Dr Dee

Being as manly as I am I have been building and putting up shelves, and it was Damon Albarn's new album 'Dr Dee' that accompanied me. The users of Twitter will know how excited I have been for this album and Albarn has not disappointed.

It's a strange one, I'll say that now - with opera style vocals looping in and out from, what seems like, nowhere. The instrumentation has me feeling as though I'm in a dream, I could feel  my eyes closing as I listened closely - not to say that this album is boring, it's far from it! But the reverb, flutes, vocals, and many other features have you so relaxed that it's hard to keep your eyes open.

I do love a good concept album, especially if the story line is an interesting one. Through the album I tended to question who was this Dr Dee character? When I first heard the album I thought it was a collaboration with a rapper (then soon realizing that I must have been thinking of Dr Dre), it's hard to gather up the story thoroughly when some songs are sang in foreign languages but from what I have gathered it is mystical. 'Apple Carts' is the one that has me thinking back to those obscure days where people danced and chanted around Stone Henge with flutes and bells, I can just imagine Albarn sat in the middle of their circles with his acoustic guitar and singing to their chants.

Speaking of instrumentation, it is fantastic, it reminds me of Sgt Pepper's (The Beatles) in that sense, especially the dramatic orchestral intervals. I've never heard anything like this, it's what the music world needs right now, a completely weird album that has everyone thinking. 'Watching the fire the waltzed away' - even the title has you pondering at what one earth this song could be about, 'Marvelous dream' is a brief description of what this album is; a marvelous dream. Only those with warped minds will truly find the enjoyment from it, but I'm completely convinced that anyone who is a fan of Blur, the Gorillaz, African music, or British folk will find immense enjoyment out of it and completely understand and agree with anything I have said.

Well done Damon Albarn, you utter, utter legend.