Damon Albarn starts New Supergroup 'Fresh Touch'

Yet another new Damon Albarn side-project has been revealed, and this time it's for a good cause. The Blur frontman recruited American rock band Yeah Yeah Yeah's Nick Zinner, alternative band Franz Ferdinand's Alex Kapranos and Red Hot Chilli Pepper's Flea for his new collaboration "Fresh Touch". 

The four musicians will collaborate and release a one-off single named "Latest Style" together to raise money for Oxfam's Syria campaign. The renowned NGO is appealing to the public for donations to support 650,000 impoverished political refugees who have fled their country due to the violence and social unrest apparent in the last few months. 

Damon's new project - working with Alex Kapranos for a new single titled "Latest Style"

The track will be released on 13th July 2013 under the guise Fresh Touch. It will be put on sale exclusively at the Independent Label Market, a fair taking place in London's Old Spitalfields Market next weekend. The fair, held twice a year, will showcase independent record labels from all around the UK. 

Flea, the Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist had previously worked with Damon on last year's Rocket Juice and the Moon album. 

Apart from Damon Albarn's new track, there will be nine more charity singles available for sale including a re-worked version of Tim Burgess's The Doors Of Then. 

For now, fans can only speculate on whether Damon will provide vocals, only music, backing vocals to the track, and whether he will choose to follow a more 'Gorillaz' approach for his new sound. "Latest Style" marks Damon's first official release since Gorillaz co-founder Jamie Hewlett confirmed last month that both Blur and Gorillaz will be recording new albums for the future.

Pick your best one-off track
	Doncamatic - Gorillaz
	Blur - Fool's Day
	Graham Coxon - Desire
	Gorillaz - 911
	Blur- Eine Kleine Lift Musik
	Other

For more details about the cause, head over to oxfam.org.uk/syria.

Blur confirms place in Argentina's Quilmes Rock Festival

Blur has officially confirmed Argentina as a tour destination as part of their large-scaled 2013 World Tour. The news, which was announced one week ago via the band's official Facebook page, came as no surprise to fans since rumours had been circulating for weeks on forums and fan-sites beforehand.

The festival's name was also revealed. The band will headline one of Argentina's most elaborate and biggest music festivals, the Quilmes Rock Festival on November 2nd 2013 (Saturday).  The festival is a held annually in several venues in Buenos Aires, including the Ferro Stadium and River Plate Stadium. Notable local and international artists, including several Britpop bands, have previously performed at the event.

Exclusive Presale tickets for the Quilmes Rock Festival are available for French Bank customers from Thursday July 4th at TuEntrada.com. The general public can buy tickets from July 11th on the same site or via telephone services.

The last time Blur visited Argentina was in 1999 as part of their '13' promotional tours. Fans in Argentina have voiced their delight that the foursome will return to visit the nation in 2013.

Blur Q Magazine feature - 2013 Photo Shoot

Blur were recently featured in the latest issue of Q Magazine. Included in the pages are a selection of drummer Dave Rowntree's behind-the-scenes Instagram images from the 2013 Blur world tour and a long article about the band's 'Early Days of Britpop'. 

Credits: 101reykjavik 

(Click to enlarge and read)

Blur's latest gig scheduled in Turkey for the 'One Love Festival' have been cancelled due to political unrest. The band's next destination will be Poland, where they are playing a music festival from the 3rd - 6th July.

Blur Tour 2013 - Full dates and rundown  HERE

Blur @ Coachella- video and image gallery HERE 

Damon Albarn- "We are going to try to record a new album" HERE

Blur Europe Tour News  HERE

Order the new Blur: Parklife (Live at Hyde Park CD / DVD) HERE

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Blur Istanbul Turkey show cancelled over Political Protests

Due to the recent political instability and unrest in Istanbul, the Turkish promoters of the Eifes Pilsen 'One Love Festival' have cancelled the show, which was to feature Blur as one of the main highlights as part of their world tour 2013.

A range of music concerts scheduled to take place in June in Istanbul have been canceled due to the ongoing Gezi Park protests that have spanned across all of Turkey. Gezi Park, a rare strip of green space in Istanbul, was the main site of a heavily opposed redevelopment project to build a shopping mall. Turkey has been plagued by violent demonstrations and heavy protests, reflecting the increasing lack of support for it's authoritarian prime minister Recep Ergodan, his leadership regime and the government's failure to provide for citizen's basic and legal needs.

