A new Damon Albarn clip where he and his daughter, Missy Albarn, watches Dynamo the magician perform a coin and hand trick. Damon invited the magician back to his London studio after meeting him at a New York Gorillaz concert during one of his tours.
Obviously, Damon was impressed and stunned by this performance. We are too - the hand trick was just amazing!
Damon Albarn says Blur will continue after 2012- HERE
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Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon appeared on a brand new interview for BBC Two's Culture Show on July 25th 2012. Apart from the funny Leisure-era introduction clip at the beginning (note the floppy hair), the interview was serious, reflective and hinted at Blur's bright future.
The interview's focus was on whether the band's comeback for the massive Hyde Park gig marks the 'end-of-Blur' or a new beginning. There's some interesting talk on 'Under the Westway' being Blur's "response to the London 2012 Olympics". There are even some clues as to what the band are going to do in the future.
The clip was recorded on the rooftop where the band played their hymn 'Under the Westway' live on July 2nd. The background features the very highway that inspired the song's theme. Damon and Graham, the key songwriters for the band, looked fresh and cheerful against the backdrop of a cloudy sky.
Damon also said that Muse's Olympics song may not be something they will "play in a few years time". He added - "We will still be playing Under the Westway".
"We will still be playing Under the Westway"
- Damon Albarn on BBC July 2nd
Hold on a second - could this mean Blur WILL be playing new shows with their brand new single in a few year's time ? This seems to imply Blur will be continuing to perform after the summer!
It is a very nice interview and generally what the boys said were very positive - they even said that the box set did not represent a'goodbye present' to hardcore Blur fans, and that fans should "take it as they come" without assuming the end of Blur. Certainly, this is very ,very reassuring.
But of course, one thing continues to remain unknown - will Blur truly continue to play after their summer shows ?
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While Blur have been rehearsing feverishly (we hope!) for their Hyde Park Olympics gig, the Blur graphics design and PR team have been also working hard behind the scenes.
There has been many changes on the http://blur.co.uk, the band's official site, and we bring you the 5 must-visit updates and pages this week.
is now out - download it from iTunes (free, compatible with iPhone and iPod Touch) for an awesome interactive experience to celebrate the Blur21 box set and the band's musical contribution. Lots of rare new pictures and cool features to be explored. Definitely worth getting immediately - be prepared for many hours of Blur nostalgia!
Official Blur Shop - this merchandise shop is now open, selling tees that were printed even from the 90s (Blur McNormal Vintage Red T-shirt and others). CDs, beer mat sets, Hyde Park lithograph, Blur's new 7 inch vinyl, box set and the new 'Under the Westway' single and even a Blur track jacket are in stock.
Blur Timeline- well-designed little London tube map imitation widget for all to explore Blur's history, videos, cultural information, film, art, international, music and even all the Blur locations featured in their music videos and work. This new feature is Blur's discography and live history at it's best. What's more - YOU CAN CONTRIBUTE to the timeline by selecting "Add a Memory" on any stop, and following the instructions to submit your Blur note to the official site.
Watch the BBC Maida Vale Gig - live on July 31st - to be broadcastedLIVE on the blur.co.ukofficial site. Great news for those who can't make it to the gig, or did not win the BBC Blur ticket lucky draw to the rare intimate show.
Blur 21 Remastered tracks available - via iTunes. All the Stephen Street remastered albums including extra tracks and previously unheard demos, live versions and extra tidbits can be previewed for 90 seconds / downloaded on the music store. The tracks are in excellent quality and are much clearer than the album tracks currently available.
Just two more interesting 'non-official site' related links: -
Blurry Picture Game -There's huge support for Blur's comeback from BBC and BBC 6 Music - the latter is holding a game where fans have to guess the blurry Blurmemorabilia or item posted each day leading up to the BBC 6 Maida Vale gig. Join in the fun and guess today's picture - we have to admit that today's picture is a tough one to guess.
Blur21 Box Set Review- Read all about the Blur21 Box set that BBC reviewed positively. They even went so far as suggesting that "the absence of new single Under the Westway/The Puritan suggests that 21 is not a full-stop". Could this be true ? Could this mean there could be more Blur after the 'end' of 2012?
