Blurballs.com writes:

Blur are set to appear in an exclusive NME feature piece to talk about their future. Speculations are that they're going to make a new album with producer William Orbit.

The news about Blur headlining the London Olympics 2012 Closing ceremony concert came on midnight yesterday, just a day before the Brit Awards at 8:00pm tonight at the O2 Arena....

...Speculations for the NME announcement tomorrow is best summed up by dannn, a forum member, who said:

My take on recent developments:
• Blur are active again and that's what we have been craving for years.
• The new song sounds really good and a studio version may not be a piano based ballad and could well be in the same vein as For Tomorrow.
• The gig is a unique opportunity for the band to be part of history. I am sure if it wasn't for the Olympics they wouldn't be going anywhere near Hyde Park.
• Expect some intimate warm up gigs.
• The intention at the Brits (and the Olympics gig) could be to put a line in the sand and celebrate the band's past, whilst looking towards the future as Blur Mark II. I think the band have the desire to continue and produce new music, but I guess we'll find out tonight / tomorrow.

We couldn't agree more - with William Orbit on board, what else can happen? Here's our best guess -

- Under the Westway is the Record Day promo
- They're back "in full" as the article says
- Playing Olympics with some intimate warm up gigs
- Then possibly an album towards December with Orbit

Blur are also playing Hyde Park, Way Out West, Smukkeste, and probably other European festivals this year. Stay tuned for more dates (thanks Hiro).

Last night was the Brits (the UK version of the Grammys), and though the winners weren't that exciting (Adele, Lana Del Rey, Foo Fighters, Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars), Blur did perform. Videos of their performance, video of Graham & Damon Albart playing a new song two nights earlier, with the full list of Brits winners and some Graham Coxon dates, below...

Continue reading "Blur are back - played the Brits (videos), playing the Olympics & other dates; Graham & Damon debuted new song (video)"

To quote Gothamist:

Following the Arcade Fire's win at the Grammys, it seemed like half the nation was asking: Who Is Arcade Fire? What started off as a post on BrooklynVegan, grew into its own Tumblr account, and by last night the band themselves caught wind of the meme. At the Brit Awards--while accepting one of their awards (they took home trophies for Best International Album and Best International Group)--Win Butler said, "We're called Arcade Fire--check it out on Google."

Full Brit winner list (Bieber and Mumford & Sons included) and some videos below...

Continue reading "Arcade Fire win Brits (Bieber too), acknowledge meme"