Blur bass player Alex James says that that best thing the band ever did was split up and that Damon Albarn and Noel Gallagher are now best mates who smoke cigars together.
Blur bass player Alex James says that that best thing the band ever did was split up and that Damon Albarn and Noel Gallagher are now best mates who smoke cigars together.
Speaking ahead of Blur's gig at IMMA, Dublin on Thursday, August 1st with support from Bat for Lashes and The Strypes, James told Today FM's Ray D'Arcy about his new life as a cheesemaker and farmer.
"Blur came to an end in 2003 and at that point we'd been doing the same thing for 15 years and after that amount of time it does become cyclical," he said. "We needed to go off and do other things.
"We've all worked with other people since then. I think splitting up was the best thing we ever did."
During the interview, D'Arcy recalled having the old Blur vs Oasis argument with his friends "in Snaffles Nightclub in Kildare" and asked James who did he think eventually won The Battle of Britpop.
"It's funny because these days Damon and Noel are best mates," James said. "They go off and smoke cigars together. I think we realised we were all on the same side eventually."
The 44-year-old father of five now lives on a farm in Berkshire and makes cheese. "People throw cheese at me when I'm on stage. Some musicians get underwear," he said.
"Ireland is a fantastic place for cheese. I was over there last year looking at Bries.
"There are so many great Irish cheeses. Did you know Brie was invented in Ireland? The French monks took it back to Normandy. They stole it!"
Asked what was the most rock `n' roll thing he'd ever done, James said, "We sent a spaceship to Mars."
(Source) Blur Tour 2013 - Full dates and rundown HERE Blur @ Coachella- video and image gallery HERE
Damon Albarn has hinted at a future new Gorillaz album, and this time it's without Jamie Hewlett. In an interview with Shortlist Magazine, Damon Albarn said nothing will change if Gorillaz went ahead and made a new album without Hewlett's illustrations. The only aspect that would be missing is bass player Murdoc's cartoon drawing.
He said:
"It was very much Jamie [Hewlett] did the visuals and I did the music. The music won’t change, so there could be another Gorillaz record tomorrow. It wouldn’t necessarily have Murdoc - the cartoon aspect to it - but musically, no, nothing’s changed whatsoever."
One moment it's over, the other it's on again - Damon Albarn
The Blur frontman also denied rumours that Gorillaz were "over" for good. Damon said that Gorillaz would undoubtedly continue on if Jamie Hewlett and himself reconciled their differences that contributed to their fallout this year. But wait - Damon also mentions how Gorillaz are still going strong in another much earlier interview.
"Jamie wants to do other things and I understand," he said. "But you never know, in a few years he might have a burning desire to draw those pictures again, and as soon as he does that, as far as I’m concerned, there could be another Gorillaz album."
It seems very likely fans of Albarn and Gorillaz will be getting a new album. It is merely a matter of when the musical pair will agree to work together again. Looks like Gorillaz was, and is not over.
Just some more updates on Doctor Dee - Damon Albarn's new opera that's going to premier this July. Thanks to 2-J (Gorillaz Unofficial ) from the forums for the heads up.
From this week's NME MAGAZINE - an article with a few new pictures of Damon, sporting a massive beard and talking about his new opera. Click the scans below to enlarge.
Albarn has written 10 new songs that he's going to perform solo in the opera. Looking forward to that very much, especially as one of them, Apple Carts, has been performed in BBC a few days ago. Check that out HERE.
And thanks to the Gorillaz Unofficial website, Damon did a little interview about the opera with fan submitted questions. Here is what is on the website:
Last week we gave you the opportunity to send in questions about Dr.Dee (through our blog, forums and twitter) which we'd pass on to Damon. The level of response was great and thanks to all of you who submitted questions - these were the ones that Damon picked out to answer, and his responses. A big thanks to Damon and well done to those who got their questions answered!
1. Is Tony Allen going to appear live in the opera?
Damon: Yes
2. How do you think the change in our concepts of 'science' and 'magic' impact on contemporary culture, particularly British? What's your agenda on that, that you'd like to get across [in the opera]?
Damon: I like to imagine a reality where we had held on to ritual a little longer in England, bring back tea ladies!
3. What composers influenced you when you composed this opera?
Damon: I don’t know how much rubbed off on me, I hope a bit but I listend to a lot of Notre Dame School French Music.
4.Damon, did you get to handle any of Dee's artifacts at the British Museum? Specifically the Shew Stone?
