W♥M

Blur at Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood, CA (20 October 2015)

Read More Blur After the release of The Magic Whip (first album since Think Tank was released in 2003), this world tour sees Blur play Australia (including the Splendour in the Grass festival in Byron Bay) … Robin just saw Blur at the Hollywood Bowl. Highlight of the show was comedian/singer Fred Armisen (from Portlandia) showing up to sing on "Parklife". Courtney Barnett was the opener. Tonight, Robin is in New York to catch Blur one last time. Setlist: Go Out There's No Other Way Lonesome Street Badhead Ghost Ship Coffee & TV Out of Time Caravan Beetlebum Thought I Was a Spaceman Trimm Trabb Tender Outro: "Don't fall for Trump/He's such a chump" Parklife with Fred Armisen Song 2 To the End This Is a Low -- Encore -- Stereotypes Girls & Boys For Tomorrow The Universal vu ♥ robin ♥ weheartmusic.com photo by robin

Blur at Qantas Credit Union Arena, Sydney (25 July 2015)

Blur Setlist Go Out There's No Other Way Lonesome Street Badhead Ghost Ship Coffee & TV Out of Time Beetlebum Thought I Was a Spaceman Trimm Trabb Tender Trouble in the Message Centre Parklife Ong Ong Song 2 Pyongyang To the End This Is a Low -- Encore -- Stereotypes Girls & Boys For Tomorrow The Universal Tour Dates 07/26/15 Splendour In The Grass (Sydney) 07/28/15 Melbourne, Australia Rod Laver 07/30/15 Perth, Australia Perth Arena 09/05/15 Electric Picnic 10/07/15 Santiago, Chile Movistar Arena 10/11/15 Buenos Aires Tecnopolis 10/15/15 Mexico City Palacio De Los Deportes 10/20/15 Los Angeles, CA Hollywood Bowl 10/23/15 New York, NY Madison Square Garden Read More Blur Blur drummer Dave Rowntree would like very much to prove that adage wrong, as according to NME, he'll run as a Labour Party candidate for the local council election in his Marylebone …

"Sorry we haven't been back sooner, Sydney"...."18 years!". Hang on a second... it has been 18 years since Blur played the Hordern Pavilion (that's 1997 for those who need some friendly Sunday morning maths assistance).

After the release of The Magic Whip (first album since Think Tank was released in 2003), this world tour sees Blur play Australia (including the Splendour in the Grass festival in Byron Bay) for the first time in 18 years!

Playing to a very nearly sold out crowd, Blur played a mixed bag from all eight of their albums, complete with backing singers and a four-piece (at least it looked like four from where I was standing) horn section. There's No Other Way, Trimm Trabb, Trouble in the Message Centre, Parklife, Coffee and TV and of course the crowd pleasing, Song 2; all the hits were played. (No Country House... but not sad about it)

As the tour is off the back of the release of The Magic Whip they unsurprisingly played a handful of songs form the new album. I'm not sure about the rest of the crowd, but although I do love the album, songs like Go Out, Lonesome Street and Thought I Was a Spaceman, really didn't strike the same chord in me as the older songs did.

I could not pick a fault with the show in terms of musicality. Each song played faultlessly.... except for the moment at which Graham managed to land a forward roll (whilst playing guitar), but had to miss a few notes whilst readjusting his strap. Damon was his relentlessly energetic self, Alex (dressed only in a t-shirt and shorts... dude! It's winter here!) was having an amazing time strutting his stuff for the pleasure of everyone right of stage, Graham's guitar playing was executed seemingly effortlessly and Dave... well, he's still Dave (face obscured by cymbal for the whole show, but i assume his only changed minimally).

I would also like to mention how pleasant it actually was being in the crowd. It was a significant difference from my last Blur experience: being 17 and frantically trying to be as close to the front as I could be; almost dying of heat exhaustion (I can only imagine how revolting i must have looked to anyone caught a glimpse - not that I cared); and being intermittently saturated by Damon's endless supply of "crowd water".

These days "crowd water" is still being widely thrown, but I felt no jostling or pushing. Just people happy to be there. There was even a "celebrity" sighting or three; with the dudes from Top Gear hanging side of stage. Didn't Jeremy Clarkson get the boot from that show? Who knows... who cares? Anyway, I digress....

