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The new Gorillaz album was made on an Apple iPad. Damon Albarn, erstwhile Blur frontman and driving force behind the animated band, told the NME, “I fell in love with my iPad as soon as I got it, so I’ve made a completely different kind of record.”
The follow-up to this year’s Plastic Beach was devised while touring with Gorillaz — and could be out before Christmas. “I hope I’ll be making the first record on an iPad,” Albarn giggled.
It seems Tomorrow Comes Today for Gorillaz — making an album on an iPad is the latest futuristic wheeze from a band that’s become one of the biggest in the world despite being mostly fictional.
2D, Murdoc, Noodle and Russel Hobbs were sneezed into life by Tank Girl co-creator Jamie Hewlett as cartoon avatars of Albarn and a revolving cast of musicians, singers and the odd comedian. Gorillaz have featured at some point a range of stellar names from Snoop Dogg, Mos Def and Del The Funky Homosapien to Mark E Smith, Lou Reed, and Paul Simonon and Mick Jones of the Clash, taking in the likes of Dennis Hopper, Phil Cornwell and Shaun “I’m a Celebrity” Ryder along the way.
Albarn didn’t mention which apps he’s using to create the album. Music programs taking advantage of the iPad’s large 10-inch screen include fully featured apps such as StudioTrack, MultiTrack and MidiPad, instrument apps such as Synth and Smule Magic Piano, and more esoteric apps such as bleep!BOX and the stunning RjDj.
Drawbacks of the iPad include the lack of a stylus and USB port, or the locked-off file system and iTunes-only syncing. Apple will probably just be pleased that Gorillaz have switched allegiances since promoting Microsoft’s “wizard’s portal” Internet Explorer 9 earlier this year.
Gorillaz’ latest single Doncamatic — named after a Korg drum machine — is released on 22 November, and the parping synthy horn hook definitely sounds like it could have come from an iPad. Meanwhile the Japanese are still one step ahead as hologram pop star Hatsune Miku is wowing crowds despite being made entirely of light.
