After watching the Oscars this morning on live TV, and seeing the montage of dead persons in Hollywood, I got to say, I'm surprised.
I now know that Dennis Hopper and Pete Postlethwaite passed away. That's really something - when did they die? It wasn't like all over the front page of the news, or even the "entertainment" section.
Pete Postlethwaite is possibly the man with the most angular face shape I've ever seen. He was amazing in "Brassed Off" starring Ewan McGregor, and I read somewhere Steven Spielberg thinks highly of him, dubbing him the most versatile actor around.
Brassed Off premier
Dennis Hopper - at first I was like "Wait - wasn't he in one of the Gorillaz albums?" and then I did a quick search and found out that not only was he the guy who did "Fire coming out of the monkey's head" for Gorillaz album Demon Days.
He also performed and toured with the band during the promotion of Demon Days. I remember during my days where college work didn't bombard me with deadlines, words and essays, I used to watch the whole Gorillaz concerts online. Here's a particularly good performance featuring the one and only Dennis Hopper...
He is amazing. Simply amazing how an actor can work with Damon Albarn, the genius of creating music and combining people together, to create such a song. It plays great live too.
Dennis Hopper also features on Bananaz, Gorillaz's documentary film. He is hilarious... Damon's hilarious... Jamie's goofy. The clip below shows you the part he's in.
I think Damon just wants to use his American accent to show his gradual shift into the american music scene! Or to promote his album in the US ?
Dennis Hopper with Jamie and Damon at the Grammys
He will be missed... I'm now wondering how Damon took the news of his death. Damon and Dennis seemed pretty close and in good terms, at least on the business side of things.
It was a shock for me to learn he died, and only in the Oscars did I actually hear this news. It's sad.
Check this previously unreleased Gorillaz interview. The interview was conducted while they were in France during the tour late last year. Check out the interview on Youtube below.
I love Damon's hat and that Jamie Hewlett is just a laid back, silly cool ape.
It's Friday night, and the Blur world has been quite quiet. Nothing much really happened this week in terms of music. A couple of disappointing award shows where we didn't win anything, and a nice little NME article with Graham and Damon in it.
So...now it's time for another BLURBLOGCAPTION CONTEST!
Thanks to my friend Tracy Jack Albarn for the picture. This is your challenge for this week. It's pretty easy to think of something creative, interesting or downright dumb for this picture... just looking at this shot makes me laugh out loud!
Finally, thanks to all that left a comment on the first ever BlurBlog Caption Contest (click to see). The picture was actually taken in Israel during a tour there a while ago.
The winner is TheJollyDummkopf who posted the caption "I'm Alex, the smug one from Blur!" with inspiration from No Distance Left to Run! Thank you so much for participating and I hope you keep reading and enjoying this blog. It's readers like you that keeps me going!
You get a Blur badge as a token of thanks.
I'm also going to add a page to this blog that features all the caption contests with the winning caption displayed, just so that there's more to this little blog and for everyone to have a little laugh.
Please leave a caption idea for this new picture and keep reading, commenting and Blurrin'
Really short post. Just a heads up on Blur on magazines again. This week's NME features an exclusive interview with Graham Coxon on Blur’s plans for the year, and some odd new ventures of his own...
And if anyone cares, the entire list is:
25) Brett Anderson
24) Matt Bellamy
23) Nick Cave
22) Joey Ramone
21) Ian Curtis
20) Karen O
19) Damon Albarn
18 Jack White
17) Lux Interior
16) Bobby Gillespie
15) Marc Bolan
14) Joe Strummer
13) Jarvis Cocker
12) Mark E Smith
11) Jim Morrison
10) Kurt Cobain
9) Shaun Ryder
8 Patti Smith
7) Liam Gallagher
6) Freddie Mercury
5) Morrissey
4) Debbie Harry
3) John Lydon
2) Jimi Hendrix
1) Iggy Pop
After stumbling on the Gorillaz Unofficial forum and reading some posts, I came across a thread that is about Phish frontman Trey Anastasio covers Clint Eastwood from Gorillaz in his concert.
Phish'ing
Not knowing anything about Phish, I did a little search and found out that:
a) They're an American Rock band that broke up and reunited in 2009, and
b) According to Urban Dictionary...
Phish can destroy your phavorite band on stage.
Phish comprised of phour incredibly talented muscicians
Phish sucks, you say? Phuck you!
