Alex James turned 44 on November 21st 2012 - Happy belated birthday to one of the coolest bassist (with the coolest hair) around!
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| Fan made compilation to Alex James. Credits: @BlurChina |
November 28, 2012
Alex James turns 44 !
November 27, 2012
Graham Coxon - There is No new Blur album for 2013
Graham Coxon tweeted on his official twitter page on November 26th 2012 that there will be "no" new Blur album in the future. The guitarist replied to a fan on twitter who asked whether there will be a new album in the near future with Damon Albarn, Alex James and Dave Rowntree.
Graham's reply was a two-lettered one: No.
There has been rumours surrounding the band since their reform in 2009 and following their landmark Hyde Park gig for the London Olympics this year. They are also set to play several European festivals for their Europe Tour 2013, including headlining some big-named musical gigs in Spain, Portugal, Belgium and Poland.
Graham recently wrote a song for Channel 4's Fresh Meat programme, performed by Kingsley. He said he agreed to write the song because he learned that Blur was Kingsley actor Joe Thomas's favourite band. Listen to his new song here.
Check out Graham Coxon's twitter page to read his tweets. The guitarist is known for being sporadic, unpredictable and surprising with his tweets. He even tweeted us on BlurBalls several times. Can we take his comment this time as a serious one, or is it just a remark about Blur's current flexible stage ?
It's hardly anything definite since all we have is Graham Coxon's one-word tweet. Yet, is this a sign that Blur have no plans to record anything in time for their European tour in 2013 ? They have confirmed so many dates, but will they be living off their former glories and just play old songs? These are questions that have no answers yet.
Here are some interesting comments from Blur fans about this (Source: NME - names have been removed):
Have you seen Coxon' tweet? He's notorious for trolling. Although it could be the case there just isn't a new album coming - Either way, bands have had one over you before haven't they NME?
First Jarvis announcing that there won't be any new Pulp material, and now Graham pretty much announcing there won't be another Blur album. What a bloody awful day this has been. :( :( :(
That's it Blur ruled it out alright, Graham Coxon said "No" on Twitter, oh gee, I guess that's it then. Haha, how many musicians/ artists have ruled out the possibility of another album? Who EVER expected the Stone Roses to get back together? A simple "No" on the notoriously informal site of Twitter won't do it for me, haha.
Blur is obviously a part time pursuit - Albarn is bored with it, The ginger one appears to prefer being a solicitor, Cameron's mate writes for the sun. Guess its back to the solo albums Graham! Still those big gigs and the money from that british gas advert will keep him going.
I am convinced that there will a new record in the next 12 months. The band have a very high standard and I really can't see them living off past glories for another set of big gigs next summer. Damon, Graham, Alex and Dave have way to much pride in their music not to do it! So lets leave them do what they do best and be patient and new material will come!
November 24, 2012
New Graham Coxon Interview - Fresh Meat 2012
Graham Coxon was featured on Channel 4's program Fresh Meat this November. In this interview, there are some of the usual guitar questions and music related topics, and some bizarre and random questions about dogs' body parts.
Graham Coxon has also written an "angst-ridden" song for Fresh Meat. Listen to the full new Graham Coxon song, performed by Kingsley and titled "Implodium Implodes" below.
Graham Coxon was also featured on BBC 6 Music Radio's Legends Week on the morning of November 16th 2012. The host Shaun Keavney interviewed Graham Coxon and posted some new pictures of the Blur guitarist in the studio, with his guitar, telecaster and winter outfit.
Graham talked about quitting smoking and trying a new method - electronic smoking, amongst other endeavors. Listen to the show on BBC iPlayer here.
November 20, 2012
Interview with Blur Artist: Julia Aurea Stein
Julia Aurea Stein is a talented artist from Brazil who creates some of the most detailed, colourful and snappy drawings of Blur's Graham Coxon and Damon Albarn that we have seen. Many of her works feature and were inspired by musical icons including The Beatles, Peter Gabriel, various Gorillaz characters and the two main members of Blur.
We interviewed her recently about her love of art, coffee, TV, Graham Coxon and Blur.
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| 'Abandon Us In Love' - Julia Aurea Stein |
How did you first get into Blur ?
