BEST NATIONAL ACT

GORILLAZ

Runners-up

1) Coldplay

2) Fall Out Boy

3) Nine Inch Nails

A few years ago, it would have been absurd to think that the Best Music Poll winners for Best National Act and Best DJ/Dance Act could be the same artist. With the exception of superstar DJs like Fatboy Slim and the Chemical Brothers, no one was doing it big enough, and even the successful crossovers were those who parlayed their craft into a one-off novelty hit or a cheeky music video at best. Enter Gorillaz, the animated band with a revolving-door cast, held down by mainstays like lead singer and ex-Blur frontman Damon Albarn, and creator/illustrator Jamie Hewlett. Many thought that the departure of Dan the Automator after the group’s first album was the beginning of the end — until Gorillaz recruited the most-talked-about producer of the past few years, Danger Mouse, for their sophomore LP. The result was Demon Days (Virgin), an album that wasn’t overtly hip-hop, electronic, or rock, but a tasteful fusion of the three that had enough mass appeal to pop up on MTV, yet was hip enough to get remixed by the DFA. With collaborators ranging from the Happy Mondays’ Shaun Ryder to indie hip-hop legend MF Doom to Dennis Hopper, Gorillaz have broken through the cartoon band’s glass ceiling, permanently silencing all those MC Skat Kat jokes, while simultaneously ingraining dance and DJ culture further into our subconscious. For a group that could have easily fallen by the wayside as a novelty, Gorillaz have proven to be, well, pretty damn novel.
_Chris Nelson