Blur News

For Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Alex James and Dave Rowntree and their fans the band's comeback was about more than the songs One comment sums up the key music event of 2009 more effectively than anything else said or written about the subject, and, fittingly, it comes from the mouth of Damon Albarn.

Blur's appearance on the last night of the Glastonbury festival has been named the best headline performance of 2009 at this year's UK Festival awards.

Everybody deserves a fresh start now and then, and after alternately wrestling with and adding to the New Order legacy for more than 25 years, singer/guitarist Bernard Sumner and drummer Stephen Morris finally get a clean break.

One of the most remarkable guitarists and singer-songwriters of his generation, Graham Coxon returns from the triumphant Blur reunion tour to produce a this special concert at the Barbican based around his recent critically acclaimed 7th solo album Spinning Top.

When Blur went head to head with Oasis in 1995, pitting Country House against Roll With It, it did not seem possible that the band's gurning frontman, running Benny Hill-style around a Damien Hirst video, would end up being one of the most creative, influential and important musicians today.

THE last time Graham Coxon played in Scotland, he was headlining T in the Park. But Blur's guitarist seemed more comfortable sitting on a dimly lit stage in the Queen's Hall with the standing audience craning their necks to catch a glimpse of him.

They say bad things come in threes and that's certainly been the case this year.

Set up some space, keep them fed, and the rest will go like cluck work. Claire O'Mahony hears why hens are a man's best friend Happy brood: Mick Bermingham with son Charlie in their hen house.

BLUR frontman Damon Albarn steps out looking cheap and cheerful - in a T-shirt bearing a "99p" sale logo.

Blur drummer Dave Rowntree unsuccessfully ran for a Westminster City Council in London, England in 2007, and also ran for a Labour Party seat in the city in 2008, but now he's preparing for an even bigger political campaign.

Walthamstow's famous dog racing track closed down in August last year to great sadness so the site could be redeveloped into housing.

Limited edition art by the man behind the pop group Gorillaz has gone on sale ahead of a charity exhibition in Bristol.

The Labour Party candidate for Cities Of London And Westminster says politics is a "slog" Blur 's Dave Rowntree has played down his chances of becoming an MP at the next general election.

Defending the underdog has led Dave Rowntree into fighting music piracy, studying law and becoming a Labour candidate Dave Rowntree, left, with Damon Albarn and Alex James.

Experience the eight sons of Sun Ra trumpeter Phil Cohran, as they meld the bombast of the experimental jazz era with the groove of the hip hop age.

Five songs I'm listening to this week: Adam Lambert, "Time for Miracles" Yes, it's a generic ballad servicing a big-budget disaster picture, and yes, it sort of sounds like 3 Doors Down territory.

THE Royal Mail has gone rock 'n' roll with its own "top 10" - a set of stamps celebrating some of the best-known album covers from the past four decades.

Tommy Reilly is the skinny jeans-wearing, guitar-playing equivalent of X Factor protege Alexandra Burke.

THE Somerset Cider Brandy Company in Martock has been shortlisted for The Best Food Producer award in this year's BBC Radio 4 Food and Farming Awards 2009.

LOCAL producers gathered in Derby this weekend for a new food and drink fair - and for one business it was a chance to share some good news with customers.