Gorillaz: Plastic Beach

Label: Virgin Records

Kinda rubbed my eyes upon reading that Plastic Beach is only the third album from Gorillaz, who’ve been around for more than a decade and sort of always seem to be a topic of conversation, whether for a record or a new cartoon or a Coachella set or the announcement of a Coachella set or whatevs. On Plastic Beach, which has been in the works since late 2007 or so, it’s all about the guests — meaning the songs without them come off a bit flat. Thankfully there are only five of those out of 16 total tracks — the rest feature a typically bizarre mix of the famous (Snoop Dogg, veteran R&B star Bobby Womack, Mos Def, De La Soul, a not entirely out-of-place Lou Reed) and the should-be famous (Mark E. Smith and er, the The Lebanese National Orchestra for Oriental Arabic Music). The cartoon pop band does great in providing a widescreen backing in great big Technicolor sound: cool beats, plenty of strings and exotic touches, and Albarn & his friends pulling the strings have another can’t-miss smash on their hands, an ultra-rarity these days. (Limited deluxe CD/DVD version includes “45-minute ‘making of’ documentary DVD that provides online access to extra music, games and video.”) (M.L. Thrope)