The Best Indie Songs of 2015 - Blur

Blur were big in 1997 with Song 2 and some people know their earlier 1995 number one hit Country House too. Check out their reunion gig live in London's Hyde Park for a tit-ripping version of that precious jewel. Country House was a storming victory in a sometimes bitter war that Oasis and Blur fought for King Of Britpop, and Oasis ultimately won. Noel Gallagher said at the time he hoped both Blur’s Damon Alburn and Alex Jame’s would “ ...catch AIDS and die.” Spurred on by the media both bands released singles on the same day and Oasis’s Roll With It (live in Manchester ‘96 version here) sold 60 000 less copies and sat at number two on the UK charts. For many people Blur were of biblical proportions in the canon of English music lore and one of The Only Bands That Matter, much like 2003 Rock and Roll Hall of Famer’s The Clash. 2015 saw Blur release their first album in 12 years The Magic Whip (Apr’15) an album London’s Daily Telegraph called “...a triumphant come back” and "...everything fans could have hoped for.”  Clash magazine dubbed it "...an imperial return." It went straight to number one in the UK.

 

On The Magic Whip is this campfire sing-along in the tradition of the gospel standard Stand By Me, The Beatles Carry That Weight, Big Bang's We Like To Party or more relevantly, Ages and Ages divine, spiritually uplifting gem, Diversionary. 15 years after Song 2 was important; and check out this andrenelin injecting Glastonbury 2009 live version to appreciate it’s majesty; Ong Ong (Jun’15) shows that Alex James still has some of the greatest song writing licks the world has ever seen. While Ong Ong is no life changer, and you won’t be rushing out to carve ‘for real’ on your arm after hearing this one, it is a nostalgic reminder of one of the best rock bands ever. Called "joyous" by Rolling Stone and "simple and chant-centric" by DIY magazine, Ong Ong, and the The Magic Whip, were inspired by a five day stay in Hong Kong and has an appropriately nautical feel. Ong Ong has sixties melodies and irrepressibly pops in the verses while bringing a laidback singalong bounce to the choruses. It's a shoe in for one of the best indie songs of 2015.

“I wanna be with you
On the slow boat to Lan Tau,

through misty seas..
I wanna be with you.”

 

Shit you need to know:
 

Ong Ong is the second single off Blur's eighth album. The song was called by Uncut a “...singalong...with a Faces stomp and a beery chorus.”

The new album was inspired by Hong Kong specifically and cities generally. "There's nothing pastoral about it", Albarn said, "it's very urban".

The band from London started in 1988 influenced laterly by bands like The Beatles and The Kinks.

The bands initial influences were the likes of The Pixies, Dinosaur Jr and The Stone Roses.

Singer Damon Alburn was in Gorrillaz (best British group and album 2006) and are most remembered for the alternative hip-hop tune Feel Good Inc. (2005). 

Damon Alburn joined bass player Paul Simonon of The Clash in the band The Good The Bad and The Ugly  (2005 - 2006) and had both Paul and Clash guitarist Mick Jones record on, and tour in support of, the 2010 Gorillaz album Plastic Beach.

Damon Alburn recently criticised the ‘selfie generation’ for a lack of political engagement in modern music.

For more rather spiffing Blur songs give this year's Lonesome Street a listen, or the old classics Beetlebum and Boys and Girls.

Today’s two for one is courtesy of English alternative rock band The Verve. Bittersweet Symphony (1997) was a number two British chart single and a Brit and Grammy Award’s winner. It’s a stone cold classic and this is the 2008 live version at Glastonbury. Sublime.

“Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, this life
Try to make ends meet
You're a slave to money then you die.”