[News] Blur Announces They Are Reuniting

After months and months of Blur denying that they would ever reunite, along with all the hubbub surrounding their Olympics performance, things may have changed for the better. Today, the band was announced as the headliner of Rock Werchter festival in Belgium, and it appears Damon Albarn and company are finally reuniting. Taking to their Facebook page, the band said:

Thank you for waiting... Rock Werchter is about to announce that Blur will headline next July. We're excited.. hope to travel in 2013 to play to more of our lovely fans who we haven't seen for a while. Don't know where yet, we'll tell as soon as we do.. Stand by."

Rock Werchter takes place at Festival Park in Werchter, Belgium from July 4-7th.

[Watch] Bobby Womack and Damon Albarn Perform on Fallon

Earlier this year, soul legend Bobby Womack ended an 18-year hiatus of new material by releasing his twenty-seventh studio album The Bravest Man in the Universe. This past Friday, he paid a visit to the set of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon to support the release, performing "The Bravest Man in the Universe", "Jubilee", and "Whatever Happened to the Times". Womack even brought album producers Damon Albarn and XL Recordings head honcho Richard Russell to perform with him on the latter two songs. Check out all three performances after the jump.

The Bravest Man in the Universe is out now via XL Recordings.

"The Bravest Man in the Universe":

"Jubilee":

"Whatever Happened to the Times":

[Listen] JJ DOOM - 'Keys To The Kuffs' (Full Album Stream)

Yesterday, we brought you 2 new tracks from Jneiro Jarel and (MF) DOOM's upcoming album under the JJ DOOM moniker, Key To The Kuffs. Now, thanks to Lex Records and the Guardian, you can listen to the full album in its entirety before it releases in the UK next Monday/Tuesday for the US. DOOM is back with his classic raps over production from Jneiro Jarel aka Dr. Who Dat? and features guest spots from Blur/Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn as well as Portishead's Beth Gibbons and also features new version of the previous Radiohead co-produced track "Retarded Fren."

Peep the album below and head over to the Guardian to check out their review and interview with Doom for the new album.

[News] Damon Albarn, Amadou & Mariam, Charli XCX, and More to Tour by Train as Africa Express

As Damon Albarn nears the 2012 London Summer Olympics, where he and the rest of Blur will perform at the closing ceremony, he's already planned what he will do afterwards. One month after the closing ceremony performance, Albarn will be joined by numerous artists to form the Africa Express collective, who will tour around the UK by train (it seems everyone is doing this nowadays). According to Pitchfork, Africa Express comprises of Albarn, Amadou & Miriam, Charli XCX, Jack Steadman of Bombay Bicycle Club, Kano, Baloji, and more. The collective has six scheduled stops throughout their UK rail tour, but they will have "pop-up performances at railway stations, schools, factories, offices, shopping centers, and homes" and will even be writing new material together along the way.

Check out all of the scheduled stops of the Africa Express tour after the jump.

The Africa Express Tour:
09/03 – Middlesbrough, UK @ Town Hall
09/04 – Glasgow, UK @ The Arches
09/05 – Manchester, UK @ The Ritz
09/06 – Cardiff, UK @ Solus
09/07 – Bristol, UK @ The Big Top
09/08 – London, UK @ Granary Square

[News] Blur to Stream New Material on Twitter

Last week, Blur's official website hinted at the release of a new song titled "The Puritan" on July 2nd at 7:15pm GMT, and now the mystery has been unveiled. On July 2nd, the UK outfit will debut both "Under the Westway" and "The Puritan" during a worldwide webcast streaming exclusively on Twitter. Afterwards, the two songs will be available digitally and on August 6th a limited 7" single will be released via Parlophone.

The entirety of the webcast will take place at an undisclosed location in London that evening, with proceedings kicking off at around 6:15pm GMT. The webcast will start with a performance of "Under the Westway," followed by an interview with the band, and finally a performance of "The Puritan" at 7:15pm GMT.

After the jump, you can watch a video regarding the webcast where guitarist Alex James discusses the idea and the songs. As well, you can watch fan footage of Damon Albarn performing "The Puritan" at London's Poetry Olympics, along with his performance of "Under The Westway" at War Child 2012.

[News] Blur Hints at the Release of New Song, "The Puritan"

Last week, Damon Albarn performed a new Blur song at the Poetry Olympics in London, which you can watch fan footage of below. The song has been referred to as "The Puritan," and now the official Blur website shows those two words next to a clock counting down to 7:15pm GMT on July 2nd. It seems pretty damn likely that Blur will be unveiling the studio version of the song that day, so make sure to check back then to hear it for yourself.

[Watch] Damon Albarn Premieres New Blur Song

Damon Albarn can't seem to make up his mind about Blur. First, he announced that their upcoming performance at the closing ceremony of the 2012 Olympics would most likely be their last, only to announce shows leading up to their Olympic performance. This gave the indication that the Olympic performance wouldn't be their last. Then, producer William Orbit revealed that Albarn had halted recording sessions with Blur, which came as a complete surprise to his bandmates. Last week, though, Albarn created even more confusion when he debuted a new, untitled Blur song at the Poetry Olympics in London. According to Albarn, the song, which he recorded a week and a half ago, will be coming out in a few weeks. Watch it above, with the untitled track kicking in at the 2:30 mark.

[News] Blur Announces UK Shows

Despite his confidence that Blur's upcoming performance for the Olympics' closing ceremony would be the band's final performance, Damon Albarn has become increasingly unsure of that statement. The band has also announced four shows leading up to the Olympic performance, giving the indication that the supposed final performance might not be their last. Take a look at the specific dates and locations for the UK shows after the jump.

Blur 2012 Tour Dates:

08-01 Margate, England - Margate Winter Gardens
08-05 Wolverhampton, England - Wolverhampton Civic Hall
08-06 Wolverhampton, England - Wolverhampton Civic Hall
08-07 Plymouth, England - Plymouth Pavilions
08-08 - 08-11 Skanderborg, Denmark - Smukfest
08-09 - 08-11 Gothenberg, Sweden - Way Out West Festival
08-12 London, England - Hyde Park