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Damon Albarn
Damon Albarn (; born 23 March 1968) is an English-Icelandic musician, singer-songwriter and composer, best known as the frontman and primary lyricist of the rock band Blur and as the co-creator and primary musical contributor of the virtual band Gorillaz. Raised in Leytonstone, East London, and around Colchester, Essex, Albarn attended The Stanway School, where he met guitarist Graham Coxon and formed Blur. They released their debut album ''Leisure'' in 1991. After spending long periods touring the US, Albarn's songwriting became increasingly influenced by British bands from the 1960s. The result was the Blur albums '' Modern Life Is Rubbish'' (1993), '' Parklife'' (1994) and '' The Great Escape'' (1995). All three received critical acclaim, while Blur gained mass popularity in the UK, aided by a Britpop chart rivalry with Oasis. Subsequent albums such as '' Blur'' (1997), '' 13'' (1999) and ''Think Tank'' (2003) incorporated influences from lo-fi, art rock, elect ...
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Gorillaz
Gorillaz are an English virtual band formed in 1998 by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett, from London. The band primarily consists of four fictional members: 2-D (vocals, keyboards), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar), Noodle (guitar, keyboards, vocals), and Russel Hobbs (drums). Their universe is presented in music videos, interviews, comic strips and short cartoons. Gorillaz' music has featured collaborations with a wide range of featured artists, with Albarn as the only permanent musical contributor. With Gorillaz, Albarn departed from the distinct Britpop of his band Blur, exploring a variety of musical styles including hip hop, electronic music and world music through an "eccentrically postmodern" approach. The band's 2001 debut album '' Gorillaz'', which featured dub, Latin and punk influences, went triple platinum in the UK and double platinum in Europe, with sales driven by the success of the album's lead single "Clint Eastwood". Their second studi ...
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XL Recordings
XL Recordings is a British independent record label founded in 1989 by Tim Palmer and Nick Halkes. It has been ran and co-owned by Richard Russell since 1996. It forms part of the Beggars Group. Although only releasing an average of six albums a year, XL has worked with Adele, Arca, Azealia Banks, Basement Jaxx, Beck, Dizzee Rascal, Electric Six, FKA Twigs, Giggs, Gil Scott-Heron, Gotan Project, The Horrors, Yaeji, Jai Paul, Jungle, King Krule, Lemon Jelly, M.I.A., Nines, Peaches, The Prodigy, Radiohead, Sampha, SBTRKT, Sigur Rós, Tyler, the Creator, Vampire Weekend, The White Stripes, and The xx. The label releases albums worldwide and operates across a range of genres. History 1980s and 1990s The label was launched in 1989 to release rave and dance music. It was originally an imprint of Beggars Banquet's more commercial dance label Citybeat, which was known for records by acts such as Freeez, Rob Base & EZ Rock, Starlight, Dream Frequency and the ...
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Graham Coxon
Graham Leslie Coxon (born 12 March 1969) is an English musician, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and painter who came to prominence as a founding member of the rock band Blur. As the group's lead guitarist and secondary vocalist, Coxon is featured on all eight of Blur's studio albums (although 2003's ''Think Tank'' only features his playing on one track, due to his temporary departure from the band during recording sessions for the album). He has also led a solo career since 1998, which all of his solo albums were produced and all the instruments played by himself. As well as being a musician, Coxon is a visual artist: he designed the cover art for all his solo albums as well as Blur's '' 13'' (1999). Coxon plays several instruments and records his albums with little assistance from session musicians. ''Q'' magazine critic Adrian Deevoy has written: "Coxon is an astonishing musician. His restless playing style – all chord slides, rapid pulloffs, mini-arpeggios and ...
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The Stanway School
The Stanway School is a mixed secondary school located in Stanway in the English county of Essex. The school was converted to academy status in May 2013, and used to be a community school under the direct control of Essex County Council. The school continues to coordinate with Essex County Council for admissions. The Stanway School offers the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSEs), Business and Technology Education Council (BTECs) and OCR Nationals as programmes of study for pupils. The school has a Humanities, Maths & Computing specialism, and offers additional courses in these subjects. The school is part of the Stanway Federation Academy Trust with the Thomas Lord Audley School and is also part of the Sigma Trust. Notable former pupils * Damon Albarn, musician and singer-songwriter of the bands Blur and Gorillaz *Graham Coxon, musician and guitarist of the band Blur * Natalie Jones, paralympic swimmer * Adam Miller, former footballer *Sade (singer) ...
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Colchester (borough)
The City of Colchester is a local government district with city status, in Essex, England, named after its main settlement, Colchester. The city covers an area of and stretches from Dedham Vale on the Suffolk border in the north to Mersea Island on the Colne Estuary in the south. The borough was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of the former borough of Colchester, covering an area of around , with the urban districts of West Mersea and Wivenhoe, along with Lexden and Winstree Rural District. Demography The '' Essex County Standard'' of September 4, 2009 said that "Government estimates" made Colchester the most populous district in the county: its officially acknowledged population is second highest among non-London boroughs, behind Northampton. According to the Office for National Statistics as of 2008, Colchester had a population of approximately 181,000. Average life expectancy was 78.7 for males. and 83.3 for females. Based on ethnic groups, predominantly of 92% ...