Oh the joys of Urban Dictionary and it's little writers. Here's the Gorillaz cover that frontman/ lead vocalist Trey Anastasio did:
I like this cover - it's funny. The singer has a really high pitched voice, which is totally different from Damon's deep croon. The song sort of gets higher and higher... which is interesting. It feels like a James Blunt song, but I did enjoy it when the girl sang Del's part.
BLUR FIRST DEMO TAPE SEYMOUR SONGS SENT TO JB"S DUDLEY
THE NEXT TAPE IS ONE FROM A COLLECTION OF A LOCAL CLUB DJ......HE WORKED AT JB"S IN DUDLEY FOR MANY YEARS AND HE HAS THOUSANDS OF TAPES... THESE ARE ALL COMING MY WAY AND I WILL BE LISTING THEM OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS/MONTHS....., HE ACQUIRED MANY RARE DEMO"S, WHICH WERE SENT TO THE CLUB FOR MANY YEARS.... THE TAPES ARE ALL IN VERY GOOD CONDITION HAVING BEEN STORED AWAY FOR MANY YEARS... ,
THIS AUCTION CONSISTS OF ONE OF MY RARE DEMO TAPES ...... BLUR ....... 3 TRACKS , SHES SO HIGH, US, AND FOOL........ TWO OF THE TRACKS APPEAR IN EXACTLY THE SAME VERSIONS AS THE SEYMOUR [PRE BLUR] TAPE..... THE LAST TRACK "US" DOESNT SEEM TO APPEAR ON ANY OTHER RECORDING..... BUT I EMPHASISE, THAT THIS POSSIBLY UNIQUE DEMO TAPE SENT TO THE LEGENDARY JB"s CLUB IN DUDLEY, BY BLUR IN THEIR EARLIEST DAYS, CONTAINS THREE TRACKS IN VERSIONS NEVER RELEASED, THIS IS THE ORIGINAL TAPE AS SENT BY THE BAND, AND NO COPIES HAVE OR WILL BE MADE...... BEST OF LUCK......
I want this tape! It should be genuine as JBs used to go to the Blur studio regularly. Plus look at that NEW SONG "Us"! Apparently it's a never released song that is recorded during the making of Leisure. Oh god! Really pleased if the winner of the bid shares the song "Us"! Then we'll have a new Blur song released to the public!
Previously the new Blur song "Superman" was leaked online from a man who recorded an early gig where it was performed. Listen to Superman on my youtube channel here.
If you're new to Blur, you might not know that guitarist Graham Coxon has a TWITTER page. He often tweets interesting little things and his music ... and of course, his life and bits and pieces of random happenings.
Anyways, yesterday Graham Coxon has applauded U.K. officials on his twitter page, for deciding against selling off Britain's public-owned forests after a campaign spearheaded by Annie Lennox and Judi Dench.
The two women, along with model Lily Cole, Gillian Anderson, Richard E. Grant and designer Dame Vivienne Westwood signed a petition organized by conservationists at Save England's Forests, urging the government not to sell off valuable woodlands all over Britain.
The passing of a bill would have allowed officials to sell public forest estates for commercial interests.
But the proposal as officially rejected on Thursday (17 Feb 11) after Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman confessed the government had "got this one wrong" - and Coxon is happy that the consultation has been halted.
And so, in a post on his twitter page, he writes, "So the government aren't selling our forests... what a relief!!"
Glad to know, glad to know.
I enjoy reading Graham's twitter. In fact, this blog post features Graham's twitter. Graham's twitter IS THE SUBJECT OF THIS POST and I want to share it so more people can read his little tweets. He does reply to you if you write something that catches his eye. Really!
Here's a little bit of excerpts of funny tweets that my fellow Blur fans on cyberspace shared.
Sometimes his tweets gets quite poetic!
Spiders in the sink... thanks Graham
Hmmm, I covered the Graham Twit saga in my other post
Let me know - have you ever had an experience with twitter and celebrities "tweeting" ? I have gotten replies from Graham before, and it got all over the internet news ... (try to find it by doing a little Google search) and it was quite an experience. I still saved that article because I want to remember my little clash with a Blur boy. I am still glad to know Graham actually responds to some of the fans tweets and reads them in his busy musical life!
Have you ever gotten a reply from a celebrity on twitter / social networking site ?
