Graham Coxon new gigs UPDATE (Summer Sundae + Truck Festival) 2011

Previously I reported that Graham Coxon is going to play Summer Sundae Festival and Truck Festival this year (click on the text to link) and now I've got EXCITING UPDATES for all of you fans reading right now! The lineup and more details have been released by NME yesterday. 

#1 : Summer Sundae Festival

The Maccabees, Graham Coxon and The Bees all among the first acts confirmed forLeicester's Summer Sundae Festival this year.The festival, which takes place in Leicester's Victoria Park on August 12–14, will also see sets from Little Comets, Newton Faulkner and Bellowhead.

Summer Sundae Festival was headlined by Seasick Steve, Tinchy Stryder andMumford and Sons in 2010. See Summersundae.com for more information.

The line-up for the Summer Sundae Festival so far is:

The Maccabees
Graham Coxon
Newton Faulkner
The Bees
Bellowhead
The Cuban Brothers
Wilko Johnson
John Cooper Clarke
Little Comets
CW Stoneking
Liam Bailey
Benjamin Francis Leftwich
Mama Rosin
Raghu Dixit
Skinny Lister
The Black Atlantic
Dizraeli And The Small Gods
Various Cruelties

The Maccabees

#2 : Truck Festival

I covered this in my previous post HERE, but once again, Graham Coxon and Radiohead's Phil Selway are among the latest additions to this year's Truck Festival line-up.

Set to take place July 22-24 at Hill Farm, Steventon, the weekend should be somewhat of a homecoming for Oxfordshire-based musician Selway, who'll play a solo show there.

This year Truck are teaming up with record labels Transgressive, Bella Union andHeavenly to curate the second stage.

Coxon will headline the stage on the Friday, under the Transgressive banner, withSelway appearing on the Sunday, when Bella Union are in charge.

Other new acts on the bill include The Go! Team, Edwyn Collins, Dry the River andGaggle.

See Thisistruck.com for more information.

To check the availability of Truck Festival tickets and get all the latest listings, go toNME.COM/TICKETS now, or call 0871 230 1094.

The line up for Truck 2011 is:

Graham Coxon
The Go! Team
Philip Selway
Edwyn Collins
Truck Festival All-Stars
Tunng
Dean Wareham (plays Galaxie 500)
Roddy Woomble
Justin Townes Earle
Admiral Fallow
Dry The River
Pete Molinari
Alessi's Ark
Sea of Bees
Justin Robertson
Richard Norris (Beyond the Wizard's Sleeve)
Mechanical Bride
Gaggle
The Rockingbirds
Trevor Moss & Hannah-Lou
James Walbourne
Lanterns on the Lake
Cashier No9
Two Fingers of Firewater
Gruff Rhys
Bellowhead
Saint Etienne
Johnny Flynn
John Grant
The Duke & The King
Cherry Ghost
Fixers
Trophy Wife
Jonquil
Chad Valley
Caitlin Rose
Marques Toliver
Treefight For Sunlight
Marcus Foster
Jonny
Richmond Fontaine
Dreaming Spires

Graham Coxon last year 

Graham Coxon will also play at Camden Crawl this sunday according to the Blur forums. Plus his album will hopefully get released by the summer! 

Graham Coxon to play Glastonbury 2011

According to THIS LINK, Graham Coxon will be playing at Glastonbury this year! He will share the Park Stage with ...

The Park Stage

Wild Beasts
James Blake
Special Guests
Tame Impala
The Walkmen
Graham Coxon
Those Dancing Days
About Group
Baelearic Folk Orchestra
Ellen & The Escapades


Awesome news for us fans. Perhaps he'll play something from his new album ?  

Graham looking suave at last year's Blur mega glastonbury gig

Graham Coxon - DESIRE with lyrics

Remember when I promised I will upload Graham Coxon's new song "Desire" featuring Paloma Faith and Bill Ryder-Jones if I get permission from Converse? Well, I did get permission from their lovely Internet Team and I uploaded a lyrics video for the awesome new song.

Check it out HERE or watch below.



For those of you who don't know, I have a youtube channel that uploads everything Blur, Gorillaz, Damon and Graham....with bits and pieces of Alex and Dave. I'm making sure my account does not get suspended or removed, because there will be much less Blur in the cyber-sphere if I do get deleted.

So I'm chuffed I get to share with all of you and the world this amazing song DESIRE.

Do subscribe, rate and comment please! Keep me going!

Graham Coxon NEW SONG - "Desire" with Paloma Faith

Put Paloma Faith, Graham Coxon and Bill Ryder-Jones together in a studio and what do you get? Desire.

This track was created by this trio as the next in line of exclusive music collaborations for Converse Shoes's advertising campaign. Graham collaborated with different musicians to promote their campaign and music. 

Listen HERE

The video will be out soon, and I think it's going to be pretty amazing. Beautiful pictures though... I love the last shot of Graham behind his guitar. 

