Aiden Grimshaw- Tender cover (Blur)

Former X Factor contestant and solo singer Aiden Grimshaw (or commonly known as Aiden ) has covered Blur's classic 'Tender' to mark the 20 year anniversary of Britpop. Scroll down to watch his cover.

The 'Is This Love' star was just 3 years old when Britpop began in 1994, and only 8 when Blur released 'Tender' in 1999. Grimshaw has delivered a strong rendition of the track, however, with only a guitarist to accompany him.

 

The real reason why Blur cancelled on Australia's Big Day Out

A Big Day Out promoter says Blur pulled out of this year's music festival because members of the reformed Britpop act were having "fisticuffs" (fights) while on tour last year.

 It's the latest round in an ongoing dispute between the band and the annual Australasian music event that started when Blur pulled out of their headlining slots, despite having their own personalised stage built at every venue.

 Two weeks ago, Damon Albarn told TimeOut Blur cancelled over fears the shows - which he said would have been Blur's last - wouldn't be as "spiritually conclusive as we hoped they would be". "They [the organisers] weren't being straight with me about things, which they needed to be, and at that point I became disillusioned because I didn't want what we'd done throughout the year, with Blur, to be undermined or tarnished in any way, by a show that wasn't going to be what we wanted to do," Albarn said.

But Big Day Out co-promoter AJ Maddah has hit back at those claims, telling Australian website The Vine the band's four members "didn't want to see each other". "The fact (is) that the band (was) having fisticuffs on tour in South America. And that's why they cancelled the tour because they don't want to see each other. "Damon has a solo record coming out. The other three members were desperate to come out. You know, Graham (Coxon) and the other guys wanted to do it. Essentially Damon cancelled the tour."

 In excerpts of the interview, which is billed as "exclusive" and hasn't yet been published in full, Maddah also claims Blur were being paid A$5 million (NZ$5.4m) for their shows - an amount he labelled "ridiculous".

Blur were replaced by Deftones, Beady Eye and The Hives, and more than 41,000 people showed up for the festival's first show at Western Springs in Auckland - just under a sell out capacity of 45,000.

Source: nzherald.co.nz

Blur Special at the O2 Academy

Old School Indie is a weekly club night that takes place every Saturday at O2 Academy2 Islington in London.  On Saturday 26th April they will be marking the 20th anniversary of Blur's, 'Parklife' album with special Blur night!

They'll be playing every track from the album that turned Damon and the guys into full blown pop stars and saw them grace the covers of Smash Hits & Top Of The Pops Magazine. Singles included the top 3 hit 'Girls & Boys', 'End Of A Century', 'To The End' and of course the title track 'Park Life'

They'll also be playing tons of other Blur favourites from all eras of the band's lengthy career as well as the odd Coxon solo & Gorillaz track. We might even go to ASDA and buy some of Alex James' cheese for you all to munch on.

So cut down on your pork life, mate and get some exercise… just don't mention Oasis.

As well as Blur they will be playing lots of other Britpop & Indie stuff that you will know and want to dance to! Doors are 10:30pm-3:30am

Facebook Event Page - https://www.facebook.com/events/1531516140406907/

www.oldschoolindie.com

How to turn your bedroom into the groupie’s paradise

Are you a music fan looking to express yourself a little better? Whether you’re a lollipops n all Katy Perry fanatic , Blur fan or a grungy Nirvana aficionado, there’s no better way to pay tribute to your favourite artists than by redecorating your bedroom with their paraphernalia. Here are a few tips on how to turn your bedroom into the perfect groupie’s paradise.

Build a CD wall

While digital MP3 players continue to dominate the music industry, we could find ourselves at a loose end when it comes to using our old CDs. Just because you don’t play them any more though, doesn’t mean they can’t lend your room a little decorative splendour. You can head over to any reputable decorative retailer for zany CD racks, either wall mounted or shoved alongside the edge of your bed, and perhaps even arrange them by artist preference as opposed to the traditional alphabetical system.

Open your eyes

Of course, any true music fan knows that music is about more than just the sound; it’s also the visual. Bedstar have been a supplier for more than 100 years of comfortable, sleep easy beds that can even accommodate televisions – perfect for watching all your favourite music videos and concert DVDs. Just make sure you’ve got a dependable bed side table so you’re not losing your remote under the covers.

Go poster crazy

Gone are the days of Smash Hits and Top of the Pops magazine giving you unlimited access to images of All Saints to blu tack to your bedroom wall. That’s no excuse not to pay tribute to those artists though – in a world of digital imagery, it’s only too easy to head over to Google and print off a picture of your favourite heart throb or poetic lyricist. You could also personalise it a little if you know what you’re doing with Photoshop.

