“Hey, Shooter”, with guest vocals from Erykah Badu, distills the best of this group’s sound into a taut four minutes. Flea’s bass lines retain his trademark pop and attack, but settle into a smoother groove than on most RHCP songs. Similarly, Albarn crafts repetitive riffs of an indie/art-rock character that seamlessly integrate into the weave of drums, bass, horns, and smooth vocals.

Other musical styles are present that carry each member’s individual personality: The Britpop of “Poison” is the album’s only tune with a traditional verse/chorus form, featuring a soulful vocal performance from Albarn; “Check Out” is synth-heavy dub. On “Night Watch” and “Rotary Connection”, one senses Flea’s and Albarn’s aesthetics poking through more, with aggressively funky bass leading the way under lots of analog synth, all above a much jazzier and rhythmically complex beat.

Regrettably, “Night Watch”, “Rotary Connection”, and eight other tracks last only two minutes (out of 18 total). Each seems like a snippet from a much longer jam, but the band has excerpted their favorite bits of improv and called each a song. As such, we get glimpses into the magic, but even the five minute “There” fades out mid-phrase. Since the Chili Peppers are on tour through 2013, it might be a while until these guys really stretch out live. In the meantime, we’ll happily settle for this debut.

Essential Tracks: “Hey, Shooter”, “Lolo”, “Follow-Fashion”, “Night Watch”, “There”, “Fatherless”

Rocket Juice and the Moon — AKA, the new project from Gorillaz/Blur mastermind Damon Albarn, Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, and Afrobeat drummer Tony Allen — releases its self-titled debut on March 27th via Albarn’s Honest Jon’s imprint. As a first listen, stream the Erykah Badu-aided track “Hey Shooter” at Pitchfork.

Spanning 18 tracks, the album was recorded Albarn’s Studio 13 in London, “with additional parts added in Paris, Berlin and Chicago.” Along with Badu, the album features guest appearances from Malian musician Fatoumata Diawara, West Africa rapper M.Anifest, and the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, among others. Check out the tracklist below.

Rocket Juice and the Moon Tracklist:
01. 1-2-3-4-5-6
02. Hey, Shooter
03. Lolo
04. Night Watch
05. Forward Sweep
06. Follow-Fashion
07. Chop Up
08. Poison
09. Extinguished
10. Rotary Connection
11. Check Out
12. There
13. Worries
14. Benko
15. The Unfadable
16. DAM(N)
17. Fatherless
18. Leave-Taking

As previously reported, Gorillaz/Blur mastermind Damon Albarn, Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, and Afrobeat drummer Tony Allen recently came together to form Rocketjuice and The Moon. After making their live debut last fall, the trio is now gearing for the release of their debut album, as Exclaim points out. According to an article in this month’s issue of MOJO Magazine (which you can see in screenshot form here), the self-titled album arrives in March.

Spanning 18 tracks, the album was recorded Albarn’s Studio 13 in London, “with additional parts added in Paris, Berlin and Chicago.” Along with Albarn, Flea, and Allen, the album features the talents of Erykah Badu, Malian musician Fatoumata Diawara, West Africa rapper M.Anifest, and the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, among others.

Speaking with MOJO, Flea said the project came together after the three musicians met on a plane in 2008. “The three of us were going to Lagos as part of Damon Albarn’s Africa Express collective. I’m a huge Fela Kuti fan and Tony Allen is one of my favorite drummers, so to get to talk and play with him was just phenomenal. The way I approach rhythm and groove is very similar to the way he does, and I feel with him a special something that is difficult to put into words but it’s a beautiful thing. By the end of that Lagos trip we’d made a promise to get in a room whenever we could and cook up some grooves, the only rule being we’d be fucking getting down and getting busy and making it hard.”

According to Allen, the album is “all funk,” noting that its ”goove music, music that makes you dance. The audience don’t want to sit and listen, they want to move their bodies. That is crucial, and Rocketjuice & The Moon will make them do that.”

According to MOJO, the album will arrive in the UK on March 12th. Stay tuned for a possible U.S. release date. In the meantime, check out a live recording of “Red Skies” from the trio’s performance in Marseille last October.

“Red Skies”:

If you haven’t heard, Rocketjuice and the Moon is the name of the project and corresponding album by Damon Albarn, Flea, and Tony Allen. When combined with members of the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Sun Ra Arkestra trumpet player Phil Cohran, Malian singer Fatoumata Diawara, and South African hip-hop crew M.Anifest, they become a world music collective known as Another Honest Jon’s Chop Up, and it was during Another Honest Jon’s Chop Up performance in London on Saturday when Rocketjuice and the Moon previewed the track called “Poison”. Check out a recording below.

“Poison”:

Update #2: The YouTube channel rocketjuicethemoon has uploaded live recordings of tracks titled “Red Skies” and “The Moon”. Check both cuts out below.

“Red Skies”:

“The Moon”:

Update: As our reader @SamHecquet points out, you can also listen to a recording of the collective’s entire performance in Marseille, France on Sunday at France Inter (scroll all the way to the bottom.)

Over the weekend, we posted live videos of Another Honest Jon’s Chop Up’s Friday night performance in Ireland and you can check out that post here. The collective next performs at Dublin’s Vicar Street on Tuesday, November 1st.

As for Rocketjuice and the Moon, there is currently no release date set for the album’s release. We’ll keep you updated.

In addition to every other thing he does (which is becoming increasingly difficult to list and/or remember), Damon Albarn is the leader of a collective of musicians known as An Honest Jon’s Chop Up (named after Albarn’s other other other endeavor, a world music record label). The collective, who previously performed twice back in 2008, headlined Ireland’s annual Cork Jazz Festival on Friday night.

