Damon Albarn – From Brit Pop to Opera
Advertorial Feature
Whether he’s recording in the Congo, writing operas, forming super-groups or fronting the animated band Gorillaz, musician Damon Albarn certainly likes to keep busy. The talented former Blur singer is currently rehearsing his theatrical production, Dr. Dee: An English Opera, a musical account of the life of Queen Elizabeth I’s medical and scientific advisor. Having premiered at the Manchester International Festival from 1-9 July 2011, the opera is set for the stage at the London Coliseum this summer, as part of the Cultural Olympiad.
And if all that wasn’t enough, Damon also recently branched out into shoe design. Earlier this year, Gorillaz came out with four different Chuck Taylor designs to give a unique twist to the classic Converse All Stars. Crafted with the help of Gorillaz co-creator and designer in his own right, Jamie Hewlett, the shoes mix band motifs with artwork from the band’s past, to create a line that fits the eclectic nature of their music and their individual style.
On 30 July, Blur will celebrate their 21st – and possibly final – year together with a massive re-issue campaign. All seven of the band’s studio albums will be re-released in newly expanded Special Edition formats, each featuring a bonus disc of previously unreleased material, expanded booklets, unseen photographs, and much more. Albarn has even revealed that the band is reuniting for a possible US tour, and has confirmed that Blur’s final concert will be this August in London’s Hyde Park as part of the Olympic Games’ closing ceremony.
Earlier this year, Albarn – who routinely experiments with world music – teamed up with a few producer friends and travelled to the Congo for five days to record with top African musicians for an Oxfam benefit album. The result is called DRC Music, for Democratic Republic of Congo, and a new album called Kinshasa One Two is due out later this year. The project finds African music seamlessly combined with genres like dubstep, dream-pop, and trance. The results also prove there isn’t a genre on the planet that Damon Albarn can’t master.
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Weather for Bury St Edmunds
Thursday 20 June 2013
Today
Thunderstorm
Temperature: 13 C to 17 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Light showers
Temperature: 11 C to 19 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: South west
