Blur

Picked By TURN UP THE VOLUME – 10 Big Albums Turning 30 In 2023

Posted on by JL

Back in time

11 December 2022

Artist: PJ HARVEY
Album: RID OF ME
Her second LP

Released: 4 May 1993

Pitchfork said: “The brilliance of Rid of Me is in the vividness and detail with which it captures that Boschian panorama using only blues rhythms, loud-quiet-loud dynamics, Harvey’s voice.”

TUTV Pick: Rid Of Me

Stream the album HERE
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Band: THE AFGHAN WHIGS
Album: GENTLEMEN
4th longplayer

Released: 5 October 1993

Pitchfork wrote: “This major-label debu is a harrowing song cycle chronicling the death
throes of a relationship. That cycle implies a romantic fatalism, as though every relationship is doomed to end painfully. Gentlemen is both personal and unknowable, cocksure yet deeply troubled.”

TUTV Pick: Debonair

Stream the album HERE
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Band: SUEDE
Album: SUEDE
Debut LP

Released: 29 March 1993

BBC Music: “Suede’s main sources were Bowie (in Anderson’s wonderfully fey delivery) and
the Smiths. Ironically, Mike Joyce of the Smiths was a member for a short spell, but their bleak chronicles of urban dysfunction, modern love and sexual confusion were never a million miles away from Morrissey’s home ground.”

TUTV Pick: Animal Nitrate

Stream the album HERE
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Band: THE BREEDERS
Album: LAST SPLASH
Second longplayer

Released: 30 August 1993

AllMusic: “Its best moments — and the Deal sisters’ megawatt charm — end up
outweighing its inconsistencies to make it one of the alternative rock era’s defining
albums.”

TUTV Pick: Cannonball

Stream the album HERE
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Band: BLUR
Album: MODERN LIFE IS RUBBISH
Second LP

Released: 10 May 1993

Rolling Stone wrote: “Blur‘s second LP is their secret classic. Coming between the pop-psych shimmer of 1991’s Leisure and the cool Britannia of 1994’s Parklife, the brittle jangle and bitter observations on Modern Life Is Rubbish were near-career-killers.”

TUTV Rick: For Tomorrow

Stream the album HERE

Band: RADIOHEAD
Album: PABLO HONEY
Debut LP

Released: 22 February 1993

NME: “One of rock’s brightest hopes.
British teenagerhood has never been grumpier.”

TUTV Pick: Creep

Stream the album HERE
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Band: MORPHINE
Album: CURE FOR PAIN
Second LP

Release: 14 September 1993

AllMusic said: “With their cult following growing, Morphine expanded their audience even further with their exceptional 1994 sophomore effort, Cure for Pain. Whereas their debut, Good, was intriguing yet not entirely consistent, Cure for Pain more than delivered. The songwriting was stronger and more succinct. Cure for Pain was unquestionably one of the best and most cutting-edge rock releases of the ’90s.”

TUTV Pick: Buena

Stream the album HERE
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Band: NIRVANA
Album: IN UTERO
Third LP

Release: 21 September 1993

Rolling Stone wrote: “The album is a lot of things – brilliant, corrosive, enraged and thoughtful, most of them all at once. But more than anything, it’s a triumph of the will.”

TUTV Pick: All Apologies

Stream the album HERE
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Band: THE VERVE
Album: A STORM IN HEAVEN
Debut full length

Released: 21 June 1193

GuitarCom said: “A Northern Soul may have more choruses, Urban Hymns may have shifted 10 million copies and made them Wigan’s only global superstars, but Verve‘s (the ‘The’ came later) celestial debut A Storm In Heaven is the guitarist’s choice. Nick McCabe’s enveloping waves of reverb and tape delay, in turn soothing and savage, moved producer John Leckie to conclude “To some extent, A Storm In Heaven is his record”.

TUTV Pick: Slide Away

Stream the album HERE
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Band: MANIC STREET PREACHERS
Album: GOLD AGAINST THE SOUL
Second LP

Released: 21 June 1993

AllMusic said: “The rage is more articulate and the sound is stronger,
making Gold Against the Soul a flawed but worthy step forward.”

TUTV Pick: La Tristtese Durera

Stream the album HERE

BLUR At Wembley Stadion In LONDON – 8 July 2022

Posted on by JL

Former Britpop heroes BLUR announced a giant reunion concert at
Wembley Football Stadium in London next summer, on 8 July 2023.
Very probably for a full house of 90.000 fans.

I’m pretty sure these 3 knockouts
will be part of their set.

