Happy Birthday Alex James - 45 Years Old

Alex James was born on November 21st 1968 - hence he celebrated his 45th birthday last week.

Happy belated birthday to one of the coolest and innovative bassist in the history of British music! Browse below for a selection of the very best Alex James photos spanning his career.

Best word to describe Alex James?
	Funky
	Groovy
	Eccentric
	Funny
	Cool
	Dangerous
	Cheesy

Blur drops out of Big Day Out Festival Australia

Here is a disappointing piece of news for Blur fans- Blur announced that they have pulled out of the Big Day Out Festival 2014 in Australia two months before it was scheduled to begin, citing “shifting goalposts and challenging conditions” from the festival organisers. 

Announced on their official Facebook page, the message alludes to behind-the-scenes conflict between Blur and the festival's management. Many fans were angry at the news, stating they only bought tickets to the festival to see the headlining act Blur.

The organisers for Big Day Out issued a statement which said: “Devastated to report that Blur won't be performing at BDO in 2014. It’s a shock that it has come to this,”. The statement continues that the band “feels that with the constantly shifting goalposts and challenging conditions of the organizers, they can't let it drag on any longer and want to make this announcement, to be clear to Blur fans that they won't be there. We've done our very best to work with the organisers and considered every option to make it happen, but they’ve let us down and let everyone else down too.”

Blur were set to head the festival alongside with heavyweights Pearl Jam, Snoop Dogg, Primus, Major Lazer, Lumineer and Arcade Fire. Ticket sales for the festival, however, were reported to be slow. The band has not set foot 'down under' since their last tour in 1997.

“Devastated to report that Blur won't be performing at BDO in 2014. It’s a shock that it has come to this,” stated the band on their official announcement.

The six day music festival begins on 17th January 2014 in Auckland, New Zealand, before touring around major Australian cities.

10 great photos of Blur

Picture Feature: Black and white photos of Blur the band, in various magazine and photo-shoots throughout their career. 

William Orbit feud with Blur continues- "Damon was really awful"

Blur's feud with super-producer William Orbit is not yet over. William Orbit has announced that he will "never" work with lead singer Damon Albarn again after the Blur frontman halted recording sessions they were collaborating on last year in 2012.

It was reported in May last year that Albarn had worked on new Blur material, with Orbit confirming that the four-piece had been in the studio before the sessions were stopped "suddenly".

Orbit had previously hinted that he was recording with the band in a series of tweets. In January 2012 he wrote: "I just found out that she [Diawara] has done tracks with Damon A, who I’m in the studio with from Wednesday!" 

In an exclusive new interview with NME magazine, Orbit says he will never work with Blur again because he claimed that he didn't get paid for his time recording with the band last year. 

"Oh don’t start me on Blur," he says. "Put it this way, I’m not going to work with them again – Damon was really awful. That’s all I’ll say. Let’s put it this way, I wouldn’t care to go back. I wouldn’t be hurrying back to do that album. I didn’t get paid! But, you know, I’m not the first." 

In January of this year, Blur announced to excited music fans that would begin work on a new album after singer Damon Albarn releases his solo LP in 2014. The band had been on tour since the start of 2013 and are nearing the end of their set of gigs. The band have released standalone tracks 'Fool's Day', 'The Puritan' and 'Under The Westway' since Graham Coxon rejoined them after a long hiatus in 2008, but a new album has not been forthcoming so far.

Blur Tour 2013 - Full dates and rundown  HERE
Blur @ Coachella- video and image gallery HERE 

Blur confirmed for Mexico HERE

Blur Europe Tour News  HERE

Order the new Blur: Parklife (Live at Hyde Park CD / DVD) HERE

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Alex James - Gadget Man (Season 2 Ep. 6)

Alex James was recently featured on Gadget Man, a British television series which feature the latest techonology

Scroll down to watch the episode.



Blur Tour 2013 - Full dates and rundown  HERE
Blur @ Coachella- video and image gallery HERE 

Blur confirmed for Mexico HERE

Blur Europe Tour News  HERE

Order the new Blur: Parklife (Live at Hyde Park CD / DVD) 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.