Damon: There was talk of it but as of now I have not physically held it
5. Is it a comedy or a tragedy?
Damon: I think it might be more of a Requimedy
6. when you were creating the opera's music was it possible to travel back in time and start the composing from Dr. Dee's england? In other words how accurately can you channel your mind to a specific place or time when composing? or does it come naturally?
Damon: Music is time
7. In the trailer for Dr. Dee, the music that is played through-out features an African chime which flows with the imagery in it. Will this style of music be present in your new opera?
Damon: African Chime one of 7
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Damon Albarn features in the Guardian's 'The Music Power 100' (the most influential people in music today), at a rank of 24. The article writes, and I transcribe directly:
24 Damon Albarn
Artist: Blur, Gorillaz, The Good, the Bad and the Queen
Label Executive: Co-founder, Honest Jon's
Far from the knowing, ambitious rock frontman he was in the early days of Blur, Albarn has revealed himself to be one of British music's most invigorating renaissance men. As well as his involvement in Gorillaz and The Good, the Bad and the Queen, the Honest Jon's label he co-founded has brought African, Caribbean and obscure black American to young, hip audiences, and his experiments in opera are helping to dismantle the barriers between "high" and "low" art.
Click on the picture below to read the scan full sized (credits to damon4president for the scan).
I would say it's a pretty accurate and honest description. But he should have been ranked even higher, some of the rankings seem a bit sketchy. And Damon Albarn is definitely help breaking barriers in many many different areas, not just whatever "high" and "low" art is ! Any opinions ?
Damon Albarn is not the kind of guy who can sit still and leave a couple of years (or more) in between albums.
He’s just finished with Gorillaz, more rumors of further Blur dates keep surfacing, and now it appears he’s been working on new material with Dan the Automator and Kid Koala.
The latter just appeared on Tim Sweeney’s Beats in Space radio show, where he dropped this as-yet untitled demo, which is a choppy, trip hop-style collaboration between the trio.
Albarn’s plaintive vocals help increase the already-downcast nature of the track, which is wrapped around a neat stuttering framework. Is this a long-term project for these three artists? We don’t know yet, but this demo certainly sounds promising.
So the song "Sumthin Like This Night" from Snoop Dogg's latest album Doggumentary is out on youtube.
The song features Snoop Dogg's signature drowning rap and clever lyrics, then Damon Albarn does the vocals, or the first part of the chorus "but you never tried it... something like this night...somethin like this night....". The second part of the chorus doesn't sound like Damon, it sounds like someone else, but we can still hear the Damon Albarn backing vocals all through out.
Listen below and keep reading on for a bit more reviewing.
The tune is much like Doncamatic (All played out), Gorillaz's non-album single released a few months ago. That was because Damon felt Plastic Beach didn't have a single that was "pop" and synthetic enough, so he created the song for the sole purpose of it being a non-album single that can sell. Anyways, in Doncamatic (listen below) there is an electronic trumpet instrument that blares the sounds all through the song. The rhythm is basically constructed of the electronic trumpet item blaring the tune of the song. In Sumthin Like This Night, similar sounds were used, and I think it worked better in Doncamatic to be honest.
I would say this isn't good single material. It's catchy but rather repetitive, and definitely not dance floor material (usually those get to top the charts, admit it) and the song's rather mellow and down key. I do hope it will chart if it gets released as a single from Snoop Dogg's album, though I somehow have doubts about that.
I just wish Gorillaz would make a more single worthy song like 19/2000 or Clint Eastwood soon! And release their b-sides.
TUESDAY NIGHT, people, time for another weekly BLURBLOGCAPTION CONTEST! Apologies for the erratic times, tough times call for a bit more flexibility on the postings. I've been up to drawing more pictures of Blur, going to the gym a few times per week, and generally doing what I do best - procrastinate. This week I present to you:
Come on guys! This one is A PIECE OF CAKE (or should I say bananas) ! Damon, Graham, two bananas, matching outfits, black shirts, damon's expression. You got a caption/ comment? Leave it below.
The awesome winner for Blurball Caption Contest 3 is my amazing reader Rose who didn't technically submit a caption, but committed Blur blasphemy by uttering Franz Ferdinand in a Blur website (gasp, horror!) with her comment mentioning how the line "Do you want to ? " was stuck in her head.
Really appreciate the long flowing comments, Rose. Keep posting. You get this awesome GIF as a prezzie.
Thanks Rose. You can keep Damon!
And for all you who are new or just stumbled upon this cozy little Blur blog across cyberspace, please leave a comment below!
I did another impression sketch... I don't know what's up with me these days! I'm feeling quite creative with the computer! Perhaps it's the Blur news that just keeps coming that's kicking me off?
