Any chance of a Gorillaz/ Blur Coachella double header?

Probably not, but the people on this thread of the Coachella message board seem to think so.
If there's any hint of either a Blur or Gorillaz apperance, I'm going to have to go...which means I'm going to have to set up that paypal donation site pretty soon. Eh, so I should pay off my debts, but maybe I'll start a little savings account with Damon's name on it.
Gorillaz are reportedly half way through an album for a 2009 release, and well we all know about the Blur reunion so anything could happen really.
Why is Coachella always the go to festival for British reunion acts? Where's the Lollapalooza love? I know Coachella seems to be more of a niche festival, but come on, I would save so much on hotel and airfare.
I propose a new festival, lets call it "Parklife '09". Location? Independence Park (2 blocks from my apartment). Headliners? Friday night: Monkey: Journey To The West, Saturday night: Gorillaz, Sunday night: Blur.

Damon and Jamie interview on CBC's Q

Damon and Jamie sat down with the CBC's Jian Ghomeshi for an interview about Gorillaz and Monkey: Journey To The West. I'm not sure how long ago this was, but it was uploaded to youtube about a week ago. There's nothing new here, just another testament to Damon's love of music, and excitement over it.
At being called a "lead singer" Damon bristles ever so slightly, almost veering into a tantrum before checking himself. I can see his point, being known as a lead singer when you're a musical visionary must be a tad exacerbating. It's almost endearing that he thinks he has to qualify his genius by clarifying that he's a pianist. It's O.K Damon... no-one's going to confuse you with just another front man.
Jamie's in his usual laid back mood, while Damon gets all twinkly eyed and passionate.

Gorillaz are the most popular band on myspace for 2008!

Gorillaz are the most popular band online, with 682,675 friends on Myspace. Noodle, seen here playing live, must be pretty thrilled. Murdoc, Gorillaz' bass player, is more of a facebook man though.
Pretty good since they didn't release anything this year!

NME: Gorillaz most popular band on myspace.

Best show of 2008 Elite 8

I've taken Monkey: Journey To The West out of consideration because it's not fair to pit a Chinese opera against all these other shows! It's in a different league. Obviously it was amazing. I would say it's one of the coolest things I've ever been to, so yeah, I'll make that one stand on its own. Here are the elite 8 for the best concert of 2008.



1. Working For A Nuclear Free City @ Schubas

2.Toumani Diabate @ Logan Square Auditorium

3. M83 @ Empty Bottle

4. Jarvis Cocker @ Pitchfork

5. Radiohead @ Lollapalooza

6. Kanye West @ Lollapalooza

7. My Bloody Valentine @ Aragon

8. Lupe Fiasco @ Congress

One Pure Thought Kwes. rework

So more about Kwes.
He's a British producer who does brilliant remixes, has his own rad blog with (tea)mixes you can download, and is releasing a single next year (which you can hear on his myspace). Oh, and his symbol is this: [o=o]

Monkey Bee (Kwes. remix)

Both the Kwes. Mix and the Diplo mix will be digitally released by XL in January.
I think this one's more interesting and ethereal, but Diplo's is pretty rad. I mean, every good song has to have a dub version right? I especially like the hip hop breaks at the end of Diplo's, it's quite fitting for Monkey! See my previous post to hear the Diplo remix.

The Guardian reveals the magic of eccles cakes in Damon interview

There's a pretty good interview with Damon on The Guardian's website. Here's just a bit

Albarn said he had been "emotionally distanced" from Coxon for 10 or 12 years, but then his old friend "turned up just before I did the Africa Express Koko gig [in Camden Town, part of the BBC Electric Proms season] and we just went for a walk and bought a bun - I think it was an eccles cake - and we sat in a doorway," Albarn recalled. "We just looked at each other said, you know what, it's all over, isn't it? That strange feeling that had come between us had gone. So, shall we play together again?

For the rest...

Monkey Bee (Diplo Remix)

The Vinyl Factory releases an even more limited- limited edition Monkey box set.

Hey! Got a spare £255.00 ($393.00)?
The Vinyl Factory has released another Monkey: Journey To The West vinyl box set. This one includes:

• Black cloth-bound box foiled on cover and spine.

• Four exclusive Jamie Hewlett giclee art prints on Somerset archival paper, each stamped and numbered, one signed and dated. Housed in a red, gold-foiled folio.

• Black cloth-bound hardback 84-page art book containing exclusive Jamie Hewlett artwork, sketches and illustrations.

• Book also houses two super-heavyweight 200-gram vinyl LPs, containing six bonus tracks not available on the commercial release. Pressed on the classic EMI 1400, with one-side especially etched.

• When you purchase the Box Set you also receive a digital version of the album.

• The first 500 customers to pre-order/order the Box Set will also receive a custom-made special limited edition Monkey Om Box, with tones composed by Damon Albarn and artwork designed by Jamie Hewlett.

• This beautifully produced collectible edition is limited to just 2,000 copies worldwide.

