack bang in the grimy UK with Kano & Bashy… all the while so pop and easy to listen to it’s criminal… and that’s only the first 3 tracks….!!!

It’s so hard to pick favourites because each and every song is dripping in so much sweet-ass splendour – but since I really should name-drop, I’ll say:

• Superfast Jellyfish (see below post to check this one out; Gruff Rhys, De La Soul, and the phattest beats I have possibly ever heard EVER!!);
• Empire Ants (WHAT. A. TRACK. Little Dragon guesting is just, wow. Yukimi Nagano’s vocals work so insanely beautifully with 2D’s, also on the exquisite To Binge later in the album!);
• Some Kind Of Nature (I love love love love Lou Reed, here waxing lyrical about plastic and nature);
• and title track Plastic Beach (Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, trippy computer game space music, the perfect combination!!).

Annnd those I’ve mentioned are not the only distinguished guests dropped by the island recording super-studio, oh no! Adding even more shiny brilliance is the incredible Bobby Womack, coolest of the cool Mos Def (you’ve already heard these two on Stylo), legendary Mark E Smith, tight-as-hell Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, wonderful Sinfonia VIVA & The National Orchestra For Arabic Music… quite a cast, oh yes!

So, I invite you to close your eyes. Press play. Sip a beverage. And go on the ride. This is what happens when tomorrow comes knocking.

Yes, that stinky little critter we call The Future is coming out of hiding… and it’s crawling inside your stereo speakers, floating into your ears and wiggling around in your brain. You didn’t know by now? It is Plastic Beach.

Plastic Beach is triple j’s Feature Album this w/c March 1 2010. Tune in to the J’s all week to hear what we’re raving about!