Performing under the moniker Another Honest Jon’s Chop Up, the latest iteration included Albarn, Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, afrobeat drummer Tony Allen, the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Sun Ra Arkestra trumpet player Phil Cohran, Malian singer Fatoumata Diawara, house producer Theo Parrish, and South African hip-hop crew M.Anifest. As previously reported, part of the performance was used to preview material from Albarn, Flea, and Allen’s forthcoming collaborative album, Rocketjuice and The Moon. 

Below, you can find a few live videos of the performance, most of which see Diawara taking lead vocals and Albarn playing piano. We’ll add in more clips as they hit the web.

Another Honest Jon’s Chop Up next performs at Dublin’s Vicar Street on Tuesday, November 1st.

The trio will debut material from the album during a performance in Ireland this weekend, where they’ll be joined by 25 other musicians as part of a collective called Honest Jon’s Chop Up. Other members of the collective include the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, the Sun Ra Arkestra trumpet player Phil Cohran, the Malian singer Fatoumata Diawara, the house producer Theo Parrish, and the South African hip-hop crew M.Anifest.

Albarn also plans to tour with Honest Jon’s Chop, explaining, “The rehearsals feel good, exciting. The plan is simple, really – to make some music, some interesting sounds. We’ve interesting people playing from all over the place.”

As of now, there is no release date for Rocketjuice and The Moon, nor any tour dates confirmed outside of this weekend’s performance. So, stay tuned.

As previously reported, Blur/Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn, Flea (of Red Hot Chili Peppers fame), and afro beat drummer Tony Allen are working together on a collaborative studio album. On October 28th, the trio, along with 25 others, will perform together at Cork’s Savoy under the moniker An Honest Jon’s Chop Up.

Named after Albarn’s world music label, the collective will be performing for only the third time ever; they previously played in London and New York City in 2008. According to Irish Examiner, the lineup for Cork will also include Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Kokanko Sato, Theo Parrish, Shangaan Electro, and possibly Erykah Badu.

The performance is set to take place during the opening night of the Cork Jazz Festival, which runs from October 28-31 in venues across Cork, Ireland. Other confirmed acts for the festival include Kyle Eastwood (the son of Clint), Jean-Luc Ponty, and the Bobby Watson All-Stars. Tickets are available via the festival’s website.

Where do we start? How about the band currently blowing our minds. Despite the fact that Gorillaz’s third LP, Plastic Beach, is less than a year old, Albarn revealed he is close to completing its followup. “I’ve actually taken a mobile studio with me on this tour, because it’s the longest I’ve been out on the road since, as I say, the days of Blur at its peak, so I have that luxury now of recording as I go. It’s basically a tour-diary as a record, I guess it’s my love-letter to America,” he explained.

Albarn also detailed another exciting venture, this in the form of a new band with Red Hot Chili Pepper bassist Flea and afro beat drummer Tony Allen, who previously collaborated with Albarn in The Good, The Bad, and The Queen. “[It's] another band with Tony Allen; centered around what he does,” said Albarn of the project. “But this time it’s him and me and Flea from the Chili Peppers and some of my favorite African musicians will be involved also. Flea of course is an anagram for Fela and Flea is so into this music – so that’s been great.”

And if all that weren’t enough, Albarn also teased the possibility of another The Good, The Bad, and The Queen album as well as his first ever solo effort. But in regards to Blur and the possibility of a world tour, Albarn noted, “There won’t be another world tour for me – for anything – for five to six years; it would seem unlikely. I have a young daughter and it’s just not feasible, it’s too long away from home.” It can’t be all good news, kids.

Albarn didn’t share any specifics as to when we might hear these releases, so stay tuned. In the meantime, there are still a few more opportunities to see Gorillaz on the road before the New Year.

Gorillaz 2010 Tour Dates:
11/02 – Seattle, WA @ Key Arena ^
11/03 – Vancouver, BC @ Rogers Arena ^
11/11 – Dublin, IE @ O2 Arena
11/12 – Manchester, UK @ Evening News Arena
11/14 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
11/15 – Amsterdam, NL @ Heineken Music Hall
11/16 – London, UK @ O2 Arena
11/17 – Birmingham, UK @ NIA
11/18 – Brighton, UK @ Centre
11/21 – Berlin, DE @ Velodrom
11/22  – Paris, FR @ Zenith
11/23 – Paris, FR @ Zenith
11/25 – Antwerp, BE @ Lotto
12/03 – Hong Kong @ Asia World Arena
12/06 – Perth, AU @ Burswood Dome
12/08 – Adelaide, AU @ Entertainment Centre
12/11 – Melbourne, AU @ Rod Laver
12/16 – Sydney, AU @ Entertainment Centre
12/19 – Brisbane, AU @ Entertainment Centre
12/21 – Auckland, NZ @ Vector Arena

^ = w/ N.E.R.D.

First and foremost, the followup to 2005′s Demon Days will be titled Plastic Beach and, according to Albarn, it’s “the most pop record I ever made.”  It also might be his most eclectic; Lou Reed, Snoop Dogg, Bobby Womack, Barry Gibb, Mos Def, and The Horrors are all confirmed as guest contributors. Yeah, seriously.

There is no release date for Plastic Beach quite yet as the album is only “nearly finished.” That said, Albarn also revealed that he has reunited with Flea and Tony Allen for a completely unrelated new album. The trio had previously collaborated on the Africa Express project. So, you’ll have more thoughts of anticipation to hold you over…