Oh, haha! Came across them through a bit of a random reference really! It was this friend of mine from the Genesis community (I am a fan of Genesis also) who introduced me to Blur! Round 2009 I believe, I watched Clockwork Orange for the first time and being a fan of Kubrick I loved it.
I told this one friend from the community I had seen and loved it, and so he sent me this link, and it was The Universal clip! Ta-da! Adored it and asked him right away who those were, he explained it was his favourite clip from the nineties and that he very much enjoyed Blur back then. And so that was it! I was introduced then, and from then on I got to explore and discover and love!
Why did you start drawing Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon ?
You know, that's a funny question...I’m not sure why I kept drawing them, and Graham in particular...But it was an experiment at first. Come to think of it, the first one of my "idols" that I ventured doodling was Peter Gabriel. I'd never before tried drawing The Beatles nor Joni nor any other because I never felt secure enough about my drawings to try drawing people who I admire so much...
But back in 2010, I was given a sketchbook for a university assignment to try and represent music or "sound" graphically. This was where the Coffee & TV and The Universal doodles came from! I ended up liking the results of those sketches as I was very much into Blur and Graham, especially those days when it seemed only natural that I continue doodling them.
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| 'Graham Doodle' |
Tell me about your style - how would you describe your art ?
Hmm, I don't know really, I've been drawing ever since I can remember! It's sort of a vital activity for me really, it's my major outlet...I've no pretensions about or with it though as well...It's just the way I express myself when I feel the urge to.
As for my style...I don't know how I could explain it much too. It has changed considerably throughout the years. As I've never had any methodological or you know, any kind of education or guidelines in terms of drawing technique and such. Sometimes I am afraid that my style and my "art" is just purely amateurish expressions, though I did acquire a certain background in university here and there...
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| 'Damon and Graham II' |
What influenced your art ? Tell us about your biggest influences.
I believe that my parents and my musical and artistic childhood background have been the major influences in my art. Both my parents were into quite a "hippie-sh" "alternative" scenario when younger. My mother is very skilled at handicrafts, for as long as I can remember she's been drawing her mandalas and making her mobiles and kaleidoscopes; And my father is mad about music, he's like a walking encyclopaedia on almost every band from the beginning of the past century up to the early eighties. For as long as I can remember he has been playing his guitars!
As I was brought up in that atmosphere, it's only natural that reminiscences of those influences would find their way out through my own style...The thing with the patterns and arabesques and such I love to draw so much, for instance, that's something that remits to those roots and infancy imprints.
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| 'Coffee and TV' (top); 'Oochy Woochy' (bottom) |
Your drawings are so colorful ! Do you color them by hand or by computer ?
It depends. Depends on my mood, on what I mean for the piece, as in whether it's a free piece or for a university commission. I used to colour all by hand, up until a couple of years ago when I started playing around with vectors, and I got to use them instead for colours.
I scanning the original pencil work and colour it in with vector patches. I'm keen on experimenting more with watercolour these days though. It's been long I don't use it and I used to love it as a child. Vectors are very practical, for I like plain opaque shades and vectors give the work a more defined and solid look, whereas paintbrush or colouring by hand provides a more irregular touch, which is nice too.
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| Damon Albarn doodles ; Graham Coxon doodles |
How long do you take to draw each piece ? It's so detailed!
Again that depends. Sometimes I get to draw some very quick sketches in less than an hour, and I am very satisfied with them. But I must say that happens rather seldom. I usually take ages for drawing. You know, when I'm in the mood and inspired, provided I have a record playing on the background, I can and will spend the day at my desk doodling away.
To draw a piece such as the posters I drew of Blur and Graham for Coffee & TV, Bonfires and so, I take around a week or so to get done with the pencil drawings alone, and colouring them must take some good three to five days in the very least as well. It usually takes several sketches for me to get to the one composition I find acceptable. For instance, for the drawing of Graham and Damon I drew three different versions for every small picture, till I got to one I actually liked!
Damon or Graham ?
Easy: Graham all the way! No doubt.
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| 'Bonfires' (top); 'Love Travels' (bottom) |
Your favourite Blur song and album ?
