The Daily Mail — He missed out on the golden statue at this year's Oscars, but Benedict Cumberbatch is getting one of his own thanks to a celebrity artist friend Tristan Schoonrad. more info

Brooklyn Vegan — by Bill Pearis Songhoy Blues fled their home of Northern Mali when armed Jihadists took control and banned music altogether. In Southern Mali city of Bamako, they caught the attention of Damon Albarn who was there in 2013 with his... more info

Brooklyn Vegan — "Thank you all for showing up and playing your part in our success of reaching the goal!! Continue to spread the word!" - De La Soul photo: De La Soul at Irving Plaza in 2014 (more by PSquared) Legendary rap... more info

Stereogum — Hip-hop’s royal trio De La Soul have announced that their eighth studio album will be funded through a Kickstarter campaign. The group is raising $110,000 for their first full-length since 2004’s The Grind Date. Once the project is funded, theyâ€... more info

The Independent — Gorillaz are back. After a three year hiatus, the cartoon collaboration of Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewllet has been resurrected for a fourth album. more info

Stereogum — Jamie Hewlett — the artist side of Gorillaz, Damon Albarn’s virtual group — confirmed the band’s return in a series of Instagram posts earlier today. He posted three sketches of the band members, two of bassist Murdoc and one of guitarist Noo... more info

The Telegraph — Damon Albarn's musical adaptation of Lewis Carroll's story, Wonder.land, will remind us that its fantasy is genuinely timeless, writes Libby Purves more info

Stereogum — Here’s another project to keep Damon Albarn from ever finishing another Blur album. Albarn wrote the music for wonder.land, a musical inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. The script and song lyrics are by Moira Buffini, the National T... more info

The Telegraph — The National Theatre's new director announces his first season, featuring Chiwetel Ejiofor, a Damon Albarn musical and a 'Motherf---er in a Hat' more info

Stereogum — When the Eric Garner verdict came out over two weeks ago, Questlove posted a photo on Instagram captioned by a lengthy call to action pleading for musicians to write more protest songs. Here’s one song that ought to please Questo, then: Pauli LoveJ... more info