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

Blur

---

» PAUL FOREMAN | STAFF WRITER

Blur Blur Virgin, 1997 RiYL: Portishead, Oasis, Pavement

With the "English Life" Trilogy , Blur summarized and eventually came to exemplify modern British culture. They experienced megastardom in their home country, adored by everyone except the Gallagher brothers.

Yet it's really no surprise that records like The Great Escape never really got through to many people outside the U.K. "Girls And Boys" did well, but could they really have expected the Pearl Jam-loving American public to embrace Quadrophenia star Phil Daniels' as he ranted lines like, "John's got brewer's droop," over the quirky pop of "Parklife"?

A change was definitely in order: After a massive U.K. gig at Mile End stadium at the end of '95, Blur escaped to studios in Iceland and London and emerged with Blur, an absolutely essential, relevant and rocking LP. The record, their fifth, finds the band discarding trademark character sketches, concise production and pop cheerfulness for a rawer, sometimes grinding sound despite the continuing presence of longtime producer Stephen Street (Morrissey, the Smiths).

Listeners may dismay at the dreary vocals and dragging tempo of first single "Beetlebum," but it is simply not possible to deny the potency of the two-minute trash-track "Song 2." A lo-fi drum intro blends with a wimpy clean tone guitar only to explode into a walloping chorus drenched in bass and distortion with Albarn barking over it: Woo-hoo!

Guitarist Graham Coxon's fascination with noisy punk rock also comes out on other tunes such as "Chinese Bombs," which seems to pay homage to Bruce Lee. Coxon's most notable contribution, though, is his solo spot, "You're So Great," on which he tackles the lead vocal for the first time on record. His voice is frail and innocent -- a pleasurable break from Albarn's well-trained vibratos and falsettos.

Tracks such as "M.O.R." and "On Your Own" continue to prove the guitarist's worth. He proves himself a master of new sounds as he tweaks a Theremin with the headstock of his guitar while banging out chunky riffs. John Squire must have been taking notes somewhere in the audience.

It's "Death Of A Party," though, that best exemplifies Blur's experimentalism. Weighted down by a Portishead-esque trip-hop beat, it's a thick groove that even Dr. Dre would kill for. This ability to steal from other genres and pull it off as a natural Blur sound is what makes this record exceptional.

In short, Blur effectively reinvented themselves overnight. And reinvented well. It could have been a disaster. It could have been the band's Zooropa. Instead, they discarded their once integral Brittiness for a fresh sound with a universal appeal.

PAUL FOREMAN |