August 12, 2012

When Blur plays London's Hyde Park today, at a special concert celebrating the close of the London Olympics, thousands of people will be in attendance. But if you're not in London you'll get a chance to hear the concert within 24 hours of the time the band leaves the stage, because the whole show will be released, available on iTunes.

While many have speculated that the Hyde Park show will be Blur's last-ever concert, the Hyde Park download definitely won't be the band's last commercially-available live recording. That's because Parklive, a three-CD collection containing the Hyde Park show, plus a CD of material from the band's mini-tour of warm-up gigs, will be released a week later.

Finally, in November, Blur will release a five-disc version of Parklive, which will contain all the material from the three-CD set plus a DVD of the Hyde Park gig and Blur Live at the 100 Club, a CD capturing a live set recorded this month at that famous London venue.

The five-disc set will also come with a 60-page, hardbound book of photographs from the Hyde Park and 100 Club concerts.

Link

getting this no freaking doubt!

("Under the Westway", a new song written especially for Hyde Park 2012 Olympics Closing Ceremony Celebration Party.)

Fans Weep as Band Signs Off With Instant Album

August 13, 2012

Link

This is the age of the instant album. Blur had only just finished what may be its last ever show and the machines were cranking out a digital download.

Today, we can hear the result online. Next week, the two-CD version will be in shops. The title is Parklive, a reference to the Hyde Park location of the concert and one of Blur’s hits, Parklife.

A five-disc version with a DVD comes in November: The audio only goes some way to capture one of the most charged gigs in the park for months, and that includes concerts by Madonna and Bruce Springsteen.

Some fans, who have followed the Britpop band for more than two decades, were left in tears at the prospect of the end of a glorious career.

“Is this really the last curtain?” said Joanne Radway, a 43-year-old computer analyst from Enfield. “At least they didn’t sign off with ‘To the End’ or we’d know this was totally final.” That song closes with the words “looks like we might have made it to the end.”

Blur encored with the just as serious “The Universal” and its lyrics “when the days they seem to fall through you, well just let them go. Just let them go.”

No more shows are planned. Singer Damon Albarn, who made no reference to that onstage, stood tearful and motionless for a minute looking at the sell-out crowd of 60,000 people. He said “goodnight” rather than “goodbye” before walking away.

Inspiring Mo

The instant album kicks off with “Girls & Boys,” and the fans yelling along to every word. So it continues, through a frenzied “Beetlebum” and “Song 2,” with wild “Whoo-hoos” ringing around the arena. That 1997 hit was dedicated by Albarn to Team GB medalist Mo Farah, whom he called an “inspiring human being.”

There were walk-on roles by actor Phil Daniels and comedian Harry Enfield, who was inexplicably dressed as a tea lady.

The band was dressed down in denim, with Albarn wearing his best cheeky-chappy grin at the start. His other musical activities, such as Gorillaz, have put Blur on the backburner.

Graham Coxon, who has been forging an indie-pop solo career, intently played his guitar while Alex James, now best known as a farmer and cheese maker, thrashed his bass with abandon. Dave Rowntree kept a politically correct beat on drums, as befits a New Labour activist trying to get into parliament.

The stage featured a large freeway bridge, a reference to the single “Under the Westway,” which Albarn said was written in February with the Olympics and this event in mind.

Curfew Noise

Some fans complained that the sound was too low. The venue has kept the volume down after local-council action that led to a recent Springsteen show being ended because of a curfew.

Many onlookers sported union-flag capes or fake Olympic medals. Still, this was the “cool Olympic closing concert,” which also featured Bombay Bicycle Club, New Order and the Specials.

Most of the world was watching the spectacular televised ceremony at the Olympic stadium, with performances by the considerably less chilled Spice Girls, George Michael, Queen, One Direction and Take That.

The Hyde Park audience could see live coverage of the rival event on giant screens around the BT London Live site. There were boos for comedians such as Eric Idle (“Always Look on the Bright Side of Life”) and Russell Brand (“I Am the Walrus”) and flag-waving for the Who’s incendiary medley. And more tears at the video feed of the Olympic caldron being extinguished.

Whether we were watching just the end of the London 2012 games is an open question. If it was the also end of Blur, it was at least a heck of a way to bow out.

Rating: ****.

What the Stars Mean:
*****      Exceptional
****       Excellent
***        Good
**         Average
*          Mediocre
(No stars) Poor

Parklive and “A Symphony of British Music -- Music For The Closing Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games” are available for download. Ratings: ***. The physical CDs will be released next week for both, priced about $15.

The five-disc Parklive box will be available in November including a DVD. The box set Blur 21, also on EMI, is about $160 or 135 pounds. Rating: ****. Coxon’s “A&E” and Albarn’s “Dr. Dee” were released this year on Parlophone. Ratings: ***.

Download prices vary across services.

i was there - it was amazing.

hit after hit!

