Democrazy - Damon Albarn Double 10 inch Picture Discs

£ 27

$ 36

£ 27 Sold For

Mar 16, 2011 Sold Date

Mar 6, 2011 Start Date

£ 20 Start price

2 Number Of Bids

Great Britain Country Of Seller

eBay Auctioned at

save auction

Description

A limited edition vinyl-only double 10" album, Democrazy consists of two heavy slabs of white and picture vinyl beautifully housed in a lush, scrawled-on cover. Obviously a deeply personal labour of love for the Blur frontman, the album contains 13 brief and raw solo demos recorded in various hotel rooms on the band's last American tour.

Is it uncompromising or purely pretentious? Well, it's a mixture of the two, being at turns equally touching and embarrassing. Alongside moments of genuine emotive power such as "Sub Species of an American Day" and "I Miss You", which expose Albarn's obvious frustration, exhaustion and alienation while on tour, "A Rappy Song" is as truly awful as its title suggests.

Many of the brief musical snippets do provide pleasant late night company but they offer little insight into Albarn's seemingly impenetrable psyche. Gems such as "With the Passing of Time" and "Back to Mali" stumble along with only a languorously strummed acoustic guitar, insomnia-driven vocal and Casio-sounding keyboard, giving the album a more playful than poignant feel. Music stripped to the bone, Democrazy is an enjoyable demonstration of Albarn's songwriting in its embryonic stages and is nothing if not brave. --Christopher Barrett

Review

Damon Albarn is a great pop being. Blur's seventh album, the career best Think Tank, was made despite the loss of Graham Coxon. He sold truck loads as a cartoon band in Gorillaz,avoids becoming Sting with Mali Music and co-starts the Honest Jons label releasing anything from fifties calypso to digital dancehall dub. Whilst his former contemporaries and rivals bite the dust around him, he is frankly unstoppable.

And now we have his debut solo album, Democrazy. It was recorded on a four-track in hotel rooms during Blur's American tour this summer. Releasing it on his own label as a limited double ten-inch vinyl only affair to be sold chiefly via mail order suggests the unlikelihood of a chart-topper. It is, Albarn claims, meant to show an - albeit hungover and bloodshot - insight into his songwriting process.

Mainly it's a bit of a no-fi ramble with some little moments of tune emerging with tracks such as the bonkers "Five Star Life" is a stoned croon over budget funk. Some tracks are barely there, such as the eastern flourish that is "Reedz" or the sweet "Hymn To Moon"."Back To Mali" even sounds a bit like the theme from Trumpton. Amid the nonsense lie a couple of real gems; the gorgeous if frustratingly brief "Half A Song" should really become a full-blown proper tune sharpish; as should "Sub Species Of An American Day" and "Rappy Song" is an irritatingly catchy minute casio disco strum perfect for a Gorillaz remake.

price rating