Giveaway: We have 2 copies of Rockabye Baby! Lullaby Renditions of Blur to giveaway to two lucky fans. This album re-creates the top Blur singles into kid-friendly, percussion tunes that's soft and gentle for the ears. Simply head over to the new Giveaways page, follow us on Facebook or answer a simple fun Blur question and you're in for the draw!
Camden - the London borough that is renowned for it's vibrant musical scene, artistic flair, massive market and for being Blur guitarist Graham Coxon's residential hometown. Ask any Blur fan which pub Graham Coxon is known for hanging out in, and Camden Crawl will be answered.
And now, Camden will be the proud new owner of a Music Walk of Fame, a disc route along the town that will feature 30 discs of famous musicians including Blur, Elvis Presley, Amy Winehouse, Led Zeppelin Frank Sinatra, Grandmaster Flash, Gill Scott-Heron, Soul II Soul and Camden's very own Madness.
Bustling Camden town - a musical jumble
One special musical disc will even be created to celebrate deceased and troubled singer Amy Winehouse to mark her 30th birthday.
Manager Lee Bennett said there are even plans to "get bands who have split up back together again" for one-off concerts, when they receive a place in the iconic walk. Does this mean there be an Oasis and Blur concert ? Watch out Liam Gallagher.
"We hope this will be the highest accolade in music," Mr Bennett also said.
"This is an international brand not specific to Camden, but it is in Camden as we truly see it as the world's rock and roll capital."
According to the BBC, those honoured will be divided into five groups: innovative artists, influential artists, icons, unsung heroes and industry types like managers and producers.
A committee of global industry figures and local community members are working on shortlist of nominations for the first 30 plaques.
The list will go to a decisive public vote on the Music Walk of Fame website in May.
Special concerts, gigs and events will also follow the unveiling of the Walk of Fame. Who knows - perhaps Graham Coxon will drop by to do a set from his own albums. Or maybe Blur will pop into Camden Town for a last-minute gig.
This will surely be added to the list of Blur places to visit for all fans of the band.
Damon Albarn recently played an exclusive gig for the premier of the new Rufus Norris film 'Broken'. The coming-of-age movie, starring Tim Roth and Cillian Murphy, details the story of a young girl from North London whose life changes after witnessing a murder. The film features an exclusive new rendition of Blur song 'Colours' , sung by a different vocalist but with the same lyrics as the original song.
The soundtrack is created by the new music collective Electric Wave Bureau (which Damon Albarn is a part of) and features the original song by Blur – 'Colours. The limited edition single was originally released in 2003 as part of Blur's fan magazine "Blurb".
Electric Wave Bureau is Damon Albarn's latest new creation, a music supervision company dedicated to creating the perfect soundtrack to any video or movie. Its members include Damon Albarn's long-term partner Suzi Winstanley, Nelson De Freitas, Mike Smith and Damon Albarn.
Spot Damon Albarn... on the live set at Broken's movie premier
Director Norris, who worked with Damon Albarn for the opera Dr Dee, said: “The two of us were heavily involved in Dr Dee, which
I did last year in Manchester and I'm doing at the ENO. I was hoping they would do it, but
they're kind of busy, and it wasn't until we started working on Dr Dee again, for the Cultural
Olympiad, and when we sat down for the first session for that, that one of them said, 'How's the
film going?’ I said, ‘Well, it would be good to have a minute on that when we're done today,’
and they said, ‘Let's have a minute now.’ I said, ‘Will you do it?’ And they said yes. Which was
great; I already had a robust working relationship with them, and we'd already done a big show
that was put on under pressure.”
Listen to the original 'Colours' (2003)- by Blur: -
“We had a very limited budget, but we made that work for
us in a good way. We had to be inventive and quick and intuitive. And then we were able to have
the strings to articulate the emotion of the story in a more conventional but still powerful way" said Norris.
Listen to the new version of 'Colours'- Blur track: -
"COLOURS"
Music by Albarn/James/Rowntree
Performed and Produced by Electric Wave Bureau
Vocals by Eloise Laurence
Recorded and Mixed at Studio 13
Published by EMI Music Publishing Ltd
Additional Guitar Simon Tong
The film will be out in UK Cinemas on Friday 8th March 2013. For more pictures from the film visit the official press release gallery. Watch the trailer here.
Visit the official website or their Facebook page for more information about this featured film and production facts, as well as who's involved.
Blur have announced yet another date for their world tour 2013. The band announced their Ireland gig on March 4th 2013 and will perform at the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) in Kilmainham, Dublin, on Thursday August 1 2013.
This is Blur's first gig in Ireland in four years. Blur announced that they are playing in Turkey last week as part of their new world tour, where the band are set to tour in Europe, Asia and America.
The IMMA is a 17th century Irish landmark commonly used as a venue for theatrical and musical events. For Blur fans in Ireland, this is a golden opportunity to see the band play, in what may be their best year yet - Blur have been fuelling rumours of a new album and new release after their 2013 world tour.
According to Blur's official facebook page, this gig will be the band's only UK/ Ireland date for 2013. That means the hotly contested Reading / Leeds festival in the UK is ruled out for this round of Blur gigs. UK fans - take this chance to travel to Ireland if you can to watch the band live.
Tickets costing 62.50 euros each will be available for sale on Thursday via Ticketmaster.