Lucky U. I would have done anything to be there.

If anyone wants to hear the full show you can download it here. I believe it was sourced from a radio broadcast/stream so the quality is quite good:

http://www.blurliveaudioa...st-12.html

I've been listening to the Blur 21 box over the last two weeks and I'll definitely be getting the deluxe edition of the Hyde Park show. Now, if they would just get it together and give us one last great studio album...

Fuck Yeah, Im glad to see Blur being hyped again.

Fuck Oasis.

lazycrockett said:

Fuck Yeah, Im glad to see Blur being hyped again.

Fuck Oasis.

This may be a shocking and controversial thing to say but some people like both Blur and Oasis.

^Impossible!!!! Chose a side.

i like both Blur and Oasis although apart from the odd track here and there Oasis haven't made anything worth listening to since Be Here Now, Blur made far better albums once they matured from the baggy of Leisure. Loving Blur21.

lazycrockett said:

^Impossible!!!! Chose a side.

OK, gun to my head I'll take Blur.

bigd74 said:

i like both Blur and Oasis although apart from the odd track here and there Oasis haven't made anything worth listening to since Be Here Now, Blur made far better albums once they matured from the baggy of Leisure. Loving Blur21.

I'll bet I can guess your favourite "new" track from the box set. It has to be the eleven minute demo/rehearsal version of "She's So High."

bigd74 said:

i like both Blur and Oasis although apart from the odd track here and there Oasis haven't made anything worth listening to since Be Here Now, Blur made far better albums once they matured from the baggy of Leisure. Loving Blur21.

Oasis never surpassed Definitely Maybe's catchy, guitar-driven exuberance. My patience started to wane around the time of Be Here Now.. That said, "Wonderwall" is an example of Noel Gallagher's at his tenderest. I appreciate him more now that he's a solo act.

I took notice of Blur when the lyrics began reflecting an Anglocentric bent ("For Tomorrow", "Country House"). Having lived in England for 4 years, I could closely identify with the material.

Yeah!! Blur over Oasis. BTW, the new Blur box the demos/outtakes from "Modern Life" are amazing. I also do like Oasis. Seen all the brit bands live from that era..Blur, Oasis, Elastica, Supergrass and loved it. Nowadays, I really like Kaiser Chiefs.

One thing about Blur today, the band is really always in limbo if they will go on or split and that is getting old. I think they need to piss or get off the pot. I think they thought about spliting after the release of the last 2 singles, Blur movie, 2 box sets, 2 comeback shows. After every release, movie, show talk of being done forever. I just wish they would be like "We are a fucking band!" even if Albarn has Gorillaz or Graham keeps releasing his indie stuff.

BTW, One of my buds opened for them on "Leisure" and got to see them that far back and said it was like seeing the Who, has some good stories.

SuperFurryAnimal said:

Yeah!! Blur over Oasis. BTW, the new Blur box the demos/outtakes from "Modern Life" are amazing. I also do like Oasis. Seen all the brit bands live from that era..Blur, Oasis, Elastica, Supergrass and loved it. Nowadays, I really like Kaiser Chiefs.

One thing about Blur today, the band is really always in limbo if they will go on or split and that is getting old. I think they need to piss or get off the pot. I think they thought about spliting after the release of the last 2 singles, Blur movie, 2 box sets, 2 comeback shows. After every release, movie, show talk of being done forever. I just wish they would be like "We are a fucking band!" even if Albarn has Gorillaz or Graham keeps releasing his indie stuff.

BTW, One of my buds opened for them on "Leisure" and got to see them that far back and said it was like seeing the Who, has some good stories.

Yes, the Modern Life is Rubbish demos/outtakes disc is quite good. The "fast" version of "I Love Her" is nifty and it is great to finally hear the Andy Partridge produced songs. A lot of people seem to prefer "Sunday Sleep" over "Sunday Sunday." I was a bit disappointed that Blur and 13 were so scantily represented on the rarities discs (just three tracks each). My biggest gripe with the box is that many of the discs had room for more material, they should have been crammed as full as possible.

I completely agree that this will they or won't they record a new album dance has got to stop. What has it been, nearly five years? Both Damon and Graham are fairly prolific so coming up with material doesn't seem to be a problem. I think that they might be worried about tainting their reputation by releasing a mediocre album. I also question whether or not Damon wants to record "rock" music again. With Graham back you have to think there would be plenty of guitar on a new Blur album but Damon has really shied away from rock music over the last decade.

Leisure era, eh? I'm going to guess that alcohol figures prominently in these stories your friend told you.