Anyways here's a new thing for the Blog - every Friday afternoon I will post up a picture relating to Blur/Gorillaz and you guys got to make up a caption to go along with it. Think of the best, wittiest, funniest caption for the picture and submit it in the Comments section at the bottom of the post.
The winner will be selected based on originality and of course creativity. Feel free to leave votes and comments about the captions!
Thought I'd post my current favourite Blur picture.
Blur for thought... Anyone know who that 5th guy is? Any guesses where this picture was taken ? What are all the boys looking at ? Why is Alex shirtless?
Graham Coxon has explained that Blur are currently jamming in the studio regularly and is very likely to record new material in the year 2011. Earlier this month the guitarist revealed that Blur were reconvening and could "switch a tape recorder on, and even tweeted about Blur meet-ups with the boys.
Now he has told NME Magazine about the recording process. Graham explained that the meet-up was one of many the band regularly undertake (a bonding thing!) and was not really for any specific new release.
"Every now and then we like to meet up and record a few things," he said. "We just do stuff when we feel like it."
Graham - bringer of good news
He added that the band will "definitely" continue to meet up and play music together in this way, but fans shouldn't hold out for new music being released anytime soon.
Also, as usual, Graham cracked a line to tease us fans.
"I suppose it might turn into an LP in six years or something," he said. "Meeting up every now and then… maybe turning the tape recorder on and jamming around a few ideas."
Coxon said that even though Blur hasn't planned any releases yet, he had two solo albums to be released in mind. He also mentioned that these are probably going to be the last 2 solo albums released and that they're more "youth" sounding.
One of the album is also called "A&E"... I wonder what that stands for ?
Graham met up with the Boys for sugary tea, coffee and TV )
He's also releasing 'Desire', a collaboration song with Paloma Faith and The Coral's ex-guitarist Bill Ryder-Jones, for the promotional music campaign for shoe company Converse in April 2011.
Exciting times! I am positive we will hear something from Blur in 2011. Perhaps a surprise single or even a complete album will spring up, but one thing's for sure: Blur are back, older, wiser, better and with much more surprises in line.
Just browsing the Blur Forums and daysleeper posts this:
Right I have read the article. Graham says
- They are definitely going to keep meeting up to record.
- It is only when they feel like it though and there will not be any new music from Blur this year
- Not sure whether any of it will see light of day
- Says we might see an Lp in six years or something
- They have recorded since Fools day
- He says he has written 2 solo albums.
- HE RECKONS THEY MAY BE HIS LAST TWO THOUGH!! (He fancies just listening to music for a while, although he will carry on recording for a while)
- Doesn't know how many songs he has in him anymore and says "I'm not this regurgitator of songs, like Damon is."
Hm, if the article's from NME magazine, it should be pretty accurate. But I mean, we will see an LP in 6 years? And Graham has already written enough songs for 2 solo albums? Talk about the wait!
Nevertheless, if he does scan it (like he says he was too tired to do) then we may begin to see it online
and in the news forums. Read the article by clicking on the picture below.
Thanks beatfloh for the scan.
What do you all think? Do you want to wait that long ? Write your thoughts in the comments section.
***
Also the Brit Awards 2011 yesterday saw Take That take the title for "Best British Group". Gorillaz didn't win.
Take That robbed Gorillaz ... grrr
Stay tuned on more updates and gossip from the Blur forums!
First heard from mrbeats from the Blur Forums, Gorillaz's "Stylo" from Plastic Beach was nominated for an MTV-U Woodie Award 2011 for Best Video.
According to wikipedia:
"It was announced that Gorillaz would be performing on March 11, 2011 at the MTV Woodie awards. They have also been nominated for the Best Video Woodie for "Stylo" at the MTV woodie awards."
After doing a quick search, here's what I found out about the Woodie Award.
mtvU is a division of MTV Networks which produces a 24-hour television channel that is available on more than 750 college and university campuses across the United States. mtv U provides a more targeted alternative to MTV, and gives advertisers and music promotion companies access to college-age viewers, access that universities offer in an attempt to attract students to on-campus housing.
Basically it's MTV for University students, hence the "U". So what's the Woodie Awards?
mtvU has its own annual awards show, the Woodie Awards, which they say recognizes "the music voted best by college students." Previous winners have included Death Cab for Cutie, Motion City Soundtrack, 30 Seconds to Mars, Plain White T's, The Subways and Gnarls Barkley.
