Boxing Day Cribs (25/12)

Reminder about Gorillaz on MTV in the UK on Boxing Day...

Gorillaz are the latest in a long line of big-name A-list music artists to welcome the MTV cameras into their home for a personally guided tour. Their special animated version of 'MTV Cribs' can be seen on MTV UK on Boxing Day as number 1 in the 'Top 50 MTV Cribs Moments Ever', which runs between midday and 8.30pm. Tune in around 8.20pm to see Gorillaz.

Self-confessed jailbird and satanist Murdoc Nicalls (Gorillaz bassist) conducts the tour around the band's home Kong Studios, which nestles on an Essex hillside and commands extensive views of a graveyard. The home - which is residence to all four members of Gorillaz - boasts its own recording studio, private cinema and indoor car park. It has a reception room adorned with a painting of Winston Churchill sporting a green mohican and is manned by a receptionist dressed as the devil. The home is so large that it has a floor directory - even Murdoc is confused as to whether it has 48 or 49 rooms.

When the MTV cameras arrive Murdoc greets them wrapped only in a small, shabby hand towel. Our host later urinates on-camera whilst disparaging other celebrities who have been on MTV Cribs. He says, "I've seen quite a few episodes of MTV Cribs and every house is the same. The first thing these peasants do when they get any money is buy some tacky show home and fill it up with shit. They call this culture? They wouldn't know what a bit of culture was if it jumped up and bit them... Peasants... Scumbags."

First on Murdoc's guided tour is the recording studio where they work on all of their chart-topping tracks. The studio wall features abusive graffiti about Murdoc written by Gorillaz-collaborator and Hollywood veteran, Dennis Hopper. In a corner, drummer Russel Hobbs enjoys his favourite hobby, taxidermy. He is currently working on a massive stuffed wart hog on wheels - he favours the 'pimp my rhino' look.

The cameras then visit the private rooms of singer 2-D and guitarist Noodle's bedroom (where the video to 'DARE' was filmed). The tour concludes in the massive indoor carpark, where the Gorillaz famous 'geep' is parked alongside Murdoc's personal Winnebago which he dubs his "love shack on wheels". The decrepit Winnebago's door is hanging off and inside it is festooned with air-freshening vanilla trees. However, it does contain a sun bed, on which Murdoc proudly poses for the MTV cameras in a leopard-skin thong which shows off his spotty backside.

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Murdoc Christmas Speech Photo (25/12)

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Murdoc's Queen's Speech (22/12)

Good news for those of you on the 3 mobile network this Christmas... Hail Satan Santa!

Mobile media company 3 is offering its customers a unique take on 2005 by broadcasting an alternative Queen’s speech courtesy of the Gorillaz’ self-confessed alcoholic cartoon global megastar Murdoc Niccals. Available free, exclusively to over 3.2 million customers on Christmas Day, the speech embraces a range of diverse and taboo subjects highly unlikely to be on the agenda for the traditional version on the BBC.

Donning a crown and perched on a throne, Satanist Murdoc takes no prisoners as he gives his considered overview of the political, social and artistic highs and lows of the past year. From the ascent of James Blunt to the demise of the Routemaster bus, Murdoc weaves the landmark events of 2005 into his own satanic verse on the state of the nation. Predictions for the year to come include an imminent apocalypse and the advent of the age of giant mental human mouse.

Murdoc comments, "We’ve all had so many ‘ups and downs’ over the last year with toxic vapour clouds, earthquakes, face transplants, floods in Glastonbury and the end of the old ‘routemaster’ buses... but it’s not all good news. On the bad side, we’ve had new music from James Blunt - who needs valium? - Westlife, and more films from ‘Harry Potter’. So it really does look like we’re just one step closer to the Apocalypse, eh?"

Graeme Oxby, Marketing Director at 3 comments: “During 2005 we have offered our customers exclusive must-see music moments and the Gorillaz Christmas speech will be the icing on the cake for music fans. The band is hugely popular on 3, with the singles from Demon Days all topping our mobile download chart this year. We hope Murdoc’s inimitable words of wisdom will amuse, entertain and inspire!”

