Gorillaz

Recorded on tour, on an iPad, this low-key album (streaming for free on the band’s website) is the sound of Damon Albarn blowing trees and tweaking apps as the American outback rolls by his bus window. Featuring songs like ”˜Shy-Town’ and ”˜Seattle Yodel,’ it’s a wistfully spaced-out, subtly cheeky spin on the road-trip epic: Easy Rider via Tron. Albarn isn’t trying to say much, but The Fall is pretty consistent, from the country-radio sampling dub of ”˜The Parish of Space Dust’ to the Rust Belt planet-rock of ”˜Detroit.’ The capper is ”˜Bobby in Phoenix,’ an interstellar-blues sermon from soul great Bobby Womack: Delta guitars and sad, sweet blips and beeps demonstrate that iPads can have feelings too.

Key Tracks: ”˜Bobby in Phoenix,’ ”˜Detroit,’ ”˜Shy-Town’