An appropriate poster for Blur fans who were waiting for the show

Cancelled gig originally scheduled for June 2013

Snoop Dogg, Zaz, The National, Bloc Party, The Prodigy and Thirty Seconds to Mars were among the artists to take the stage as part of another festival, the Vodafone Istanbul Calling Event.

The highly anticipated Avea Escape Music Festival has also been postponed.

Blur were reported to be excited about seeing their devoted Turkish fans, but hopes to get another chance to visit the city in the future.

Fans who have bought the tickets in advance will be offered a full refund.

Blur Tour 2013 - Full dates and rundown  HERE

Blur @ Coachella- video and image gallery HERE 

Damon Albarn- "We are going to try to record a new album" HERE

Blur Europe Tour News  HERE

Order the new Blur: Parklife (Live at Hyde Park CD / DVD) HERE

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Jamie Hewlett - We will release a new Gorillaz album

News on Damon Albarn's virtual band Gorillaz had been sparse and few this year, but the latest snippet of information may just make a fan's day. Jamie Hewlett has confirmed that there will be a new Gorillaz album out in the future, but only after Damon's main band Blur has put out their new record.

Jamie revealed the new Gorillaz plans that he and Damon discussed for the future whilst speaking at a launch event for the pair's opera 'Monkey Journey To The West' in New York city recently. A fan that attended the event claims that Hewlett talked about the future of Gorillaz, but admitted he would have to wait for Blur to make their album first.

The fan on Gorillaz fan-site Gorillaz-Unofficial claims that Jamie Hewlett said: "There’s a five- year gap between the albums because they take a long time to do and and they’re very exhausting and when you’re finished you feel like you need to go do other stuff." 

Jamie also added: "So Damon’s touring with Blur – he's doing a world tour with Blur at the moment and then they’re working on a new album so there isn’t really time for him, and I’m doing other stuff as well. So I think it’s, um, we’ll come back to it when the time’s right." 

The Gorillaz animator and comic artist also talked about how difficult it will be for a new Gorillaz record to be commercially successful. He is reported to have said that "the music industry’s changed so much since we started doing Gorillaz. There’s no money in the industry so you know you get these amazing new bands, like The Strypes from Ireland, kind of 14 years old [sic], you know, the best rhythm blues guitarist you’ve ever seen. Age 14, make songs and film it in their bedroom. It doesn’t cost anything, and so Gorillaz is kind of expensive. It’s expensive to do because it’s animated."

Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett had previously released four Gorillaz albums, including the commercially successful 'Demon Days' in 2005 and their latest, semi-experimental 'Plastic Beach' record in 2010. The musical pair had a fall-out late last year, but is currently reported to be on good terms.

During Blur's world tour show in the Asia World Expo at Hong Kong, Damon Albarn announced to the audience that the band were heading back into the studio. "So we have a week in Hong Kong, and we thought it would be a good time to try and record another record," he said at the time.

Blur are reported to have made a demo tape during their week in the city, using up time that would have been spent rehearsing for the cancelled Taiwan gig.

Additionally, Alex James recently reported that Blur's new recording sessions are going "very well".

Will there be a new Gorillaz album out?
	Yes, definitely
	No - I don't believe it
	Maybe - Jamie and Damon are great
	Don't know / Don't care
	Blur's better than Gorillaz

What's next for Blur and Gorillaz? Will there be two new studio albums released, one after the other? Or will plans suddenly change yet again? And what about Damon Albarn's solo album that is still the making? The original report is not official, and the confirmation claims are based on a fan comment - to what extend are the rumours true?

All that is official for now is that Blur will be heading to Dublin's Irish Museum of Modern Art on August 1st 2013 to play their only show in the British Isles this year. The date marks Blur's first show in Ireland in four years.

Blur Tour 2013 - Full dates and rundown  HERE

Blur @ Coachella- video and image gallery HERE 

Damon Albarn- "We are going to try to record a new album" HERE

Blur Europe Tour News  HERE

Order the new Blur: Parklife (Live at Hyde Park CD / DVD) HERE

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Picture of the Week: Milky Blur Nail Art

For those of you who want to make your own Milky:

Blurring creativity with musical icons! 

Alex James Speaks Out - On the New Blur album 2013

Alex James was featured on a few media outlets this June, and it's not a surprise he had some new things to say about Blur and the band's future, new songs, recording sessions and his new Big Feastival event in partnership with celebrity chef Jamie Oliver.

