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Wiley says Stormzy is leading the next generation of grime.

The 'Can You Hear Me?' hitmaker is really ''happy'' for the 'Shut Up' rapper for all of his success and hopes each generation going forward will bring something new to the grime genre.

He said: ''I'm happy man, big up Stormzy. I'm happy for him - I feel like he's pushed different doors and different barriers that needed to be pushed. I feel like different generation will do different things.

Continue reading: Wiley Praises Stormzy

Blur frontman Damon Albarn has said, “democracy has failed us”, after the results of the historic referendum came in, showing Britain had voted to leave the European Union. Albarn joins a host of celebrities who have expressed their dismay over this morning’s results, including Harry Potter author JK Rowling.

Damon Albarn has told Glastonbury, “democracy has failed us”.

Speaking from the Pyramid Stage, Albarn said: "I have a very heavy heart today, because, to my mind, democracy has failed us. Democracy has failed us because it was ill-informed. And I just want all of you to know that when you leave here, we can change that decision. It is possible.”

Continue reading: Damon Albarn Tells Glastonbury "Democracy Has Failed Us"

“Verbal dexterity plus Estuary accent is what leads to parody of...'PARKLIFE'!” Yes today the inevitable has happened, Russell Brand has created his own ‘Parklife’ parody video.

"PARKLIFE", it's Russell Brand

Brand has teamed up with Irish comedians The Rubberbandits for the video, which he released on Youtube as part of his 'The Trews' series.

Continue reading: Russell Brand Responds To PARKLIFE Taunts By Releasing His Own Parody Video

The weather over the weekend may have been unpredictable, but there was one nice surprise in store for revellers at Latitude Festival when Damon Albarn was joined onstage by Blur bandmate Graham Coxon. 

With a storm raging overheard, Damon Albarn began his encore with a solo rendition of Blur track 'End of a Century', before introducing his former bandmate and writing partner to the stage. Crowds stayed to watch the reunion despite heavy rainfall and the pair then sang classic Blur song 'Tender' to raptuous applause. 

Fans were in for a treat when Albarn (Second from Right) and Coxon (Far Right) Reunited this weekend

Continue reading: Blur Stage Mini Reunion At Latitude, Delight Audiences

Damon Albarn has already told us that heroin was a great source of creativity, for him anyway. And now he’s opened up on his days of drug addiction in a new interview with Time Out Magazine, in which he admits he found the drug “very agreeable” to begin with.

Damon Albarn, Looking Pensive

The former Blur frontman has recently embarked on a solo career having collaborated with different musicians following his departure from the 90s Britpop legends. The subject of drug abuse has been a perennial talking point for Albarn of late, and in his latest public chat, he says he didn’t “totally see” his drug use as “a mistake”.

Continue reading: Damon Albarn On Drug Abuse (Again): "I Found It Initially Very Agreeable"

Pulp's Common People has been named the ultimate Britpop anthem by BBC6 Music listeners, beating the likes of The Verve's Bittersweet Symphony and Oasis's Wonderwall. More than 300,000 listeners voted for the track to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the 90's genre - which created various personalities but very few decent bands.

Jarvis Cocker and Pulp Wrote The Greatest Britpop Song, Apparently

One of those decent bands - who were actually excellent - were Pulp, Jarvis Cocker's Sheffield outfit.

Continue reading: Is Pulp's 'Common People' Really The Best Britpop Anthem?

Damon Albarn has spoken candidly of his heavy heroin usage during the "height of Britpop", saying he would regulate his intake to "five days and two days off." The singer-songwriter - who is now sober - said he became taking the drug after returning home from tour and finding it "in the front room".

Damon Albarn Took Heroin "Five days on, two days off"

"[Heroin] freed me up," Albarn said in Q magazine, "I hate talking about this because of my daughter, my family. But, for me, it was incredibly creative ... A combination of [heroin] and playing really simple, beautiful, repetitive shit in Africa changed me completely as a musician. I found a sense of rhythm. I somehow managed to break out of something with my voice."

Continue reading: Damon Albarn Took Heroin "Five Days On, Two Days Off"

Damon Albarn, who is busy promoting his new album Everyday Robots, says he can't foresee a new Blur record in the near future. Rumours had suggested that the group would begin work on a new album this year, though frontman Albarn suggested it was unlikely his bandmates would be in a position to record again soon.

