Damon Albarn’s creative output proves the musical magic of keeping office hours
Sublime new Gorillaz album The Mountain shows, once again, how it helps to be a ‘daily musician’
Damon Albarn
latest articles about Damon Albarn
Gorillaz: The Mountain – beautifully tender record with a sad smile plastered to its face
Damon Albarn looks past western music for inspiration but album never sounds like the meanderings of a tourist
Miki Berenyi: ‘The internet has sent people I know completely crazy. That is not restricted to young people’
Fans of the the singer’s early work with Lush will probably adore the new album from Miki Berenyi Trio, which is steeped in her haunting vocals, gorgeously shimmering riffs and deeply personal lyrics
Bat for Lashes: ‘I was rootless and lost in a way, and being buffeted around by music being looked at as a business’
Natasha Khan, aka Bat for Lashes, on how she was worn down by the commercial pressures of the industry and how her new album was inspired by motherhood
The English just can’t escape the taint of class
Donald Clarke: Whether it’s Britpop, The Beatles or The Last Dinner Party, the English just can’t escape the taint of class
Blur: The Ballad of Darren – A comeback album so good we can only hope it isn’t the end
The eighth album from Damon Albarn and co is an emotional tour de force
Blur live in Dublin: ‘Céad míle fáilte’ barks Damon Albarn on an emotionally charged night of hit after hit
Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Alex James, and Dave Rowntree may have visibly aged, but they perform with the vigour and chutzpah of a brand new band
The Guide: The events to see, the shows to book, and the ones to catch before they end
The best movies, music, art and more coming your way this week
Damon Albarn: ‘I’ve lost one of the loves of my life’
No matter what else he’s working on, Albarn always comes back to Gorillaz, so the death of one of the virtual band’s key collaborators is a shock
Gorillaz: Cracker Island - Damon Albarn squeezes as much joy and pathos as possible into their best album to date
The virtual band’s LA-influenced eighth album is one of their best to date
Damon Albarn’s criticism of Taylor Swift is ‘hopelessly out of date’
Comment: He wrongly said she didn’t write her own songs – revealing a pop-vs-indie snobbery
The top 10 Irish and international albums of 2021
It’s a close contest between Villagers and For Those I Love, while Arlo Parks aces it
Live music on TV more precious than ever in time of broken audience connections
Funding scheme for music broadcasting should be repeated as restrictions return
Syrian musician Omar Souleyman held on terrorism charges in Turkey
Son says father had no political affiliations and that a ‘malicious report’ had been filed
Gorillaz: Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez review – great songs sandwiched between the disposable and cartoonish
Elton John, Robert Smith, St Vincent and Skepta guest on virtual band’s seventh
The best rock and pop concerts in Ireland in 2020
Albums and gigs to check out from January to June: Green Day, Slipknot, Diana Ross, Damon Albarn, Tenacious D and more
Awright, Boris! The meaning of Boris Johnson’s walkabout video
It’s hard not to think of Geri Halliwell in a Union Jack miniskirt as you watch the PM
Laurie Shaw: Helvetica review – A glitchy, scrappy pop-punk state of Britain
Kerry-based artist’s songs brim over with clever ideas and easily spotted influences
Berlin techno innovator Pantha Du Prince fits right in to Perspectives series
Beacon of enlightened new music programming at NCH in fog of nostalgia culture
‘I could have made a country-rock album – especially with it being in Welsh’
Gruff Rhys: Brexit seems to be like some sort of strange right-wing death cult
Joan as Police Woman: ‘I don’t measure anything by No 1s’
Joan Wasser has no regrets about delaying her solo career until into her 30s. But as she releases a 'Best of' collection, the Connecticut songwriter is looking forwards, not back
National Concert Hall launches bumper programme for 2019-20
Joyce DiDonato, Damon Albarn, Philip Glass and Laurie Anderson in wide-ranging line-up
All Together Now: Pussy Riot and Bombay Bicycle Club join line-up
Sold-out music festival also announces John Grant, The Wailers and Anna Calvi
From Britpop to Brexit: dreams of England turning sour
Damon Albarn's psychogeographic tour gives the sense of a country on the verge of catastrophe
Damon Albarn: ‘Brexit has revealed terrible truths about the mental health of the English’
The Blur frontman on ‘Merrie Land’, Britpop, Oasis, Morrissey and John Lydon
Mercury prize 2018: full list of nominations for album of the year
Arctic Monkeys, Lily Allen, Noel Gallagher, Florence + the Machine among nominees for album of the year
Gorillaz at Malahide Castle, Taylor Swift at Croke Park: this week’s best rock and pop gigs
Also: Liam Gallagher, The National, A-Ha, Haim, Giant Sand, Vancouver Sleep Clinic
Brit awards: Dua Lipa, Stormzy the big winners as artists join 'Time's Up' call
Artists carry white roses in protest against sexual harassment as Stormzy asks ‘Theresa May, where’s the money for Grenfell?’