It's the face. It's in the eyes...It's...GORILLAZ.
Last Friday night was spent spilling blood and tears over an essay. Now that that's over, I will dedicate this post (a tad late!) to announcing the winners of the BlurBall Caption Contest 2 and to kick start a NEW competition for this week!
Ladies and Gentlemen (or neither)....time for the Monday morning BLURBLOGCAPTION CONTEST!
Thanks to Caitlin from the forums for putting up this hilarious picture. Damon and Jamie, partners in crime, partners in business and partners in goofing around. Can YOU think of something funny that was going on the minds of those two when the picture was taken? How about an awesome one-liner that goes with the monkeying around ?
Speaking of which, Damon and Jamie kind of look alike here. Maybe it's the hair. Or the suits. Love them.
The winner for Blurball Caption Contest 2 is NoWhereNoHow who suggested the caption "With Prestige, there comes a foreboding burden..." with inspiration from the lyrics in Advert (Modern Life is Rubbish)! Congratulations!
Now that's one serious caption there. It's DEEP! You get a milky postcard as a token of extreme gratitude.
Aren't they the sweetest couple?
Dear readers, please leave a comment below on any suggestions/ comments and CAPTIONS for the new picture! Be sure to check out the Gallery for past contest winners.
Several online retailers, including Amazon.co.uk here and Amazon.com here are now listing a release of The Fall on CD, due out 18th April in the UK, on Parlophone, and 19th April in the USA, on Virgin Records.
No news on the track listing or any packaging details yet, but I'm looking forward to it!
Rumors of a vinyl record being released to coincide with Record Store Day is also hot on the news. More on this as more news are out!
Speaking of which, I still haven't completed my The Fall review (BlurBalls style!)... Will do, I promise. Keep reading!
After watching the Oscars this morning on live TV, and seeing the montage of dead persons in Hollywood, I got to say, I'm surprised.
I now know that Dennis Hopper and Pete Postlethwaite passed away. That's really something - when did they die? It wasn't like all over the front page of the news, or even the "entertainment" section.
Pete Postlethwaite is possibly the man with the most angular face shape I've ever seen. He was amazing in "Brassed Off" starring Ewan McGregor, and I read somewhere Steven Spielberg thinks highly of him, dubbing him the most versatile actor around.
Brassed Off premier
Dennis Hopper - at first I was like "Wait - wasn't he in one of the Gorillaz albums?" and then I did a quick search and found out that not only was he the guy who did "Fire coming out of the monkey's head" for Gorillaz album Demon Days.
He also performed and toured with the band during the promotion of Demon Days. I remember during my days where college work didn't bombard me with deadlines, words and essays, I used to watch the whole Gorillaz concerts online. Here's a particularly good performance featuring the one and only Dennis Hopper...
He is amazing. Simply amazing how an actor can work with Damon Albarn, the genius of creating music and combining people together, to create such a song. It plays great live too.
Dennis Hopper also features on Bananaz, Gorillaz's documentary film. He is hilarious... Damon's hilarious... Jamie's goofy. The clip below shows you the part he's in.
I think Damon just wants to use his American accent to show his gradual shift into the american music scene! Or to promote his album in the US ?
Dennis Hopper with Jamie and Damon at the Grammys
He will be missed... I'm now wondering how Damon took the news of his death. Damon and Dennis seemed pretty close and in good terms, at least on the business side of things.
It was a shock for me to learn he died, and only in the Oscars did I actually hear this news. It's sad.
Check this previously unreleased Gorillaz interview. The interview was conducted while they were in France during the tour late last year. Check out the interview on Youtube below.
I love Damon's hat and that Jamie Hewlett is just a laid back, silly cool ape.
First heard from mrbeats from the Blur Forums, Gorillaz's "Stylo" from Plastic Beach was nominated for an MTV-U Woodie Award 2011 for Best Video.
According to wikipedia:
"It was announced that Gorillaz would be performing on March 11, 2011 at the MTV Woodie awards. They have also been nominated for the Best Video Woodie for "Stylo" at the MTV woodie awards."
After doing a quick search, here's what I found out about the Woodie Award.
mtvU is a division of MTV Networks which produces a 24-hour television channel that is available on more than 750 college and university campuses across the United States. mtv U provides a more targeted alternative to MTV, and gives advertisers and music promotion companies access to college-age viewers, access that universities offer in an attempt to attract students to on-campus housing.
