A Very Best of Blur on the Moon Updated, Magic Whip Musings and Film

A Very Best of Blur on the Moon was originally published to mark the anniversary of the year: Blur 21 back in 2012, the year of the Diamond Jubilee. At the time it was generally thought that there might not be any more albums from them, despite the reformation for gigs and the Under the Westway single, and yet here we are and they are yet again no 1 in the album charts.

They have also become the one thing the Great British press can agree on with great reviews across the board, including 5 stars from the Daily Mail no less. But is it really that great?

It is very good, but there are a few tracks that would actually make rather average tracks on a Gorillaz record or/and Damon Alban's recent solo effort

That said there is also a number of great tracks and it is pretty hard to pick four to add to A Very Best of. The obvious ones are Lonesome Street, which sounds like what Andy Partridge was trying to achieve back in 1992 and then Ong Ong, which is simply a great pop song and it has a la la la part that actually works.

For the other two I have gone for Go Out even though it is a pretty weak song, but the bass, drum and especially the guitar parts are excellent. It also has a depth that the album lacks compared to their best. Then finally Mirrorball which some have compared to This Is A Low which is a bit OTT, but it is lovely.

Other notable tracks are: I Broadcast which, like Lonesome Street, harks back to 1992 and the more Plastic Beach Gorillaz like I Thought I was a Spaceman, but it is a Gorillaz track featuring Graham Coxon, which would be great a great addition to a Gorillaz LP and Terracotta Heart that is about the relationship between Albarn and Coxon, but would it be more at home on a Gorillaz album or on Everyday Robots.

There Are Too Many of Us is also pretty good and is a sentiment that was obviously inspired by Hong Kong, but if they had been recording at Mr James's rather large house in the country post #GE15 then it may have been:

There are too many Tories, in larger houses all around us, who are now all celebrating the triumph of fear over hope.

So all in all it is very fine record but just not one of their best, though it is amazing that Mr Albarn found the time with all his other projects. The four tracks chosen do provide a pretty interesting and upbeat end to A Very Best of Blur on the Moon and it is a collection that very few could match. Will this be the end? Probably not, but for now check it out via Spotify or Deezer whilst Apple still allow it...

Also check out An Imaginary Soundtrack from Blur on the Moon

And now back and exclusively on the Moon: Gorillaz Live on the Moon

And embedded below is a short film the band have "shared" on the making of the album.