Blur

Started by Jeremy Blackman, May 29, 2003, 07:30:42 PM

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Jeremy Blackman

May 29, 2003, 07:30:42 PM
"Beetlebum" is great... but I need more recommendations...

children with angels

#1
May 29, 2003, 07:38:49 PM
I think 13 is their best (most interesting) album.
"Should I bring my own chains?"
"We always do..."

http://www.alternatetakes.co.uk/
http://thelesserfeat.blogspot.com/

godardian

#2
May 29, 2003, 07:56:52 PM
I'm actuall a Modern Life is Rubbish/Parklife person, myself. That's the more pop/Kinks-Bowie inspired stuff with the really great lyrics and melodies. The Pavement/American-indie-inspired stuff is mostly from the self-titled '97 album on out. There are still some good songs, but they're less plentiful (in my opinion).

My fave Blur songs:

"Advert"

"Coffee and TV"

"End of a Century"

"You're So Great"

"Look Inside America"

"Strange News from Another Star"

"Out of Time"

"Clover Over Dover"

"For Tomorrow"


...they're a really good band. However, I prefer Pulp. Though apparently defunct or on indefinite sabbatical, I think they were a much more consistently great band than Blur ever were. I like Suede better, too.
""Money doesn't come into it. It never has. I do what I do because it's all that I am." - Morrissey

"Lacan stressed more and more in his work the power and organizing principle of the symbolic, understood as the networks, social, cultural, and linguistic, into which a child is born. These precede the birth of a child, which is why Lacan can say that language is there from before the actual moment of birth. It is there in the social structures which are at play in the family and, of course, in the ideals, goals, and histories of the parents. This world of language can hardly be grasped by the newborn and yet it will act on the whole of the child's existence."

Stay informed on protecting your freedom of speech and civil rights.

children with angels

#3
May 29, 2003, 08:11:21 PM
I think my view of the earlier Blur has been tempered by living in England through the whole Britpop/indie scene debacle with all the Blur vs Oasis nonsense that went on throughout - I ended up somewhat discounting all of it at the time and haven't re-evaluated since. The same goes for Pulp to an extent (although I do think they have some wonderful songs -superb lyrics), and certainly for Suede. With their self-title Blur album and 13 I thought they were making a refreshing and conscious rejection of all the Britpop stuff and finding an original sound. But that's just the opinion of a jaded, post-rockin Brit.
"Should I bring my own chains?"
"We always do..."

http://www.alternatetakes.co.uk/
http://thelesserfeat.blogspot.com/

godardian

#4
May 29, 2003, 09:36:15 PM
Quote from: children with angelsI think my view of the earlier Blur has been tempered by living in England through the whole Britpop/indie scene debacle with all the Blur vs Oasis nonsense that went on throughout - I ended up somewhat discounting all of it at the time and haven't re-evaluated since. The same goes for Pulp to an extent (although I do think they have some wonderful songs -superb lyrics), and certainly for Suede. With their self-title Blur album and 13 I thought they were making a refreshing and conscious rejection of all the Britpop stuff and finding an original sound. But that's just the opinion of a jaded, post-rockin Brit.

Believe me, on this side of the pond, anything that wasn't Pearl Jam et. al. was a sweet, sweet relief.

But now that the rubble is cleared, Blur really aren't my favorite, though the bloom has DEFINITELY faded off the Oasis rose; I wouldn't consider anything they've ever done equal to anything Blur has ever done.

I think Suede holds up remarkably well, and their first two albums are brilliant. I also think Pulp has some stuff that is absolutely classic. But my favorites, who never really got their due, even in England, not really: The Auteurs. And Mr. Luke Haines continues to crab at the world in the guise of Black Box Recorder, whose album is far and away my favorite so far this year... much better than the Blur, in my opinion. He's the only really inspired curmudgeonly pop stinger since Morrissey retired, for all intents and purposes.

