Music DVDs

This week's music DVDs reviewed

Bananaz, Parlophone ****

Gorillaz have been one of the most imaginative musical side projects any high-profile rock star has been associated with, and credit has to go to Damon Albarn not just for stepping outside the comfort zone that was Blur and diving headlong into not just these high-end cartoon pop characters (superbly devised by comic book artist Jamie Hewlett), but also for his various forays into African music. The film is directed by long-time Albarn associate Ceri Levy, who worked on Blur's 1993 documentary Starshaped, as well as directing a documentary about one of the singer's trips to Mali. The structure here is a hand-held mixture of interviews with Albarn and Hewlett - obviously good mates - and thoroughly unobtrusive fly-on-the-wall wanderings between rehearsals, music industry meet-and-greets and studio work. All in all, a fascinating, funny and - ooh! - quite rude look behind the scenes of the most successful animated band ever. Extras include more than 60 minutes of bonus material. www.gorillaz.com