– GIRLS AND BOYS –

– SONG 2 –

– PARKLIFE –

BLUR: Bio – Discography – Facebook – Instagram

Picked By TURN UP THE VOLUME – These 10 Classic Crackers Turn 25 In 2022

Posted on by JL

11 December 2021

1. Bitter Sweet Symphony by THE VERVE (Wigan, UK)

Released: 16 June 1997
Album: Urban Hymns
Score: No 2 in the UK, No 12 in the USA

“Cause it’s a bittersweet symphony, that’s life
Tryna make ends meet, you’re a slave to money then you die
I’ll take you down the only road I’ve ever been down
You know the one that takes you to the places where all the veins meet, yeah”

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2. ‘Nothing Lasts Forever’ by ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN (Liverpool)

Released: 20 June 1997
Album: Evergreen
Score: #8 in the UK

“I want it now, I want it now
Not the promises of what tomorrow brings
I need to live in dreams today
I’m tired of the song that sorrow sings”

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3. ‘Kowalski’ by PRIMAL SCREAM (Scotland/UK)

Released: 5 May 1997
Album: Vanishing Point
Score: #2 in Scotland, #8 in the UK

“This radio station was named Kowalski
In honor of the last American hero to whom
Speed means freedom of the soul
The question is not when he’s gonna stop
But who is gonna stop him”

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4. ‘Get Higher’ by BLACK GRAPE (UK)

Released: 10 September 1997
Album: Stupid Stupid Stupid
Score: #24 in the UK

“Nancy is joining me because the message this evening is not my message, but ours
“Despite our best efforts, shortages of marijuana are now being reported. From the early
days of our administration, Nancy has been abusing marijuana on a daily basis and her
personal observations and efforts have given her such dramatic insights that I wanted
her to share them with you this evening.”

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5. ‘Brimful Of Asha’ by CORNERSHOP (UK)

Released: 18 August 1997
Album: When I Was Born For The 7th Time
Score: #1 in the UK, #1 in Scotland

“Brimful of Asha on the 45
Well, it’s a brimful of Asha on the 45
Brimful of Asha on the 45
Well, it’s a brimful of Asha on the 45”

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6. Song 2 by BLUR (UK)

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7. ‘All You Good People’ by EMBRACE (UK)

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8. ‘Electricity’ by SPIRITUALIZED (UK)

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9. ‘Block Rockin’ Beats’ by CHEMICAL BROTHERS (UK)

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10. ‘D’you Know What I Mean’ by OASIS

BLUR – Their Debut Album ‘LEISURE’ Is 30 Today

Posted on by JL

26 August 2021

Band: BLUR
Active: Since 1988 – present (with some hiatuses)
8 studio albums so far

Anniversary album: LEISURE – debut LP
Released: 26 August 1991 – 30 years ago today

AllMusic wrote: ““She’s So High” and “There’s No Other Way” were
auspicious debut singles, alternately trancy and melodic, suggesting
how shoegazing and baggy beats could be incorporated into pop song
structures. Both songs suggested that Blur was capable of a striking
debut album, but Leisure wasn’t it.” Score: 3/5.

Damon Albarn: “Thank God that [the album’s release] was a
time when you could make a record that wasn’t right and not be
discarded the next minute,’

Turn Up The Volume: A false start for one of the greatest and
most successful Brit bands ever and its singer-songwriter who
became a 24/7, multifaceted hit machine.

Singles/clips: She’s So High / There’s No Other Way

– SHE’S SO HIGH –

– THERE’S NO OTHER WAY –

Full album…

BLUR: Facebook

25 Years Ago BLUR Moved To Their ‘COUNTRY HOUSE’

Posted on by JL

Top singles from the past…

14 August 2020

Band: Blur (London)
Active: 1988–present 
(hiatuses: 2004–2008, 2016–2018)
Single: Country House
B-sides: One Born Every Minute and To The End
with French 60s star Françoise Hardy

Released: 14 August 1995 – 25 years ago today
Score: No 1 in the UK

Note: The single came out the same day as the 
Oasis single Roll with It“ came inn at No 2
The chart battle was dubbed the Battle of Britpop
Album: The Great Escape

“He’s reading Balzac, knocking back Prozac
It’s a helping hand that makes you feel wonderfully blind”

Let’s move…

BLUR: Facebook

Britpop Legends BLUR Released Their ‘PARKLIFE’ Single 25 Years Ago…

Posted on by JL

Knockouts from the past…

21 August 2019

Band: BLUR
Song: PARKLIFE
Released: 22 August 1994 – 25 years ago
Note: It was the title track of their triumphant third LP ‘Parklife’  that became a number one album in the UK. Singer/songwriter Damon Albarn revealed that the track was inspired by the park he lived close by. “I was living on Kensington Church Street (London), and I used to come into the park at the other end, and I used to, you know, watch people, and pigeons.” The hit is also famous for the spoken word part of actor Phil Daniels
Score: It peaked a #10 in the UK

Now, let’s go have fun in the park…

BLUR: Facebook – All Singles