Love Graham 's guitar work in the song, and it really brings out the energy in Paloma Faith's voice. Graham is simply the most awesome guitarist ever. Paloma Faith actually collaborated with Blur in "Kissing' Time" and some old Blur b-sides. Does anyone know whether it's uploaded or not? On youtube?


I am actually trying to upload the song to my youtube channel UKTAHHH but I already have 2 strikes. One more and I'm out of youtube yet again (for those of you who know me, I had an account called "Uktah" that had all the videos I have now, but uploaded a year earlier, the account was deleted due to copyright issues). I emailed Converse about this, and if all goes well, I will have permission to upload it and share to you guys. For now, just listen on the website and enjoy the awesome interface. 

What do you think of the new song? 


EDIT***


I uploaded it on youtube with permission. Here it is:

Graham Coxon at Truck Festival 2011

A little about the festival...


Truck Festival is an annual independent music festival in Oxfordshire, England. It was started in 1998 by the Bennett family (including the brothers Robin and Joe of the band Goldrush), who decided that mainstream festivals such as Glastonbury had become too commercial and predictable. It is held in July at Hill Farm in Steventon, near Abingdon. The festival also gave birth to the Truck Records label in 1999.


Truck has grown somewhat since its inception, but with an annual attendance of around 5,000 it is dwarfed by the likes of Glastonbury (around 150,000 people) and Reading/Leeds. 

The festival prides itself on its family atmosphere, with all of the site services being provided by local groups: the food stall is run by the local Rotary Club, and ice cream is sold by the local vicar. All profits from the festival go to charity.

A compilation album is released each year on Truck Records to coincide with the festival, featuring tracks (mainly studio recordings) from various bands playing at the festival.

This means Graham Coxon will be featured in yet another album in 2011, besides his own solo one, which will probably be out some time this year. I can't wait to see clips of him in Truck Festival! 

Any opinions/ thoughts? 

BlurBalls Caption Contest 4

TUESDAY NIGHT, people, time for another weekly BLURBLOG CAPTION CONTEST! Apologies for the erratic times, tough times call for a bit more flexibility on the postings. I've been up to drawing more pictures of Blur, going to the gym a few times per week, and generally doing what I do best - procrastinate. This week I present to you:

Come on guys! This one is A PIECE OF CAKE (or should I say bananas) ! Damon, Graham, two bananas, matching outfits, black shirts, damon's expression. You got a caption/ comment? Leave it below. 

The awesome winner for Blurball Caption Contest 3 is my amazing reader Rose  who didn't technically submit a caption, but committed Blur blasphemy by uttering Franz Ferdinand in a Blur website (gasp, horror!) with her comment mentioning how the line "Do you want to ? " was stuck in her head.

Really appreciate the long flowing comments, Rose. Keep posting. You get this awesome GIF as a prezzie. 

Thanks Rose. You can keep Damon! 

And for all you who are new or just stumbled upon this cozy little Blur blog across cyberspace, please leave a comment below!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO GRAHAM COXON

Happy birthday Graham Coxon, guitarist, twitterer and legend. Hope you have a great 42nd birthday and have some eccles cake! 

Warning: This post contains material

unsuitable for children under 18!

-DISCLAIMER-

You must be over 18 to view this post.

    When entering, you acknowledge that you are 18 or over. And you also acknowledge that BlurBalls cannot be held liable if your children read the next section of today's post.

    That means you parents are responsible for your kids' internet activities, NOT us! Don't blame us if you are (an) irresponsible parent(s)! I am a parent myself, so therefore, I know better to monitor my child's internet surfing! SO... it is no excuse for you to accuse me of running such a site!

What's up with all the dog memes? Then again, I always thought Graham looked a bit like a lost puppy with big brown eyes and floppy hair. Woof! 

Graham Coxon to play for Summer Sundae Festival

The first acts have been announced for this year’s Summer Sundae Weekender. 


The Maccabees, Graham Coxon and Newton Faulkner are among the first few artists to be confirmed for the August event. Summer Sundae Weekend 2011 will take place at De Montfort Hall and Gardens in Leicester on 11th – 14th August. 

Other acts announced for the festival include The Bees, The Cuban Brothers, Wilko Johnson and John Cooper Clarke. 

Following the success of their 2009 Top 20 album ‘Wall of Arms’, London rockers The Maccabees should prove to be a popular headliner at this year’s festival. 


With a third album expected soon, their set will almost certainly feature some new material. After his brief return to Blur, Graham Coxon is reviving his solo project for this year’s Summer Sundae. 

Graham Coxon to return playing live!

Summer Sundae Weekender has taken place every year since 2001 and last year celebrated its 10th anniversary with performances from Mumford and Sons, Tinchy Stryder and Seasick Steve. 


The festival has grown to feature over 100 acts across six stages, attracting more than 6000 people. 