Basically it's MTV for University students, hence the "U". So what's the Woodie Awards?
mtvU has its own annual awards show, the Woodie Awards, which they say recognizes "the music voted best by college students." Previous winners have included Death Cab for Cutie, Motion City Soundtrack, 30 Seconds to Mars, Plain White T's, The Subways and Gnarls Barkley.
“Opposite Of Adults” Nominated For 2011 mtvU Woodie Awards
The Gorillaz "Stylo" is nominated for Best Video Woodie. The website features an epic picture of Damon performing at one of the gigs this year.
I hope Gorillaz wins Best Video this year. As I said before, it's awards season now and Gorillaz haven't won anything yet, even with all the nominations for NME, Grammys, Brits and Woodies....
So, keep checking Blurballs for the latest update on awards!
Hey all, it's the awards season! In my last post, we saw that Gorillaz and Blur didn't win anything at the Grammy Awards this year. So this morning, I was reminded by my dear friends on facebook that The Brit Awards are coming up!
The Brit Awards 2011 will take place at the O2 Arena in London on 15th February. This year Gorillaz were nominated for best British Group.
Best British Group:
Biffy Clyro Gorillaz Mumford & Sons Take That The xx
This is exciting! According to an online friend from the official website, Gorillaz is one of the favourites of this category this year. Predictions have also mentioned that Gorillaz might win!
Gorillaz at the 2006 Brit Awards
Graham knocking it back after Blur win 4 awards at the 1995 Brit Awards
Blur's "No Distance Left to Run" was nominated for the same category but lost out to The Door's film "When You're Strange".
As much as I love The Doors, it's a pity indeed that they robbed Blur of its nomination.
60s Rock Band The Doors
I've included links in the post to the winners' work. Feel free to leave a comment on what you think of the pieces. Personally I really think Jeff Beck's instrumental is nothing compared to Gorillaz's. It does not have flair, and sounds like an orchestral piece rather than a "pop" performance.
Gorillaz screams "Pop" in their sound, artwork and just everything!
I'm watching the Grammy Awards Clive Davis Party live online. Still a day before the real awards. Both Blur and Gorillaz were nominated this year, and it's the FIRST TIME Blur's ever received a Grammy Award. Ironic isn't it, how it's been years since they made any album and it's still the first time ever that they got nominated.
Blur's documentary No Distance Left To Run was nominated for Best Long Form Music Video.
Best Long Form Music Video
1. NO DISTANCE LEFT TO RUN - Blur
2. WHEN YOU'RE STRANGE - The Doors
3. THE GREATEST EARS IN TOWN: THE ARIF MARDIN STORY - Arif Mardin
4. RUSH: BEYOND THE LIGHTED STAGE - Rush
5. UNDER GREAT WHITE NORTHERN LIGHTS - The White Stripes
Gorillaz's were nominated for 2 awards:
Best Pop Instrumental Performance
"Flow" -- Laurie Anderson
"Nessun Dorma" -- Jeff Beck
"No Mystery" -- Stanley Clarke
"Orchestral Intro" -- Gorillaz
"Sleepwalk" -- The Brian Setzer Orchestra
Best Short Form Music Video
Johnny Cash – "Ain't No Grave / The Johnny Cash Project"
Eminem and Rihanna – "Love the Way You Lie"
Gorillaz, Mos Def and Bobby Womack– "Stylo"
Cee Lo Green – "Fuck You!"
Lady Gaga – "Bad Romance"
Bruce Willis in Stylo
Lets see if Gorillaz or Blur notches up an award! Keep checking this site for updates!
Dear readers, I'm extremely tired after a long Saturday in college. Had class from 10:00am in the morning till 6:00pm at night. Fun eh?
Just before I head off to bed, I thought I'd fulfill my promise of reviewing some more of Gorillaz's The Fall ("...the first ipad album in the world!"). To read Part 1 of the review, click here.
4 - Detriot
I feel more awake after listening to this tune. It's fresh, clear and catchy, although very raw. Sorta techno, steady beat and rhythm all through out. It's more like an experiment in the beats and pop of the 80s... those disco hits. Highlights are the tune in the middle - love it. Short but sweet.
***
I'm thinking an empty disco. Perhaps it's the hours before a big party at the club, and the DJ's testing out his new tune. He's head-bobbing and wearing dark sunglasses. Disco's empty, yet the lights and everything are fully blasted. Air-conditioning makes the room chilled, ice cold.
