Blur

Indie rock / pop band with art school roots from London, England, composed of My Bloody Valentine, with strains of weirder ideas running throughout, at times reminding of Syd Barrett. Tthis was more readily apparent on several single B-sides where the group let loose a darker side.

By 1992, the group was keen on reinventing themselves with a newer, smarter sound and sense of purpose, returning to a retro spectrum of British rock and pop music (e.g. The Kinks or XTC) or even nostalgic music from World War II. Their 2nd album Modern Life Is Rubbish (1993) had moderate success but began attracting attention for its Britishness but in hindsight it rolled out the carpet for the Britpop cultural movement that would all but engulf the UK for two years, with groups like Suede early frontrunners too. In 1994 Blur released what was essentially seen by the general public as the Britpop flagship album: Parklife. 1995's The Great Escape was a vividly nervy and somewhat cartoonish version of the same formula.

When the 5th studio album Blur came out in 1997, the group had reinvented their sound. They severed ties from Britpop and reincorporated the art rock experimentalism of their early years, only this time the music was informed by a broader range of influences (e.g. Pavement). The album's second song Song 2 was released as a single and became a hit on alternative dancefloors. Subsequent albums 13 and Think Tank further increased the group's distance from Britpop, eventually encoming a great diversity of sounds and influences from all over the globe.

After 13 and the subsequent tours, the band took a pause and its pursued personal projects. In 1998 Albarn started the Fool's Day single for RSD 2010.

In July 2012 a career spanning box set was released titled William Orbit as producer but that was aborted. In Autumn 2012 the band again paused its activities.

Early 2015, Blur made a surprise announcement that they'd finished a new album: The Magic Whip. It had been created in 5 days in Hong Kong after a Japan tour that was cancelled in 2013. Following the Magic Whip tour the band went into hiatus again ... resurfacing in 2023 with their 9th studio album The Ballad Of Darren and a series of concerts. In April 2024 Albarn stated that their performance at Coachella was probably the band’s “last gig”. On 19 July 2024 a second documentary titled To The End opened in UK and Irish cinemas, as directed by Toby L.

Noteworthy live & session :
Mike Smith: auxiliary keyboard player, backing vocalist and saxophonist since 2003

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