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East London
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that east is the direction where the Sun rises: ''east'' comes from Middle English ''est'', from Old English ''ēast'', which itself comes from the Proto-Germanic *''aus-to-'' or *''austra-'' "east, toward the sunrise", from Proto-Indo-European *aus- "to shine," or "dawn", cognate with Old High German ''*ōstar'' "to the east", Latin ''aurora'' 'dawn', and Greek ''ēōs'' 'dawn, east'. Examples of the same formation in other languages include Latin oriens 'east, sunrise' from orior 'to rise, to originate', Greek ανατολή anatolé 'east' from ἀνατέλλω 'to rise' and Hebrew מִזְרָח mizraḥ 'east' from זָרַח zaraḥ 'to rise, to shine'. '' Ēostre'', a Germanic goddess of dawn, might have been a personifi ...
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Leytonstone
Leytonstone () is an area in east London, England, north-east of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Waltham Forest, a local authority district of Greater London. It adjoins Wanstead to the north-east, Forest Gate to the south-east, Stratford to the south-west, Leyton to the west, and Walthamstow to the north-west. Historically part of the ancient parish of Leyton in the Becontree hundred of Essex, the first documented evidence of settlement is from the 14th century, describing a hamlet at ‘Leyton-atte-stone’; a reference to the Roman milestone located within the area, that formed a northerm boundary of the parish. It remained largely rural until the 19th century, becoming part of the London postal district in 1856, the same year its railway station was opened (now on the Central line). When Greater London was created in 1965, the Municipal Borough of Leyton merged with Chingford and Walthamstow to form the London Borough of Waltham Forest. At the northern e ...
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Virtual Band
In entertainment, a virtual band (also called a virtual idol, virtual singer, virtual group, cartoon group, cartoon idol, cartoon singer or cartoon band) is a band or music group whose members are not depicted as corporeal musicians, but animated characters or virtual avatars. The music is recorded (and, in the case of concerts, performed) by real musicians and producers, while any media related to the virtual band, including albums, video clips and the visual component of stage performances, feature the animated line-up; in many cases the virtual band members have been credited as the writers and performers of the songs. Live performances can become rather complex, requiring perfect synchronization between the visual and audio components of the show. The term ''virtual band'' was popularized with Gorillaz in 2000. However, the concept of the virtual band was first demonstrated by Alvin and the Chipmunks in 1958, when their creator, Ross Bagdasarian, accelerated recordings of h ...
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Rock Music
Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States and United Kingdom.W. E. Studwell and D. F. Lonergan, ''The Classic Rock and Roll Reader: Rock Music from its Beginnings to the mid-1970s'' (Abingdon: Routledge, 1999), p.xi It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, a style that drew directly from the blues and rhythm and blues genres of African-American music and from country music. Rock also drew strongly from a number of other genres such as electric blues and folk, and incorporated influences from jazz, classical, and other musical styles. For instrumentation, rock has centered on the electric guitar, usually as part of a rock group with electric bass guitar, drums, and one or more singers. Usually, rock is song-based music with a time signature using a verse–chorus form, ...
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Rocket Juice & The Moon
''Rocket Juice & the Moon'' is the only album by the supergroup of the same name, formed in 2008. The group consisted of Damon Albarn, Flea, and Tony Allen. Album history The project was announced in mid-2008; however due to various other projects by the band members recording was repeatedly delayed. Allen had previously worked with Albarn as a drummer on the album, ''The Good, the Bad & the Queen''. On 27 October 2011, Albarn released a statement announcing the band's name. He said that he had nothing to do with naming the band and that someone in Lagos did the sleeve design for the album and that's the name he gave it. Albarn said he is fine with the name because trying to find a name for another band is always tricky. The band's debut album contains 18 tracks and was released on 26 March 2012. The album contains guest appearances by Erykah Badu, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, M.anifest and many others. Live performances The band performed together for the first time on 29 Oct ...
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The Good, The Bad & The Queen
The Good, the Bad & the Queen were an English art rock supergroup composed of singer Damon Albarn of Blur and Gorillaz, bassist Paul Simonon of the Clash, guitarist Simon Tong of the Verve, and Fela Kuti drummer Tony Allen. They released their self-titled debut album in 2007. Their second album, '' Merrie Land,'' coproduced with Tony Visconti, was released in 2018. They disbanded in 2019, and Allen died in 2020. History Formation and debut album The Good, the Bad & the Queen began as a solo project by Damon Albarn with production by Danger Mouse. However, by July 2006, the project had become a band, with bassist Paul Simonon of the Clash, guitarist Simon Tong of the Verve, and Fela Kuti drummer Tony Allen. Albarn met Simonon at the wedding of Clash singer Joe Strummer in 1997, and Tong had worked with Albarn on Blur's 2002 ''Think Tank'' tour, filling in as guitarist following the departure of Graham Coxon. Allen contacted Albarn after hearing the 2000 Blur single ...
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Blur (band)
Blur are an English rock band formed in London in 1988. The band consists of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree. Their debut album, ''Leisure'' (1991), incorporated the sounds of Madchester and shoegazing. Following a stylistic change influenced by English guitar pop groups such as the Kinks, the Beatles and XTC, Blur released '' Modern Life Is Rubbish'' (1993), '' Parklife'' (1994) and '' The Great Escape'' (1995). As a result, the band helped to popularise the Britpop genre and achieved mass popularity in the UK, aided by a chart battle with rival band Oasis in 1995 dubbed "The Battle of Britpop". Blur's self-titled fifth album (1997) saw another stylistic shift, influenced by the lo-fi styles of American indie rock groups, and became their third UK chart-topping album. Its single "Song 2" brought the band mainstream success in the US for the first time. Their next album, '' 13'' (1999) saw the band experimenting ...
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