Mamouna
Horoscope
The Hushdrops
9
28 illinoisentertainer. com may 2026
Continued rom page 26
Great Escape," which soon erupts into mayhem when joined by the band. Coxon ' s feral guitar twists and bends around Albarn ' s bratty Cockney affectations during a manic " Jubilee." " End of a Century " sways blissfully while lamenting the slide of a relationship and life in general from passion into the mundane. " It ' s nothing special," sings Albarn. Bassist James plays cartwheeling bass alongside Coxon ' s gritty riff and Rowntree ' s stark rhythm during the effervescent " Tracy Jacks." Albarn and Coxon trade call-andresponse vocals, and Rowntree shifts between infectious rhythmic patterns. " Arigato," says Albarn before the band launches the crashing and brass-fueled " Mr. Robison ' s Quango." The song concludes with a carnivalesque diversion into " Mack the Knife " led by a woozy trumpet. The Japanese crowd erupts at the intro to the sweeping and starlit " To the End." The band ' s playing is uniformly sharp, with songs like the bristling, bouncing " It Could Be You " and the thrasher " Bank Holiday " frequently showcasing Coxon ' s inventive playing even before the major stylistic overhaul he introduced two years later. The psychedelic grunge-pop haze of
" She ' s So High " is introduced by Albarn as " a very old song of ours." The band follows with the ebullient disco of the sarcastic and gender-fluid " Girls & Boys," complete with a breakdown for a dubious attempt at audience participation. The wry " Advert " is a wild blast of adrenaline. The rat-race casualty skewered in the jaunty " Country House " and the metaphor of the British Shipping Forecast in the moody " This is a Low " arrive near the end of the main set. " Origami, oregano," adds Albarn to his thanks during the encore before the dizzy " Globe Alone." The encore reaches fever pitch with the swinging " Parklife " and climbs toward euphoria with the showstopping epic " The Universal." " Well, here ' s your lucky day," sing Albarn and Coxon in harmony. " It really could happen," continues Albarn in the deceptively upbeat chorus about a tranquilized future, answered by sparkling brass.
The 2xLP set, pressed on red vinyl, is limited to 9,500 copies worldwide. The number is likely to satisfy RSD impulse buys and then some, but it will eventually sell out and become scarce. Blur fans and younger Gorillaz devotees unfamiliar with Albarn ' s " old band " shouldn ' t sleep on the chance to find their own copies.
– Jeff Elbel
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