Hmm, that's a bit tricky...I can't pick only one favourite! That's cruel! But for a few, some of my most beloved tunes would be: Peach, Luminous, Inertia, Oily Water, Tender, You're So Great, She's So High, Bang, Mellow Song...Agh! Too many others to be fair!
Same for albums, can't name my one favourite. But my top three would be 13, the self-titled and Modern Life Is Rubbish, followed by Leisure!
Final words ?
Hmm, that's a bit tricky...I can't pick only one favourite! That's cruel! But for a few, some of my most beloved tunes would be: Peach, Luminous, Inertia, Oily Water, Tender, You're So Great, She's So High, Bang, Mellow Song...Agh! Too many others to be fair!
Same for albums, can't name my one favourite. But my top three would be 13, the self-titled and Modern Life Is Rubbish, followed by Leisure!
Final words ?
Well, it's been a pleasure answering the questions for you! Thanks for contacting me and featuring my silly doodles! Cheers!
Check out more of Julia Aurea Stein's fabulous Blur illustrations on her Flickr page (we can't get enough of this set) and on her Deviantart page.
Check out more of Julia Aurea Stein's fabulous Blur illustrations on her Flickr page (we can't get enough of this set) and on her Deviantart page.
You can get in touch with her on twitter (@JuliaAurea)
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November 16, 2012
Blur confirmed to headline Poland festival 2012
A new Blur headliner act for their upcoming European Tour has been confirmed just moments ago - and this time Blur is going to play in Poland's Heineken Open'er 2013.
The Heineken Open-er Festival is one of the Poland's biggest music festivals. It takes place at the Gdynia-Kosakowo airfield, Gdynia, Poland from 3rd to 6th July 2013. The 80-hectare airfield space contains 7 massive stages and can feature 120 artists. The location is also a festival town with campsites, a beach, sports grounds and various other merchandise areas suitable for activities and music performances.
Bjork headlined the Open'er festival last year. Mumford & Sons, New Order and Orbital were amongst the other acts who played in the four-day music festival last year in 2012. This year, it will be britpop band Blur's turn on the stage.
So far, Blur have confirmed several countries for their European tour 2013. The locations are Primavera Sound in Spain and Portugal, Rock Werchter in Belgium, and now it's Heineken Open'er in Poland. They are also rumoured to play in France, Australia and Japan, as well as UK's Coachella, Reading and Leeds festivals, although no official confirmation has been issued.
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| Will this come true ? |
A four-day Open'er festival ticket (from 03/07 – 06/07) cost approximately £71 and a four-day ticket with 6 days of camping (from 02/07 – 07/07) costs approximately £84.
Order your special early bird tickets for Heineken Open'er Poland by clicking HERE. The tickets are available from now until January 15th 2013 while stock lasts.
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| Poland's Open'er Festival boasts a massive grand location and atmosphere |
Stay tuned for more up-to-date updates on Blur's European Tour in 2013. It's going to be a big year for the iconic band.
Damon Albarn's new composition to hit BBC airwaves
Damon Albarn's newest composition, named "2LO London Calling" has hit the airwaves across 55 BBC Radio stations globally at 5:33pm , on Wednesday, November 14th 2012. The new song has played across national radio, World Service and the local UK radio stations to mark the 90th anniversary of the BBC yesterday.
Damon created a comissioned musical collage for this special event. It was a mixture of soundbites of radio listeners from all ages all across the UK. More information was revealed via The Guardian's feature:
Albarn's creation, called 2LO London Calling (named after the original 2LO transmitter) is an unconventional affair, featuring Big Ben, bird song and a quote from philosopher Bertrand Russell, relayed in morse code.
It will also feature excerpts from the original broadcast on 14 November 1922 as well as the Greenwich Time Signal "pips".
The broadcast will be "hosted" by Radio 2 DJ Simon Mayo during his drivetime show, live from the Science Museum in west London.
Listen below for Damon Albarn's new song debut. It is an interesting piece of audio, and sounds like a mixture of messages from across the times.
After all, the estimated audience worldwide for the stream was 120 million and each has heard Damon Albarn's 3 minute composition. We particularly liked the ending when music started and the speaking stopped.
Listen and watch the full Damon Albarn interview about his project, inspiration, process and excerpt from the special radio program below. He explains how he tried to collate the soundbites and what it means for him. He even talked a little about Nigeria and his feelings on each sound on the track.
