Artist bio

See also: Gorillaz, Graham Coxon

In England and Japan, Blur was a paragon of '90s pop music, one of the "big three" (alongside Oasis and Suede) that launched the new wave of Britpop in the early part of that decade. In America, they're largely known as a one-hit wonder for the written-in-two-minutes Pixies ripoff "Song 2". Natch.

The group's four-pronged musical attack was Beatlesque in makeup as well as in sonic temperament: drummer Dave Rowntree, the eldest of the group, was an accomplished drummer who came of age in assorted punk bands; bassist Alex James was a dreamer with a sharply honed predilection for making candy pop. Guitarist Graham Coxon was the group's heart, a technically dextrous musician with an ear for dissonance and an ability to rein in the bombast favoured by singer/songwriter Damon Albarn, the cheeky frontman able to churn out classic pop melodies and fit his malleable voice into a number of widely varying outfits.

Blur matured over its first two albums into a respectable britpop outfit informed by early Who, the Kinks, the Beatles, etc. but really exploded with third effort Parklife, which boiled down the British character sketches and modern life ruminations into a heady brew that topped the U.K. charts for quite a while.

Two albums later, Coxon's infatuation with American indie rock like Sonic Youth and Pavement won the day, as the group's fifth, self-titled album took a more underground bent. The direction was a neccessary one, and kept Blur relevant into the latter half of the '90s. Follow-up 13 was even more 'out-there', a swampy melange on which you can almost hear the group members pulling the sound in different directions.

With Coxon getting the boot in 2002 (just as his solo career was blossoming), who knows where Blur will head next, but the group has made a significant imprint on the pop canon, including about a handful of all-time classic tunes. Which will of course, differ depending on who you talk to.

Albums by this artist

Think Tank (2004)

'Music Is My Radar' (2001)

13 (1999)

Blur (1997)

The Great Escape (1995)

Parklife (1994)

Modern Life Is Rubbish (Recommended) (1993)

Leisure (1991)

Concerts

March 16, 2003
Bowery Ballroom, New York

Blur

'Music Is My Radar'

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» TROY CARPENTER | CO-DIRECTOR

Blur 'Music Is My Radar' EMI, 2001 RiYL: Radiohead, Lambchop, The Beta Band, new R.E.M.

"Best Of" compilations are usually saved for when bands are either defunct or well past their creative prime. They tend to serve as harbingers of a band's downslide, and scare hardcore fans of active bands. Blur, whose Best Of Blur is set for a November 2000 release, ostensibly know this, and have issued a preemptive strike against the imagination of their fanbase by releasing two versions of the comp's accompanying single, "Music Is My Radar."

The lead track and 8-minute b-side "Black Book" are direct evidence to the contrary of your typical "my favorite band is releasing a best-of compilation, they must have lost it" conclusion, both showing the band not only continuing to write solid songs, but also moving forward from their year-old album 13.

"Music Is My Radar" features drummer Dave Rowntree laying down a skittery, bob-your-head beat bolstered by Alex James' gently pumping bass line. Vocalist Damon Albarn and guitarist Graham Coxon liberally sprinkle on melody and texture as the bubbling pot of rhythm swirls around. The style of the song hints at some of the better parts of 13, but removes most of the sludgy production that made that album difficult for repeated listening.

"Black Book," on the other hand, is a gradually evolving tune that James has called "sonically the best thing we've ever done." It has slight traces of 13's lead track, "Tender," in the length and the gospelly ending, but "Black Book" sounds a lot more heartfelt. Its personal lyrics echo the crescendo of the song, Albarn murmuring "put away my black book / throw it on the fire / don't give up on me, Lord" in the slow first couple of minutes. As a right-angle of a Coxon riff begins to open up the song, he starts crooning "I've made up my mind / I've got nothing to hide" in a more outgoing tone. By the end, his band cranking away insistently on their home-cooked groove, Albarn intones "Give me my soul / I'll give you my soul" in his most believable falsetto.

This is not the sound of a band on a creative downslide. Blur has been able to keep changing musical outfits over the course of their career, outlasting scores of contemporaries in the process. EMI is probably releasing the "Best Of" compilation to make more money, and I don't doubt it will. But Blur doesn't sound like a band at the end of its rope. On the basis of these two songs, their music is as vibrant as ever.

TROY CARPENTER | Troy Carpenter founded NATN from a Chicago apartment during the ambitious winter of 1998 with co-conspirators Ben French and Jonathan Cohen. After a five-year stint in New York, he and wife Lourdes have recently relocated to Indianapolis, where he spends days listening to music and nights in the kitchen at Elements restaurant. Musical heroes: Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Super Furry Animals. What else makes life worth living: Sushi, Phucty, runs in the park, and the Atlanta Braves.