MONKEYIN’ AROUND: Gorillaz, the animated pop “supergroup” helmed by Blur front man Damon Albarn and cartoonist Jamie Hewlett, is back for another round. With a new album most of the way finished, the band/project is set to re-launch its “Kong Studios” Web site tomorrow (Dec. 8).
The multimedia site — a maze of navigable corridors and rooms that make up the band’s fictitious living space, recording studio and headquarters — will also be the host of a talent contest. A press release quotes guitarist Noodle as launching a competition to find a new “member” of the band:
“The dark is rising! There is danger!! Disease walks our corridors!! We need fresh talents. Gorillaz are looking for new collaborators,” says the release. “In an effort to find a solution, I, Noodle am to launch the World’s First Global Internet Talent Contest to be held within the walls of Kong Studios at Gorillaz.com.
“We are looking for true artists. Special kids! Musicians, child rappers, animators, inventors, writers, painters, comics, Mexican magicians, maverick plumbers, graffiti visionaries, imaginary Jedis or electric chefs … People of vision!”
Contributors are urged to tune in after the site relaunch and submit any “audition” materials to the contest.
ECLECTIC ARCHIVES: Tastemaking radio show “Morning Sounds Eclectic,” hosted by Nic Harcourt on Los Angeles station KCRW, is streamed weekdays from 9 a.m. to noon PT from the station’s Web site, which also hosts an extensive archive of other shows.
But there’s another site fans of Harcourt’s picks (especially those with less time on their hands) should visit — soundseclectic.com. It’s the home page of “Sounds Eclectic,” a weekly public radio program compiling the best-of each week’s “Morning Becomes Eclectic” shows.
The two-hour distillation show is syndicated to public radio stations across the United States, and it’s also archived in Real Audio form at the site.
DEAR ‘POD: Apple’s iPod portable music player has unquestionably been the music world’s success story of 2004. The iconic new-age walkman has reached such a level of cultural immersion that cottage industries are beginning to sprout up around it.
Hungrypod is a service started by Manhattan-based Catherine Keane that will “rip” a customer’s CD collection into digital files and stuff them into an iPod or other digital music player for a fee.
The company also offers to recommend additional music based on a customer’s tastes and help download tracks to round out the digital collection.