Ice-cold room, empty only with the sound of Detriot
5 - Shy-Town
Damon is high pitch here. Very. The keyboards play a huge part in the song, with long notes played on and on. Shy-town has a strange atmosphere to it, sort of ghostly and reserved. There are also alien-radar sounds at the beginning of the song. Damon speaks in his monotone - Friday, Chicago and then starts singing. We hear waves and sounds of water. A beautiful song indeed, and one that could've made it to Plastic Beach with a little more refining.
***
Underwater. Submarines. Damon and Paul Simonon in their pirate hats and striped outfits, sailing to sea in a tiny wooden boat.
5 - Little Pink Plastic Bags
The tune's funky. Dark. Damon utters - "Little Pink Plastic Bags...blowing on a highway...they don't know where they'll go...they'll just float there" and then his voice goes off into echos. Long periods of whirling follows, sounds like some kind of fan or machine's backdrop. I think this song's the most unique song on The Fall. The tune's really wacky and it grows on you as you listen.
It's another lonely Friday night and I'm in my college dorm. Piles of assignments glare at me from the tops of my shelves. Since I'm in full procrastination mode, and I only have Gorillaz to keep me company, I'm going to present to you my track by track review of Gorillaz's "ipad album" The Fall (Released December 2010). I'll start off by introducing the album and then reviewing the first couple of tunes.
Messy desk, overdue coursework, college dorm
From Montreal to Vancouver via Seattle, Texas and Toronto, over 32 days on their North American Tour this autumn, Gorillaz recorded a musical diary. Recorded on tour, on an iPad, this low-key album (click here to listen to stream for free on the band's website) is the sound of Damon Albarn blowing trees and tweaking apps on his ipad as the American mountains rolls by his tour bus window.
The result is a collection of 15 tracks, some with vocals, some without, some combined performances and some solo.
The music was recorded during spare time while on the road. "I did it because there's a lot of time that you just spend staring at walls essentially. And it was a fantastic way of doing it" says Damon Albarn. "I found working in the day, whether it's in the hotel or in the venue, it was a brilliant way of keeping myself well." Adding that the collection is "..like a diary, I literally wrote everything on the day in each place and there's a strange sort of sound of America and its musical traditions that comes through. It feels like a journey through America."
A physical release is planned for later in 2011. The full track listing is:
Phoner To Arizona
Revolving Doors
HillBilly Man
Detroit
Shy-town
Little Pink Plastic Bags
The Joplin Spider
The Parish of Space Dust
The Snake In Dallas
Amarillo
The Speak It Mountains
Aspen Forest
Bobby In Phoenix
California And The Slipping Of The Sun
Seattle Yodel
Lets go through what you get with this album, shall we? I will review the first 3 tracks.
Oh, and I've included pictures of how I picture the song when I listen to it. Maybe it'll help you visualize and set the mood...
1 - Phoner to Arizona
Slightly techno. Reminds me of Stylo, especially the 80s bass beat that runs all the way through the song. No vocals, quite repetitive. It seems like a perfect B-side to any Plastic Beach song, it's pretty much Damon's style. Fades away at the end. Nothing special or spectacular, just a plain old tune that could have been polished.
***
When I listen to Phoner to Arizona, I'm imagining a night out. It's late and everyone's leaving the party, bar, club. You're walking home alone in the cold dark street. Yellow lights from the lamp-post streams down and casts a shadow.
Feel the mood...
2 - Revolving Doors
One of my favourite tracks on The Fall. Damon sings in his drowning croon and repeats "Revolving Doors" over and over again. The song describes him sitting in an American diner and watching the "foggy days" outside his window. He reflects on his life and just sings. The tune is a repeating little tune, quite catchy. Reminds me of Damon's Opera (Monkey Journey to the West) and also the song Hong Kong on Gorillaz's b-sides album D-Sides.
***
I'm just thinking revolving doors, revolving around and around. Spinning. It's a blur of people in and out. Beatles music on cue.
3- Hillbilly Man
The song begins with Damon singing about free lanes with a gentle guitar sound in the background. He's talking about driving away and the song's really mellow. Then halfway around 1:25, beats come in. The whole song changes mood. I'm not sure whether it's on purpose or not, but Damon's voice seems to be getting raspier. Rasp is then followed by the chorus, which chants Hillibilly repeatedly. Don't really like the rasp. Didn't Damon quit smoking?
***
I didn't know what "Hillibilly" was so I did a Google search. Can't stop laughing at the results:
Hillibilly - "Unsophisticated person" - Google Dictionary
That's the end of tonight's The Fall review. I'll continue on next time, please subscribe to the blog or bookmark it! You can always follow the RSS Feed on the sidebar on the right.
What do you think of The Fall and the songs above? Disagree ?
