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Blur Recording New Album
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Artist News, Concerts / Tours, Upcoming Releases, Pop, Rock,
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Blur are starting work on a new album.
The "Parklife" band will work on their first record since 2003's Think Tank - which didn't include guitarist Graham Coxon - after having to pull out of some dates in their current tour.
Speaking during a concert at Hong Kong's AsiaWorld-Expo on Sunday singer Damon Albarn said, "We were supposed to play in Taiwan and Japan next week, but due to unforeseen circumstances we weren't able to go there. So we have a week in Hong Kong, so we thought it would be a good time to try and record another record."
After touring Think Tank, Blur - which also includes bass player Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree - went on hiatus so its members could pursue other projects. They reunited in 2008 and started playing live in 2009. The band then released two tracks, "The Puritan" and "Under the Westway," last year.
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Blur to Debut New Tracks Over Twitter
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Artist News, Release Dates, Upcoming Releases, Alternative, Pop,
The "Parklife" hitmakers - who will perform at an Olympic Games closing show in London's Hyde Park on August 12 - will premiere two new songs, "Under The Westway" and "The Puritan," next Monday via a live video stream on the social media platform.
"I wrote these songs for Hyde Park and I'm really excited about getting out there and playing them for people," singer Damon Albarn said.
The band - which includes Graham Coxon, Alex James and Dave Rowntree - will be filmed live from a secret UK location. The first song will be broadcast globally on Twitter.com/blurofficial at 6.15pm with an exclusive band interview, followed by the second track at 7:15pm.
"People all over the world are connecting with the musicians they love on Twitter. Blur are taking this idea even further by debuting two new songs through a live stream and having a direct conversation with their fans on the platform," explained Tony Wang, Twitter's UK General Manager.
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Damon Albarn Stops Blur Sessions
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Artist News, Gossip, Reunions, Alternative, Pop,
The band had been working with producer William Orbit - who produced their 13 album in 1999 - but the rest of the group were left confused when Damon cryptically halted the sessions last month.
"They were getting some demons out of the way. The new stuff sounded amazing. Then it all stopped suddenly. It was all over with Damon, and the rest of the band were like, 'is that it?' I was like, 'Don't stop. Make an album. You know you're fast,'" William said.
William also described the sound of material written by the group - which also includes Graham Coxon, Alex James and Dave Rowntree - saying it sounds down tempo, rather than the upbeat songs he had hoped for: "I'm not going to say dirge, but I was hoping it would be a little more rousing. It was a little bit introspective. With Damon, demos often sound like it's impossible to believe they're going to amount to anything. And they often turn into the most incredible pieces of music you've ever heard. They're one of the best bands in the world. I want them to get back together and record some good, old rousing Blur songs."
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Damon Albarn Finds His Opera Hard to Explain
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Performances, Folk, Rock, Soundtracks, New Releases,
Damon Albarn worries people think he has "lost it."
The Blur frontman is currently focused on his Dr. Dee project - a play and accompanying album of folk opera inspired by Elizabethan mathematician Dr. John Dee - and admit she is "nervous" about the response to the music
because it is very different to his previous work.
"It's not an easy listen and it's not an easy thing to talk about. That's what's making me really nervous at the moment. I want to be enthusiastic about it and explain, but the language you have to inevitably use to explain a record like this, in the modern idiom - especially in pop music - just looks completely mad. It looks like I've completely lost it."
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Damon Albarn: Gorillaz Will Record Again
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Artist News, Gossip, Reunions, Alternative, Pop,
Gorillaz will make another record when Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett work out their differences.
The cartoon collective has been on hiatus ever since the collaborators had a huge row last year, but Damon insists it is not the end for Gorillaz and he and Jamie will eventually put the spat behind them.
"When Jamie and I have worked out our differences, I'm sure we'll make another record. We're been through too much for it to be that big of a mountain to climb. We've just fallen out like mates do sometimes. I'm not the only person to fall out with mates and then make up again. Everyone does it."
Damon has also hinted that his Britpop band Blur will record again, claiming their concert in London's Hyde Park to mark the end of the Olympic Games, won't be their last, as previously hinted: "I don't know how we'll feel when we play Hyde Park. Some days I feel one way and other days I feel the other. If you don't see something as a career but as an important part of your life, you don't know how you're going to feel about it. ''We want to put on a great performance but nothing's been said between us about the beginning or the end."
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Damon Albarn’s Dr Dee is ‘Spookily Evocative’
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Concerts / Tours, Performances, Classical,
The music of Damon Albarn's Dr. Dee project is "spookily evocative."
The opera, about the life of an Elizabethan scientist, first opened last year at the Manchester International Festival, and has been turned into a studio album which is described as "visual" and "evocative" by collaborator Mike Smith.
"It's spookily evocative, that's what I think when I play it. It's very visual. You can almost see it, it's that evocative. There's a dramatic element to the music on its own," he said.
Conductor André de Ridder agrees with Mike, calling Dr. Dee "emotional."
"It's very deep and emotional music. It's kind of magic but also mysterious subject matter but as it sinks in it grows on you. It's wonderful and it opens up new rooms and spaces each time you perform it," he said.
Damon previously said he wrote the opera because of his ''strong emotional connection'' to the character: "I've got a really strange emotional connection - it really gets to me, that haunted, magical England. It's something that really stirs me in an irrational way. It's just amazing how much color there is in his ideas. Just imagine the English now if we had kept that spirit in our hearts."
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Blur Still Have Issues
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Artist News, Gossip, Reunions, Pop,
Blur still have the "same issues" as they did 20 years ago. Frontman Damon Albarn admits he now has less tension with guitarist Graham Coxon - who left in the band in 2002 after a dispute with other members before rejoining the group in 2007 - but thinks that is because the pair are no longer in each other's pockets.
"It doesn't feel very different, really. We have the same issues that we've had for 20 years. No-one's really changed that much. But me and Graham have less [issues] than we've ever had. We live very independent lives now, so we're not on top of each other. It wouldn't be working otherwise, and I don't think either of us could be bothered with that," Damon said.
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Thom Yorke Influenced Flea
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Artist News, Collaborations,
Red Hot Chili Peppers' Flea was influenced by touring with Radiohead singer Thom Yorke. The bassist played with the British singer in supergroup Atoms for Peace - which also included punk singer Patti Smith and Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn - and said it really helped broaden his musical horizon.
"It influenced me being around Thom. He's an unbelievably great musician and a beautiful man. He's so pure as an artist. It's less that I would try to copy him and more that just being around someone who channels really powerful energy is beneficial. It's a relationship I will always hope to nurture."
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