Damon Albarn's 'Everyday Robots' Is Released in April

Speaking with Rolling Stone magazine, Albarn - whose new album comes out on April 28 - said "It's a big part of my life. I'll never abandon the spirit of it ever. It's kind of in me.There is material.But I can't foresee us in the near future being in a position to finish it. We're just all doing other stuff."

Continue reading: Damon Albarn Just Ruined Our Week, "Can't Foresee New Blur Album"

Blur have joined the thousands of fans who are celebrating the fact that there's a London Underground ticket barrier that squeaks "Woo-Hoo!" every time it opens. Londoner Ritch Ames was the first to notice the barrier's unusually tuneful noise and uploaded a mash-up to YouTube featuring Blur's 'Song 2' cut with the barrier's now world-famous squeak.

Blur Have Given The Thumbs-Up To A Tube Barrier That Makes The "Woo-Hoo" Sound From 'Song 2.'

As the funny video has picked up speed, with nearly 180K views at the time of writing, the amused Britpop band have given their verdict on the similarity between the barrier's noise and their hit's chorus. "Laughing at this....Woo-Hoo!" the band tweeted, sharing an article that reported on what is sure to become a new must-visit destination on the London tourist schedule.

Continue reading: Woo-Hoo! Blur Give Verdict On Ticket Barrier's Rendition Of 'Song 2' [Video]

Damon Albarn is finally set to go solo as he unveils his long-anticipated debut album Everyday Robots on April 28th 2014.

Blur is still an ongoing project

The Blur frontman is definitely a workaholic of the music industry, with his solo project being unleashed while his newly reunited Britpop band and his virtual band with Jamie Hewlett, Gorillaz, are still ongoing. Little has been revealed about the album as of yet, though in 2011 he told Q magazine that it would a record of 'empty club music' and last year he revealed in an interview to Rolling Stone that it would be 'sort of folk soul'.

Continue reading: Damon Albarn Finally Going Solo With Upcoming Debut 'Everyday Robots'

Thom Yorke appears to have responded to producer Stephen Street's criticism over his yanking of tracks from Spotify, claiming he gave away Radiohead's album In Rainbows as a "statement of trust."

Earlier this week, Yorke and Nigel Godrich delivered a scathing critique of the streaming service's business model before making both his solo and Atoms for Peace tracks unavailable.

"The reason is that new artists get paid f*ck all with this model.. It's an equation that just doesn't work," said Godrich in one of several messages re-tweeted by Yorke. 

Continue reading: Thom Yorke Pleads "Don't Make Us The Target" After Spotify Backlash

The World's End - the third and final instalment of Edgar Wright's 'Cornetto' comedy trilogy starring Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Paddy Considine - hits cinemas nationwide on July 19, 2013. It centres around five friends who attempt a notorious pub crawl in their unassuming hometown - twelve pubs, twelve pints and the only the strongest will survive.

Of course, the mind of Edgar Wright doesn't work think along quite such straight lines and the boozy group unwittingly become humankind's only hope for survival.

Also starring British talent Rosamund Pike, Eddie Marsen and The Hobbit star Martin Freeman, The World's End promises a hugely enjoyable finale for the trilogy - also featuring Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz - though the soundtrack is worth checking out too.

Continue reading: 'The World's End' Soundtrack Is A Glorious Tribute To The 1990s

Glasgow-based artist David Shrigley, the director of Blur's 2009 track Good Song, has been installed as the 2/1 favourite for this year's Turner Prize. Shrigley is best known for his humorous line drawings, though also makes sculptures, animated films, photographs and paintings. Additionally, his jokes and commentaries have appeared on greetings cards as well as in records by Scottish band Franz Ferdinand and Talking Heads singer-songwriter David Byrne.

His latest exhibition, Brain Activity at London's Hayward Gallery, was nominated for its "comprehensive overview" that revealed Shrigley's "black humour, macabre intelligence and infinite jest." This year's Turner exhibition will be held at Ebrington in Derry-Londonderry, the UK's City of Culture of 2013, and sees Shrigley up against Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, French installation artist Laure Prouvost and British-German performance artist Tino Sehgal. 