“Opposite Of Adults” Nominated For 2011 mtvU Woodie Awards
The Gorillaz "Stylo" is nominated for Best Video Woodie. The website features an epic picture of Damon performing at one of the gigs this year.
I hope Gorillaz wins Best Video this year. As I said before, it's awards season now and Gorillaz haven't won anything yet, even with all the nominations for NME, Grammys, Brits and Woodies....
So, keep checking Blurballs for the latest update on awards!
Hey all, it's the awards season! In my last post, we saw that Gorillaz and Blur didn't win anything at the Grammy Awards this year. So this morning, I was reminded by my dear friends on facebook that The Brit Awards are coming up!
The Brit Awards 2011 will take place at the O2 Arena in London on 15th February. This year Gorillaz were nominated for best British Group.
Best British Group:
Biffy Clyro Gorillaz Mumford & Sons Take That The xx
This is exciting! According to an online friend from the official website, Gorillaz is one of the favourites of this category this year. Predictions have also mentioned that Gorillaz might win!
Gorillaz at the 2006 Brit Awards
Graham knocking it back after Blur win 4 awards at the 1995 Brit Awards
Blur's "No Distance Left to Run" was nominated for the same category but lost out to The Door's film "When You're Strange".
As much as I love The Doors, it's a pity indeed that they robbed Blur of its nomination.
60s Rock Band The Doors
I've included links in the post to the winners' work. Feel free to leave a comment on what you think of the pieces. Personally I really think Jeff Beck's instrumental is nothing compared to Gorillaz's. It does not have flair, and sounds like an orchestral piece rather than a "pop" performance.
Gorillaz screams "Pop" in their sound, artwork and just everything!
I'm watching the Grammy Awards Clive Davis Party live online. Still a day before the real awards. Both Blur and Gorillaz were nominated this year, and it's the FIRST TIME Blur's ever received a Grammy Award. Ironic isn't it, how it's been years since they made any album and it's still the first time ever that they got nominated.
Blur's documentary No Distance Left To Run was nominated for Best Long Form Music Video.
Best Long Form Music Video
1. NO DISTANCE LEFT TO RUN - Blur
2. WHEN YOU'RE STRANGE - The Doors
3. THE GREATEST EARS IN TOWN: THE ARIF MARDIN STORY - Arif Mardin
4. RUSH: BEYOND THE LIGHTED STAGE - Rush
5. UNDER GREAT WHITE NORTHERN LIGHTS - The White Stripes
Gorillaz's were nominated for 2 awards:
Best Pop Instrumental Performance
"Flow" -- Laurie Anderson
"Nessun Dorma" -- Jeff Beck
"No Mystery" -- Stanley Clarke
"Orchestral Intro" -- Gorillaz
"Sleepwalk" -- The Brian Setzer Orchestra
Best Short Form Music Video
Johnny Cash – "Ain't No Grave / The Johnny Cash Project"
Eminem and Rihanna – "Love the Way You Lie"
Gorillaz, Mos Def and Bobby Womack– "Stylo"
Cee Lo Green – "Fuck You!"
Lady Gaga – "Bad Romance"
Bruce Willis in Stylo
Lets see if Gorillaz or Blur notches up an award! Keep checking this site for updates!
Dear readers, I'm extremely tired after a long Saturday in college. Had class from 10:00am in the morning till 6:00pm at night. Fun eh?
Just before I head off to bed, I thought I'd fulfill my promise of reviewing some more of Gorillaz's The Fall ("...the first ipad album in the world!"). To read Part 1 of the review, click here.
4 - Detriot
I feel more awake after listening to this tune. It's fresh, clear and catchy, although very raw. Sorta techno, steady beat and rhythm all through out. It's more like an experiment in the beats and pop of the 80s... those disco hits. Highlights are the tune in the middle - love it. Short but sweet.
***
I'm thinking an empty disco. Perhaps it's the hours before a big party at the club, and the DJ's testing out his new tune. He's head-bobbing and wearing dark sunglasses. Disco's empty, yet the lights and everything are fully blasted. Air-conditioning makes the room chilled, ice cold.
Ice-cold room, empty only with the sound of Detriot
5 - Shy-Town
Damon is high pitch here. Very. The keyboards play a huge part in the song, with long notes played on and on. Shy-town has a strange atmosphere to it, sort of ghostly and reserved. There are also alien-radar sounds at the beginning of the song. Damon speaks in his monotone - Friday, Chicago and then starts singing. We hear waves and sounds of water. A beautiful song indeed, and one that could've made it to Plastic Beach with a little more refining.