Pretty snazzy eh? The tracklisting for the double vinyl and Om box is as follows:


Double Vinyl Album tracklisting:

1. 5 Point Star 6:02
2. Monkeys World 2.32
3. Monkey Travels 0.33
4. Into The Eastern Sea 0.34
5. Living Sea Introduction 0.49
6. The Living Sea 1.52
7. The Dragon King 1.54
8. Iron Rod 1.04
9. The Dragon Queen 1.34
10. Out of the Eastern Sea 0.56
11. Heavenly Peach Banquet 3.31
12. Battle In Heaven 3.25
13. O Mi To Fu 0.57
14. Buddha's Palm 1.17
15. Whisper 2.16
16. Tripitaka's Curse 1.21
17. Confessions of a Pig 3.19
18. Sandy the River Demon 2.16
19. March of the Volunteers 1.48
20. The White Skeleton Demon 1.33
21. Monks Funeral 1.39
22. Monks Song 1.43
23. I Love Buddha 2.07
24. March of the Iron Army 2.41
25. Volcano 1.09
26. Pigsy in Space 2.16
27. Monkey Bee 5.01
28. Disappearing Volcano 6.09

Monkey Om Box tracklisting:

1. Battle In Heaven
2. Drums at the Station
3. The Heavenly Peach
4. Into the Sea
5. The Living Sea Introduction
6. March of the Iron Army
7. Desire
8. Monkey Bee 1
9. Monkey Bee 2
10. Pigsy In Space
11. Time Travel
12. Siren
13. O Mi To Fu

The original box set is still available from the Vinyl Factory for £65.00 ($100.00)

The Vinyl Factory

I Love The Nineties (Britpop edition)

Well, with the return of Blur, and rumours of countless Britpop band reunions, I thought I'd post some forgotten (and some not so forgotten) gems from the nineties.
Some bands got on the reunion bandwagon early, and some never left at all!
SHED SEVEN: Where Have You Been Tonight?

SUPERGRASS: Mary

CHARLATANS: The Only One I know

PULP: Sorted For E's and Whizz (Glastonbury 1995)

DODGY: In A Room

SUEDE: Trash

BLUR: For Tomorrow

OCEAN COLOR SCENE: The Riverboat Song

THE VERVE: History

ECHOBELLY: King of the Kerb

GENE: Olympian

ELASTICA: Waking Up

OASIS: Supersonic

Extra Hyde Park show added...good for you.

An extra show has been added to Blur's comeback gig at Hyde Park. Now you can see them on Thursday July 2nd...if you like. Congratulations.
(no bitterness implied. Well maybe some)

eight nine for '08

My favorite eight nine albums of the year, 'cos it wouldn't be right not to mention.
(in no particular order)

The video from blur.co.uk

someone put it on youtube...
good one.

That guy from that band disses Blur.

OK, the lead singer of the Bluetones (who are themselves, right now touring a reunion show, playing their big britpop album Expecting To Fly) had this to say of Damon:

Asked about the recent confirmation of Blur’s reformation, he added: “Damon (Albarn) is arrogant and leaves me cold. It’s all such a show with him. His music is okay but I’ve never been a fan of his.”

Really? The Bluetones? That's pretty laughable. What's next, will Menswe@r get in on this? Are Ocean Colour Scene just waiting in the wings? And of course we'll need a Cast tour.
It's a bizarro world people, britpop is totally back (for us oldies who want to relive our youth anyway). I'm off to get my tracksuit jacket and a haircut like Louise Wener from Sleeper.
(Coming soon Trainspotting 2)
XFM

Blur discuss reunion

A longer interview with Blur
Alex wants to play B-sides like Luminous and Threadneedle Street (hope he gets his way).
Graham is glad that he gets to look at Dave on stage again.
Damon wants to spread a little happiness.
Dave wants to recapture the energy.
I want a ticket.

reunion ticker....

I'll be updating this throughout the day...





NME:Blur reunion inspires 30-foot graffiti stunt on London's Millennium Bridge
BBC: Blur reveal warm-up concert plan
NME: Read an exclusive free extract from BLUR's ONLY comeback interview (NERDS)

Alex hedges his bets

From Gigwise:

Blur bassist Alex James has said he fears the band's reunion shows next summer could fail to live up to expectation.

The band's original line up announced yesterday (December 9th) that they were to reunite for a series of dates, including a concert in London's Hyde Park next July.

Speaking about the reformation, James said: "God knows what it will sound like in the studio. Now Damon [Albarn, frontman] writes operas, Graham's [Coxon, guitarist] listening to finger-plucking folk music, Dave's [Rowntree, drummer] going to be a prime minister and I'm conducting orchestras so it's going to be weird. It could be shit.”

