Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Westward ho!
Posted by Jeff in beijing olympics, damon albarn, gorillaz, jamie hewlett, journey to the west, music, opera
Once you start a hugely popular band called Gorillaz, you instantly earn jurisdiction over all things simian. That’s gotta be the thinking behind Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett’s new project, Monkey: Journey to the West – a “circus opera” based on an ancient Chinese legend.
An animated version of the tale popped up during the BBC’s Beijing Olympics coverage, and now the soundtrack to the opera is available as well – and I highly recommend it. It’s got that quality Gorillaz-style production value with delightfully incomprehensible Chinese lyrics. For a taste, check out the music video to the track “Monkey Bee” after the jump.