But anyways, too much of this later Blur stuff sounds like they're doing a Radiohead thing. You can see my many opinions of post-OK Computer Radiohead in other topics. I really much, much prefer music you can trace back to Ray Davies and Bowie and The Buzzcocks and Noel Coward (and, if you're Todd Haynes, Oscar Wilde) than music you can trace back to Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, and Genesis.  :?
""Money doesn't come into it. It never has. I do what I do because it's all that I am." - Morrissey

"Lacan stressed more and more in his work the power and organizing principle of the symbolic, understood as the networks, social, cultural, and linguistic, into which a child is born. These precede the birth of a child, which is why Lacan can say that language is there from before the actual moment of birth. It is there in the social structures which are at play in the family and, of course, in the ideals, goals, and histories of the parents. This world of language can hardly be grasped by the newborn and yet it will act on the whole of the child's existence."

Stay informed on protecting your freedom of speech and civil rights.

sexterossa

#5
May 30, 2003, 12:11:34 AM
just get the album man.

my picks...
1. blur
2. 13
3. think tank
4. the great escape
5. parklife (yuck)
I dream of birds and sometimes they land and burst into flames. And I dream my teeth are rotting. And when I am awake, I dream of you.

godardian

#6
May 30, 2003, 01:08:07 AM
Quote from: sexterossajust get the album man.

my picks...
1. blur
2. 13
3. think tank
4. the great escape
5. parklife (yuck)

What about Modern Life is Rubbish? Does it not rate at all?

I don't know, I've always and always will have a more tender spot for the succinct in pop music. All the greatest stuff feels tight, energetic, direct, to me. I was just listening to the Buzzcocks' Singles Going Steady today and thinking how ideal that is, to just load up your zippy two and a half minutes with as much melody and lyrical intelligence/tenderness and energy as you can and put it out there. Much of later Blur and late Radiohead sounds, in comparison, like it has its head so far up its own ass that it can't see or hear straight. There's so little life or vitality to it.

That doesn't mean I don't make an exception. I really like Stereolab. This new "experimental" side to pop bands I used to love, though... it feels like a day late and a dollar short. King Crimson, anyone?  :?
""Money doesn't come into it. It never has. I do what I do because it's all that I am." - Morrissey

"Lacan stressed more and more in his work the power and organizing principle of the symbolic, understood as the networks, social, cultural, and linguistic, into which a child is born. These precede the birth of a child, which is why Lacan can say that language is there from before the actual moment of birth. It is there in the social structures which are at play in the family and, of course, in the ideals, goals, and histories of the parents. This world of language can hardly be grasped by the newborn and yet it will act on the whole of the child's existence."

Stay informed on protecting your freedom of speech and civil rights.

Redlum

#7
May 30, 2003, 04:07:10 AM
My favourite damn band in the whole world ever since they started and I was very young.

Definately look into Modern Life is Rubbish, but if you're not into the poppy bouncy stuff - everything after The Great Escape. Its all good.

The britpop era was great. And it has never been equalled. I kind of had a small amount of hope as british citizen, what with coolbritannia and all.

All that rivalry nonsense was Oasis though, calling Damon Albarn a rich boy cause he never did a paper round, wishing him cancer and what not.
\"I wanted to make a film for kids, something that would present them with a kind of elementary morality. Because nowadays nobody bothers to tell those kids, \'Hey, this is right and this is wrong\'.\"
  -  George Lucas

Mesh

#8
May 30, 2003, 11:07:55 AM
Quote from: godardianI really much, much prefer music you can trace back to Ray Davies and Bowie and The Buzzcocks and Noel Coward (and, if you're Todd Haynes, Oscar Wilde) than music you can trace back to Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, and Genesis.  :?

1.  There's plenty of Bowie/T. Rex inspired stuff in late-era Blur, like the self-titled Blur, fer example.  I much prefer the post-1995 Blur to the pre-.  But the pre-1995 stuff is growing on me.....slowly.

2.  Blur never sounds much like Jethro Tull or Genesis (either Genesis incarnation, really).  Floyd I can see scattered about their catalog, though.....kinda.

btw: I love Pink Floyd and Genesis.

