May 31, 2011

Damon Albarn - Doctor Dee Opera 2011 UPDATE

Doctor Dee Opera

Damon Albarn's new opera Doctor Dee has received some press from a double page spread in the 28th May GUARDIAN newspaper, on the guide to Manchester International Festival. 


Quoted from the article, Damon Albarn's new show is a 'modern English opera' directed by Rufus Norris, about Elizabethan thinker and magician John Dee. In Doctor Dee, Damon Albarn will appear as himself, rather than in character, performing with legendary afrobeat drummer (and bandmate in The Good, The Bad and The Queen) Tony Allen. The BBC Philharmonic will be in the pit. There will also be Elizabethan instruments and some ritualistic elements, will be primal, about the life, ambition and belief of John Dee.

Read the whole article by clicking below, thanks damon4president and 2J for the scans.


May 30, 2011

Alex James talks Blur Reunion 2011

Alex James has spoken on BBC 6 about the possible Blur reunion and whether it's official or not. Looks like it's not, but hey that's not new news. Here's what he said, taken from BBC's twitter account:

Nothing new. Old news. Old news.


May 9, 2011

Graham Coxon new gigs UPDATE (Summer Sundae + Truck Festival) 2011

Previously I reported that Graham Coxon is going to play Summer Sundae Festival and Truck Festival this year (click on the text to link) and now I've got EXCITING UPDATES for all of you fans reading right now! The lineup and more details have been released by NME yesterday. 

#1 : Summer Sundae Festival

The MaccabeesGraham Coxon and The Bees all among the first acts confirmed forLeicester's Summer Sundae Festival this year.The festival, which takes place in Leicester's Victoria Park on August 12–14, will also see sets from Little CometsNewton Faulkner and Bellowhead.

Summer Sundae Festival was headlined by Seasick SteveTinchy Stryder andMumford and Sons in 2010. See Summersundae.com for more information.

The line-up for the Summer Sundae Festival so far is:

The Maccabees
Graham Coxon
Newton Faulkner
The Bees
Bellowhead
The Cuban Brothers
Wilko Johnson
John Cooper Clarke
Little Comets
CW Stoneking
Liam Bailey
Benjamin Francis Leftwich
Mama Rosin
Raghu Dixit
Skinny Lister
The Black Atlantic
Dizraeli And The Small Gods
Various Cruelties



The Maccabees
#2 : Truck Festival


I covered this in my previous post HERE, but once again, Graham Coxon and Radiohead's Phil Selway are among the latest additions to this year's Truck Festival line-up.

Set to take place July 22-24 at Hill FarmSteventon, the weekend should be somewhat of a homecoming for Oxfordshire-based musician Selway, who'll play a solo show there.

This year Truck are teaming up with record labels TransgressiveBella Union andHeavenly to curate the second stage.

Coxon will headline the stage on the Friday, under the Transgressive banner, withSelway appearing on the Sunday, when Bella Union are in charge.

Other new acts on the bill include The Go! TeamEdwyn CollinsDry the River andGaggle.

See Thisistruck.com for more information.

To check the availability of Truck Festival tickets and get all the latest listings, go toNME.COM/TICKETS now, or call 0871 230 1094.

The line up for Truck 2011 is:

Graham Coxon
The Go! Team
Philip Selway
Edwyn Collins
Truck Festival All-Stars
Tunng
Dean Wareham (plays Galaxie 500)
Roddy Woomble
Justin Townes Earle
Admiral Fallow
Dry The River
Pete Molinari
Alessi's Ark
Sea of Bees
Justin Robertson
Richard Norris (Beyond the Wizard's Sleeve)
Mechanical Bride
Gaggle
The Rockingbirds
Trevor Moss & Hannah-Lou
James Walbourne
Lanterns on the Lake
Cashier No9
Two Fingers of Firewater
Gruff Rhys
Bellowhead
Saint Etienne
Johnny Flynn
John Grant
The Duke & The King
Cherry Ghost
Fixers
Trophy Wife
Jonquil
Chad Valley
Caitlin Rose
Marques Toliver
Treefight For Sunlight
Marcus Foster
Jonny
Richmond Fontaine
Dreaming Spires


Graham Coxon last year 
Graham Coxon will also play at Camden Crawl this sunday according to the Blur forums. Plus his album will hopefully get released by the summer! 


May 8, 2011

Dave Rowntree's 47th birthday

Happy 47th Birthday to Mr. Dave Rowntree of Blur, The Ailerons, Gorillaz (contributor - drums) and politician fame. 

 Here's a funny Q&A I found online from here:

  • When is Dave Rowntree's birthday?
  • Dave Rowntree's birthday is April 8th, 1964.
  • What is Dave Rowntree's horoscope/astrology sign?
  • Dave Rowntree's astrology/horoscope sign is Aries.
  • How old is Dave Rowntree?
  • Dave Rowntree is 47 years old.*
  • Dave Rowntree's Biography
  • Dave Rowntree was born on April 8th, 1963. 
  • (*if alive today)



What's with the last line ? Ha ha ha. [EDIT: 47, he's 47, not 48 years young. I must be posting one year in advance!]


May 6, 2011

Graham Coxon quashes Blur rumours - NO NEW SONGS

From this month's Q Magazine (May 2011 - credits to 2J from the forums):

Despite saying in February that they have been meeting up to "record a few things", Graham Coxon has told Q Magazine that Blur are not working on new songs. 

"There's no plans for anything at the moment. It's more like a coffee morning where we might get an instrument or two out. But as for formal recording, that hasn't really been happening." he says. "I think if we really wanted to get intense and start writing songs it would have to be something a little bit more committed. Maybe we all have our little percentages of doubt when it comes to Blur." 

Coxon himself, though has been no slouch as regards to recording, collaborating with Paloma Faith and ex- Coral guitarist Bill Ryder-Jones on the recent single Desire (commissioned by the Converse shoe company) and completing two solo albums. One - tentatively titled Accident & Emergency - is "like Van Der Graaf Generator meets Faust meets Syd Barrett" while the other is "more like mid-80s indie groups". 

Click to enlarge
So - this is not new news for the Blur fans... how many numerous times have Damon or Graham spoken to reporters and quashed the tiny glimmer of New-Blur-Material hope that we have been nurturing ? Before, Damon said there would never be Blur again, and that Blur would never reunite. Look what happened in Glastonbury 2009 (in case you don't know, Blur did end up reuniting and playing a one-off massive gig). How many times have we heard Alex James mention busting Dave Rowntree out of law school just so that Blur will get together again ? The answer: countless times.

Personally, I think that the boys just might have grown up a little from their Brit-pop glory days, and have now mellowed and settled into... Midlife (no pun intended), family life and really making music or doing things that they personally like. 

They could start up a new Blur album when all their own projects are done, like Damon with his new opera, and Graham with his solo albums. Speaking of Graham's solo albums, the new one's called Accident & Emergency, and it's probably going to be released sometime this year. I am looking forward to that very much, and hopefully it will spawn a few hit singles or two. 

Graham Coxon's Desire single is out NOW - check out the video I uploaded here and don't forget to subscribe to my youtube Blur channel. 


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