Dave Rowntree's 47th birthday

Happy 47th Birthday to Mr. Dave Rowntree of Blur, The Ailerons, Gorillaz (contributor - drums) and politician fame. 

 Here's a funny Q&A I found online from here:

• When is Dave Rowntree's birthday?
• Dave Rowntree's birthday is April 8th, 1964.
• What is Dave Rowntree's horoscope/astrology sign?
• Dave Rowntree's astrology/horoscope sign is Aries.
• How old is Dave Rowntree?
• Dave Rowntree is 47 years old.*
• Dave Rowntree's Biography
• Dave Rowntree was born on April 8th, 1963. 
• (*if alive today)

What's with the last line ? Ha ha ha. [EDIT: 47, he's 47, not 48 years young. I must be posting one year in advance!]

Graham Coxon quashes Blur rumours - NO NEW SONGS

From this month's Q Magazine (May 2011 - credits to 2J from the forums):

Despite saying in February that they have been meeting up to "record a few things", Graham Coxon has told Q Magazine that Blur are not working on new songs. 

"There's no plans for anything at the moment. It's more like a coffee morning where we might get an instrument or two out. But as for formal recording, that hasn't really been happening." he says. "I think if we really wanted to get intense and start writing songs it would have to be something a little bit more committed. Maybe we all have our little percentages of doubt when it comes to Blur." 

Coxon himself, though has been no slouch as regards to recording, collaborating with Paloma Faith and ex- Coral guitarist Bill Ryder-Jones on the recent single Desire (commissioned by the Converse shoe company) and completing two solo albums. One - tentatively titled Accident & Emergency - is "like Van Der Graaf Generator meets Faust meets Syd Barrett" while the other is "more like mid-80s indie groups". 

Click to enlarge

So - this is not new news for the Blur fans... how many numerous times have Damon or Graham spoken to reporters and quashed the tiny glimmer of New-Blur-Material hope that we have been nurturing ? Before, Damon said there would never be Blur again, and that Blur would never reunite. Look what happened in Glastonbury 2009 (in case you don't know, Blur did end up reuniting and playing a one-off massive gig). How many times have we heard Alex James mention busting Dave Rowntree out of law school just so that Blur will get together again ? The answer: countless times.

Personally, I think that the boys just might have grown up a little from their Brit-pop glory days, and have now mellowed and settled into... Midlife (no pun intended), family life and really making music or doing things that they personally like. 

They could start up a new Blur album when all their own projects are done, like Damon with his new opera, and Graham with his solo albums. Speaking of Graham's solo albums, the new one's called Accident & Emergency, and it's probably going to be released sometime this year. I am looking forward to that very much, and hopefully it will spawn a few hit singles or two. 

Graham Coxon's Desire single is out NOW - check out the video I uploaded here and don't forget to subscribe to my youtube Blur channel. 

Don't forget to subscribe, via RSS or email, to this site to receive the latest, most up to date and exciting Blur, Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon and Gorillaz news! 

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

New Damon Albarn Demo with Kid Koala

Damon Albarn is not the kind of guy who can sit still and leave a couple of years (or more) in between albums. 


He’s just finished with Gorillaz, more rumors of further Blur dates keep surfacing, and now it appears he’s been working on new material with Dan the Automator and Kid Koala. 


The latter just appeared on Tim Sweeney’s Beats in Space radio show, where he dropped this as-yet untitled demo, which is a choppy, trip hop-style collaboration between the trio. 


Albarn’s plaintive vocals help increase the already-downcast nature of the track, which is wrapped around a neat stuttering framework. Is this a long-term project for these three artists? We don’t know yet, but this demo certainly sounds promising. 


Listen HERE.


It sounds quite unfinished to me! Apparently it's just a modified version of a song released 4 years ago...






Hmm, why wasn't this released ever ? I think this is the only Gorillaz song I don't own yet!
What do you think ?

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? 

Some news and updates

1) Beady Eye covers Blur for Record Store Day  

Beady Eye have recorded a version of Blur's 'Country House' – the song that once charted ahead of Gallagher's old band Oasis in their infamous 1995 chart battle. 

That year Oasis' 'Roll With It' went in at Number Two behind 'Country House' amidst a war of words between the two bands.

3,000 copies of the new single have been pressed. Half will be available in record stores in Gallagher's hometown of Manchester and the other half in stores in New Cross, London, where Blur formed.

Gallagher said: "The chart battle was only a bit of a fucking laugh and secretly 'Country House' was always my favourite Blur song. Especially the bit in the video when Alex James rides the pig."

Scroll down and click below to watch the video in question.

The Beady Eye mouthpiece added: "I'm saying all this bad blood between us should be put in the past and everyone should come together to help out Record Store Day for the good of music."

The limited-edition singles, already being tipped as the collectors' items of 2011 by music auction experts, will cost £50 each. Proceeds will be split between Beady Eye and Albarn.

2) Rants, moans and actual blogging

So it's time for some actual blogging on Blurballs, since it's called a Blur "blog" - it can't just feature static news about Blur all the time!

I've been hit with a turn in life - I get a chance to spend 2 years in Europe if I study, study hard and get a gpa of around 3.3 and above. That's tough - especially in law school, but I aim to meet that offer and surprise everyone. So that's my explanation for not blogging so much these few weeks, and the next few too, until final exams. 

I want YOU guys to tell me what you have been up to, Blurring or not, these few weeks. Discovered anything? 

Inside Dave Rowntree's head - his blog

Dave's got a blog! Check it out by clicking HERE (and bookmarking it of course...)
He writes about interesting things, and yesterday's post included some information on his Blur days, with the incident where he bullies an interviewer explained.


But first, watch this:


I quote from his entry on the 31st March 2011:

There has been some speculation as to why I accepted a recent blog comment linking to a clip of me bullying the Canadian journalist Nardwuar in 2003.

The reason is, that I can’t take the credit for the things I’ve done that I’m proud of, without taking the blame for the things that I’m ashamed of.

And this is definitely one of the things I’m ashamed of.

There’s no excuse for my bullying, and the reason I did it is perhaps nearly as sordid.

As I’ve written in the past I became addicted to cocaine during the nineties. Now I’ve no idea if it has this effect on anyone else, but for me, the day after a cocaine binge I’d sometimes fly into a murderous rage, and take it out on whoever happened to be around. In this case, it happened to be the journalist.

To be clear, Nardwuar didn’t do anything to provoke me. I sent an apology to him the next day, but I didn’t hear anything back from him, so I assume he didn’t accept it.

These days I keep a clip of the interview on my phone. I don’t drink, smoke or take drugs, and if from time to time I wonder if I’m doing the right thing treading this (sometimes rather lonely) path I play it, and have the answer.

I really admire the guy. He's come a long way, from being a drummer to a politician, lawyer and evolving from the guy behind the scenes in Blur, to a guy worth respecting and admiring for his unique hobbies, talents and speech. 

He's also started writing for The Guardian, check it out by clicking HERE. Interesting, but following Alex Jame's footsteps perhaps? 

What do you think of Dave now and Dave then ?