Mesh

#9
May 30, 2003, 11:11:33 AM
Quote from: sexterossa
my picks...
1. blur
2. 13
3. think tank
4. the great escape
5. parklife (yuck)

I'll just about go along with that.  Think Tank and The Great Escape should switch places, though.

You know why I'll always have to consider Parklife 2nd rate?  Three words: "Girls and Boys."  Ugh.  That song.  Fucking annoyingest Britpop song ever.

Mesh

#10
May 30, 2003, 11:15:48 AM
Quote from: godardianThis new "experimental" side to pop bands I used to love, though... it feels like a day late and a dollar short. King Crimson, anyone?  :?

1.  You werent' trying to say that King Crimson was pop and has gone experimental, were you?  No.  You couldn't have been.

2.  Hell yeah, King Crimson.  They were amazing for the better part of the 70s; good for the first half of the 80s; and, yeah, OK, merely interesting for the rest of the time since.

godardian

#11
May 30, 2003, 04:06:29 PM
Quote from: Mesh

You know why I'll always have to consider Parklife 2nd rate?  Three words: "Girls and Boys."  Ugh.  That song.  Fucking annoyingest Britpop song ever.

Yeah. I really love the idea behind it, but it wore off extra fast. All the other songs on that album are much more durable. Suede did the whole girls who like boys who like boys to be girls etc etc much better and with a little more complexity and sincerity...

...and the Bowie-sounding stuff on the later Blur is really the main reason I can appreciate it at all. Esp. on the new album, Albarn's voice on "Out of Time" and the "I was born out of love" line on "Ambulance," the vocal melody and Albarn's tone are pure Bowie.

No, King Crimson were never pop the way Blur once were. You're right that I wasn't implying that. But I meant it as a criticism.
""Money doesn't come into it. It never has. I do what I do because it's all that I am." - Morrissey

"Lacan stressed more and more in his work the power and organizing principle of the symbolic, understood as the networks, social, cultural, and linguistic, into which a child is born. These precede the birth of a child, which is why Lacan can say that language is there from before the actual moment of birth. It is there in the social structures which are at play in the family and, of course, in the ideals, goals, and histories of the parents. This world of language can hardly be grasped by the newborn and yet it will act on the whole of the child's existence."

Stay informed on protecting your freedom of speech and civil rights.

Gold Trumpet

#12
May 30, 2003, 04:50:10 PM
I will not comment on their music because I don't know enough of it, but in the interviews i've seen them given, I've never seen a band more desperate in trying to look and act artsy.

~rougerum

sexterossa

#13
May 30, 2003, 09:38:19 PM
Quote from: godardian
Quote from: sexterossajust get the album man.

my picks...
1. blur
2. 13
3. think tank
4. the great escape
5. parklife (yuck)

What about Modern Life is Rubbish? Does it not rate at all?


i don't have it. nor really want it. the earlier i go into blur's albums the less i have liked them.
I dream of birds and sometimes they land and burst into flames. And I dream my teeth are rotting. And when I am awake, I dream of you.

godardian

#14
May 30, 2003, 10:01:47 PM
Quote from: sexterossa

What about Modern Life is Rubbish?



i don't have it. nor really want it. the earlier i go into blur's albums the less i have liked them.

The titles, at least, are progressively better the earlier you go. Even though Leisure is a total false start, it's still a great title (especially if you're into Situationism at all).
""Money doesn't come into it. It never has. I do what I do because it's all that I am." - Morrissey

"Lacan stressed more and more in his work the power and organizing principle of the symbolic, understood as the networks, social, cultural, and linguistic, into which a child is born. These precede the birth of a child, which is why Lacan can say that language is there from before the actual moment of birth. It is there in the social structures which are at play in the family and, of course, in the ideals, goals, and histories of the parents. This world of language can hardly be grasped by the newborn and yet it will act on the whole of the child's existence."

Stay informed on protecting your freedom of speech and civil rights.
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