Tony Visconti: ‘The thing with Phil Lynott was that he was visibly dying’
The veteran record producer on Bowie, Morrissey and his problem with Steve Albini
Tony Visconti reveals work on new albums by Perry Farrell and Damon Albarn
The producer says Farrell solo album and Albarn’s The Good, the Bad and the Queen will have new releases in 2018
Best rock and pop this week: Rhiannon Giddens, Bryson Tiller and James Blunt
There’s some serious riffage courtesy of Bitch Falcon and Royal Bloood while Queen + Adam Lambert and S Club Live look back
Stirring up a choice music mix at the Sugar Club
How Music Works: Mark Murphy of Choice Cuts on how he reinvented the Leeson Street venue as a musical mecca for a new generation of hip-hop, jazz, R&B and soul fans
Sgt Pepper’s: when The Beatles got high on pomposity
Who knows when Sgt Pepper by The Beatles was first declared the greatest LP of all time? It’s not even their best
Here's what happens when your first record is Miles Davis
Laura Jurd is one of jazz's fastest rising stars but her band Dinosaur has a sound that's pure early 1970s electric funk
Orchestra of Syrian Musicians and Guests album review: All aboard the Africa Express
ORCHESTRA OF SYRIAN MUSICIANSAfrica Express Presents the Orchestra of Syrian Musicians and Guests ****Transgressive
Photographer Deirdre O’Callaghan's singular beat
New book features images and interviews with world’s most famous drummers
Ellie Goulding and Disclosure added to Glastonbury line-up
ZZ Top among newly confirmed acts for festival headlined by Adele, Coldplay and Muse
Sing a song of suspense: the wild music close to David Lynch’s heart
A live tribute to the songs and music of David Lynch brings together an eclectic group of artists
The Unthanks: the light and the dark of English folk music
The group have been singing the canon for a decade – but what happens now that they are making their own music?
Noel Gallagher: ‘What we’re left with now is the Arctic Monkeys, tax-dodgers’
The charts are a load of boll*cks. Bono goes on a bit. And he would be ‘f**king very, very, very interested’ in collaborating with Damon Albarn
Blur to release first album together in 16 years
‘The Magic Whip’ will be the first album as a foursome since 1999’s ‘13’
Hozier in good company as he picks up Brit Award nomination
Bray singer up against Beck, Jack White, John Legend and Pharrell Williams
Taking the temperature of the Mercury Music Prize . . . still tepid
Will Kate Tempest and FKA twigs be slugging it out for the 2014 award?
Festivals worth the trip
No need to wait until your favourite acts do the festival circuit in Ireland. Get our continental drift? Lauren Murphy’s top 10 European festivals
Crosswords & Puzzles
Crosswords & puzzles to keep you challenged and entertained
Stardust
Inquests into the nightclub fire that led to the deaths of 48 people
Common Ground
How does a post-Brexit world shape the identity and relationship of these islands
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Weddings, Births, Deaths and other family notices