After a mammoth two-hour set, one of two things were obvious from Graham's cheeky smiles and other facial expressions during the encore (where they played some of the classic singles: Stereotypes; Girls and Boys; For Tomorrow; and ending on a slow tune with The Universal) that Graham was either jetlagged and ready for a nice sit down, or he had played those songs so many times before that he had gone into auto-pilot mode and his mind was completely elsewhere. Either way, I was not disappointed (which is clearly evident, because the nanna in me usually gets annoyed during the short wait before an encore and is half way home before the band has finished).

Oh.. and support act? Sorry Jamie T, but I had to drink some beers in a pub down the street whilst you were playing; but by all reports you were pretty good and if time machines were a thing, I'd definitely turn up earlier to watch you.

http://www.blur.co.uk

http://www.splendourinthegrass.com

http://jamie-t.com

[email protected]

Blur at Qantas Credit Union Arena, Sydney (25 July 2015)

sally ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic ♥ itunes.apple.com

W♥M213: Britpop Vu-And-Tell

W♥M213: Britpop Vu-And-Tell (36 mins) Read More Britpop April 2014 is the 20th anniversary of Britpop, according to BBC6 and Radio 1. This whole month, we are devoting W♥M Radio to our love of Britpop. …

April 2014 is the 20th anniversary of Britpop, so all month we're dedicating our show to the wonderful movement.

NOTE: This was originally shot on video, so if you want the visuals, you'll have to see it on YouTube. Because of YouTube's overly aggressive copyright policies, the music portion was taken out. Absolutely no thanks to Geffen Records.

Here's the Britpop timeline for consideration:

Suede: Suede (Mar 1993); Dog Man Star (Mar 1995)

Blur: Modern Life is Rubbish (May 1993); Parklife (Apr 1994)

Pulp: His n Hers (Apr 1994); Different Class (Oct 1995)

Lush: Split (Jun 1994)

Echobelly: Everyone's Got One (Jul 1994)

Oasis: Definitely Maybe (Aug 1994); Morning Glory (Oct 1995)

S*M*A*S*H: Self Abused (Sep 1994)

Shed Seven: Change Giver (Sep 1994)

Sleeper: Smart (Jan 1995)

Elastica: Elastica (Mar 1995)

Salad: Drink Me (May 1995)

These Animal Men: (Come on Join) The High Society (May 1995)

Gene: Olympian (Mar 1995)

Supergrass: I Should Coco (May 1995)

Cast: All Change (Oct 1995)

Bluetones: Expecting to Fly (Feb 1996)

Marion: This World and Body (Feb 1996)

Space: Spiders (Sep 1996)

Ash: 1977 (Jun 1996)

60ft Dolls: The Big 3 (Jan 1997)

Catatonia: International Velvet (Feb 1998)

Here is the video:

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vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

W♥M212: Britpop in the USA

W♥M212: Britpop in the USA (53 mins) Read More Britpop The second part of the show is all about British magazines. We touch on some of these: Select Magazine, Q Magazine, Vox, NME, Melody Maker, The Face, Word, Uncut Magazine, Mojo …

April 2014 is the 20th anniversary of Britpop, according to BBC6 and Radio 1.

This whole month, we are devoting W♥M Radio to our love of Britpop.

Vu and John discuss the story of Britpop, the short-lived movement from 1993 to 1997.

pre-Britpop

Start of Britpop

Important album: Blur's Parklife (Apr 1994)

Britpop in Mainstream

Britpop "Time Line"

Suede: Suede (Mar 1993); Dog Man Star (Mar 1995)

Blur: Parklife (Apr 1994)

Pulp: His n Hers (Apr 1994); Different Class (Oct 1995)

Echobelly: Everyone's Got One (Jul 1994)

Oasis: Definitely Maybe (Aug 1994); Morning Glory (Oct 1995)

Sleeper: Smart (Jan 1995)

Elastica: Elastica (Mar 1995)

Gene: Olympian (Mar 1995)

Supergrass: I Should Coco (May 1995)

Cast: All Change (Oct 1995)

Death of Britpop

Politics: Labour Party was elected

Record labels merging in 1997

Oasis: Be Here Now (Aug 1997)

Death of Princess Diana

Life after Britpop

There are a lot of exciting new British bands emerging and making it big in the U.S.A... including the 1975

Most of the old 90s Britpop bands are no longer around, but the few surviving ones are worth checking out if you've never seen/heard of them.

BONUS: A bunch of Britpop-era bands and snippets of music.

Vu and Select Magazine (Apr 1993)

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vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

W♥M209: SXSW Recap

W♥M209: SXSW Recap (50 mins) Read More SXSW South by Southwest (SXSW) Music is next week: March 11-16th. Since March 1st, I've received about 200 emails with the subject header of "SXSW" …

The SXSW Recap episode for W♥M Radio, with Jonathan, Christopher, Brody, and Vu.