.. Both Damon and Graham are fairly prolific so coming up with material doesn't seem to be a problem. I think that they might be worried about tainting their reputation by releasing a mediocre album. I also question whether or not Damon wants to record "rock" music again. With Graham back you have to think there would be plenty of guitar on a new Blur album but Damon has really shied away from rock music over the last decade.

thanks to you all for fan reviews of blur21- it sounds like something i should invest in. honestly, while albarn and coxon are prolific neither are that interesting anymore. ilove coxons new record but he did four of the same thing before he got to it. albarn needs to take time off,imo. he hasn't done anything truly good or interesting since the 1st gorillaz record- everything else has been watered down or plain shit. he seems to have the ryan adams thing of thinking quantity = quality.

Coxon has said that they were concerned about ruining what they have in place already. as a fan, i think another william orbit record would be brilliant!! 13 ismy other fav BLUR record. but damon is too far up hisownass at this point. i wonder if he pulled the same shit in those sessions that he did with TRICKY years ago. who knows butas a longtime fan i think they should have stopped after 13- thinktank sounds like outtakes of a joseph arthur or even peter gabriel himself.

rialb said:

Leisure era, eh? I'm going to guess that alcohol figures prominently in these stories your friend told you.

He said it was the loudests and greatest shows he ever seen in a bar/club. Like seeing the Who play a tiny bar/club! Way better live that what was on Leisure. My friend said it was the best show he ever seen and given that he played in a band, that played in places like GBGB's and seen bands like the Lemonheads, Rollins band, Dinosaur Jr. and underground gods the Pixies! It's a hell of a compliment.

wavesofbliss said:

thanks to you all for fan reviews of blur21- it sounds like something i should invest in. honestly, while albarn and coxon are prolific neither are that interesting anymore. ilove coxons new record but he did four of the same thing before he got to it. albarn needs to take time off,imo. he hasn't done anything truly good or interesting since the 1st gorillaz record- everything else has been watered down or plain shit. he seems to have the ryan adams thing of thinking quantity = quality.

Coxon has said that they were concerned about ruining what they have in place already. as a fan, i think another william orbit record would be brilliant!! 13 ismy other fav BLUR record. but damon is too far up hisownass at this point. i wonder if he pulled the same shit in those sessions that he did with TRICKY years ago. who knows butas a longtime fan i think they should have stopped after 13- thinktank sounds like outtakes of a joseph arthur or even peter gabriel himself.

I sort of agree, I think they are somewhat consistently downhill but I did really like "Under the Westway" What would bother me about another Orbit album. i take it that he just records bands jamming and then mixes stuff together and presents songs. Some of the stuff that ended up on 13 were not songs built by the band to start but just a mix of sounds by Orbit. I have problems with that. I actually wanna hear them record some songs that they wrote. Orbit can mix stuff for people like Madonna. But as far as Graham's stuff being better, I agree. I still will take anything they want to produce.

[Edited 8/16/12 10:37am]

SuperFurryAnimal said:

wavesofbliss said:

I sort of agree, I think they are somewhat consistently downhill but I did really like "Under the Westway" What would bother me about another Orbit album. i take it that he just records bands jamming and then mixes stuff together and presents songs. Some of the stuff that ended up on 13 were not songs built by the band to start but just a mix of sounds by Orbit. I have problems with that. I actually wanna hear them record some songs that they wrote. Orbit can mix stuff for people like Madonna. But as far as Graham's stuff being better, I agree. I still will take anything they want to produce.

[Edited 8/16/12 10:37am]

Seems like it would make sense to at least try recording some new stuff with Stephen Street. If it doesn't work out they don't have to release it but from a fans perspective he is probably the ideal choice to produce a new album.

Nobody liked Demon Days? I thought that was better than Gorillaz. A lot of Damon's stuff has not really been aimed at the mainstream. Since The Kiss of Morning pretty much everything Graham has done has been fairly accessible (maybe not The Spinning Top) but Damon has done some soundtracks and more experimental stuff that has limited appeal. As far as his "major" releases (Gorillaz/The Good, the Bad & the Queen) I think they have been pretty good. The Fall was a bit weak but that was kind of a novelty.

Of course as a fan I feel this way but it just seems like they need to release at least one more great album with the whole band. I like Think Tank but I don't believe it is a fitting way to end their career. Ideally I would like to see them try to give us a mixture of everything they have done before and also some new sounds. Maybe some of the art punk of the Seymour era. A bit of the baggy sound of Leisure. Then the Britpop of the middle years, the lo-fi/indie sound of Blur, the experimentalism of 13 and the African/world music of Think Tank. If they did one-two songs in the style of each era that would be about half an album and then on the second half they could try something completely different. Assuming the songs were good I think that would be a great way for them to say goodbye.

[Edited 8/16/12 12:52pm]

Parklive

Review:

Blur have spent most of 2012 toying with our heartstrings. First Damon Albarn announced that, after a performance at the Olympic Closing Ceremony Concert in Hyde Park, the long-lived, notoriously volatile band would be calling it a day. A few weeks later Albarn backpedaled and said that wasn't necessarily the case ("Some days I feel one way and other days I feel the other.").

