Stop The Dams

Stop The Dams (formerly known as Aluminium) is the 13th and final track of the first disc of the standard version of Gorillaz' 2007 album, D-Sides. It was originally released as a bonus track on the "El Mañana/Kids With Guns" CD single. It was recorded with Ghostigital & The Reykjavik West End Brass Band.

Aluminium (2006)
Prior to its release as Stop the Dams, an early alternate version/demo of the track was played under the working title of "Aluminium". It was performed live as part of a collaboration between Damon Albarn and musicians Einar Örn Benediktsson and Curver Thoroddsen from Icelandic duo Ghostigital, alongside Einar's son, Kaktus Einarsson, as a charity single for the Stop the Dams concert, in protest against the construction of the Kárahnjúkar Hydropower Plant in January 2006.undefined The song's namesake was a reference to the Fjarðaál aluminium smelter which was used in conjunction with the operation of the (at the time) proposed hydropower plant,undefined though the lyrics of the song seemed to have been improvised on the spot.undefined Unfortunately, the aluminum smelter was completed in 2008 and hydropower plant in 2009 (both of which are still subjects of criticism and controversy for both their environmental impact and use of outsourced foreign workers).

The song was performed live a second time on the Hætta! Festival on the 7th of October 2006, in Laugardalshöll, Reykjavik. This version contained different lyrics from the one performed at the Stop the Dams concert. The full recording of this version has, however, never surfaced on-line, with the exception of a 25-second clip.