Alex James turns into Festival host

Blur bassist turned country squire Alex James once confessed that in the heady days of Britpop he had spent £1m on champagne in three years. He had no regrets, saying that "the road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom".

Guests at the festival he is planning to host on his Oxfordshire estate can expect a slightly less debauched affair, with the event set to focus on James's new drug of choice – food.

The four-day festival will, of course, also feature James's longest-standing addiction, with music from acts such as KT Tunstall.

The Harvest festival, due to take place from 9 to 12 September, will showcase "the very best of the British food scene alongside a soundtrack of the finest bands around", according to organisers. It is more than likely that James's award-winning cheeses – such as Blue Monday, named after his favourite New Order song – will also feature.

Since leaving Blur, James has exchanged his plane for a Volvo, and his London high life for a quieter existence in the country. But the star, now a broadcaster and writer as well as a cheesemaker, is expected to record with Blur again this year.

Last year, lead singer Damon Albarn said the band would "probably do something in January" and had discussed getting together early this year to work on a small project.

The band reunited in 2009 for a series of rapturously received concerts after a six-year break. They also released a new song, Fool's Day, as a limited edition 7-inch record that quickly sold out.

For James, the festival seems to be as much about the fodder as the music. Notable foodies at the event will include Richard Corrigan, Mark Hix and Yotam Ottolenghi. As if any more proof of James's graduation into country living were needed, it was revealed that Gardeners' World host Monty Don will also take part.

"We'll throw open the farm gates for Harvest this September," said James. "My family are looking forward to a celebration of all our favourite things – food, the farm and music. What more could we ask for?"

At the farm in Kingham, Chipping Norton, there will be a range of pursuits on offer, including gardening workshops, cookery masterclasses, a children's field, pop-up restaurants and the obligatory farmers' market.

A spokesman for festival organiser Big Wheel said: "Alex will bring his energy and personality to Harvest and help us celebrate the simple pleasures in life. As a food and music lover himself, we are ecstatic to be joining him for a weekend of mouth-watering treats and great tunes."

The festival will be a sister event to the one launched by TV presenter Jimmy Doherty at his farm in Suffolk, which will take place on the same weekend.

Source: Guardian

Graham Coxon hints at new Blur material

In what is probably the most exciting news for Blur fans everywhere Graham Coxon has given the bands biggest hint yet that they are ready to start recording together again.

Since reforming in 2009 the band have released just one single, Fools Day, which was put out on limited edition vinyl for Record Store Day. It was previously confirmed by Blur front man, Damon Albarn, that they band would be meeting in early 2011 to start recording a new album.

Writing on Twitter, Coxon spoke of how he is ‘now off to see the Blur boys and have coffee and maybe switch a tape recorder on!’ Later, after fans had pressed for more details he replied: “We are having a meet-up, might get a guitar out.”



Ever since Blur reunited for a handful of dates two years ago, the desire for some new music from the former Britpop champs has only increased over time.

Last November Blur frontman Damon Albarn told NME that the band planned to reconvene in early 2011, but that firm plans were not locked down.

The boys together last year

Lets hope that something will come out of these sessions together again. It's been too long since Think Tank came out and even Fool's Day seemed quite a while ago.

The Blur reunion rumors are flying around again! Click here to see what the twitterworld thinks of this recent development.

Any thoughts?

Dave and Graham on Facebook - speculation

I was just browsing through the blur boards this morning and I saw this post by Cold War Kid:

This leads me on to think about the possible new Blur material, EP or even album.

Now Damon has always been rather... indecisive. He'd say something like he'd never want to do Blur again, and then next week we get something in the news about a surprise single release (Fools Day anyone?).

Dave - he's as the fans call him, the Reliable one. Honest, down to earth, political red-head. The drummer who famously smashed Song 2. Dave has been sort of the spokesman of the bad these few years. Graham's busy with his elusive life a a guitarist bachelor, Damon's apeing with Gorillaz and Alex's busy making cheese and appearing on random talk shows.

Dave was quoted says 'nothing concrete' is confirmed and admitted any plans for any new material from the four-piece are still up in the air. "We’re in touch," he said. "But we've got nothing concrete and nothing formalised about doing anything." Check the article out here.

Anyways, two things I want to say.

Firstly, I do think that the band are getting along well and have reconciled their differences before. Fools Day, the single out by Blur as a charity record, sounds like something straight out of Parklife or Modern Life is Rubbish. The reunion gig last year was also great, great for the fans and the band. If they do have something coming up to spring upon us, I wouldn't be too surprised!

Lastly, Graham Coxon has facebook? I would not have thought he would make it so public and comment on Dave's status. Hmm... I question the actuality of the facebook page itself.

Thanks for reading and what do you guys think of Dave and his facebook saga?

Graham Coxon teams up with Converse for new single

Well, it looks like Graham Coxon has been up to different things other than writing soundtracks! He teamed up with many artists for the Converse campaign to collaborate on a new single.

This is all part of Converse’s year-long campaign, launched with the release of the track that celebrates the UK music scene and continues the iconic footwear brand’s commitment as a catalyst for freedom of expression and underlining its longstanding connection with music.

The shoe brand is spending a full year recognizing UK music and the effort will bring together two different collaborations.

This week Converse released “Didn’t Know What Love Was” an original music collaboration between Bernard Sumner from New Order and Joy Division, Alexis Taylor and Joe Goddardof Hot Chip and Hot City.

The second collaboration will see Graham Coxon (Blur) and Paloma Faith & Bill Rider Jones (the Coral). The single should be released during February 2011, which means sometime this month!

Meanwhile during our wait, why not look at the latest Graham photo shoot session for Converse.