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

Drugs go hand in hand with rock music – that’s an immutable fact of life only denied by those on the outside. Sex, drugs, and rock’n’roll fit together like a glove, and any rock musician who doesn’t understand this really has no place referring to him or herself as a rock musician in the first place. Those who do admit it’s the case may be condemned as bad influences but their only real crime is telling the truth.

Noel Gallagher isn’t one of these deniers. In fact, in his usual carefree attitude of saying what he wants and not caring about …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

Gorillaz may only be a cartoon band at heart but they were absolutely huge on both sides of the Atlantic and around the world a years ago. Then Damon Albarn and his fellow collaborators decided to call it day and go off and do other stuff.

This means we haven’t had a new Gorillaz album since Demon Days was released way back in 2005. But fans of the animated satirical anti-band won’t have to wait much longer for new material, with the third album due for release in 2010.
The source of this unofficial announcement is Albarn’s manager Chris Morrison, who revealed …read more

Fans of classic Britpop better look away now. Jarvis Cocker has come out and stated that he will never reform Pulp, despite the fact that other classic groups are reuniting left, right, and center.

Jarvis Cocker has never been one to follow established patterns of behavior or order. And it seems that unwillingness to toe the party line is the main reason behind Cocker’s commitment to not reforming Pulp.
Having formed in 1978 (the year after I was born so a very long time ago), Pulp had numerous changes of style and members in the 14 years it took to find fame …read more