Damon Albarn Page 2

Gorillaz have launched their very own one-day summer festival named after their second album. Demon Dayz Festival will hit Dreamland Margate in the coming months, with the electronic duo slated as the headline act of the day for their first live show since 2010.

Demon Dayz Festival begins this summer

The band's founders Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett introduce three stages at the forthcoming event, where all fans will receive free admission to the amusement park alongside their festival pass. It will mark Gorillaz first time performing live since their sold out Plastic Beach World Tour seven years ago where they hit North America, Europe, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand. It was 2010 that also saw them make their spectacular live debut as 2D (vocals), Noodle (guitar), Russel Hobbs (drums) and Murdoc Niccals (bass) at Coachella Festival.

Continue reading: Gorillaz Headline Inaugural Year Of Their Demon Dayz Festival

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

Animated band Gorillaz have dropped their first new music in nearly six years with an anti-Donald Trump protest song featuring Benjamin Clementine, called ‘Hallelujah Money’, which serves as the first taster from the group’s upcoming fifth album.

Blur frontman Damon Albarn has been teasing new material from his sometime side-project Gorillaz for a number of months, but on Thursday (January 19th) a brand new video was released for the song, which “explores themes of power, big business and humanity”.

Damon Albarn fronting Gorillaz as they headlined Glastonbury in 2010

Continue reading: Gorillaz Release New Anti-Trump Song 'Hallelujah Money', Their First Music In Six Years

Just days after Blur frontman Damon Albarn declared that his latest project wonder.land would be "a little controversial", critics have chosen to disagree and have instead branded the storybook inspired musical "disappointing".

Directed by National Theatre’s Rufus Norris, wonder.land features many of the outrageous characters from Lewis Carroll’s original book, Alice in Wonderland, and tells the story of a 21st Century teen who becomes immersed in a psychedelic online game.

Damon Albarn's score of musical wonder'.land has not been met with praise

Continue reading: Damon Albarn's Musical Hasn't Received A Positive Reception From Critics

Blur showed they haven't missed a beat since their BritPop heyday on Saturday night when they played a hit packed set at the BST festival in London’s Hyde Park. The gig began with singer Damon Albarn handing out ice cream cones to fans in the front row, in celebration of the band’s comeback album The Magic Whip.

Damon Albarn during Blur’s BST Hyde Park gig.

The band opened their set with ‘Go Out’ from their latest record, with Albarn telling the crowd, "Let's have it.” "Thanks so much for coming back to see us again," the singer added later. "It's great to be back in Hyde Park. It's like home - well, it is home really. I love it here. I really love it here.”

Continue reading: Blur Prove They're Well And Truly Back With Hit Packed BST Hyde Park Set

To support the release of their new album The Magic Whip, Blur have announced that they’ll be playing a free concert in New York later this week on May 1st.

The British group, promoting their first album in over a decade, will appear at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn in an event sponsored by Converse Rubber Tracks, and will play the record in full alongside a selection of their greatest hits.

Blur at the Q Awards

Continue reading: Blur To Play Free Show In New York On Friday

The countdown until the release of Blur’s much anticipated comeback album is on and the early reviews are showing this one will be well worth the wait for fans. The Magic Whip is the band’s first release in 12 years and was produced by Stephen Street, the man in the studio behind the group’s most successful period.

The Magic Whip is Blur's first album in 12 years

The album was recorded in May 2013 when the band found themselves with five free days in Hong Kong after the cancellation of the Tokyo Rocks Music festival. While singer Damon Albarn was skeptical that any of the music would ever see the light of day, guitarist Graham Coxon opted to work further on the recordings with Street back in Britain.

Continue reading: Early Reviews Show Blur's Comeback Album 'The Magic Whip' Is A Tasty Treat For Fans

Blur guitarist Graham Coxon revealed that he agreed to record the new Blur album partly out of guilt left over from his original departure from the band in 2002.

Coxon left the group during the first sessions for the band’s seventh album Think Tank, because he was still in rehab at the time receiving treatment for his addiction to alcohol, but didn’t tell anyone. When he didn’t turn up to the sessions as expected, the group was frustrated at the lack of communication and barred him from the process.

Coxon (far left) with his Blur bandmates in 2012

Continue reading: Blur Guitarist Graham Coxon Talks About 'The Magic Whip' Recording Sessions

Blur played their upcoming The Magic Whip album in its entirety last night, during a special fanclub-only gig at London club Mode. 300 of the band’s most dieheard fans were in attendance for the intimate show, as the band showcased their first LP in 12 years track by track.

Cover art for Blur's The Magic Whip

Opening the gig singer Damon Albarn addressed the crowd saying, "So obviously, we're going to play our new record The Magic Whip in sequence from beginning to end. Are you ready?” The band then launched into opening track 'Lonesome Street’.

Continue reading: Blur Debut New Album 'The Magic Whip' In Full During Intimate Fanclub Gig

The 24th edition of the annual Barclaycard Mercury Prize is due to be held on Wednesday 29th October at London’s Roundhouse.

Last week we brought you our analysis of who we thought would make the dozen-strong shortlist from which the judges will pick the eventual winner. We got five out of the twelve correct, not bad as many pundits have expressed surprise at the relative obscurity of this year’s list in comparison to previous awards.

Only two of the nominated albums have reached the Number 1 spot in the UK Albums Chart, and only one nominee can realistically call himself a household name. There has also been a surprising snub for Sam Smith, who has made a huge impression on the British public’s imagination, with his debut album In The Lonely Hour sitting at the top the charts four months after its release.