The three-minute speech will be available to download free on 3 from Christmas morning until 31 December. To access the speech customers simply click the Planet 3 button on their handset and then click on the icon on ‘Today on 3’.

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Cribs (20/12)

Gorillaz will be featured on MTV UK's rundown of MTV's Top 50 Greatest Cribs countdown. It will premiere on December 26, so keep an eye out for it. We have it on good authority that Gorillaz did rather well in this countdown!

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Cribs & Props (15/12)

Briefly, The Word has chosen Demon Days in their Top 10 of 2005 albums list, which is out in their January issue. The issue also features a multiple page spread on the band's shows in Manchester last month.

In more exciting news, the band have shot an episode of MTV Cribs which is set to air in the UK around Christmas and probably in the US and other territories shortly after. If you've ever wanted the proper tour of Murdoc showing you round his pad then watch out for that.

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AOLMusic & XM (9/12)

Starting today (December 9), you will be able to access Gorillaz' Demon Days live shows in an exclusive interactive platform never offered before on XM Satellite Radio in the States (channels 43 and 47) and on AOLMusic.com.

In addition to the Manchester show, you can check out special features such as: Rare interviews with featured artists Bootie Brown, De La Soul, Roots Manuva, Martina Topley Bird, and the Wynthenshawe Children's Choir; Animated interviews with Gorillaz characters; Photos from the "Demon Days Live" concert; Three music videos: "Feel Good Inc.," "DARE" and "Dirty Harry"; Gorillaz 'Bites' - Short animations starring Gorillaz; Behind-the-scenes with the Murdoc, featured during the concert.

Check it out!

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Grammy Awards (8/12)

Gorillaz received an early Christmas present today with the announcement that they have been nominated for an incredible five Grammy Awards.

The band received nominations in the following categories:
Record of the Year - Feel Good Inc
Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals - Feel Good Inc (with De La Soul)
Best Urban Alternative Performance - Dirty Harry
Producer of the Year - Danger Mouse
Best Short Form Music Video - Feel Good Inc

The winners will be announced on February 8th at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Reached for comment at the band's HQ Kong Studios, the band had this to say:

2-D: Yeah, we just heard. Five nominations... that's er... wicked. My mum's gonna be well pleased.

Noodle: On behalf of all of Gorillaz I'd like to say we're all really pleased to hear this. It&Mac226;s a real honour.

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Song Book Updates & Other Things (2/12)

First off, the media has been buzzing today with the news that Gorillaz have clocked in at #2 on the Q top albums of the year list with Demon Days, just behind the latest Coldplay album. Further joy is realised on their top singles list where Feel Good Inc slots in as their 11th best single of the list. Someone ought to tell them they missed by 10. Q's January issue is now out on newsstands.

Mojo have named Demon Days as #18 on their list of best albums of 2005 list, which is also out now in their January issue.

More news about the song book... it will be available to buy online from Monday the 5th of December at www.gorillazshop.com and here is what it looks like:

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Song Book (1/12)

For those of you who are musically inclined, you will be excited to learn that Faber & Faber are releasing a Demon Days Song Book, arranged for guitar, piano & voice. This will be in the shops before Christmas, though the final release date is as yet unconfirmed.

In other news, it is expected that this week Demon Days will have surpassed the UK sales of 2001's Gorillaz debut album.

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Quotes & Lists (30/11)

The year end accolades are continuing to pour in for Gorillaz. NME have placed Demon Days in their top 10 list of the best albums of 2005. Two singles from Demon Days feature in NME's top 50 singles of the year, Feel Good Inc (42) and DARE (16). Here's what they had to say:

NME on Demon Days: "A bunch of greedy shareholders betting their chips on its ker-ching factor. A cast of thousands, headlined by washed-up stars of yore (Shaun Ryder, De La Soul, Neneh Cherry). A novelty idea that was speeding headlong to its inevitable conclusion. Gorillaz' second album should have been an epic failure. Instead it was the mainstream's darkest, most dangerous and downright weirdest album of the year."