Then, in what felt like a definitive mark in the "stay together for the kids" column, they released a pair of singles, their first new material since 2003. Preliminary sessions were underway for a new album; then the album was scrapped. So, when the band insists that that Hyde Park performance, now immortalized as a live album called Parklive, will indeed be its last, they can forgive us for feeling a little skeptical. And dizzy.

Hurried out to iTunes a day after the Closing Ceremony show and following a recent avalanche of archival releases, Parklive comes to us as speedily and inevitably as a Usain Bolt 100-meter victory. Still, thanks to the clear and appropriately bombastic mix, Parklive certainly doesn't sound like a rush job.

In fact, judging by all the tweets from the cheap seats complaining about Hyde Park's soundsystem (and the boos audible to my ears when Albarn asks early in the set if they can hear him in the back), Parklive sounds even better than the real thing.

It's a transcendent and exuberant 25-song set, capturing the infectious energy of a 21-year-old live band still riding an impossibly prolonged peak-- Albarn has to make an age-appropriate revision to the lyrics of "End of a Century" ("The mind gets dirty/ As you get closer... to 50")-- and a city still gleeful and staggering from that post-Olympic high.

Following the recent release of the career-spanning Blur 21 box set, at a moment when the band's legacy is in the process of being revisited, argued, and revised, it's hard to imagine the serendipitously timed Parklive not ousting the competition-- namely 2009's All the People or the two live performances included on Blur 21-- to become Blur's definitive live release.

From the tone-setting and rowdy opener "Girls & Boys" onward (the only hint that it's not actually the golden Brit Pop year of 1994 is the subtle, faintly poignant past-tense Albarn sneaks in: "Love in the 90s was paranoid"), the set is heavy on the sort of pop anthems that fit the crowd's celebratory, post-Olympic mood. There are plenty of fittingly direct explicit addresses to their home city, from a rousing version of Parklife's "London Loves" ("This song is called 'London Loves'. And WE LOVE LONDON!") right through to a call and response chant of "London!" during the penultimate "For Tomorrow".

Suffice to say that when Phil Daniels comes out to bark out his iconic lines in "Parklife", this is a crowd that remains in a sustained state of apeshitness for the whole three-and-a-half minutes.

Blur, of course, have a back catalog full of songs to fit all sorts of moods, but what makes Parklive a better listening experience than some of their other live recordings is how cohesive the entire set's energy feels. Much of the credit here should go to the formidable, too-often-unsung rhythm section that is Dave Rowntree and Alex James: They keep even the set's moodiest material here bobbing along with a brisk, agreeable gait.

There are a few moments when it doesn't quite work (this comparatively buoyant live version of "No Distance Left to Run" doesn't hold a candle to the original), but overall the affect is positive: Check out the way the band teases out the latent pop sensibility of 13's atmospheric "Trim Trabb" and "Caramel", adding a new dimension to the songs.

Some of the biggest goosebump moments, though, come from the songs that fall somewhere between anthemic stadium pop and smudgy mood pieces. Even an insomniac's obsessive YouTube expedition to listen to every live version of "Beetlebum" ever (trust me) would probably not uncover a version showcasing a better vocal from Albarn, let alone an instrumental finale that rises to the occasion quite like Graham Coxon's squalling solo does here. Elsewhere, the brassy, pitch-perfect closer "The Universal" showers the crowd with generous handfuls of sonic confetti, and live favorite "Tender" is, as always, divine.

Coxon's bluesy refrain, "Oh my babyyyy," has become the "Freebird!" of Blur shows-- you can hear some strains of it travel, request-like, through the crowd while the band tunes up for another song earlier in the set. Backed by gospel singers, Albarn's vocal is powerful, but the audience feels like the frontpeople on this 9-plus-minute rendition as they steer the mantra-like refrain rippling through the park. Tens of thousands of voices strong, it's still got an intimacy about it, like the biggest, greatest campfire singalong ever.

Parklive showcases Blur in top form, but live albums are about a little more than a band; they document a moment too. The band was smart to rush the digital release last week, while the world's still experiencing a post-Olympic hangover, and the performance captures the city that's always been their muse at its most jubilant. By the time Parklive sees a full DVD release in November, who knows if they'll have once again changed their tune about this performance being their last; personally (and especially since they're a band that's always thrived amidst a stormy internal dynamic) I believe them about as much as I believed thatThe Black Album was Jay-Z's retirement record.

But in the off chance that this is the last we ever hear from Blur, it's hard to imagine a band going out with a more triumphant victory lap.

http://pitchfork.com/revi...-parklive/

[Edited 8/20/12 8:54am]

I haven't bought this yet (I'm waiting for the five disc version) but it appears that the bonus disc included with the three disc version contains just five songs. That seems too skimpy.