March 26, 2012

Damon Albarn says Under the Westway may be last Blur song

BLUR NEWS: Damon Albarn had an interview with The Quietus two days ago and a chat about Blur's future plans - or shall we say, Blur's non-existent plansDamon Albarn has exclaimed that Blur's current reunion for the London 2012 Olympics gig in Hyde Park does not mean "a rejuvenated, long-term return for the band".

As quoted from the articleAlbarn told Stephen Dalton that the new track, first aired when he played live with Graham Coxon in February, is a song about that perennial West London inspiration, the Westway route. 


Funnily enough I’ve done a new tune for Blur, I don’t know if it will ever see the light of day but it’s really traditional… it’s something I’ve had knocking about for years and didn’t know what to do with it," he said.


Damon through the years 
"Initially I wrote it as a slightly wistful national anthem for my house, I had this idea of getting it made into an old 78 record and making a flag and then just playing it - just being really silly. But I had these chords and I ended up writing this tune around it…"
Albarn went on to say that although the band are back together for this summer's live appearances, "I don’t really do anything with Blur any more - there’s this concert this year but its not a full time thing at all. Maybe this tunes a last little coda to the whole story.”
Blur holding The Great Escape records
The Quietus had previously reviewed Mr Albarn's Dr Dee musical up in Manchester, and had found it rather lacking, something Albarn has taken squarely on the chin. “Oh it certainly lacked narrative! No shit Sherlock! Ha ha! But I mean, you know, what do you do… ? I’m quite comfortable with presenting a work in progress and I know we made some stinkers as decisions, but you can’t really move forwards unless you make those mistakes. Hopefully it will be a more rounded and satisfactory piece, narrative wise, this time around. I sincerely hope so, otherwise I’ll be very disappointed."
Damon has been quite contradictory about Blur in recent years. Before their 2009 reunion, he has said that Blur are definitely over, but then the reunion happened and Damon and the boys have all said different things. Graham and Alex says maybe, Dave says maybe not.


Damon's new supergroup Rocket Juice and the Moon released their album today. Listen HERE.   
Guess we will have to wait and see what's next. 
Read all about Blur being BASHED AT THE BRITS HERE
10 Cool Damon Albarn facts HERE, Blur talking about their future HERE
 New tear jerker song HERE and check out their newest track HERE 

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February 29, 2012

Blur working with Parklife producer on new release of albums for 2012


ALBUM NEWS: Blur are set to release their complete back catalogue with the Blur albums being remastered by Stephen Street. Street is the producer which has worked with Blur on 5 albums including their biggest hit Parklife in 1995. 

This means only one thing: Blur's full works are going to be available for fans soon, in a complete box set of works with possibly new rare songs, b-sides and extra goodies for completists.  

Could it be like the Special Collector's Edition with extra tracks / unreleased goods , or just another remaster with a new track like Best Of's "Music is my Radar" ?  

"I love Blur, I think they're some of the most talented people I've ever worked with" said Stephen Street in a recent interview with Louder than War"I'm currently remastering their entire back catalogue ... It's just great to listen to the tapes and think that now they sound so much better. They sound fuller, and wider, and I'm really pleased to be focusing on it. I'm really chuffed as a producer how it's sounding."

There is no word on when exactly these albums would be out - perhaps some time in the end of 2012 would be appropriate, after Blur has done their huge Olympics gig in Hyde Park in August. 

Next year marks the 20th anniversary of Modern Life is Rubbish. 

Perhaps Street will put something new into the remasters for the 20th anniversary 

However, according to Street (excerpt from The Guardian), a full-length album doesn't seem very likely.

"I got the impression that they don't want the pressure of having to make a new [LP]," he said. But the group do seem to be prepping a single: Under theWestway, which premiered live at last week's War Child benefit. 

"I would love to be asked to produce [Blur] again," Street exclaimed, "but ... they haven't asked me to do the Under the Westway track. William Orbit is involved apparently, but I don't know."

Overall - this release of remastered albums could mean two things - either Blur aren't going to be producing anything more and are using this release as a final goodbye present for fans, or that they are using the recent new developments to generate hype for a possible new album. We can only hope it's the latter! 

Read all about Blur being BASHED AT THE BRITS HERE
Olympics Gig HERE
New potential album HERE 
and check out their newest song HERE and read our REVIEW HERE.

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Remember to subscribe to RSS and "LIKE" BlurBalls on Facebook.

Also email subscribe to receive the latest news on everything Blur, Gorillaz, Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon! 

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