‘What do I play at a party? Oasis’s Wonderwall goes down a storm’: Alex James’s honest playlist
The Blur bassist loves his Britpop rivals, weeps over Radiohead’s Creep and finds Chitty Chitty Bang Bang sexy. But which Beatles hit did he get sick of?
April 2025
Britpop battle between Blur and Oasis revisited in ‘punchy’ new comedy
John Niven’s debut play explores rivalry between the two British bands who vied for the No 1 spot in the charts in 1995
December 2024
Over the Rainbow: Tales from an Unexpected Year by Alex James review – Blur reunited
The britpop bassist tears himself away from cheese just long enough to play with his old bandmates in this joyfully chaotic memoir
Over the Rainbow by Alex James review – blessed is Blur’s cheesemaker
The Britpop bass player’s engaging memoir of the last Blur reunion reads like a freewheeling adventure without consequences – except when he crosses ‘the boss’
Observer New Review Q&A
Blur bassist Alex James: ‘I’m so happy for Oasis. Liam is an incredible singer, and he can’t help being a rock star’
The musician on struggling to fit into his Britpop pants, his ambition to make giant Frazzle, and the football song that keeps him fed
June 2024
Blur: To the End review – sentimental journey for four likely lads on their way to Wembley
The latest documentary about the Britpop Monkees finds them reassembling for a stadium gig, though we’ll have to wait to hear complete songs
December 2023
Best music of 2023
The 50 best albums of 2023, No 8 – Blur: The Ballad of Darren
Blur’s ninth album is a perfect combination of middle-aged regret with swooning pop, a powerful career summation
June 2023
Festivals now feel like a cross between a spa and a gastropub – what about the music?
Daniel Dylan Wray
With fancy food, political talks and curated experiences becoming the norm, music – and working class fans – could become an afterthought. It’s time to go back to basics
January 2023
Blur’s Dave Rowntree: ‘I still wake at 3am thinking I’ve frittered my life away’
Drummer, lawyer, composer, politician… Blur’s busiest member on the troubled childhood that influenced his new solo album, and the band’s summer reunion gigs
November 2022
Blur to reunite for one-off Wembley show next year
Band will headline at the London stadium on 8 July for their 35th anniversary, supported by Slowthai, Self Esteem and Jockstrap
September 2016
Books blog
Bruce Springsteen is a great songwriter – but that rarely makes for great memoirs
After 18 albums, the star is publishing his autobiography. Precedent suggests he’ll be hard pressed to make his book match the quality of his music
November 2015
Blur: New World Towers review – press-kit-style documentary
Concert bits get across the group’s charismatic energy as performers and evoke the rapture of live performance, even if the film is serviceably thin
September 2015
To the end: Blur’s Parklife and me
Christopher de Bellaigue was working abroad when he formed an intense attachment to Blur. Two decades later, he reflects on a musical passion, homesickness and the extent to which the London of Parklife is not the city of today
July 2015
Readers recommend
Readers recommend: songs about farming
The big interview
Blur: 'We used to take it in turns to punch each other'
April 2015
Alexis Petridis's album of the week
Blur: The Magic Whip review – friends reunited for a beautiful comeback
Blur’s made-in-Hong-Kong album, their first for 12 years, overflows with lovely songs and touchingly reveals a band now happily reconciled
February 2015
Blur announce The Magic Whip, their first new album for 12 years
Album features full quartet of Albarn, Coxon, Rowntree and James, and fans can celebrate with summer gig in London’s Hyde Park
January 2015
Sophie Heawood's Weekend column
Sophie Heawood: please Madonna, step away from your smartphone
Lost in showbiz
Thought the Chipping Norton set had disbanded? Along comes Alex James to shatter the illusion
July 2014
The hot tickets
The hot tickets – international Ibsen, Late Turner and Rupert Everett
Line up for Ibsen at the Barbican, Turner at the Tate, Jamie Oliver's Feastival … and a last chance for Rupert Everett in Chichester's Amadeus
