blur has managed to single-handedly make me fall back in love with london, and life seems to be an absolute joy right now. i can’t say i’ve waited my whole life to see blur because that’s just not true – blur formed when i was 4 or 5 years old, and were never popular enough in america until ‘song 2′ in ’96/’97, when i was just really getting into music. and while they were always a band i liked, i never went out of my way to show it – i didn’t buy an album until ‘the best of blur’ when i was studying abroad (i remember a 2 for £10 sort of deal sparking it), but was excited – and then subsequently disappointed – to see them at HFStival 2003, which they cancelled due to damon’s ‘extreme dehydration’ after a set of gigs at the astoria. but i didn’t try to see them at 9:30 two months after, so i couldn’t have been that bothered.

back to the point, i read ‘Britpop! Cool Britannia and the Spectacular Demise of English Rock’ by John Harris sometime around 2004/5, and learned how big Blur, and Britpop in general, were in the ’90s. to us, Britpop was a cool monthly dance night at the Black Cat, but in the UK it was a major phenomenon – it’s not worth trying to put into words how big it was, just know, if you don’t already, that it was HUGE. harris is a brilliant storyteller, and i sped through that book like a Harry Potter – all the intricacies of the Oasis/Blur rivalry were exciting, but what i loved was the fact that all of this really happened, and a lot of it in London at real places that still existed. i could see members of Blur sitting at the Good Mixer in Camden where Morrissey was also hanging out and Alan Bennett lived over the road, and Alex James out on the town in soho with Damien Hirst. my favorite tract was less about a specific place, but about the origins of ‘For Tomorrow’, one of my favorite Blur songs. i literally paused writing this entry for two hours to find that passage -i’m sure i typed it up once online – but no such luck…essentially, Damon came back from the normal pub-on-Christmas-eve British tradition, and with a hangover early in the morning of Christmas Day 1992, sat at the piano and composed ‘For Tomorrow’. that song is sheer brilliance, and the image of that story sticks with me whenever i hear it. with that two hour break, i’ve lost my train of thought…

i think one of the things i’ve realised is that a lot of the american anglophiles are angolphiles in the first place because of british music. from my dad to that guy i met at the supermarket last year who was freaking out about going to manchester for the first time (he really loved the smiths), a lot of the british culture we love is its music – and what these musicians sing about the country that makes it seem like an oasis (no pun intended, i can’t stand oasis) of culture that america is not. and i have to say, reading that book and really discovering blur’s music that i missed made me fall more deeply in love with london than even living here for 4 months did.

but as time goes by, i’ve lost that yearning to be here (now….i’ll stop, i swear). this spring i was aching for baltimore, and my friends and family that come with it, and every episode of ‘the wire’ dug in a bit harder. and i went back and loved it, and even began to think of when i might move back. but now, after a month and a half away, i’ve swung back completely. i even love sitting on the bus for an hour just to get 4 miles away – as long as it’s not a bendy bus, my love hasn’t streched that deeply yet. so i think as long as i delve into a little nostalgia and remember what is good about london, i won’t be leaving anytime soon.

the other point of this post is something i said to myself when i was making a cup of coffee this morning, although it’s not the first time it’s come to mind. this week i am downright obsessed with blur, as can clearly be seen, and when i watch their performance from glasto on iplayer for the 18th time, i still get so overly excited and happy. the first full time i watched it, i cried during ‘for tomorrow’ – not just because of how good the performance had been (it was emotional for everyone there, not just damon), but for all the feelings about london and life that have built up over the past 5 years. and that realisation is just that music can make me feel things that nothing else can – no visual art has ever done that for me, and i’m not sure ever will. i’m not going to pull a 360 and start writing music…which is really more like a 45, because we’re still in the creative arts realm – but i just know that i can’t deny that music will probably always take precedence over everything else. i feel that what i can create and give to the world (sounds a bit pompous put like that, but you get the idea) is art; more importantly, what i discussed with my tutor from the slade when i last saw him is that it’s a compulsion – i can’t not be an artist, it would be impossible never to make anything again. but i’ll always love music more. and i’ve always been the sort who wants to be a little bit good at everything rather than really good at one thing, so i think i’ll be okay with it that way. this is starting to get a bit sappy…

glastonbury was amazing, and i’m really glad i went and that this year was my first. everything i’ve heard and read has said that this year was one of the best, by far, so i feel right in saying that it was amazing and perfect. the attitude of everyone – all 200,000 people – was so positive that you didn’t feel trapped on a muddy farm with 200,000 people for a long weekend. i’m happy to have had a week off to sleep and relax afterwards, but i can’t wait for the next festival at the same time. i heard a lot of good music, met some cool people…and now have new gigs to look forward to, and new music to listen to. i mean, i never even gave blur much of a chance post-1995 (musically), but after hearing ‘death of a party’, ‘trimm trab’, and ‘out of time’ for the first time, i’ve changed my tune. i bought ‘blur’ and ’13′ last night on amazon, so i’ll be looking forward to that…it’s the strangest thing, discovering new music from a band that i had felt i’d heard all i needed to. woohoo indeed.