British music has been widely recognized and loved around the world since the early 1950s. And sixty years on, each successive decade has proved to be a beast of its own, unique making. The British Music Experience charts these six decades of music in an interactive and entertaining way.

The British Music Experience is a permanent exhibition at the O2 in London. It has made a home in the O2 Bubble, just one small part of the huge complex formerly known as the Millennium Dome, which now has the O2 Arena at its heart.
The British Music Experience opened in March 2009, …read more

Some album covers are instantly forgettable, and only there to liven up an otherwise boring piece of plastic. But some go beyond their intent, and become art that inspires people and sums up periods in their life. And the Royal Mail are now celebrating these album covers with a new collection of stamps.

The album covers being featured in the Classic Album Covers series of stamps are:

Blur – ‘Parklife’
Coldplay – ‘A Rush of Blood to the Head’
David Bowie – ‘The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars’
Led Zeppelin – ‘IV’
Mike Oldfield – ‘Tubular Bells’
New Order – ‘Power, …read more

It was already widely assumed that Blur had ended for the second time but Damon Albarn finally seems to have stated as much semi-officially. Blur reunited for a short stadium tour and some much-celebrated appearances at festivals in 2009, but that, I’m afraid to say, appears to be the end of it.

Blur’s last arranged gig was at the T In The Park festival in Scotland. Albarn set tongues wagging by saying, “This is our last gig” while introducing a song. Since then both Alex James and Graham Coxon have admitted Blur have no future plans.
Now comes Albarn adding his voice …read more

The British festival scene is probably the best in the world, with both huge, well-known festivals and small, niche festivals attracting the world’s best acts to the U.K. Which means the list of winners at the UK Festival Awards is both brilliant and varied.

Glastonbury was the big winner, with organizer Michael Eavis taking home the award for ‘Best Major Festival’ and seeing Blur carry of the prize for ‘Best Headline Performance’ for their Glastonbury set. Bestival and Beach Break Live also racked up multiple wins at the ceremony held at London’s O2 Arena last night (Nov. 19).

The Blur reunion lead to much celebrating by fans of the original Britpop band yet it all seems to have come to a rather abrupt end. After playing several gigs, including a much-vaunted headlining set at the 2009 Glastonbury Festival, the four members of Blur have now each gone their own separate ways again. What on earth is going on?

Damon Albarn suggested it was over again when he said, “This is our last gig,” after playing the opening song of the Glasto set. Then Alex James made it clear that as much as they all enjoyed coming back together to …read more

When Blur announced their impending reunion in December of last year, I and many other old-school British music fans whooped with joy. Here were one of the original Britpop bands getting back together after almost a decade apart, and they were set to play comeback gigs and headline some of the summer festivals. What could be better?

Nothing really, except Blur making a new record. Unfortunately, that looks unlikely, and the reunion may already be over. Blur spent the summer playing live to excited crowds in London and Manchester, and at the Glastonbury and T In The Park festivals. At the …read more

Blur announced their intention to reform as a four piece with the original line-up last December. Almost everyone I know was pleased by this, with most wondering why they’d ever split up in the first place. For those who don’t know, it was as a result of a major ruckus between lead singer Damon Albarn and lead guitarist Graham Coxon.

Fast-forward six months to June of this year and Blur completed their comeback by performing live for the first time in almost a decade. Granted, there was only family and friends in attendance, but it was still an event to be …read more

Blur announced last year they were getting back together to play as a foursome again after a self-imposed exile from the business as Blur. Then last week saw the band complete their comeback by playing together live for the first time in a decade. What’s left to achieve? Well, apart from the huge arena shows and festival headlining slots, there’s the small question of new material, a question which blights any reformed band.

Graham Coxon has already spoken about the possibility of Blur recording music together again, stating back in April that it will likely happen but it won’t be immediately. …read more

Last year saw the famous and long-running Glastonbury Festival take a new direction when Jay-Z was asked to headline. Jay-Z is a blindingly good rapper and awesome live, but he was a controversial choice for an event that is more usually associated with rock and folk performers. Noel Gallagher of Oasis was the biggest (or at least most vocal and well-known) critic of the decision. So what does he think to this year’s line-up?

That’s exactly the question BBC 6 Music asked of the guitarist, songwriter, and mainstay of Oasis. This was kind of a loaded question, not only due to …read more

Blur announced last year that they were reforming as a four piece after Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon finally decided to put the past, and their differences, behind them. They’re now about to embark on a UK arena tour, starting in Manchester on June 26 and continuing at London’s Hyde Park (July 2-3). With those massive gigs, and the prospect of headlining Glastonbury looming, the lads played a warm-up gig tonight (June 13).

This one-off gig was invite-only and purely for friends and family, and, it would seem, at least one NME journalist. It took place at the East Anglian Railway …read more