Amazon.co.uk Review
Not content with continually reinventing the Britpop template as the frontman of
Blur, Damon Albarn has spent the latter part of his career pursuing his more experimental muse. Fortunately, the credibility attached to his name has opened up other doors for him, especially in the increasingly murky world of film soundtracks. After working with leftfield composer
Michael Nyman on the soundtrack to 1999's
Ravenous, Albarn has decided to go it alone with the Irish gangster film
Ordinary Decent Criminal (2000). This soundtrack album boasts five new tracks by Albarn, including one collaboration with
Massive Attack's Robert "3D" Del Naja and two score pieces, and it's these contributions that are likely to garner the most attention. Yet it is the contributions from other artists that are most noteworthy here, especially the jubilant "Eurodisco" by disposable indie popsters
Bis and the slinky "Mother Of Pearl" by
Bryan Ferry. Fans of Blur should take heed, though; only the closing "Dying Isn't Easy" will sound like the Damon they know and love, and that is only because it's gospel choir and acoustic strum seem nicked directly from 1999's
13. --
Robert Burrow