Damon Albarn protests for Greenpeace Arrests

Actor Jude Law and musician Damon Albarn have joined around 800 people protesting outside the Russian Embassy in London over the arrest of 30 Greenpeace activists.

The pair, along with Paul Simonon from The Clash, have called the arrests a disgrace and described them as a personal blow as their friend Frank Hewetson is among those being held.

Relatives of the activists have also organised several protests across the country for the six Britons who are in custody, and a further 47 demonstrations are being held around the world.

(Source: Daily Mail)

Vampire Weekend Cover Blur's Song 2

Band Vampire Weekend covered Blur's hit single 'Song 2' in New York City during a gig in Barclay's Centre on Friday, September 20th 2013.



Damon Albarn had previously expressed interest in Vampire Weekend and it seems that the feeling is mutual. Did you know- Blur's 'Song 2' is one of the most covered songs by the band, and previous artists that performed their renditions include Weezer, Miley Cyrus, Avril Lavigne, Robbie Williams, Plain White Ts, Scooter and My Chemical Romance.




More details on the Vampire Weekend gig can be seen here. Vote below and let us know what you think of the cover.

What do you think of this cover?
	Great / Fantastic
	Good / Acceptable
	Neutral
	Poor / Below Average
	Awful
	Weezer's one is better

Festival Coverage: Blur live in the Berlin Festival 2013

Blur played an eventful show in the Berlin Festival in Germany on September 6th 2013. The gig, which featured other artists such as Bjork, Franz Ferdinand, Ellie Goulding, My Bloody Valentine and Pet Shop Boys, received generally positive reviews from fans and critics alike.

Blur closed the music festival by playing on the main stage, where their performance was deemed "extraordinary" and acknowledged as "one of the best the festival's ever seen".

It has been ten years since Blur last played a show in Germany. In an interview before the concert, bassist Alex James revealed that he had a past connection with the nation: "It’s great to be here, I love Germany, I did a student exchange to Hannover when I was 17".

When asked about what the band expects from the German fans, he remarked: "We are going to enjoy ourselves, and that usually rubs off on the crowd. We’ve had some great gigs in Berlin over the years and I think we’ll be going out for a few beers afterwards. We’re up for it and I think everyone else is, too.

User hendrik from the official Blur forums gives his review of the gig:

Berlin was great! It felt like a pretty small crowd (the festival in general, Blur still drew the most people for the night) which made for good spots and a very relaxed viewing. The setlist was a bit unsurprising but the band's as tight as ever and in good spirits too. Damon's German skills aren't too shabby either. For their first outing in the [Germany] in a decade, it was simply a very good show by a very good band.

Another Blur fan Liese also went to the Blur show and says:

I have seen the band playing live multiple times in 2009 and 2012, and I often think German crowds are rather boring, so I really considered not going to see Blur's first German gig in 10 years. I did not expect much more than the setlist I had seen and heard many other times; I could not have been more wrong- I was blown away! [Blur] were even tighter than last year, in high spirits, witty, and not to forget Damon's [not-so-bad] German!

Besides Damon speaking rather fluent German, more special events occurred during the gig night - Phil Daniels made a special appearance during the hit 'Parklife', and Damon Albarn also donned on framed glasses at one point during the gig. The Blur frontman looked much younger than his age, resembling his youthful self back in the heydays of the Britpop nineties.

Image Gallery - Blur at the Berlin Festival 2013

To see the full gallery of Blur in Berlin (45 images), visit our Facebook album here.

Blur at Berlin Festival - 9/6/13 Setlist:

Girls & Boys 
There's No Other Way 
Beetlebum 
Out of Time 
Trimm Trabb 
Caramel 
Coffee & TV 
Tender 
To the End 
Country House 
Parklife (ft. Phil Daniels) 
End of a Century 
This Is a Low 

Encore: 
Under the Westway 
For Tomorrow 
The Universal 
Song 2

The Clash Magazine's review of the Berlin Festival mentioned Blur, saying that Blur took to the stage with the "minimum of fuss: a denim-clad and floppy limbed Damon Albarn launches straight into the perfect opening triple-whammy of ‘Girls & Boys’, ‘There’s No Other Way’ and ‘Beetlebum’."