In the RadioTimes interview, Alex mentioned how The Big Feastival "currently has all his attention, but since Blur played in Hyde Park during London 2012, the full band has started touring again."

“We did a bit of recording in Hong Kong and it was brilliant,” says James, “but I don’t know what it is yet. The festival has been the main focus for me. The rest of Blur could also make an appearance at The Big Feastival this year. Graham came [to The Big Feastival] last year. They‘re all invited,” says James. Rizzle Kicks will be one of the guest stars in the music and food festival this year.

Alex James was also quoted in a Contact Music article saying that the "Blur recording sessions went well". BANG Showbiz exclusively reports that Alex said: ''We had a few days off in Hong Kong and thought, 'What the hell, let's go to the studio.' It went very well. The opportunity came and we took it. Any chance to get together and make music is very welcome. It was absolutely brilliant. We were just jamming, but it was good. I hope it happens.''

He also remarked: ''The big bands are getting bigger and bigger and the small ones are disappearing altogether. I think it's very hard to be in an indie band anymore. I think Blur would struggle if we were just starting out now. It's a very different climate.''

Blur forum member '101reykjavik' says: "Alex unfortunately is the one I take least notice of when it comes to pronouncements about the future of Blur. A litany of past quotes 'hoping' something will happen in some respect or other, which in the past have tended to amount to very little."

"If Damon said 'I hope it happens' I would sit up and take notice, but I wouldn't expect Damon to ever make that sort of public statement. Plus Alex arguably has the most need for Blur activity so always seems to be putting the most hopeful spin on things."

Another forum member '2-J' added: "For better or worse, Damon would really undermine his forthcoming solo album (due 2014) if he were to be too committal about Blur."

There has been many arguments as to whether Blur will indeed go forwards with their new album this year. Some say that Damon Albarn will not delay the recording any further after their massive 2013 world tour; some speculate that the Blur frontman will change his mind and focus on side-projects instead of making new music for Blur.

No news about the new album had been announced this month. Blur will continue their world tour and perform in Finland this week.

Jamie Oliver and Alex James present The Big Feastival, a feel good festival of food and music for all the family on August 31 – September 1. For more info and tickets, click here. 

Beck supporting Blur in Chile and Planeta Terra Festival '13

The latest announcement regarding Blur's 2013 world tour is that Blur's supporting act for the Planeta Terra Festival will be none other than American musician Beck Hansen, a.k.a Beck. The music festival will be held in Brazil at the end of this year.

Both Blur and Beck will also head to Santiago, Chile on November 7th 2013 for a show in the National Stadium Athletic Track. The singer will support Blur and open the show, performing there for the second time since his 2007 debut concert. 

Local Blur fans will have the chance to see the band perform for the first time in Chile, as the band have not previously played in the city before. The special gig is scheduled just four days after Blur's gig in Argentina.

Many fans have voiced surprise at the choice of Beck for the supporting act, stating that it should have been "the other way round". 

Last year's acts in Planeta Terra included Kings of Leon, Garbage and Gossip. More supporting acts including the rumoured Atoms of Peace and Jack White will be announced in the upcoming months. 

Read more about the Chile gig HERE. 

Blur Tour 2013 - Full dates and rundown  HERE

Blur @ Coachella- video and image gallery HERE 

Damon Albarn- "We are going to try to record a new album" HERE

Blur Europe Tour News  HERE

Order the new Blur: Parklife (Live at Hyde Park CD / DVD) HERE

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Blur - Primevera Sound Barcelona, Spain (Pictures and Videos)

Image gallery - Blur live in Primevera Sound 

Barcelona, Spain (May 24th 2013)

Watch: Blur live in Barcelona, Primevera Sound Festival 2013

Setlist: Blur Setlist at Primavera Sound 2013 

Theme From Retro (PA intro) 

Girls & Boys 

Popscene 

There's No Other Way 

Beetlebum 

Out of Time 

Trimm Trabb 

Caramel 

Coffee & TV 

Tender 

Country House 

Parklife 

End of a Century 

This Is a Low 

Encore: 

Under The Westway 

For Tomorrow 

The Universal 

Song 2

Blur Tour 2013 - Full dates and rundown  HERE

Blur @ Coachella- video and image gallery HERE 

Damon Albarn- "We are going to try to record a new album" HERE

Blur Europe Tour News  HERE

Order the new Blur: Parklife (Live at Hyde Park CD / DVD) HERE

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