David Bowie- tribute from Blur and Damon Albarn

David Bowie has passed away at age 69 today. David Bowie was one of Damon Albarn's idols throughout his musical career. Influencing both Blur and Gorillaz, Damon Albarn once said that he thought about recording an album with David Bowie and Ray Davies.

Asked how much he enjoyed collaborating with other musicians, Albarn said: "I do genuinely like working with people but at the same time I don’t expect it to work, and there have been a lot of people who a lot of things don't happen. I mean, for about 24 hours, many years ago, I was making a record with David Bowie and Ray Davies. But that only lasted 24 hours."

Blur's song M.O.R was also borrowed from David Bowie's "Boys Keep Swinging" and "Fantastic Voyage". On the album Lodger Bowie and collaborator Brian Eno carried out a musical experiment in which multiple songs were written with the same chord progression, of which "Boys Keep Swinging" and "Fantastic Voyage" were the two that surfaced. M.O.R is both a continuation of, and tribute to that experiment, as its chorus also lifts the melody and call-and-response vocals from Boys Keep Swinging.

There were also rumours that the Gorillaz albums would feature David Bowie. It seems that this is not going to happen anymore. Farewell David Bowie. 

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Damon Albarn awarded OBE by the Queen of England

Here's excellent Blur news just before New Years- Damon Albarn has been awarded an Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his contributions to the British music scene for over 20 years. The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is the "order of chivalry of British constitutional monarchy, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations and public service outside the Civil Service.

The singer, composer and songwriter for Blur, Gorillaz and various other musical successes joins ranks of Goldie and actors James Nesbitt, Idris Elba, David Oyelowo, Barbara Windsor and Imelda Staunton among the celebrities saluted by Queen Elizabeth II as part of her annual Honours List.

In December Albarn, who was was born in London and raised in Essex, opened his musical, wonder.land, at the National Theatre in London - reworking Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures In Wonderland into a story about the digital age.

Damon Albarn has also been working on the fifth Gorillaz album, which is expected in 2016. In an interview with Rolling Stone in October, he said: "So far, it's really fast, and it's got quite a lot of energy. I've been stuck on piano, somewhere off Broadway, for years now. I want to go somewhere completely opposite of that."

For a full list of awards, please visit https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-years-honours-2016.

Damon Albarn announces New album

Supergroup The Good, The Bad & The Queen may have already produced their second record, with Damon Albarn revealing that he has "got" the record. Albarn's band – which also features The Clash bassist Paul Simonon, The Verve guitarist Simon Tong and drummer Tony Allen – were last seen performing two gigs in London in November 2011.

The group's self-titled debut album was released in 2007. In an interview with The Sun yesterday (December 18), however, Albarn said that as well at a new Gorillaz record, "I’ve also got a Good, the Bad and the Queen record. It will either be Gorillaz or that [that comes next] and then I might be allowed to go back into my own solo world or another musical."

As early as July, Albarn had said that he could record a new Gorillaz album "next week," while in October he described the animated act's new material as "really fast" with "quite a lot of energy."

On the new Gorillaz album, Albarn said: "I'm in the very early days on a new Gorillaz record. So far, it's really fast, and it's got quite a lot of energy. I've been stuck on piano, somewhere off Broadway, for years now. I want to go somewhere completely opposite of that." Over a year ago, in October 2014, Albarn told the Sydney Morning Herald a new album by The Good, The Bad & The Queen is fully written.

Albarn reinvented Alice in Wonderland for Manchester International Festival earlier this year, and had to be carried off set at Danish Festival Roskilde after refusing to stop his show after five and a half hours.

New Gorillaz, New Style ? Jamie Hewlett previews New Gorillaz Artwork

Just recently, Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett announced that their highly successful virtual band Gorillaz will be releasing a new album in 2016. Much to the delight of their fans, the duo announced that they have been actively working on recording a new Gorillaz album which is scheduled for release next year, although no teasers or musical tracks have yet to be released. 

The band has always emphasised the visual and aesthetically side of their music, preferring to animate rather than use traditional people to feature in their live shows as well as music videos. 

But what will the new Gorillaz look like? Jamie Hewlett, cartoonist and co-creator of the band Gorillaz has been posting teasers of the 'new' Gorillaz up on his Instagram throughout the past few weeks. 

Despite these previews, the question of what the new Gorillaz will look, feel and sound like still remains unclear. Until further news, it still remains a mystery to the fans.

Blur's Damon Albarn visits and performs at Banksy's Dismaland

The rumours were rife that someone big was going to make a surprise appearance at Banky's Dismaland for its final night of music after Massive Attack pulled out. And it was Blur frontman Damon Albarn who surprised the crowds a few weeks ago during the last week of Banksy's exhibition.