With Blur back for the summer, it seems everything's in full swing. There's a new Blur exhibition, Blur game, Blur review, a new Blur CD and vinyl, a new Blur21 Box Set and some new gigs and shows.
Blur, Blur, Blur ... could this get any better ?
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Damon Albarn has been working on something other than Blur and Britpop- Mali Music. The Blur singer was featured on The Sunday Telegraph Magazine this July, with a special interview talking about African music, religion, being in Africa to visit a friend and many more related musical chit chat.
A new single 'Bamako' was also debuted live, and the video is streaming on Oxfam's official youtube channel. Damon joined up with Malian musician Afel Bocoum for a special performance from the album 'Mali Music', an album Damon produced in 2002 with collaborations with several Malian singers and musicians.
All scans Credit: damon4president from the official Blur forums
The scans for the magazine article can be accessed below. Funny quotes, Damon-isms, typical rants, philosophical debate and talk about Modern Life is Rubbish, Blur's second album, can also be found on the article.
Also, scroll down to check out the new videos of the frontman. Damon's perhaps taking some time off Blur rehearsals to do something meaningful and productive for his previous works, and also raise money for Oxfam's worthy cause. Note the head bobbing, snappy outfit, summer heat and how he's so into the music he creates. Making new Blur songs and new Mali music? Rehearsing for their massive Hyde Park Olympics gig too? Planning African Expressand the train tour?
Damon's hectic schedule may have just gotten a bit busier than usual!
Order the new Blur vinyl HERE The Puritan- new track HERE
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GIG NEWS: After a few weeks of speculation, the truth about who is the secret guests for a Converse-hosted special gig is revealed. And obviously, the very special guests that night are none other than Blur, who will headline REPRESENT at the legendary 100 Club (Oxford Street, London) on August 2nd 2012.
The background image of the poster is from Blur's 'No Distance Left to Run'
This will be the first official warm up gig ever for Blur in 2012, just before their massive Hyde Park Olympics gig a few weeks after this show. There are around 200 pairs of tickets available for this performance, so it is definitely going to be an intimate and close-up gig for the few chosen lucky fans!
To get a chance to watch Blur live in this special event, register for tickets on the official Converse website(www.converse.co.uk/blur)from 9:00am - 6:00pm (UK time) on Wednesday, August 1st 2012.
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Heads up - there's a new Blur event in town. Blur will be holding a band exhibition to celebrate the band's new 'Blur21' box set and their 21 years in music.
Spotify presents Blur 21: The Exhibition will take place in London at the Londonewcastle Gallery, East London.
It will run from July 27th to August 14th 2012, and entry is free for all.
Memorabilia and other items of the band will be shown for all to enjoy. Images of the band, taken by famous photographers Pennie Smith (who took the Blur black and white 2009 comeback photos) and Kevin Cummins will also be shown.
Will the props from Blur's music videos, or some their early apparel will be there?
Will the milk carton from Coffee and TV will make a special appearance?
Here is what is in store for all visiting, according to the venue's official site:
21 years after the release of their debut albumLeisure (1991), Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Alex James and Dave Rowntree will return to the heart of London in an exhibition of rare photographs, artwork and never-before-seen images of this great British band.
Presented by Spotify and EMI Music, the retrospective celebrates Blur’s era defining music, documenting their career as one of the most successful and influential bands of the past two decades, through the lens of legendary and iconic music photographers Pennie Smith, Kevin Cummins, Tom Sheehan and Paul Postle, among others. Previously unseen artwork will also be on display.
Spotify presents Blur 21: The Exhibition documents the band’s story from the early days as Seymour through the 1990s and the height of Britpop, the performance at Alexandra Palace in 1994, seven chart topping studio albums, and eleven top 10 singles, including Country House, Song 2 and Beetlebum, to a historic Sunday night appearance at Glastonbury.
Bringing us right up to 2012 - a year that has seen Blur awarded the BRIT for Outstanding Contribution to Music and the release of two new songs - Under The Westway and The Puritan - ahead of a sold out show at London’s Hyde Park on 12th August, before the upcoming release of career spanning Blur 21: The Box on 30th July.