NME on Feel Good Inc: "Four cartoons, Damon Albarn, Dangermouse, De La Soul, and the chorus to 'Staring At The Sun' by U2 all came together to conjure up the indisputable feelgood hit of the summer. Graham who?"

NME on DARE: "It's coming up! It's coming up! It's... the most demented Number One single in living memory! Dragging in Baggy King Shaun Ryder for a dashingly slurred cameo only enhanced its wonder."

Bear in mind all of the above are the opinions of the NME!

Check out this cool interview with Murdoc in Smash Hits magazine - click here!

Finally, here's what Launch's chart follower James Masterton had to say about Dirty Harry gatecrashing the top 10 this week:

"Only one group currently has three Top 75 hits. Stand up Gorillaz whose new hit 'Dirty Harry' becomes the highest new entry in a quiet week for new releases, slotting nicely in at Number 6. The track is joined by both former Number One single 'Dare' which this week slips five places to Number 33 and its own immediate predecessor 'Feel Good Inc' which thanks to consistent trade online hovers around at Number 68 this week, a full 33 weeks after it first hit the chart."

Don't worry, I had trouble making sense of that incredibly long fact-filled sentence too. More to come!

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DH Game/Russel In Drummer (28/11)

If you've not done so yet, head on over to Gorillaz.com/DirtyHarry to play the new Dirty Harry 3D game and enter your high score to get a chance at winning top prizes from the Gorillaz Shop!

Pick up the December 2005 issue of Drummer Magazine for a rather lengthy and interesting chat with none other than our very own Russel Hobbs. Check out the scans here:

Russel in Drummer Magazine: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7.

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In At Six... (27/11)

Dirty Harry has entered the UK singles chart at #6! It is the highest new entry this week, and marks the first time Gorillaz have ever had three top 10 singles on the spin! In other news, the album has shot up ten places to #10. More to follow...

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Get Your Gun (25/11)

First off, if you've not picked up the new single Dirty Harry yet then you are quite silly, so get down to the shops and snag a copy! Information on the formats can be found in the discography section. And you can watch the fantastic new video in the multimedia section.

As you'll no doubt have noticed we've been having a few site issues the last couple of weeks, but we're back on track so keep yourselves on the lookout for some fresh new content and competitions soon.

In other news, there's an amazing feature with Russel in the December issue of Drummer magazine, so you might want to pick that up. If you can't then don't worry... we'll have the scans up on the site for you pronto!

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Awards & Vids... (9/11)

The MTVU Awards will be broadcast on the 9th and 10th on mtvu.com in the Uber section, so check that out if you want to see Gorillaz winning the Best Animated Video award!

In other news, check out gorillaz.com for the latest streams of Gorillaz Live in Manchester if you were unable to make it, and get a chance to download Dirty Harry live!

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And The Winner Is... (4/11)

Gorillaz triumph again! In addition to winning Best Group at this year's MTV Europe Music Awards (collected by top photographer Jamie Hewlett), the band has won Best Animated Video (Feel Good Inc) at the MTVU Woodie Awards! Thanks to everyone who voted.

The initial reviews are starting to come in from Manchester and they are top! We'll have some of the clippings as well as some of your reviews on the tour page when the concerts are done so keep on the lookout for that!

For those of you in the vicinity of Manchester, the venue will be releasing a small amount of tickets at the box office tonight and tomorrow for the shows! Stay tuned for more news from Manchester.

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November Has Come (1/11)

Happy November! Here's some good news...

First off, there are now extra tickets available for selected Manchester shows beginning tonight. Want to get your hands on them? Click here.

Also, commencing today you can head on over to the Gorillaz Shop and get your hands on exclusive Gorillaz in Manchester tour shirts. Check it out!

Do you use Rhapsody? Click here and get the Demon Days album at a very special price of $7.99.

Are you going to the Manchester shows? Hit us up at gorillazqa@gmail.com and send over your reviews!