Blur - Bang/She's So High (Mindwarp Mutations)

So, this is a random (and official) little release. A pretty good one though. It was a special DJ only promo released in 1992 in the US, just as the band went to the states for their first US tour. Like pretty much everything to do with their Leisure era, the band hated this release. It was actually released by their label without their permission. Not surprisingly then you won't find this on last years Blur 21 package. I'd be very surprised if these mixes ever see a more widespread official release at all seeing as the band did not approve of this promo release. I actually discovered this record exist existed thanks to the most excellent Blur Archive Project. You can find it on the first disc of the Out of The Box collection. An excellent blog that I would recommend all Blur fans visit actually. Anyhow, the five mixes here are of two of the Leisure album singles: She's So High and Bang. Four of the five remixes are of Bang though, so if you don't like that particular song (as many fans don't) then this might not be for you. The remixes are all carried out by the same Mindwarp Mutations alias, although honestly I know absolutely nothing about who remixed this. What I do know though is that they also carried out two more mixes of Bang (Trend mix and Now mix) but they're not on this release. You can find those on the Blur-ti-go ep (or the aforementioned Out of The Box Disc 1). As remixes go, they're not amazing but they're also not entirely terrible. They are very of the era, with your typical rave sounds and house elements. Hardly forward thinking but the original versions were also very of the era too, just in a different style of music. There's worse out there. My favourite two mixes are the MW Big Bang 12" mix and the MW Groove Mix, both of Bang. I do like the other two bang mixes as stand-alone pieces of music, but what reduces my enjoyment of them as remixes is that they don't contain enough traces of the original for me. That is a common trend of remixes from the time though I find. I can't say I care much for the remix of She's So High though - its just a little bit lackluster and doesn't really enhance the song. Overall though this is quite a pleasant release. Not essential by any means but like I said earlier, there's worse out there. It's probably only going to be of any real interest to dedicated 90's dance fan s or Blur completes, but if you have any interest at all then I quite recommend it. Hardly the best thing you'll ever hear but still pretty good.

Blur - Bang

Widely touted as their worst song, Bang was Blur's third single from their debut album Leisure. It was a song that didn't take long to do at all, fifteen minutes was the grand total according to Blur bassist Alex James. Being written in such a quick time you can't really expect an artistic masterpiece hardly, although I still quite like the song really. It's very straightforward though and lacks the creative element (much like their whole debut album really) that would make subsequent albums from Blur ones of high caliber. If I'm honest, its your typical early 90's indie fodder. Lyrically the song has a very simple message. It seems to be about someone who seems to be just coasting along ("bang goes another day; where and when I could not say") without much of a care in the world. They're happy to just do what is the norm "Everybody's doing it so I'll do it too". Then comes the chorus - and whilst it doesn't exactly give the song depth (its far too typical of its era for that really) - it does redeem it lyrically somewhat. Basically, the narrator shows a deep down vulnerability, whilst they don't rely on anyone in particularly they're willing to admit "a little love would make things better.". Despite its jangly guitar pop sound (including that shuffle esque rhythm which every guitar pop band seemed to be doing at the time); I think the lyrics are quite sad really. I personally get the image of this rather tragic figure aimlessly living their life without any real sense of direction. Despite this the lyrics really are a far cry from Damon Albarn's best work. Honestly, I find it hard to believe listening to this song that Damon Albarn would go on to be one of (if not the) most creative minds that British music has produced in the last 20 years or so. Even the band agree, the song has been utterly disowned by them and Damon has even gone on record saying its crap. Whilst I think its a nice little song it does feel like its being performed by a group that have yet to reach their musical peak in all honesty. Having said that I do love the music video, its probably one of my favorite videos Blur have done (It's drummer Dave Rowntree's favorite actually) and it does enhance the song. A pleasant enough song although its very rightly not looked on as their finest moment. Not quite the disaster the band make it out, but it also doesn't justify their talents at all.

Little gems from London Calling

So last night I watched two really interesting shows: London Calling and London Songs at the BBC. The documentary was hosted by Jools Holland and told a history of London through various songs written about places in the city. What was a real treat though was the second show which was essentially a compilation of various performances of songs written about London. I just love watching those sort of compilation shows for the variety of music. The two highlights for me though (as well as Pet Shop Boys performing West End Girls naturally) were these: Blur's For Tomorrow official video and a performance of London Calling  by The Clash but this time it was by Joe Strummer and the Mescalero's.  It's quite a bittersweet performance too I think as it was only two years before Joe sadly died rather suddenly in December of 2002. It's actually made me all the more eager to watch The Future is Unwritten. My only criticism is that it would have been amazing if, instead of showing For Tomorrow they showed Damon Albarn and Ray Davies together singing Waterloo Sunset/Parklife as it's a stellar performance. Never the less, both shows were so interesting!

Blur - Peach

A vastly underrated song from their Modern Life is Rubbish era in my opinion. The album itself marked a big change in direction for Blur from their debut album Leisure, with the band favoring a much more guitar pop oriented sound in the vein of The Kinks and The Small Faces in comparison to their shoegaze influenced debut. Peach was originally on the original version of the album which would have been released in spring 1992 (the album wouldn't get released until May 1993) but this version of the album was scrapped and Peach got relegated to B-side status, being released as a B-side to the album's lead single, For Tomorrow. Musically, the track is very laid back and is in this slightly bizarre electric meets folk style. It's one of the most relaxing songs Blur have ever done I think and is a perfect counterbalance to more punchier songs of the Modern Life is Rubbish period, like Advert. The song definitely really benefits being played on a decent set of speakers or headphones I think, as there are some really beautiful subtle parts in the course of the arrangement of the song that sometimes don't come through. In terms of lyrics, its one that I have trouble deciphering. On one hand its easy to assume that the lyrics' weren't meant to make any sense, I've read that the song was intended as a psychedelic experiment and that explains why some of the lyrics (first verse in particular) makes little sense. Although, I think with a bit of inferring its possible to come up with an interpretation that sounds semi plausible at least. The lyrics are actually quite depressing I think, and in my opinion discuss someone who isn't in a great mental state, or to paraphrase the song's lyrics themselves, they've gone crazy. Part of the lyrics discuss a lost love and asks the question "Where is she now?", and state that the person in which the song is about wears a locket around their neck containing a strand of the girls hair. A repeated refrain of "You've got a massive hole in your head, I'd let the birds nest there instead" seems to suggest that the person has ended up in such an emotionally fragile state that they've either shot themselves or that their mental state is merely rotting away metaphorically. They could have shot themselves considering the lyrics also state the person has a gun in their pocket. As for the opening line of "Chemical eats the best part of the peach", I think the peach is actually a metaphor for the persons brain, and the chemicals could be a reference to drugs or something, with the eating reference possibly suggesting further how their mental state is just disintegrating. All of this is just my opinion though and I could be completely wrong. In any case, the song's beautiful arrangement coupled with lyrics that are more interesting than I had initially thought makes this song their best B-side in my opinion, and its a contender for the top spot in my list of favorite Blur songs!