Damon Albarn works on Mali Music amidst Blur rehearsals

Damon Albarn has been working on something other than Blur and Britpop- Mali Music. The Blur singer was featured on The Sunday Telegraph Magazine this July, with a special interview talking about African music, religion, being in Africa to visit a friend and many more related musical chit chat.

A new single 'Bamako' was also debuted live, and the video is streaming on Oxfam's official youtube channel. Damon joined up with Malian musician Afel Bocoum for a special performance from the album 'Mali Music', an album Damon produced in 2002 with collaborations with several Malian singers and musicians.

All scans Credit: damon4president from the official Blur forums

The scans for the magazine article can be accessed below. Funny quotes, Damon-isms, typical rants, philosophical debate and talk about Modern Life is Rubbish, Blur's second album, can also be found on the article.

 

Also, scroll down to check out the new videos of the frontman. Damon's perhaps taking some time off Blur rehearsals to do something meaningful and productive for his previous works, and also raise money for Oxfam's worthy cause.

Note the head bobbing, snappy outfit, summer heat and how he's so into the music he creates. Making new Blur songs and new Mali music? Rehearsing for their massive Hyde Park Olympics gig too? Planning African Express and the train tour?

Damon's hectic schedule may have just gotten a bit busier than usual!

  

Order the new Blur vinyl HERE
The Puritan- new track HERE

Damon Albarn says it's the End of Blur! Read HERE

Is Damon and Graham Coxon recording together? Find out HERE

Check out Blur's rumoured new album HERE. 

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Blur to be special headliners for 100 club gig

GIG NEWS: After a few weeks of speculation, the truth about who is the secret guests for a Converse-hosted special gig is revealed. And obviously, the very special guests that night are none other than Blur, who will headline REPRESENT at the legendary 100 Club (Oxford Street, London) on August 2nd 2012. 

The background image of the poster is from Blur's 'No Distance Left to Run'

This will be the first official warm up gig ever for Blur in 2012, just before their massive Hyde Park Olympics gig a few weeks after this show. There are around 200 pairs of tickets available for this performance, so it is definitely going to be an intimate and close-up gig for the few chosen lucky fans!


To get a chance to watch Blur live in this special event, register for tickets on the official Converse website (www.converse.co.uk/blur) from 9:00am - 6:00pm (UK time) on Wednesday, August 1st 2012. 


Order the new Blur vinyl HERE

The Puritan- new track HERE

Damon Albarn says it's the End of Blur! Read HERE

Is Damon and Graham Coxon recording together? Find out HERE

Check out Blur's rumoured new album HERE. 

SUBSCRIBE NOW!

If you missed old news, visit the NEWS ARCHIVE to read about past news!

Remember to subscribe to RSS and "LIKE" BlurBalls on Facebook.

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!

Blur: Under the Westway (William Orbit Version) Lyrics

Blur - Under the Westway (William Orbit Version) 

Lyrics 

The sky won in my city today

She was so blue she swallowed the Monday

On the 52

As the traffic grew

Upon the Westway

Here I sat watching comets lonesome trails

Shining up above me

The jet fuel it fell

Down to earth where the money always comes first

And the chorus sings

Where is the day they switch off the machines

The men in yellow jackets put adverts in my dreams

Government why do you always lie

But I soon know

Captain hit the rocks so he had to fall

Throwing you love would

Suffer the rising 
Call for radical change 
'cause your mind's deranged

If you think I want to be like that

I ain't cruel

You're as tied to me

As I am to you

All aboard

Take the lifeboats home

that may defend us

It's pouring out of us today

La la la la la la la la

And it's pouring out us today

La la la la la la la la

Sold the world like everyone else does

Cock and Bull

I downed a rum or two with you

I dream of the sun

I dream the sun like everyone else does

Work's done

On Friday night in public houses

We are wonderful, Pathetic, or just

Plain gone

So it's magic arrows hitting the bull

Doing one eighty while sounding the call

And the flags coming down

And the last post sounds just like a love song

For the way I feel about you

Forgetting paradise, it's with you

On a permanent basis I apologise

But I am going to sing hallelujah

Sing it out loud, sing it to you

Always lost in the sea

'Till the tide it washes over me

Thanks D for compiling the lyrics ! 

New Blur Exhibition in London - July to August 2012

Heads up - there's a new Blur event in town. Blur will be holding a band exhibition to celebrate the band's new 'Blur21' box set and their 21 years in music.

Spotify presents Blur 21: The Exhibition will take place in London at the Londonewcastle Gallery, East London.  

It will run from July 27th to August 14th 2012, and entry is free for all. 

Memorabilia and other items of the band will be shown for all to enjoy. Images of the band, taken by famous photographers Pennie Smith (who took the Blur black and white 2009 comeback photos) and Kevin Cummins will also be shown. 

Will the props from Blur's music videos, or some their early apparel will be there?

Will the milk carton from Coffee and TV will make a special appearance?

Here is what is in store for all visiting, according to the venue's official site:

21 years after the release of their debut albumLeisure (1991), Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Alex James and Dave Rowntree will return to the heart of London in an exhibition of rare photographs, artwork and never-before-seen images of this great British band.

Presented by Spotify and EMI Music, the retrospective celebrates Blur’s era defining music, documenting their career as one of the most successful and influential bands of the past two decades, through the lens of legendary and iconic music photographers Pennie Smith, Kevin Cummins, Tom Sheehan and Paul Postle, among others. Previously unseen artwork will also be on display.

Spotify presents Blur 21: The Exhibition documents the band’s story from the early days as Seymour through the 1990s and the height of Britpop, the performance at Alexandra Palace in 1994, seven chart topping studio albums, and eleven top 10 singles, including Country House, Song 2 and Beetlebum, to a historic Sunday night appearance at Glastonbury.

Bringing us right up to 2012 - a year that has seen Blur awarded the BRIT for Outstanding Contribution to Music and the release of two new songs - Under The Westway and The Puritan - ahead of a sold out show at London’s Hyde Park on 12th August, before the upcoming release of career spanning Blur 21: The Box on 30th July.

Curated by leading expert on music photographyDave Brolan, all the key moments of the band’s career are illustrated – on the road, live on stage, in the studio, as well as formal portrait sessions. Additional Blur 21 material will be made available to Spotify users globally over the coming weeks.

Don't miss this opportunity to visit the exhibition if you are in London this summer. Blur also did a Blur X Exhibition in 1999. It's a nice side-event to the Blur Olympics hyde park gigs. 

Visit the venue website for more details here.

Order the new Blur vinyl HERE
The Puritan- new track HERE

Damon Albarn says it's the End of Blur! Read HERE

Is Damon and Graham Coxon recording together? Find out HERE

Check out Blur's rumoured new album HERE. 

SUBSCRIBE NOW!

If you missed old news, visit the NEWS ARCHIVE to read about past news!

Remember to subscribe to RSS and "LIKE" BlurBalls on Facebook.

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!