Giveaway: We have 2 copies of Rockabye Baby! Lullaby Renditions of Blur to giveaway to two lucky fans. This album re-creates the top Blur singles into kid-friendly, percussion tunes that's soft and gentle for the ears. Simply head over to the new Giveaways page, follow us on Facebook or answer a simple fun Blur question and you're in for the draw!
Camden - the London borough that is renowned for it's vibrant musical scene, artistic flair, massive market and for being Blur guitarist Graham Coxon's residential hometown. Ask any Blur fan which pub Graham Coxon is known for hanging out in, and Camden Crawl will be answered.
And now, Camden will be the proud new owner of a Music Walk of Fame, a disc route along the town that will feature 30 discs of famous musicians including Blur, Elvis Presley, Amy Winehouse, Led Zeppelin Frank Sinatra, Grandmaster Flash, Gill Scott-Heron, Soul II Soul and Camden's very own Madness.
Bustling Camden town - a musical jumble
One special musical disc will even be created to celebrate deceased and troubled singer Amy Winehouse to mark her 30th birthday.
Manager Lee Bennett said there are even plans to "get bands who have split up back together again" for one-off concerts, when they receive a place in the iconic walk. Does this mean there be an Oasis and Blur concert ? Watch out Liam Gallagher.
"We hope this will be the highest accolade in music," Mr Bennett also said.
"This is an international brand not specific to Camden, but it is in Camden as we truly see it as the world's rock and roll capital."
According to the BBC, those honoured will be divided into five groups: innovative artists, influential artists, icons, unsung heroes and industry types like managers and producers.
A committee of global industry figures and local community members are working on shortlist of nominations for the first 30 plaques.
The list will go to a decisive public vote on the Music Walk of Fame website in May.
Special concerts, gigs and events will also follow the unveiling of the Walk of Fame. Who knows - perhaps Graham Coxon will drop by to do a set from his own albums. Or maybe Blur will pop into Camden Town for a last-minute gig.
This will surely be added to the list of Blur places to visit for all fans of the band.
Damon Albarn recently played an exclusive gig for the premier of the new Rufus Norris film 'Broken'. The coming-of-age movie, starring Tim Roth and Cillian Murphy, details the story of a young girl from North London whose life changes after witnessing a murder. The film features an exclusive new rendition of Blur song 'Colours' , sung by a different vocalist but with the same lyrics as the original song.
The soundtrack is created by the new music collective Electric Wave Bureau (which Damon Albarn is a part of) and features the original song by Blur – 'Colours. The limited edition single was originally released in 2003 as part of Blur's fan magazine "Blurb".
Electric Wave Bureau is Damon Albarn's latest new creation, a music supervision company dedicated to creating the perfect soundtrack to any video or movie. Its members include Damon Albarn's long-term partner Suzi Winstanley, Nelson De Freitas, Mike Smith and Damon Albarn.
Spot Damon Albarn... on the live set at Broken's movie premier
Director Norris, who worked with Damon Albarn for the opera Dr Dee, said: “The two of us were heavily involved in Dr Dee, which
I did last year in Manchester and I'm doing at the ENO. I was hoping they would do it, but
they're kind of busy, and it wasn't until we started working on Dr Dee again, for the Cultural
Olympiad, and when we sat down for the first session for that, that one of them said, 'How's the
film going?’ I said, ‘Well, it would be good to have a minute on that when we're done today,’
and they said, ‘Let's have a minute now.’ I said, ‘Will you do it?’ And they said yes. Which was
great; I already had a robust working relationship with them, and we'd already done a big show
that was put on under pressure.”
Listen to the original 'Colours' (2003)- by Blur: -
“We had a very limited budget, but we made that work for
us in a good way. We had to be inventive and quick and intuitive. And then we were able to have
the strings to articulate the emotion of the story in a more conventional but still powerful way" said Norris.
Listen to the new version of 'Colours'- Blur track: -
"COLOURS"
Music by Albarn/James/Rowntree
Performed and Produced by Electric Wave Bureau
Vocals by Eloise Laurence
Recorded and Mixed at Studio 13
Published by EMI Music Publishing Ltd
Additional Guitar Simon Tong
The film will be out in UK Cinemas on Friday 8th March 2013. For more pictures from the film visit the official press release gallery. Watch the trailer here.
Visit the official website or their Facebook page for more information about this featured film and production facts, as well as who's involved.
Blur have announced yet another date for their world tour 2013. The band announced their Ireland gig on March 4th 2013 and will perform at the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) in Kilmainham, Dublin, on Thursday August 1 2013.
This is Blur's first gig in Ireland in four years. Blur announced that they are playing in Turkey last week as part of their new world tour, where the band are set to tour in Europe, Asia and America.
The IMMA is a 17th century Irish landmark commonly used as a venue for theatrical and musical events. For Blur fans in Ireland, this is a golden opportunity to see the band play, in what may be their best year yet - Blur have been fuelling rumours of a new album and new release after their 2013 world tour.
According to Blur's official facebook page, this gig will be the band's only UK/ Ireland date for 2013. That means the hotly contested Reading / Leeds festival in the UK is ruled out for this round of Blur gigs. UK fans - take this chance to travel to Ireland if you can to watch the band live.
Tickets costing 62.50 euros each will be available for sale on Thursday via Ticketmaster.
