Author: Gareth

The opera Monkey: Journey to the West, by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett (of Gorillaz fame), is being released as an album on August 18th. (I wrote about this in my journal last summer when it debuted at the Manchester arts festival, now it’s playing at the Royal Opera House in London.)

From the BBC News site:

The tracks are basically traditional sounding Chinese songs with Gorillaz-style beats and production.

Albarn said: “I’ve tried to make the record something different from the show that was on the Royal Opera House. I didn’t want it to be a series of segments or songs but rather one long listen.”

Like the show, the songs on the album have all been recorded in Mandarin.

I am SO getting this.

EDIT: The BBC advert for the Olympics uses a track from Monkey, and animation from Hewlett:

If you’re one of those folks who pays attention to such things, you may have noticed that I’ve gone through and did a thorough cleaning out of my Friends List. Stripped it down to the journals that I actually read, adding a few that I’ve looked at from time to time and have been meaning to read more often, etc.

If you’re one of the folks whom I’ve de-Friended, it’s most likely because you’re an awful person, irritating and of no particular quality, whom I find tedious in the extreme.

….or it’s just because I don’t regularly read your entries.

Either one, really.

(As seen on the journals of and )

1. “In brightest day, in blackest night….”
2. The 70s horror craze (Tomb of Dracula, Son of Satan, Satanna, The Demon, etc.)
3. “‘Do it?’ Dan, I’m not a Republic serial villain. Do you seriously think I’d explain my master-stroke if there remained the slightest chance of you affecting its outcome? I did it thirty-five minutes ago.”
4. The Pre-ESB issues of Marvel’s Star Wars.
5. Ambush Bug
6. Trade Paperbacks
7. Occult Heroes (Doctor Strange, Doctor Fate, Spectre, Ghost Rider, etc.)
8. “Petey — Fastball Special!”
9. These two pages.
10. DC Comics Presents #1
11. Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe
12. Alex Ross
13. American Flagg
14. The first 12 issues of the original Alpha Flight.
15. Astro City
16. Any woman drawn by Adam Hughes
17. The Micronauts
18. Gold Key Star Trek
19. Savage Sword of Conan
20. Jon Sable, Freelance
21. Atari Force
22. “God Loves, Man Kills.”
23. “ENTER….[Insert Name of Character Being Introduced Here]!”
24. Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis
25. John Ridgeway
26. Alien Legion
27. The Bozz Chronicles
28. Captain Britain (pre-“Excalibur”).
29. “It is the boy. He has eaten the pancake. He is lost to us now.” “Truly, this is our blackest hour.”
30. Marvel Super-Specials
31. Shang Chi, Master of Kung Fu
32. The current run of Iron Fist
33. Kingdom Come
34. The Defenders
35. The return of Buckaroo Banzai.
36. The BPRD
37. Pretty much the entire Bronze Age.
38. Way of the Rat
39. How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way
40. Six From Sirius
41. John Buscema
42. Doug Moench & Paul Gulacy
43. Aztec Ace
44. The Rocketeer
45. Mike Mignola
46. “By the Hoary Hoasts of Hoggoth!”
47. Planetary
48. X-Men/Teen Titans
49. Talking Gorillas.
50. This.