''Democrazy'' is a 2003 vinyl-only double EP of demos by Damon Albarn, frontman of

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rock band Blur and the animated group Gorillaz. It was released through

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record label.

Background

Albarn recorded these songs, which are little more than demos, during the US leg of Blur's tour for ''

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'' in various hotel rooms. He then decided to issue the result, on 8 December that year, in a double 10" vinyl set on his

label. On 22 December Albarn showcased the demos at a live gig in London's Neighbourhood club. One of the songs, "I Need a Gun", was extended and performed as "

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" by Gorillaz on their album

Demon Days ''Demon Days'' is the second studio album by British virtual band Gorillaz. It was first released on 11 May 2005 in Japan and on 23 May 2005 in the United Kingdom by Parlophone and in the United States by Virgin Records. Produced by the band, ...

. The track "A Rappy Song" has often been mis-labeled as an unnamed Gorillaz' track featuring

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and

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, however the song is little more than a remix made by a fan. The songs on ''Democrazy'' are very sketchy, and some of the songs are unfinished in the way that they simply end by turning off the sound completely.

Critical reception

The EP received mixed-to-negative reviews from music critics. At

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, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 45, which indicates "mixed or average reviews", based on 9 reviews. Alexis Petridis of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' described the album as "occasionally brilliant and frequently irritating beyond belief" and wrote: "It is packed with interesting ideas, but is founded in an appalling self-importance." Mark Beaumont of ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' panned the album, describing it as "the half conceived, cottonmouthed rubbish."

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...

critic Jedediah Gilchrist stated: "He's already recorded such a wealth of great material that no mystique remains, leaving no real reason for anyone—including the most dedicated fan—to seek out these poorly produced musical shreds." Scott of '' Stylus Magazine'' wrote: "Serving as nothing more than a temporary diversion or side note to his fully realised work, this is worth a cursory listen for the insight alone."

Track listing

Disc one

# "I Need a Gun" - 1:25 # "Reedz" - 1:22 # "Half a Song" - 1:06 # "Five Star Life" - 2:45 # "A Rappy Song" - 1:40 # "Back to Mali" - 1:04 # "I Miss You" - 2:21 # "Hymn to Moon" - 1:01

Disc two

# "Dezert" - 2:51 # "Sub Species of an American Day" - 2:25 # "American Welfare Poem" - 3:06 # "Saz Theory Book" - 2:35 # "Gotta' Get Down With the Passing of Time" - 2:17 # "End of Democrazy" - 3:39

References

External links

* Demo albums Damon Albarn EPs Songs written by Damon Albarn 2003 EPs {{2003-rock-album-stub