Looking at... The Cornerstone Player #024 (Gorillazish Mix)

Among the rarest Gorillaz-related items I own is The Cornerstone Player #024; a promotional compilation CD set featuring various artists, mixtapes, music videos and more. Though I couldn't quite narrow down the total number of Cornerstone Player releases, it seems to have ran from 1999 to the mid-2000s, serving as a joint effort between the closely related Cornerstone marketing company and Fader record label. Intended to promote up-and-coming musical artists, Cornerstone Player's are simply riddled with names sure to inspire nostalgia; when's the last time you remembered The Dandy Warhols, Gang Starr, or Spacehog?

The front and back covers

Though Gorillaz' singles made various appearances throughout the Player's lifetime, their most notable contribution came in the form of "Gorillazish Mix"; a deftly DJ'ed mixtape put together by Gorillaz producer Dan the Automator, mashing Gorillaz tunes and interviews into an eclectic variety of tonally similar tracks, featuring appearances from Cash Money, Marvelous, Brand Nubian, Sizzla, Sigur Ros, Deltron 3030, EPMD, Handsome Boy Modelling School, and Depeche Mode - some of which hearken from Automator's long musical backlog. Being exclusive to the Player, the mixtape has fallen to total obscurity; so much so that, in fact, my rips and scans of the compilation are the only high-quality copies available. Always fun to make a significant contribution to the following, regardless of relative scale.

The main sleeve contains three pieces; disc one and two's slipcases, and an insert. Unfortunately, all three pieces don't quite fit into the sleeve properly, leading to some damaging along the sleeve's spine. More often than not, I simply unfold the spine to allow enough room for all it's contents. As a promotional item with a very low production rate, it's not surprising a few design flaws may have resulted from their more low-key approach.

The first disc in the set is referred to as "The Tripwire", which seems to be the main disc of the two; featuring the majority of the compilation's unique artists, presenting a wide variety of hot singles. With selections such as FatBoy Slim, Dub Pistols, Afroman, Long Beach Dub Allstars, and Nickelback, it's not hard to tell the disc came from 2002.

Alongside this set is the aforementioned insert detailing each track, offering insight and opinions via upbeat, anecdotal, ready-for-print blurbs; describing Bad Ronald as "...the slickest new kids on the block", Moods for Moderns as "...three long haired members of the That 70s Show cast", and Farrah as a "...straight up barbershop quartet band". The turn of a century certainly was a unique time for popular music, wasn't it?

Disc two, "Summer Music Special 2001" offers both the mix itself and a handful of assorted music videos. It seems to have been specifically designed to coincide with Fader's eighth issue, which featured the unique photo of Gorillaz dissing Fader itself as it's cover. Perfectly subversive - I suppose 90's irony hadn't quite died by that point.

The mix itself is very interesting and fun, and, being so rare, is one of my favorite pieces of neigh-lost Gorillaz media. You can't go wrong with Automator's eccentric mixing skills, and Gorillazish Mix never fails to remain cool. It's most interesting elements are the intertwined voice clips of 2-D, Murdoc, Noodle and Russel, a unique remix of 5/4, and a rather strange tracklisting error. Sigur Ros' track, "Staralfur", is actually "Svefn-g-Englar" - a mistake carried into just about every online tracklisting I've come across. Something tells me very few have bothered to identify the song, as with even a cursory glance, the difference is pretty apparent.

Gorillazish Mix is a neat piece of obscura, and represents the band's earliest form rather well; an electric, artsy, everything-plus-the-kitchen-sink approach to alternative hip-hop, with wild mood swings and big club bangers to boot. If you can track down my rips, give 'em a listen - you won't be disappointed.