Highlights:

Introductions of Jonathan & Christopher

Moscow Girls

Irish bands (St Patrick's Day)

The Jungle Giants

Skaters

Sosoglos

"Top Lists"

Damon Albarn vs the 1975

Tips on discovering bands

The Strypes

Longer sets

Song of the show is The Crookes' "Play Dumb".

The Crookes are on tour:

03/23/14 The Echo Los Angeles, CA, US
04/12/14 Lincoln Imp Scunthorpe, UK
04/15/14 The Bodega Social Club Nottingham, UK
04/16/14 The Cockpit Leeds, UK Find tickets
04/17/14 The Cluny 2 Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK
04/18/14 King Tut's Wah Wah Hut Glasgow, UK

BONUS: The drunk driver accident, and Julian Casablancas.

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vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

W♥M185: What's in a Name?

W♥M185 (52 mins) Read More Sinead O'Connor I love Sinead O'Connor. Probably not as much as she loves Bob Dylan, but I have been obsessed with her songs for a long time now. A few years ago, she released How About I Be Me (and You Be You) .…

The legendary Ryan is back on W♥M Radio! We recorded a special "tech-talk" section, but I will have to save it for a future non-music podcast.

Up for topics:

What's in a name? (courtesy of www.nme.com)

Fleet Foxes was first called Pineapple, but they had to change the name since there was another local band going by Pineapple.

Elastica originally called themselves Onk and Vaseline (but they had to change it when The Vaselines threatened them legally). So in 1993, they became Elastica.

Radiohead was called On A Friday in 1995 because that's when they met to rehearse.

Oasis originally named themselves after a Beatles song called "The Rain", so the band name was Rain.

Blur was called Seymour

Coldplay originally started as Pectoralz, and then changed their name to Starfish.

Pink Floyd had several names: Sigma 6, The Meggadeaths, The (Screaming) Abdabs (or Architectural Abdabs), Leonard's Lodgers, The Spectrum Five and The Tea Set.

The Detour became The Who in February 1964... then that summer they changed their name to The High Numbers. When that didn't take off, they changed their name back to The Who.

Bjork was in several bands before going solo: Spit and Snot, Sugarcubes, and Gling-Gló,

SINEAD O'CONNOR
O'Connor will be in America to do a series of residency dates in November 2013. Originally the tour was to take place in 2011, but that was quietly canceled due to various personal reasons. See complete tour dates on our previous article.

FATHER JOHN MISTY
Ryan's last gig was for Father John Misty (you can read more about him here). Seems like FJM will be returning to life on the road later this year:

08/24/13 Monterey, CA Monterey Co. Fairgrounds
10/06/13 Seattle, WA Moore Theatre
10/07/13 Portland, OR Aladdin Theater
10/08/13 Vancouver, BC Commodore Ballroom
10/11/13 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue
10/12/13 Chicago, IL Vic Theatre
10/13/13 Madison, WI Capitol Theater
10/14/13 Pontiac, MI Crofoot Ballroom
10/18/13 New York, NY Town Hall
10/22/13 Philadelphia, PA Union Transfer
10/23/13 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
10/24/13 Richmond, VA The National
10/25/13 Carrboro, NC Cat's Cradle
10/26/13 Athens, GA Georgia Theatre
10/28/13 Dallas, TX House Of Blues
10/29/13 Austin, TX Emo's
10/31/13 Phoenix, AZ Crescent Ballroom
11/01/13 San Diego, CA House Of Blues
11/02/13 Los Angeles, CA The Wiltern

BELLE & SEBASTIAN AND GOD HELP THE GIRL
We love B&S and GHTP, it's only too bad they're only playing big festivals at the moment.

08/17/13 "Paredes De Coura"
08/30/13 "Zurich Open Air"
09/01/13 "End Of The Road Festival"

Ryan is gutted that he could not attend the London premier of the GHTP Musical Film, but we have an article on the Los Angeles premier. Apparently Stuart Murdoch's wife is preggers, according to the report.

Jennifer writes that the film was "Stuart’s story of the forming of Belle and Sebastian", so if you love B&S, it's definitely worth looking into.

As for the rest of God Help the Girl:
Asya who appeared on GHTP is currently in Chaos Chaos, but previously in Smoosh.

Neil Hannon (aka Divine Comedy) who appeared on the GHTP album is in a project called The Duckworth Lewis Method. Their new album Sticky Wickets came out last month, July 2013.