Go to Summersundae.com for more information! The line-up confirmed so far is:

The Maccabees

Graham Coxon 

Newton Faulkner

The Bees

Bellowhead

The Cuban Brothers

Wilko Johnson

John Cooper Clarke

Little Comets

CW Stoneking

Liam Bailey

Benjamin Francis Leftwich

Mama Rosin

Raghu Dixit

Skinny Lister

The Black Atlantic

Dizraeli And The Small Gods

Various Cruelties 

Hmm, wonder if Graham will play some new tracks off his new album? Are you guys going to go ? Leave a comment below! 

Spur of the moment drawing

I had this little burst of creativity and decided to draw the Blur boys using an online paint software....

Thinking this can be my new logo or something. Do they even look like who they're supposed to be? Can you guys guess who is who ? 

And FIY, the Blur demo tape that's being sold on eBay has closed and reached a crazy price of GBP 217.12! Hope that new song "Us" gets shared soon, I'll post it up if it comes out! 

A new Blur album "in progress" ?

Hooligan from the Blur Forums sends news that:

"I was out drinking with a friend who was accompanied by someone who was intimately involved in the making of NDLTR. We were talking about Fool's Day & its relative merits & he let slip that 'it doesn't sound like anything on the new album.' Obviously we pounced on him for more info to which he furiously back-pedalled but the cat was out the bag. So there is a new album on the way, people. Rejoice."


The other forumers and myself included reacted accordingly.

As damon4president puts it, now all we need is for Alex to say something along the lines of, oh, I dunno, 'it was like putting the A Team back together for one last job. We had to bust Rowntree out of law school' for me to consider it confirmed...


Plus, the Summersonic lineup of 2011 features a special secret guest. Could it be Blur ? Would Blur play a few songs at this year's music festival?

Exciting times! I'm impatient and thirsty for more solid news. How about you ? 

Blur Caption Contest 2

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 BLURBLOG CAPTION 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'

Blur on NME this week (Feb 21)

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


Buy NME!  

Blur demo tape on eBay - who's got cash?

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.

Bid here! 

(Thanks caitlin from the forums)

  

Graham Coxon tweets about British trees and more...

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 ?

Blur are back in the studio and recording new material - Feb 2011

Exciting news for you all.

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.

Who knows what will happen? 

Read the full article on NME and check out my early coverage of this speculation-turned-truth. 

What's your reaction to this piece of news? Mine's:

On the Blur reunion - rumours? Gorillaz lose Brits

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!

Damon Albarn to sing with Snoop Dogg

Snoop Dogg's official site confirms that Gorillaz will feature on his new album "Doggumentary", due to be released on March 29th. The album art was unveiled a few days ago to fans. 

Guests on the album include Kanye, E-40, Gorillaz, R.Kelly, Wiz Khalifa, Jeezy, T-Pain and more. Below is the tracklist for Doggumentary.

01. Toys In The Hood (feat. Bootsy Collins) /Produced by Jake One

02. My Own Way /Produced by Denaun Porter

03. Eyes Closed (feat. Kanye West & John Legend) /Produced by Kanye West

04. Something Like This (feat. Gorillaz) /Produced by Gorillaz

05. Take You Home (feat. Too Short, Kokane & Daz Dillinger) /Produced by Meech Wells

06. El Jay (feat. Marty James) /Produced by Scoop Deville

07. Cold Game (feat. LaToya Williams) /Produced by Rick Rude

08. Don't It Feel Good (feat. Ne-Yo) /Produced by David Banner

09. Dirty Dancer (feat. Trey Songz) /Produced by Trylogy

10. Superman (feat. Willie Nelson) /Produced by Willie Nelson's Band

11. Raised In The Hood /Produced by Warren Campbell

12. Choose /Produced by Black Mob

13. This Weed Is Mine (feat. Wiz Khalifa) /Produced by Scoop Deville

14. Gangbang Rookie (feat. Pilot) /Produced by J-Kwon

15. New Year's Eve (feat. Marty James) /Produced by Scoop Deville

16. Wet /Produced by The Cataracs

Click here to check out Snoop Dogg's official website with the good news.

I'm glad - this means we will get to hear Damon sing again. One more of his fantastic collaborations with different bands can be added to our Blur collection!

Seeing as Snoop Dogg sang in Plastic Beach (Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach, watch below), I wonder if Damon will even tour with him in 2011 ?




Guys, 2011 seems very promising so far. Damon's back on track, Gorillaz is not splitting up (yet), Graham, Dave and Alex seems optimistic and open about Blur doing some more tracks and jamming together and don't forget Damon's new opera and Graham's film soundtrack!

Oh, and don't forget, Alex James is hosting a music festival and Dave's running for politics again.

Now if only Jamie and Damon can just get along.... then we might even get to hear those Gorillaz B-sides that they never released.

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