Continue reading: Our Guide To This Year's Mercury Music Prize Nominations

Damon Albarn isn’t exactly a stranger to playing in front of huge crowds at some of the world’s biggest music festivals, so hearing him thank Latitude for giving him a headline slot doesn’t quite add up. But the former Blue front man is thankful, and attributes his gratitude to Latitude – say it quickly, now quicker – for letting him headline the festival, despite his new solo effort being ‘slower’ than his previous sonic adventures. 

Damon Albarn at the Brixton Academy, London

“They offered me the slot that I’ve got, based on me just playing my record, and I thought that was very brave of them, because it’s quite slow. For a festival, it’s quite a risky thing to play,” he admitted. “I’m not just playing that record, but that’d why I chose it,” he said, having agreed that Latitude was ‘the type’ of festival to try new things. “It’s sort of a local gig. Imagine if we’d have had something like this when I was a kid I’d have definitely been here, definitely.”

Continue reading: Latitude Gratitude: Damon Albarn Is Thankful Of "Brave" Festival

Glamourizing drugs is a crime punishable by censorship and criticism, but Damon Albarn’s detractors – the ones who weren’t happy when he said heroin made him more creative – should take one listen to his first solo project, ‘Everyday Robots’, to see that the former Blue frontman wasn’t being entirely earnest.

Damon Albarn's solo effort has recieved critical acclaim

The critics have had their say, and any creativity Albarn may have gleaned via the drugs he was taking weren’t necessarily indicative of his output. Having stormed the 90s with Blur’s own take on Britpop, Albarn has worked on an eclectic group of projects with equally eclectic musicians. ‘Everyday Robots’ is his first solo LP, and, ahead of its release, the reviews are looking good. 

Continue reading: No Heroin, But Damon Albarn Is Still Near His Creative Best With 'Everyday Robots'

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"

Damon Albarn seems to show no regrets of being a past heroin user.

The 46 year-old musician recently described taking the class A drug as "very agreeable and very creative".

Albarn, who was a massive influence during the mid-90s Britpop era, made these shocking comments in an interview with Time Out magazine to plug a new solo album.

Continue reading: Damon Albarn Describes Taking Heroin As "Very Agreeable And Very Creative"

Being incredibly posh and remarkably privileged is okay, according to James Blunt – who just so happens to be incredibly posh and remarkably privileged – as long as you own up to it. And that’s his main gripe with former Blur frontman, Damon Albarn.

James Blunt's name has become slang for a pejorative word we can't repeat 

In an interview with tabloid paper, The Sun, Blunt expresses his feeling towards Albarn in a candid manner, saying: "I was just the only one who didn't hide my accent. I mean, come on, Damon Albarn, he's right up there. He's got an orchard full of plums in his mouth and a silver spoon stuck up his arse."

Continue reading: James Blunt In Remarkable Tirade Against Damon Albarn. Plums Are Involved.

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"

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'

Albums of Note... It’s been a long two years since James Blake released his debut eponymous album and now, the pioneering producer returns with Overgrown, album number two. Peppered with quality collaborations, with hip-hop legend RZA and electronic music’s figurehead Brian Eno, Overgrown is the sound of an artist still trying to find his niche, but releasing high quality, accomplished tracks, whilst he’s on his journey. “Blake really is a talent to behold, as his ingenious moulding together of poles apart genres and production wizardry clearly shows… when you're already as accomplished at all manner of musical exercises as he is then it will obviously be hard to focus all this talent and all this energy into one place.”

Splitting opinion like musical Marmite, John Grant returns with Pale Green Ghosts. This album may sound unrecognisable as Grant, to anyone already familiar with his work. He’s hooked up with Gus Gus’ Biggi Viera and has decamped to Reykjavik. As a result, a new reliance on vintage-sounding synthesisers and a nod to club-land has John Grant sounding like an altogether different proposition to the John Grant of days gone by.“Grant's dyspeptic edge may be blunted, but when called upon the man can make a fine ass post-modern disco song, like we ever doubted that he could, and Blackbelt is a tweaked remix away from the transient world of A Lists, charts and chat shows. Cleverly poignant, its way with knock out disses would give Jake Shears something to think about if it proved to be a permanent change of direction…”

Continue reading: A Week In Music - James Blake Still Seeking His Niche, Yeah Yeah Yeahs Triumph With Lily Cole Video, Eels Stage A Love-In In Bournemouth

Damon Albarn and filmmaker Terry Gilliam are leading a campaign to attract more youngsters to the opera, encouraging first-timers to ditch the tuxedo and dicky-bow in favour of wear jeans and trainers. Anticipating that the youth of today will no doubt require a stern drink before and ideally after the show, Albarn also promised “club-style bars” for all!

The pair are just two of the numerous public faces for ‘Undress for the Opera’ – a new scheme launched by the English National Opera which will offer shows such as La Traviata and Don Giovanni to new audiences. Tickets will be considerably cheaper than the normal rates (just £25 for the very best seats in the house), while a post-show party will also be laid on, complete with cast and crew members. Bars at the London Coliseum will be transformed with beer promotions and operatic-themed cocktails and Gilliam even takes the mickey out of the whole thing in his tongue-in-cheek ‘opera etiquette guide’, “I thought opera was for a bunch of old farts - the bourgeoisie in dinner jackets. I thought it was an art form for the rich and successful and almost dead,” he writes, adding, “Thank God the English National Opera is housed in the Coliseum, because it's an old music hall and not an opera house. Another great thing about the English National Opera is that the operas are in English so there's no excuse for not turning up, English-speakers.”

Registration for the scheme opens on Wednesday (October 3, 2012) opens today at www.eno.org/undress and applicants must state whether or not they have attended the opera before.