Blur for Spain and Portugal HERE
Blur confirmed for Poland HERE
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November 13, 2012
Dave Rowntree to DJ in London - Death2Disco November
Dave Rowntree is set to DJ in a London club, the Notting Hill Arts Club, on the 14th November 2012.
The promotional flyer for this special night writes that there will be a very special guest DJ called 'Dark Destroyer' from Blur - and it is none other than Dave Rowntree who is the man behind the name.
Dave is also DJing in Madrid, Spain on the 17th November. It looks like the drummer's hectic schedule of being a lawyer, drummer and now DJ means he has to fly to and from England! Read the feature here to get the details.
Check out Death2Disco's official Facebook page for more details and for those Blur fans in London this week, make sure you RSPV for the party and a chance to meet the one and only Dave Rowntree (from 7pm - 2am) by clicking here.
* Dave will start at around 11:00pm
Blur for Spain and Portugal HERE
Blur confirmed for Poland HERE
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November 12, 2012
Watch Alex James and Phil Daniels on Pointless Celebrities
Alex James and Phil Daniels appeared on the TV show 'Pointless Celebrities', a game show which aired on November 10th 2012. Watch to learn whether the twosome had enough musical knowledge to win the game.
Fun Blur fact of the week:
'Song 2' was blasted all across the grounds for the Tennis tournament - ATP Finals Week - in London this week.
November 9, 2012
Graham Coxon Interview - November 2012
Graham Coxon was interviewed by Roland UK recently and he had more to say about Blur's Hyde Park Olympics closing ceremony gig from August 2012. The Blur guitarist explains his "madness", creativity, artistic inspirations and reveals what bands he is currently listening to.
Graham also answered some questions about Blur and their recent gigs. He said that the band were "pretty hyper" and that they were glad to prove to everyone that they were not "old clapped out gits". So much for Graham Coxon's idiosyncratic style of speech!
The excerpts about Blur, taken from the original interview (by Jamie Franklin), were:
How do you feel about your Olympics gig with Blur? I feel fine. I feel like it’s about five years away. We haven’t even rehearsed yet so it feels like it’s not for ages.
Do you really need to rehearse? We’ve got to be good haven’t we?! We’ve got to give ourselves the best chance to be good. It’s important for me to know what I’m doing and not play bum notes – not that I often get bum notes these days – and to play at the best of my abilities. I don’t want to feel like I didn’t give it everything.
The Glastonbury and Hyde Park gigs were amazing. What’s it like for you playing these huge gigs? It’s a pleasure to play gigs on that scale. Technology’s moved on such a long way since we were first playing. The sound was louder, the speakers were smaller and the sound onstage was phenomenal. The equipment is incredible now. When you have a nice guitar, a nice amp and you have thousands of people watching you, it doesn’t get much better. [At Glastonbury] It was mental – I thought we were playing better that we ever did.
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| Picture credited to Essy Syed |
Did you feel like you have anything to prove? A little bit. Blur requires a hell of a lot of commitment and energy so I was happy that we could do those shows and do them justice, and not look like old clapped out gits. That’s what Blur performances have always been about – taking us to the edge of exhausting ourselves. We’re all pretty hyper.
At Hyde Park I saw you do a backwards roll whilst playing a riff and you didn’t miss a note. I don’t even think I can do a backwards roll, let alone play guitar while doing it…
(Laughs) You just saw the one that went OK! There have been 50 times before where I ended up flat on my face with a broken headstock on my guitar. It’s always a risk. Yeah, but sod it. Most of my guitars have been broken anyway. My favourite SG was broken before I even played it at a gig, thanks to British Airways.
Last month, Graham Coxon just missed out being nominated on the Mercury Music Prize 2012. He also kept busy with a 4-track collaboration with British rapper Example and is rumoured to be making a new album for release next year.
Check out the full interview by Roland UK Blog to read all about what Graham Coxon is up to these days, what bands he is currently liking and more technical talk, random musings and guitar chit chat.
Blur for Spain and Portugal HERE
Blur confirmed for Poland HERE
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November 7, 2012
Blur Run-downs - November 2012
There are a lot of Blur-related items and interesting pieces circulating everywhere on the web, and sometimes it's hard to catch up on everything. We bring you a new feature- regular run-downs of the week's must-see, must-watch top Blur lists. Here is our November Blur list 2012.