***
Underwater. Submarines. Damon and Paul Simonon in their pirate hats and striped outfits, sailing to sea in a tiny wooden boat.
5 - Little Pink Plastic Bags
The tune's funky. Dark. Damon utters - "Little Pink Plastic Bags...blowing on a highway...they don't know where they'll go...they'll just float there" and then his voice goes off into echos. Long periods of whirling follows, sounds like some kind of fan or machine's backdrop. I think this song's the most unique song on The Fall. The tune's really wacky and it grows on you as you listen.
It's another lonely Friday night and I'm in my college dorm. Piles of assignments glare at me from the tops of my shelves. Since I'm in full procrastination mode, and I only have Gorillaz to keep me company, I'm going to present to you my track by track review of Gorillaz's "ipad album" The Fall (Released December 2010). I'll start off by introducing the album and then reviewing the first couple of tunes.
Messy desk, overdue coursework, college dorm
From Montreal to Vancouver via Seattle, Texas and Toronto, over 32 days on their North American Tour this autumn, Gorillaz recorded a musical diary. Recorded on tour, on an iPad, this low-key album (click here to listen to stream for free on the band's website) is the sound of Damon Albarn blowing trees and tweaking apps on his ipad as the American mountains rolls by his tour bus window.
The result is a collection of 15 tracks, some with vocals, some without, some combined performances and some solo.
The music was recorded during spare time while on the road. "I did it because there's a lot of time that you just spend staring at walls essentially. And it was a fantastic way of doing it" says Damon Albarn. "I found working in the day, whether it's in the hotel or in the venue, it was a brilliant way of keeping myself well." Adding that the collection is "..like a diary, I literally wrote everything on the day in each place and there's a strange sort of sound of America and its musical traditions that comes through. It feels like a journey through America."
A physical release is planned for later in 2011. The full track listing is:
Phoner To Arizona
Revolving Doors
HillBilly Man
Detroit
Shy-town
Little Pink Plastic Bags
The Joplin Spider
The Parish of Space Dust
The Snake In Dallas
Amarillo
The Speak It Mountains
Aspen Forest
Bobby In Phoenix
California And The Slipping Of The Sun
Seattle Yodel
Lets go through what you get with this album, shall we? I will review the first 3 tracks.
Oh, and I've included pictures of how I picture the song when I listen to it. Maybe it'll help you visualize and set the mood...
1 - Phoner to Arizona
Slightly techno. Reminds me of Stylo, especially the 80s bass beat that runs all the way through the song. No vocals, quite repetitive. It seems like a perfect B-side to any Plastic Beach song, it's pretty much Damon's style. Fades away at the end. Nothing special or spectacular, just a plain old tune that could have been polished.
***
When I listen to Phoner to Arizona, I'm imagining a night out. It's late and everyone's leaving the party, bar, club. You're walking home alone in the cold dark street. Yellow lights from the lamp-post streams down and casts a shadow.
Feel the mood...
2 - Revolving Doors
One of my favourite tracks on The Fall. Damon sings in his drowning croon and repeats "Revolving Doors" over and over again. The song describes him sitting in an American diner and watching the "foggy days" outside his window. He reflects on his life and just sings. The tune is a repeating little tune, quite catchy. Reminds me of Damon's Opera (Monkey Journey to the West) and also the song Hong Kong on Gorillaz's b-sides album D-Sides.
***
I'm just thinking revolving doors, revolving around and around. Spinning. It's a blur of people in and out. Beatles music on cue.
3- Hillbilly Man
The song begins with Damon singing about free lanes with a gentle guitar sound in the background. He's talking about driving away and the song's really mellow. Then halfway around 1:25, beats come in. The whole song changes mood. I'm not sure whether it's on purpose or not, but Damon's voice seems to be getting raspier. Rasp is then followed by the chorus, which chants Hillibilly repeatedly. Don't really like the rasp. Didn't Damon quit smoking?
***
I didn't know what "Hillibilly" was so I did a Google search. Can't stop laughing at the results:
Hillibilly - "Unsophisticated person" - Google Dictionary
That's the end of tonight's The Fall review. I'll continue on next time, please subscribe to the blog or bookmark it! You can always follow the RSS Feed on the sidebar on the right.
What do you think of The Fall and the songs above? Disagree ?
