Comments on: Opera by Gorillaz about Monkey

Opera by Gorillaz about Monkey

meech — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 16:52:31 -0800

Damon & Jamie's Excellent Adventure is a documentary following the Gorillaz' boys - Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett - as they attempt to make an opera based on classic Chinese novel Journey to the West [or for them - the 70s television show Monkey]. The documentary follows the two year process with a decent section on Albarn's approach to learning a new form of music.

By: juiceCake

juiceCake — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 17:07:24 -0800

Thanks much. Albarn is one of my favourite composers, and The Good, the Bad, and the Queen went straight to my top five records of all time. Looking forward to this opera. Blur with Graham coming up as well.

By: Joey Michaels

Joey Michaels — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 17:34:18 -0800

Earlier JTTW link on Metafilter. I'd love to see this opera.

By: fire&wings

fire&wings — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 17:47:20 -0800

Saw this on telly I think. Albarn is a right cunt, watching him direct the lead during the auditions was the stuff of Alan Partridge.

By: asok

asok — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 18:16:32 -0800

I am afraid I have to concur with fire&wings. Albarn also has terrible posture and will be spending alot of money with the osteopath, or getting a hunchback. So there's that to look forward to. Cool instrumentation was worth seeing, though. The show does look spectacular, mostly due the the amazing and numerous chinese performers. Jamie Hewlett's costumes are pretty great as well.

By: sgt.serenity

sgt.serenity — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 04:24:27 -0800

saucy jack, you're a haughty one...............

By: goo

goo — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 04:52:40 -0800

Thanks for this, the opera sounds fab - Monkey and Damon Albarn should be a great combination.

By: meehawl

meehawl — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 09:18:39 -0800

The Nature of Monkey is Irrepressible!

By: jsteffensen

jsteffensen — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 14:00:33 -0800

Here's another example of an East meets West opera. A love story set in post-Pol Pot Cambodia: Here's the NPR story from April '07: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9907120