T.A.T.U.
Ryan tries to forget t.A.T.u. rather unsuccessfully. No idea what the two Russian girls are up to these days, but Vu is still in love with Julia Volkova.

Apparently there was a t.A.T.u. reunion four or five years ago. Then as recently as in last year, in various interviews Julia and her t.A.T.u. partner Lena Katina does not keep in contact. That's is untrue, apparently the two will team-up once more to play Kiev (Ukraine) on September 27th, while Lena is playing Hangar 110 in Sao Paulo on November and Cologne in Germany October 5-6th.

Julia recently appeared in a few singles in 2012: Lyubov Suka/Back to her Future and Любовь-Сука (feat Dilma Bilan). She also appeared in a film called "Zombie Fever". Lena will be releasing a new solo album in 2013.

CLOUD
The impossible to find Cloud band has an album called Comfort Songs that Ryan really loves. The album came out last week (August 5th) via Audio Antihero Records.

Song of the show is "Stomach Pit" from the album, which you can find more information on their bandcamp.

Bonus: XBONE or PS4? Cherie Currie from the Runaways is a 'cherry bomb'. Red Hot Chili Peppers could have been called Tony Flow And The Miraculously Majestic Masters Of Mayhem, or as Ryan would have it as TFATMMMoM.

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vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

The 2012 London Summer Olympics Closing Ceremony

Read More Olympic Games With the Summer Olympic in London, fans flock Hyde Park to enjoy all sorts of sporting action on the giant screens and get a chance to catch some of our favorite British bands play live - for free!

Did you catch NBC's broadcast of the closing ceremonies of the 2012 London Olympic Games? We saw some of it last Sunday, and according to news reports, it was one of NBC's highest ratings (up 32% over the Beijing Games!)

Unlike NBC's clumsy attempt at censoring the opening ceremonies, it looks like they caved in to heavy criticisms and decided to air the closing music in its entirety.

The Closing Ceremony features a good wide range of British music. Personally, I was rather excited to see Pet Shop Boys doing their big hit song, "West End Girls," and the Spice Girls re-united again to do a medley of "Wannabe" and "Spice Up Your Life." Pop fans would note Take That and One Direction.

As much as I love Oasis, we got Beady Eye doing "Wonderwall." I got the impression that Liam didn't want to do a Noel Gallagher song, and they certainly made sure everyone knew they were 'Beady Eye,' not Oasis.

It was also a shame that Blur didn't make on the lineup (instead, they were playing over at BT London Hydepark), but Massed Bands of the Guards Division covered them with "Parklife." To me, "Parklife" is the quintessential Britpop song - that and Pulp's "Disco 2000" (which sadly no mention of Pulp or Jarvis Cocker.)

I also enjoyed the epic "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life," by Eric Idle - but couldn't they get the rest of Monty Python back together?

If you missed the Closing Ceremony, I'm certain you can buy the music compilation soon-ish. Already, you can pick up a double-disc of Isles Of Wonder: Music For The Opening Ceremony Of The London 2012 Olympic Games via Decca Recordings.

The compilation features Underworld, Dizzee Rascal, Emeli Sandé, Arctic Monkeys, Chemical Brothers, David Bowie, and more.

PET SHOP BOYS
www.petshopboys.co.uk

As I previously mentioned, I love Pet Shop Boys, and I have some news on them. They have a brand new album, Elysium, coming out on Astralwerks on September 11th.

If you can't wait that long, the first single, "Winner" is available on two digital bundles. The first will came out August 7th with three non-album b-sides (including a cover of the Bee Gees' "I Started A Joke") and the second is today (August 14th.)

Digital Bundle 1 1. Winner 2. A Certain "Je Ne Sais Quoi" 3. The Way Through The Woods (long version) 4. I Started A Joke

Digital Bundle 2 (Winner Remixed) 1. Winner (Andrew Dawson HappyHour Remix) 2. Winner (John Dahlback Remix) 3. Winner (Niki & The Dove Remix) 4. Winner (Andrew Dawson HappySad Remix)

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic ♥ +W♥M

W♥M102: Keyboard Cats

W♥M102 (57min: archive/podomatic)

Another really long show, this runs for about an hour. I wanted to cut more out, but they were all so laugh-out-loud that I kept most of it in.

Kristen, the guest of honor, does most of the talking, about her travels and future plans. Sally and Vu also there. Some of the things I learned:

Australians shortens everything. Derros and Povvos and such...