Well done.

blur.co.uk is reunion central

Blur's website is finally relevant again. Go to blur.co.uk to sign up for band updates and once you've signed up you get to watch a lovely little video that'll bring a tear to the eye of any Blur fan (well it's sort of cheesy, they play The Universal behind a Ken Burns effect shot of this week's NME cover at the end). It's a look at Damon, Graham, Alex and Dave hanging out outside what looks to be Damon's 13 Studio.
The video's HERE
Here's some screenshots of the vid:





The Universal: Official 2008 reunion song (called it).

well, it really really really could 'appen

Yeah I know...cheesy.
To harness all the Blur reunion hullabaloo in one place, I've created another little link at the right. Anything Blur related will be there-
Well, here's your lucky day!

ITV News report on Blur Reunion

More evidence...there's no backing out now lads! Interviews with Damon and Graham, stupid reporter calls Alex "Alex Turner" instead of "Alex James" (wrong band), it's all such a frenzy.

The Sun gives us some Blur-reunion perspective

This picture makes me feel old...who's aged the best?
Anyway here's the Sun with a bit more about the reasoning behind the reunion (probably taken from this week's NME). Apparently it was watching old you-tube clips of themselves that sealed the deal.

Strummer Graham said: “What happened was that I encountered that magic of Blur performances again through sites like YouTube.”

Damon added: “I went online and watched a load of our old stuff just to remind myself what we were like.”

I have to believe it was this clip of Oily Water that helped, it's such a great performance! Total insanity.

The Sun: Blur-ry old You Tube clips got us back together again.

B.L.U.R.EMI

Yes!

Just to get you in the mood! They're back!

The Mothership has landed...Blur to reunite!

Take this with however many grains of salt as you wish...but this is this week's cover of the NME.
Brings you back doesn't it? Fantastic news all around really, but so far the only news is a London show next July (tickets on sale this Friday) and a rumored spot at Glastonbury. No new album news or U.S show announcements yet.
Oh NME, for once your premature reunion cover story feels so so right!
For more info you have to buy this week's NME (obv.) but you can read the online announcement HERE
Hopefully they weren't just handed wads of cash to play one show, and this will be the dawn of a new era for Blur!

Liam Gallagher's finest moments

Their music might have seen better days, but Oasis' lead singer Liam Gallagher keeps rolling out the funny.

1. Prince Valiant on Gordon Ramsay's The F Word:
Ever the supportive spouse, Liam appears on The F Word to cheer on wife Nicole Appleton.
Hilarity ensues. Perfect bowl cut intact, Liam chats with Gordon and thinks his mashed sweet potatoes are "bobbins".


2."Godlike" Liam Gallagher predicts 9/11 on vintage Carson Daly TRL:
Carson: "Why did you put the New York skyline on the cover of your album?"
Liam: "I thought I'd pay some respect before I blow it up, know what I mean?"
Spooky. Mostly humorous though, because Liam's wearing a ridiculous jacket and he thinks the LG sign is cool because those are his initials.


3. Hapless Dane tries to convert Liam to a Silkeborg football fan.
Simon Kvamm, lead singer of The Nephew, tries to garner some Gallagher support for his local FC. Liam, unable to fake politeness for ten seconds, refuses on the grounds that their kit is red, just like the dreaded Manchester United. Shame he went out and made all those shirts really...


Liam: Funny Mancunian, not such a great musician.

Monkey Translations

Just saw these on youtube... MirSomething has posted video translations of Heavenly Peach Banquet and Monkey Bee. Now you can read along while you listen. These are the same as you can find in the album insert...but now with added convenience!
HEAVENLY PEACH BANQUET

MONKEY BEE

Um...just to be contrary...

Is it wrong that I like Kanye's new album 808's and Heartbreak? I mean, popular convention says that I should be appalled right? O.K so there are a few clangers (that Pinocchio Story freestyle is cringetastic) but, I really like some of the stuff on it. Once you get past the autotune as vocoder hurdle ('cos we're all going to talk like that soon anyway...) it's not as heinous as everyone thinks it is.
I really like some of the melancholy tracks like Street Lights and Amazing (yes I like that one...the vomit noises are appealing to me) but for pure fun and throwback kitsch, Paranoid is pretty awesome.

If this is wrong, then I don't want to be right......

Best show of 2008...the contenders

Here are the contenders for Victorian Horror best show of 2008. Remember, the winner gets apartment-wide recognition, a fleeting glance by at least two people, and probably will remain oblivious to this great honor. There's a lot at stake here people! Click on the artist for my original posts on the shows, including videos and pictures for reference. For Pitchfork just click on "Pitchfork Festival".

Toumani Diabate, Logan Square Auditorium
Working For A Nuclear Free City, Schubas
British Sea Power, Empty Bottle
Foals, Subterranean
Elbow, Park West
M83, Empty Bottle
Monkey Journey To The West, Spoleto Festival
Pitchfork Festival-
Dizzee Rascal
Spiritualized
Jarvis Cocker
Lollapalooza Festival-
Radiohead
Amadou and Mariam
Lupe Fiasco
Kanye West
Modeselektor, Sonotheque
My Bloody Valentine, Aragon
Lupe Fiasco, Congress