Want your newborn or baby to listen to Blur without any adult content? Worried about the adult innuendos in Blur songs? Think 'Beetlebum' is a bad influence on the kids? Have no more fear - American baby music company Rockabye Baby will record and re-release Blur's hit singles as baby-friendly tunes in a new album to cater especially for parents to play "during those long night feeds". Blur's biggest hits will be re-recorded into instrumental lullabies for children as part of the famous Rockabye Baby music series. The album will include some of the band's most famous songs including 'Country House', 'Parklife', 'Song 2' and the "sexually ambitious" 90s disco hit 'Girls and Boys', all covered using gentle sounds, slow melodies and percussion instruments like glockenspiels and harps.
Rare picture: Damon Albarn as a baby
Blur is not the only artist that have had their songs re-made by Rockabye Baby. The company has already created 37 similar albums that are adjusted for younger listeners, covering songs by bands like The Beatles, Nirvana, The Smiths, Rolling Stones, U2 and Bob Marley.
According to the Independent, "the firm has a celebrity following including Victoria Beckham, whose footballer husband David downloaded an album of Beatles songs in lullaby form for their daughter Harper Seven. Also fans are Elton John and David Furnish, who play not only the Fab Four’s songs, but also the versions of the Rolling Stones and Green Day in their nursery".
The adult-to-kid conversion of songs has become a popular phenomena in the last few years. Website kidzbop.com also has softened versions of adult songs that are suitable for children. A line from Katy Perry's "Hot n Cold" for example, would be changed from "We kiss, we make up" to "We hug, we make up".
The album, titled Rockabye Baby Lullabye Renditions of Blur will be released on March 26th 2013. This will mark the first UK release by the USA company.
The tracklisting for 'Rockabye Baby Lullabye Renditions Of Blur' is:
1.Tender 2.Song 2 3.Coffee & TV 4.Girls & Boys 5.There's No Other Way 6.Country House 7.Beetlebum 8.Parklife 9.Popscene 10.End of a Century 11.Sing 12.The Universal For more information about Rockabye Baby, visit their official website.
Although this year is full of blurry excitement for the 2013 Blur world tour and it's upcoming gigs, last year wasn't quite as extravagant. 2012 was a rather special and touching year for Blur, having headlined the London Olympics closing ceremony concert and playing in front of many for the landmark event. Coupled with the Olympics, Blur also released their new single 'Under the Westway' / 'The Puritan' together with a re-issue of the band's entire collection in a special box set to mark their 21st anniversary.
Now in 2013, Blur finally gets recognition for their subtle new releases last year. The band have received the award for 'Best Reissue' at the 2013 NME Awards held on February 27thfor the'Blur 21' boxset. Unfortunately they did not win the award for 'Best Live Band', which was given to The Rolling Stones.
In his acceptance speech, Graham Coxon said that "This was the box set that was in my cupboard for about twenty years but it was on cassette in a shoebox". Graham was joined onstage by Alex James. Scroll down for the video of Blur at the awards.
Check out this funny rundown of the awards night. And since the awards were voted for by fans online, a big congratulations to everyone who voted and to Blur!
New Blur tour date: Blur will play at Istanbul's One Love Festival on June 21 2013. One Love Festival takes place in Istanbul, Turkey. Blur is confirmed to headline the One Love Festival, one of the premier music events in Europe and one of the most famous festivals in the world.
The large music festival draws 20,000-30,000 visitors annually, and has previously attracted top music acts like Manic Street Preachers and a host of British bands like Suede, Editors and Happy Mondays to perform in earlier years. Blur is the latest addition to the One Love Festival, as part of their mega-tour of 2013 where the band are set to tour in Europe, Asia and America.
Damon Albarn played in Istanbul in 2007 for his side album The Good The Bad And The Queen. The announcement came after heavy rumours surrounding where the next Blur date will be. There's still no news of whether Blur will tour UK or where the next warm-up gig will be, but the latest festival lineup adds to Blur's already very tight schedule.
Do not miss this outstanding chance to watch Blur live in Turkey. Visit the One Love Festival's official facebook page here.
Check out their official website for more information on live acts and ticketing information. Tickets should be available via Biletix shortly.
No more feud, no more Britpop war. It seems that Damon Albarn and Noel Gallagher have both mellowed with age and put their past behind them. The two men, rivals in the 90s following the Britpop Battle, gave each other friendly smiles and posed for a manly shoulder-squeeze for the camera when the Brit Awards 2013 ceremony took place on February 21st 2013 in London's O2 Arena.
Damon Albarn went on stage to accept a special award. The pair probably has fond memories about this 90s incident...
It wasn't for Blur or Gorillaz, but Damon Albarn appeared on stage at the Brit Awards 2013 to accept a distinguished award. Ben Knowles from British charity War Child and Damon Albarn collected a Special Recognition Award on behalf of War Child during the Brit Awards 2013 held yesterday at the O2 Arena, London.
Damon Albarn sported a toothy smile on stage- Brits 2013
Dressed in his signature leather jacket, the "legend of British music" Blur frontman made a short acceptance speech on stage. He praised the charity for having a "close relationship with the music business" and pleaded the audience to "get involved" with the charity's cause to alleviate and combat childhood suffering. The award marked War Child's 20th anniversary.
Damon was also nominated for Best Producer (Bobby Womack- 'Bravest Man In The Universe') in this year's award ceremony. Although a top favourite, he lost out to producer Paul Epworth whose productions included Adele, Florence and the Machine and Cee Lo Green.
For more pictures of the winners of this year's Brits, including pictures of celebrities like Jonathan Ross and diver Tom Daley presenting an award, this gallery is worth a visit.