Perfect your reading material

If you like entertaining guests, one way of ensuring they get to know a little bit more about you and your favourite artist is to always have a good supply of music magazines hanging around. This can be anything from old faithful NME to specialist genre magazines, such as acoustic or heavy metal. Not only do magazines make your bedroom look warm and welcoming, they’re also a great way of chilling out and reading up on your favourite artist while you’re relaxing on your bed.

10 ways Britpop changed Manhood - Blur feature

The Telegraph recently featured a great article on the 10 ways Britpop changed modern Manhood. The brilliant piece features Blur, Damon Albarn and lists the top ten ways in which the Britpop musical era shaped modern Britain and it's people.

Some notable excerpts include:

1. It made us patriotic: Pre-Britpop, we looked across the Atlantic for cool, exciting new stuff: be it grunge or hip-hop, action blockbusters or cult Tarantino films, Friends or The X-Files. But for five halcyon years in the mid-90s, Blighty was where it was at: Blur vs Oasis, Cool Britannia, Euro ’96, TFI Friday, Lock Stock, Spice Girls, Young British Artists, Trainspotting… We were reminded of the greatness on our own doorstep.

9. It made us culturally cleverer: Britpop is often stereotyped as lumpenly thuggish but it made young men smarter too. In their lyrics and interviews, Damon Albarn, Brett Anderson and Jarvis Cocker were our literate, art-schoolish big brothers in the way Morrissey was a decade earlier.

"Art-schoolish big brothers"

Click HERE to read the full article.

Damon Albarn may make new album with Noel Gallagher

Damon Albarn has announced that making a new album with former Oasis frontman Noel Gallagher is a "distinct possibility" in future.

In a recent NME article, Albarn revealed that he and Gallagher have discussed the idea of making music together "at least once".

He said: "I still see Noel from time to time. We text a bit." When asked if the pair would be making a record together, he replied, "I can imagine that being a very distinct possibility at some point in the future. But, as yet we haven't really talked about it, although…"

Albarn further added that: "OK we have a little bit. We're talking. It's not anything to get excited about yet. I mean, he's doing his thing. He's finishing a new record. I've got my record coming out, but the principle of us making music together is something…you know, it would be fair to say, we have discussed it at least once."

Last year, the pair put two decades of Britpop rivalry behind them when they performed together at London's Royal Albert Hall for a charity Teenage Cancer Trust concert. Damon Albarn will release his debut solo album 'Everyday Robots' on April 28 2014.

There will be new Blur and Gorillaz shows- Damon Albarn

Damon Albarn was quoted to be making plans for new Gorillaz album and perform several new Blur gigs. According to various sources, Albarn is ''sure'' that Blur will play live again.

The frontman releases his debut solo album 'Everyday Robots' this month but is still very close to his Blur band mates Graham Coxon, Alex James and Dave Rowntree, who celebrated the singer's 46th birthday together on March 23. And now, he claims that the foursome will take to the stage again.

He said: ''Graham was at my surprise party on Friday, along with Dave and Alex. ''Everything is good between us all. When you get to our age, you accept people for who they are, you know.'' Damon insists it's ''bollocks'' that their planned appearance at Australia's Big Day Out festival later this year, which they pulled out of, was set to be their last gig.

He explained: ''I said it's the last gig of a brilliant period we spent doing these gigs and we didn't want to sully it by going to something that was badly organised and where things weren't as they should have been.

''I'm sure [Blur] will play again at some point. It'd be mad to go for the rest of our life and never play any of those songs again.''

The singer also revealed he could record another Gorillaz album with his music partner Jamie Hewlett as soon as ''next week''.

He said: ''I can definitely see another Gorillaz-esque record at some point, yeah. That will almost definitely happen. I could put a Gorillaz album out next week, I've got enough stuff that I haven't finished. The only thing really that defines a Gorillaz record in my head is when I just play most of it on keyboards.

''I've just been in Paris with Jamie Hewlett. There are points in everyone's relationship where they fall out with people that they're close to and then they reconcile, hopefully, and actually, you know, the relationship's probably in a healthier place as a result of that.''

This is evidently good news for all Blur and Gorillaz fans out there who are waiting for something new in 2014. 

Damon Albarn- Everyday Robots Documentary: Watch

Watch the 30-minute documentary on Damon Albarn and his first solo album "Everyday Robots". In the short film, Damon Albarn tells us where he grew up, talks about his music and describes what it is like being a world-famous artist.

Everyday Robots is the first solo debut studio album by Damon Albarn. It is to be released on 28th April 2014. It was produced by Albarn and Richard Russell of XL Recordings and was recorded over a three-month period in Albarn's personal studio in London, although production itself began in 2011, the album didn't officially start production until 2013. Albarn and Russell, had previously worked together on Bobby Womack's comeback album The Bravest Man in the Universe.

Scroll down to watch the full documentary below or watch it HERE.

Happy Birthday Damon Albarn

Damon Albarn turns 46 years old this year today. The Blur frontman was born on March 23rd 1968.