1. New picture of Damon Albarn with Kano - posted on Benga, a dubstep producer from London's Facebook page just yesterday. A new collaboration seems to be up for the near future.
2. DIY: Make your own Beetlebum (Ocean Pacific) jumper - this trademark white jumper with coloured stripes can be easily made using a little paint and any white jumper from your nearest store. (There's also an English version here)
3. Graham Coxon talks about his love for Fender Telecasters - good to see the cheerful Graham giving a great little interview feature.
4. End of a Century - A Ukulele Cover - a pure rendition of Blur's single from Parklife. It's a nice cover and his youtube channel has a few more Blur covers that sound interesting.
5. New Damon Albarn Interview on Persian TV (credits: albarnunofficial) - a 25 minute feature for Pause Magazine Music Week aired this month.
Order the new Blur: Parklife (Live at Hyde Park CD / DVD) HERE
Order the new Blur boxset HERE
Blur first ever 2012 gig- Maida Vale gig full coverage HERE
Blur for Spain and Porto HERE
Blur Europe Tour News HERE
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November 4, 2012
Blur 21 - View Exhibition online
The Blur 21 exhibition has gone digital - now fans can view the gallery and some selected prints online on Blur's official website here. The promotional introduction on the website goes:
Discover 21 years of iconic photographs and artwork
For three weeks, over 70 images of Blur were exhibited together for the first time at the Londonewcastle Project Space in Shoreditch, London. Featuring images from legendary music photographers, designers and artists including Pennie Smith, Kevin Cummins, Paul Postle, Tom Sheehan, Banksy and Julian Opie, celebrating the band's 21 year career.
Whilst the exhibition has now closed, revisit and rediscover a selection of the unique images featured, here. Click the images below to take a closer look.
New images can be found in the galleries and in the shop link below. These include rare or compiled pictures of the band in the studio or for a promotional shoot, all in high quality. Some highlights include:
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| Blur in the studio recording collage, John Henry Studios, London |
What's more, the official photos are available for sale online (http://www.culturelabel.com/shop/s/spotify-presents-blur-21/) They are costly (£600- £1000), but perhaps collectors of Blur or completists would be interested.
Fans can also win some Blur merchandise by entering the exclusive Blur 21 competition HERE. The answer for the question on the form is "YES" - Blur did play Young and Lovely in Hyde Park 2012.
Order the new Blur: Parklife (Live at Hyde Park CD / DVD) HERE
Order the new Blur boxset HERE
Blur first ever 2012 gig- Maida Vale gig full coverage HERE
Blur for Spain and Porto HERE
Blur Europe Tour News HERE
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Stay Tuned, leave us a comment below and Get The Latest Blur News delivered straight to you- BlurBalls is the most updated Blur fan site on the internet!
November 2, 2012
Dave Rowntree spins Blur DJ set in Madrid club - 2012
Party, music and a surprising DJ lineup - the latest Blur news is not too Blur-related, but drummer Dave Rowntree will be the DJ in Ocho Y Medio Club, Madrid, on November 13th 2012.
Dave Rowntree's DJ session for this month isn't his first. A forum member said that Dave also DJed for Graham Coxon's solo gigs in London once, back when he was playing drums for the guitarist.
Check out the Spanish club's official website to see what they're all about : http://www.ochoymedioclub.com/
For Blur fans in Spain or Madrid - here's a chance to see Dave Rowntree hit the turntables and party hard. We wonder what songs will be played - perhaps a Blur rock anthem or tune ? Will Dave go for the sounds that influenced early Blur ? After all, the set couldn't be labelled BLUR dj set for nothing.
Order the new Blur: Parklife (Live at Hyde Park CD / DVD) HERE
Order the new Blur boxset HERE
Blur first ever 2012 gig- Maida Vale gig full coverage HERE
Blur for Spain and Porto HERE
Blur Europe Tour News HERE
SUBSCRIBE NOW!
Stay Tuned, leave us a comment below and Get The Latest Blur News delivered straight to you- BlurBalls is the most updated Blur fan site on the internet!
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