Wearing a mask over his face, as Banksy requested all guests did on Friday night so that he could attend himself, Albarn ran on stage to join De La Soul for a rendition of The Gorillaz' Feel Good Inc. Last night also saw performance from Pussy Riot, Kate Tempest and Leftfield. De La Soul also performed their "Me, Myself & I" during the "Masked Ball" performance.

According to the Bristol Post, Albarn along with many of the Dismaland guests wore masks so Banksy – himself disguised – could attend the concert and not have his identity revealed. "Dress code – due to the amount of paparazzi staking out the park in recent weeks Banksy has requested people come masked-up so he can attend the event without being photographed," a Dismaland statement said.

Banksy and Albarn previously worked together when the artist designed the cover image of Blur's Think Tank. They joined the likes of Fatboy Slim, Run the Jewels and Savages who have taken it in turns to fill the Friday night music slot during Dismaland's five week run in the former Tropicana site in Weston-super-Mare.

Damon Albarn confirmed to be working on New Gorillaz Album- 2015

Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett who formed the biggest virtual band in the last decade in 1998 have been hinting at new music throughout 2015. Now, Jamie Hewlett has confirmed that the pair are actually in the process of working and actively recording a new Gorillaz album, which is scheduled to a 2016 release.

Jamie Hewlett, who is behind the group’s iconic animations, was recently quoted as saying he had been “shutting himself away” to work on Gorillaz’s fifth album.

“I’m working on it at the moment, and it’s going very well,” he said. “I’m very excited. I don’t want to say too much about it, but I’m at that phase of experimentation. What I try not to do when I’m working in this creative period, the cooking of the mess, is go to other peoples’ exhibitions and look at other peoples’ work".

"I close my eyes, and don’t want to know what anyone else is doing. Doing that has kind of ruined the creative process for me in the past, and I don’t want to let that happen again" he also added.

“That’s next year," he told DIY Mag of the Gorillaz project in a new interview to promote his first art exhibition in London. "I’m working on it at the moment, and it’s going very well. I’m very excited." It's been four years since the group's last release, 2011's The Fall.

So what about the new Gorillaz artwork? Will it be an entirely different style from the old Gorillaz, or will it be similar to the last album's style?

"I don’t want to say too much about it, but I’m at that phase of experimentation," Hewlett said. He also added that he has been posting teasers of the new fictional "members" of Gorillaz on Instagram throughout the year.

Whatever the style of the new Gorillaz, this is absolutely fantastic news for Gorillaz fans, who will be able to look forward to a new world tour and album from one of the most recognised and popular virtual bands of our time.

Must watch Blur Clips

Whether you’re a life-long fan of Blur, or you’ve only just discovered what it is to live in a Chemical World, there’s always some interest to be found in clips of some of the band’s most exciting and dynamic performances. Here are just a few of the best clips of the band for you to watch now.

To begin with, in July of this year, Frontman Damon Albarn delighted and surprised attendees of the Roskilde Music Festival in Denmark when he refused to stop playing his set and had to be forcibly removed from the stage. Albarn had been playing for 5 hours solid before being told by the organisers to wrap it up at 4am. Amid chants from the crowd of “We Want More”, a security guard climbed on stage, lifted Albarn over his shoulder and carried him off. This incident was recorded and was reported on by several newspapers, and is definitely worth a watch.

Another fantastic clip is of Blur a very early Blur performance in 1993, still young and fresh faced, performing Chemical World at Germany’s Rocklife concert, nicely warming up the stage for Duran Duran. However, the band got a little bit carried away with themselves, becoming slightly too energetic, resulting in Graham Coxon’s guitar becoming unplugged mid set. Luckily, Albarn sees the funny side, telling the crowd: "Don't jump too high, OK kids?"

If you’re after rare, hardly seen footage of the band then you’re in luck, as earlier this year MOJO published some rare footage of a small, intimate concert which was played on May the 1^st in the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn. This includes a performance of their track Lonesome Street, which prior to MOJO’s release had not been seen anywhere.

Finally, make sure you check out the phenomenal performance of Tender, live at Hyde Park in 2009. This gig marks Graham Coxon’s return to the band following a 6 year break, and the excitement and revitalisation in the band during this reunion gig is palpable.

Many of these clips might not have been seen by some people, and it is only thanks to the internet that they have been categorised for your enjoyment today. The internet makes it possible to search for just about anything you might need, whether it be clips of your favourite band, television shows from the past or even online casinos. That’s right, you can find out about the best casino sites but checking out sites like www.paypal-casinos.co/.

Make sure you check out some of the referenced clips in this article for the full Blur experience! It’s possible to download Blur performances as audio and video files so you can watch them for yourself!

The Making Of: Blur- The Magic Whip

Watch an excellent documentary about the making of Blur's new album The Magic Whip below. The video, filmed in Hong Kong, stars Alex James, Graham Coxon, Dave Rowntree and Damon Albarn in the recording studio, wandering around Hong Kong's cityscape, performing at various venues and also contains many candid shots of the band.