Graphic Novel, Gorillaz Collaborate w/ Alan Moore on Opera

Graphic novel and music lovers rejoice, for Alan Moore and Gorillaz are planning some very nifty projects for your consumption. Moore’s new bi-monthly magazine, Dodgem Logic (out just this month), will feature contributions by Gorillaz in the third issue. This is a I’ll-scratch-your-back-if-you-scratch-mine arrangement, as Moore explains to MustardWeb:
(Gorillaz) came down to Northampton last week because we’re planning for me to do the libretto on their next opera project. Being an opportunist, I of course asked them if they’d be prepared to contribute some pages to Dodgem Logic. Rather than just doing an interview with them, I thought it would be interesting to hand over a few pages for them to curate.
Ah, yes, a new opera from Gorillaz! - a followup to Damon Albarn’s “Monkey: Journey to the West,” his circus opera of 2007, designed by fellow Gorilla Jamie Hewlett. That opera, a redesigned Chinese legend, “follows the story of The Monkey King, a hyperactive ape who gains immortality after leading a revolt against heaven,” explained NME. No word yet on what this new opera will be like, but we’ll keep you posted.For more on Moore’s Dodgem Logic, and his clash with the owners of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill’s music (who happen to be his former publishers) over new lyrics to The Threepenny Opera in Moore’s The Block Dossier.

Funky Homosapien Del

el The Funky Homosapien played a crucial role in the elaboration of West Coast underground rap with 1991’s I Wish My Brother George Was Here, which though co-produced by his cousin Ice Cube broke quickly from the sinister gangsta rap eclipsing airwaves at the time with its sappy humor and laid back vibe. While his major label days are gone and his most holocene (and biggest) commercial success came via his allocation to Gorillaz’s entry, 2008 proved to be a prolific year for Del, producing the solo effort Eleventh Hour and records with both his Hieroglyphics crew and his Deltron 3030 side project that marked his deduction into the Def Jux roster. He arrive here behind the Internet only 2009 release Funk Man.