The Mountain by Gorillaz
#1
I’m still digesting this one since it’s only been out for around a week as of writing this, but I know for a fact that it is very good! On The Mountain, Damon Albarn steers his omnivorous musical interests in the direction of Indian classical music, and enlists talented musicians that include Anoushka Shankar, Asha Bhosle, and Asha Puthli (whose Indian pop/disco albums I highly recommend) to realize this sound for the album. Conceptually, the album focuses mostly on death, and even features posthumous contributions from previous Gorillaz collaborators like Dennis Hopper and Dave of De La Soul. Despite loving the singles “The Happy Dictator” and “Damascus,” I don’t think anything could have prepared me for how much I love this album - it is without a doubt their most well-executed creative vision since Plastic Beach.