Kristen stalking Nick Banks and walking around Sheffield and Idlewild in Camden Town

Gorillaz and Damon DJing in Sydney

M.A.G.N.U.S. via britishpopsongs.co.uk

Playground Weekender 2011: Doves might cancel? Kool & The Gang's Rosanna Joanna. Rockabilly vibe. Midnight Juggernauts.

Keyboard Cats T-Shirt: a combination of Keyboard Cat and the Three Wolves T-Shirt

New vs Old Belle & Sebastian

Kristen's future tour plans: Holy F***, Primal Scream, Roxy Music, and Belinda Carlisle

Sydney Festival: Live: An intimate video study of the art of performing

Bonus material includes: Broadcast singer Trish's recent death, shopping in England, and The Wonder Stuff & Levellers.

Below are some photographs, courtesy of Kristen:

Damon Albarn

Nick Banks' pottery shop

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vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

W♥M057: Britpop Top Ten Countdown

W♥M058 (69 mins)

Suede - Metal Mickey     Britpop: Jarvis vs Blur ♥ Flyer (12/05/09)

BRITPOPCAST #4: TOP TEN BRITPOP COUNTDOWN

This is the best of the best, and as far as I'm concern, this is the best countdown ever. If you had to listen to just one of our podcast, I think this the one you have to listen to.

Going into the recording, we already knew that it would be one massive recording session that will be split into two parts. So the first part is the countdown, thirty of our favorite Britpop tunes. The second part will be uploaded next week and involves a very hard Britpop Q Magazine Quiz. Seriously, it was hard, even for seasoned veterans like ourselves.

The next show, some ideas: Britpop girl bands ? Britpop band reunions ? If those doesn't sound appealing, let me know what you'd like us to discuss. Otherwise, I can always talk hours on end about stalking Louise Wener.

As for the Britpop top list, these are our preference and not a mean to measure how important a band is to that genre. Also, obviously we all had our Pulp, Blur, and Oasis moment, but the choice in songs are interesting to note. I have always known that my top two are the Blur vs Oasis, it was the other eight that was hard to have placement. I could have easily had a top 20 or 30. Easily.

Some honorable mentions should be sent to Cast, Salad, Charlatans.

Vu 10. Gene - Sleep Well Tonight 09. Echobelly - I Can't Imagine the World Without Me 08. The Bluetones - Bluetonic 07. Shed Seven - Dolphin 06. Sleeper - Nice Guy Eddie 05. Pulp - Disco 2000 04. Elastica - Stutter 03. Suede - Metal Mickey 02. Blur - Girls and Boys 01. Oasis - Supersonic

Sally 10. SFA - Ice Hockey Hair 09. Doves - Pounding 08. Teenage Fanclub - Sparky's Dream 07. Blur - Sunday Sunday 06. Suede - Animal Nitrate 05. The Coral - Dreaming of You 04. Ocean Colour Scene - The Day We Caught the Train 03. Dodgy - Good Enough 02. Pulp - Babies 01. Stone Roses - Fools Gold

Kristen 10. MSP - Motorcycle Emptiness 09. South - Keep Close 08. Pulp - Acrylic Afternoons 07. Oasis - Columbia 06. Wendys-Pulling My Fingers Off 05. Supergrass - Moving 04. Blur - This is a Low 03. Oasis - The Masterplan 02. Suede - Killing of a Flash Boy 01. Pulp - Sheffield: Sex City

If you like what you heard, and you happen to be in Sydney in early December, DJ Sal is doing her bits at britpop.com.au.

PS, stay after the song and you're in for a Buzzcocks treat.

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vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic ♥ +W♥M

Blur. And Bert. And Ernie.

Clearly you're all the worst bunch of britpop fans ever. No one got it? Well... I guess no one listened anyway... Well to understand this post, go listen to the the Crimea track I posted yesterday, then tell me the intro isn't right off this...

Blur - The Universal

Ok, maybe it's not, but seriously, if I had time to mix the two together I would, and it would so sound as good as that santiriani thing yesterday. Speaking of which, Soup, that Cat Stevens vid is classic. If you wanna know what the hell I'm talking about, read the comments for my last post. Anyway, while I'm on a Blur binge, I can't resist. I even remember watching this one live on TOTP back in 95. Where were you when britpop pwnd the world? I was in a christian summer camp. No shit.

Blur - Country House

And here's another classic from the tube, as I'm past trying to get this place to play nice with any other embeds... M.O.P.'s Ante Up plus plush toys equals epic lulz.

Bert & Ernie tries Gangsta-Rap

- Christopher.