Established in 1984, the Turner Prize is awarded to a contemporary artist under the age of 50, living, working or born in Britain who is judged to have put on the best exhibition of the past 12 months. The winner will receive £25,000 at an awards ceremony on December 2, while past winners have include Damien Hirst, Antony Gormley and last year's recipient, Elizabeth Price. 

Continue reading: Blur Music Video Director Is 2/1 Favourite For Turner Prize 2013

It seems that Stone Roses reunion fever hasn’t quite made it over the pond just yet. After a disappointingly small crowd showed up to watch the Madchester legends at the first weekend of Coachella, Blur have now switched billing places with them and will headline at the second weekend of this year’s festival. However, the festival’s promoter insists that the switch was always planned.

Paul Tollet, the president of the concert promoter Goldenvoice insists “When the [lineup] poster came out, when we announced the show, each weekend's poster was different." He told Rolling Stone magazine: "The first weekend said 'Stones Roses/Blur' and the second weekend said 'Blur/Stone Roses.' This was planned from day one. It was a dual bill and we'd flip-flop them… There's not a chance I could take a headliner and demote them." Watching the Stone Roses last weekend, The Guardian’s Tim Jonze reported “There was something strange about seeing this most iconic of bands shuffling through Fools Gold to a crowd one-fifth of the size of Tegan and Sara's next door.”

Meanwhile, back home in the UK, The Stone Roses’ reputation is still very much intact and with a trailer recently released for Shane Meadows’ documentary about the band, enthusiasm for teh band's continued existence shows no sign of abating.

Continue reading: Coachella 2013 Organisers Insist Blur And Stone Roses Switch Was Always Planned

Parlophone Records, the once legendary record label, has been bought by Russian billionaire Len Blavatnik and his Warner Music Group for £500 million.

Parlophone has the likes of Coldplay, Tinie Tempah and Blur on its roster and Blavatnik’s purchase makes him an even stronger power in the music game. Back in 2011 he bought the Warners group for £2 billion, and now he has all of Parlophone and other EMI assets that were put up for sale by Universal after they’d taken over the company. Parlophone’s roster also includes the likes of Ed Sheeran, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Bruno Mars and they’ll join the Warner roster, which owns back catalogues by Led Zeppelin and Fleetwood Mac. They can add classic albums by David Bowie, Kraftwerk and Pink Floyd to that list.

There had been much controversy about Universal taking over EMI, which effectively made three major record labels – including Warner – become two. Ultimately it was agreed that Universal would avoid a monopoly if they sold off 30% of EMI’s assets in order for the takeover to go ahead, and its these which Blavatnik has taken control of. According to The Independent, Blavatnik said “This is a very important milestone for Warner Music, reflecting our commitment to artist development by strengthening our worldwide roster, global footprint and executive talent.”

Rick Ross Survives An Attack, Jennifer Lawrence Wins But Slips Up, Lindsay Lohan To Learn Her Fate In LA

You Da Boss: Rapper Rick Ross had a lucky escape this week, somehow avoiding a hail of gunfire aimed at his Rolls Royce in Miami. The Diced Pineapples hit-maker ploughed into a nearby apartment block but emerged relatively unscathed. Now who would want to kill Rick Ross?

Silver Lining? Jennifer Lawrence's Christian Dior dress let her down badly at the SAG Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday evening. The Silver Linings Playbook star made her way to the stage to collect the award for Best Actress, only to see her gown literally split in the middle! What caused the wardrobe malfunction? 

Continue reading: A Week In News: Rick Ross Survives, Jennifer Lawrence Slips Up, Lindsay Lohan To Learn Fate

Today saw the announcement of the Coachella Festival 2013 line-up, to be run on the weekends of April 12, 2013 and April 19, 2013, and as expected it’s another smorgasbord of musical taste, with everyone from Britpop veterans Blur to funk rockers Red Hot Chili Peppers turning out for the California event. The sheer array of names is dizzying – just where do you start with deciding who to go and see? Well handily we’ve had a bit of a browse through the line-up for you, so here are a few of our tips.

Pick Of The Headliners

Phoenix

Continue reading: Coachella Festival 2013; Who To See?

