Blur Reforming… But Only For Rehearsals
November 25, 2008 by Dave Parrack
The road to Blur reforming has been a long one, with many bumps on the way. But it looks as if it’s finally set to happen, although the reunion is only initially going to take the form of rehearsals.
As far back as October 2007, there was talk of a Blur reunion, but that ended up being just a lunch meeting, with all four former members once again going their separate ways straight afterwards. Fast forward a year, and the old arguments resurfaced, with Damon Albarn claiming “Blur is over.”
But November has brought good news, with Damon Albarn starting the month by stating that he could rejoin Blur at some stage in the future. Now he’s added detail to that in a pre-show chat with DJ Janice Long on BBC Radio 2.
Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett Announce New Project | From ‘Gorillaz’ To ‘Carousel’
July 20, 2008 by Dave Parrack
Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett are the innovators and, dare I say it, geniuses behind the animated satirical anti-band Gorillaz. But while that is their best-known collaboration, with the band having two hugely successful albums, and worldwide fame, both are also famous for other things.
Albarn is of course the former lead singer of Blur, one of the two biggest Britpop bands, alongside Oasis. It may be telling that while Oasis are still going, Blur split long ago, and Albarn has moved on to many other projects. One of which, The Good, The Bad and The Queen, are still going strong.
Jamie Hewlett meanwhile is the co-creator of the legendary comic book, Tank Girl. While Albarn handles all of the music, Hewlett handles the artwork, and has won awards for it. He has also created the opening credits sequence for the BBC’s coverage of the Beijing Olympics.
The last time we saw the pair, they had collaborated on Monkey: Journey To The West, an operatic reworking of an old Chinese tale, which has played in Manchester and is coming to the Royal Opera House in London this week. And now they have announced their next project.