The article goes on to detail the gig and Damon Albarn's idiosyncratic actions: "Inevitably, this goes down rather well with the audience. Albarn provides the only precipitation of the day by continually launching water from the bottle he’s drinking from over the front row. Not that anyone there seems to mind too much. Things take a sombre turn when Albarn asks the crowds to think of Syria before launching into a particularly melancholic take on 2003 single ‘Out Of Time’, written due to Albarn’s disillusionment at UK participation in the Iraq War."

Watch the show - Videos of Blur live at the Berlin Festival 

Once again, fans captured the best moments from the Germany gig. Scroll down to watch Damon Albarn borrowing a fan's spectacles and putting them on while he sings Country House, Damon asking the crowd to remember the crisis in Syria and the band performing a spiced-up version of the intro of 'Song 2'.



(Damon asks the crowd to remember Syria)

(Damon borrows a fans' glasses)








Don't forget to check out a short review of the show here. For fans who are fluent in German, read a local review of the exciting night here.

View more pictures of the other acts in the Berlin Festival by clicking HERE.

Blur Tour 2013 - Full dates and rundown  HERE
Blur @ Coachella- video and image gallery HERE 

Blur confirmed for Mexico HERE

Blur Europe Tour News  HERE

Order the new Blur: Parklife (Live at Hyde Park CD / DVD) HERE

SUBSCRIBE NOW!

Never miss any Blur news again. If you missed old news, visit the NEWS ARCHIVE to read about past news!

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

Andrew Rens Salendu: Interview with a Blur artist

This month's featured article will be all about part-time Blur artist Andrew Rens Salendu from Indonesia who published a series of wonderfully stylish Blur posters online in Deviantart. The styles of his Blur artwork, custom Blur album sleeves and covers ranges from dark britpop grunge, pure vintage to brilliantly colorful and psychedelic. 

Describe yourself - who are you ?

I’m a forensic pathologist who listens to a lot of music and draws a lot. I have a lovely wife and a handsome baby boy.

What inspired you to make the Blur posters?

Blur are very visually stimulating. They seem to put great care in their packaging. That inspired me to try to imitate the thought process in designing posters.

We've Got a File On You-
A riff on countless pop art stuff

Poster Design- A Blur/Batman
animated series mash-up

How did you get into Blur in the first place ?

For Tomorrow was a minor radio hit, and I remember thinking it was a very catchy tune. But like most others, the Blur bug bit me when Parklife was released. The variety of music is breathtaking, the quality of the songs even more so.

Name your favourite song - why ?

I can’t decide between Blue Jeans and Sweet Song.

What other music do you have in your collection ?

Like all the people who were in high school in 1994-1996, I have a soft spot for Britpop, even the second-division bands like Menswear, Dodgy, Octopus, Subcircus and Bennett. My favorite bands, other than Blur, are The Beatles, R.E.M., 10,000 Maniacs, The Smiths, Ryan Adams and Fountains of Wayne.

A Spell for Money- A fictional record sleeve

Elton John's Cock -
Design for a CD Single 

What do you consider when designing anything ?

My approach can be divided into just two: do the opposite and do the appropriate. Blur has a distinct but varied visual identity, from the early days by Stylorouge and to the later days when they use Banksy and Graham’s artwork. Mixing and matching visual styles are always fun.

Who's your favorite member of Blur ?

For his cavalier attitude and extracurricular activities alone, it has to be Alex.

What's your favourite photo of the band ? Please link

This one - Just the sight of seeing them back together again!

Least favourite Blur song and why

It’s a three-way-tie between Mr Robinson’s Quango, Top Man and Crazy Beat. I don’t know why, but I find them incredibly annoying. The former even more so, because it interrupted the flow of two of my favorite Blur songs – The Universal and He Thought of Cars.

Any last words ?

Thank you so much for the opportunity! Love your site! 

Vintage styled Blur poster design

Blur poster with retro pixels 

Japanese-styled replica poster design

To see more of Andrew's Blur graphic designs, browse his gallery at andy2519.deviantart.com

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