How do you top having a dead man headline your festival? Well, in all honestly, you’re not going to. Coachella’s talent bookers must have been scratching their heads in bewilderment when it came to topping last year’s Tupac hologram and they’ve done the best they can, given the lack of deceased artists willing and able to play Coachella 2013.

The two Friday nights (the festival takes place both on April 12 – 14 and April 19 – 21) are looking like a highlight for fans of the Britpop revival, with Blur and Stone Roses lending a very British end to the evening. A newly invigorated Yeah Yeah Yeahs (well, Karen O’s dyed her hair blonde, does that count?) also play the Friday, as well as Modest Mouse, Lou Reed and Jurassic 5. Saturday has the French band Phoenix headlining, in support of their recently-announced new album. They’ll be preceded by British electronic gloom-pop band The XX, as well as Postal Service and New Order. The line-up for the Sunday nights is a slightly heavier one, with Red Hot Chili Peppers headlining, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds making yet another return (Cave will be raking it in that weekend, as his other band Grinderman also play the Fridays), Social Distortion and Wu Tang Clan.

Coachella always has an impressive array of legendary / stalwart alternative acts as well as the hottest new bands you’ve only just heard of. What they haven’t got, is anything that’s going to grab the headlines, or the public’s attention in the same way that Tupac’s hologram did. 

Continue reading: What, No Holograms? Stone Roses, Blur, Phoenix, Red Hot Chili Peppers Headline Coachella 2013

 The full Primavera lineup has been released, with The Postal Service, Jesus And Mary Chain and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds all set to rock Barcelona on 22nd to 26th May 2013.

Saint Etienne The Primavera Sound Festival - Day 2 Barcelona, Spain

Continue reading: Primavera Line Up Revealed: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Phoenix, My Bloody Valentine And The Postal Service Stand Out

Britpoppers Blur fought off competition from The Stone Roses to be named best live act, but lost out to Muse for the mantle of best act in the world, Sky News Reports.

Muse have had a huge 2012 , including a headline slot at the London Olympics concert on August 12, and the release of a new album, The 2nd Law. Q magazine's editor Andrew Harrison said: "It's been the most incredible year for British music. Our bands and our anthems transformed the Olympics. A string of great albums announced fantastic new talent on the scene. And amazing comeback shows from Blur and the Stone Roses showed the enduring appeal of our best-loved musicians." Another British export to win big were Pulp, who nabbed the Q inspiration award. Emeli Sande, who also starred in the London 2012 closing gig, was named best solo artist, while Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr and Killers' frontman Brandon Flowers were named Q heroes.

The evening also took an emotional turn, as Bobby Womack beat cancer and pneumonia to win album of the year, according to The Independent. "During the time I was ill in hospital, the thing that kept me alive was Damon," Womack said. "He was really interested in me. That's what brought me back to life." Accepting his award, Womack appeared momentarily confused, thanking his collaborator "Damon Osborne".

The answer, of course, is no. But it's that time of year again folks: the Q Magazine Awards! Muse picked up the biggest gong at the event in London on Monday afternoon (October 22, 2012) known for rewarding middle-of-the-road and aging rock acts with offensively generic prizes such as one that now sits proudly on Matt Bellamy's mantelpiece.

Though Blur have been excellent in the handful of shows they've played since reforming, were they really befitting of best live act? Saying that, they were going up against The Stones Roses in a farce of a category. Dance act Underworld received the 'Innovation in Sound' award - whatever that is - while Jarvis Cocker picked up the 'Inspiration Award.' Q magazine editor Andrew Harrison told the BBC, "Our bands and our anthems transformed the Olympics... and amazing comeback shows from Blur and the Stone Roses showed the enduring appeal of our best-loved musicians." Hmm, ok Andrew, but what about the new British acts? Well, Emile Sande won best solo artist in another bizarre category featuring Noel Gallagher and Adele, while American soul star Bobby Womack won best album for 'The Bravest Man in the Universe.'

Elsewhere, Dexys Midnight Runners took home the Q Icon Award, Johnny Marr won Q Hero, and The Cribs won the 'Spirit of Independence Award.' Anyone hazard a guess at who won the Q 'Idol' award? Clue: frontman of The Killers. Sigh.