Curated by leading expert on music photographyDave Brolan, all the key moments of the band’s career are illustrated – on the road, live on stage, in the studio, as well as formal portrait sessions. Additional Blur 21 material will be made available to Spotify users globally over the coming weeks.
Don't miss this opportunity to visit the exhibition if you are in London this summer. Blur also did a Blur X Exhibition in 1999. It's a nice side-event to the Blur Olympics hyde park gigs.
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Graham Coxon has finally spoken about the Blur and William Orbit feud in a recent press interview. The Blur guitarist did a short question and answer for Vulture, and spoke about the new Blur songs, new sounds, opening for Noel Gallagher of Oasis fame and why (or why not) Blur may do a new album in the future.
According to the article, Graham Coxon "personally seemed into the idea" of making a new Blur album. He said that the band were getting on "really well" these days, much better than during their comeback gigs in 2009. With regards to any possible new Blur album, here's what Coxon said:
Plans for a new Blur album seem up in the air at the moment. Up in the air, yeah.
What would you say is the biggest obstacle to the band recording a new album? I don’t know. Maybe it’s time or the guts or pressing the fucking button and going, "Come on, let’s just bloody do it." It’s maybe the committing to it. It’s a frightening thought, because there’s kind of a pressure on us to record another one, and of course we quite like the idea. But what's stopping us is the pressure. People are saying they want [an album], and that’s making us panic. We like to create our stuff in a relaxed way. It’s no good trying to force stuff just because people want to hear it. It would be a big decision. Because we know what’d be coming after the recording: We’d have to do a lot of traveling and playing. Which is great fun, but it’s a big commitment, obviously.
Who's the holdout? Which band member is the hardest to convince? It sounds like you're into the idea. I tell you what — we’re all into the idea. There’s nothing wrong with the idea, it’s just the practicalities that get slightly scary. And if we do something, it’s got to be really good.
If you decided against an album, would you consider just releasing singles or EPs? I think that’s probably not a very good idea, to keep doing that. I’m old-fashioned. I like an album to be a big slice of a time and place, and have a lot of development of ideas. These singles were recorded pretty quickly — too quickly for my liking — and I still get worried. I still come up with ideas for stuff after it's released. Taking our time on an album, that’s what I would like to do. I’d be really into making a record, but [sighs]. If people leave us alone to do it, I think it would be cool.
Coxon also talked about ex-Blur producer William Orbit's (album 13) recent angry tweets about Damon Albarn being a "pig" to the rest of Blur. The mystery of his twitter attacks is finally revealed - Orbit had a go at producing the band's new track 'Under the Westway' but it turned out to be "not what [Blur] were after". So, that was what happened back then.
Blur was in the studio a few months ago with William Orbit for a session that ended acrimoniously, at least according to his tweets. What happened? We had a go at "Under the Westway." And we just didn’t like the way it turned out. We were just like, "Shit, this is not what we’re after." And we decided to go it alone.
What did it sound like? I don’t know. [Laughs.] I don’t know what it sounded like, really. I didn’t hear it.
Click hereto read the rest of the interesting interview, with more on Under the Westway, The Puritan, Noel Gallagher and also Graham Coxon's New York tour.
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BBC Radio's Steve Lamacq has confirmed that Blur will be playing an exclusive special session at Maida Vale Studios, London on Tuesday 31st July 2012, in which there will be a limited number of tickets to be won.
Blur will be playing a special set from their hits collection and some real fan’s set of b-sides, rarities and oddities, with a few surprises thrown in. They will also be in conversation with Steve who has also been digging through the archives to uncover some lost gems.
The deadline for registration is Friday 20th July. The maximum tickets per household is 2. The gig is free and hosted by Steve. To get a chance to see Blur live in this intimate gig, simply head to theBBC 6 Music website (click here) to register and enter the ticket draw.
For those who are not in London or live outside Britain, tune in on July 31, 11am EST, and listen online at www.bbc.co.uk/6Music. Good luck to all - this is a rare tread indeed!
Listen to William Orbit's Version of Under the Westway HERE
Order the new Blur vinyl HERE The Puritan- new track HERE
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