Blur working on new album material 2013

Blur are raring to get back in the studio to work on new material, with front man Damon Albarn saying the new material will be released, but only once he's released his solo album.

The Wall Street Journal claims he confirmed the album in an interview, but that it will not be released just yet.

The news appeared after Albarn hinted earlier this year that the band were cooking up some brand new material. Amazing news for all your die-hard Blur fans!

Albarn has most recently been working on his own album with XL Records boss Richard Russell. He recently said ‘We worked together on the Bobby Womack record, and really enjoyed working together. He’s done spectacularly well as a music mogul, but I think he wants to focus his energy on producing records.

‘Making a solo record can be such a disaster, so I thought if we’re going to make a record with my name on it, I should get someone to really produce it – take that responsibility away from myself.’

Albarn is currently in New York promoting his musical 'Monkey: Journey To The West'. Speaking of the show and his various other musical projects, he also spoke more of his new solo album. He said: "You can hear a lot, what's going on. It's quite intimate."

Check out a recent clip from his set in Coachella here...

Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa premiere to be held in Norwich and London

The premiere of Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa will be held in Norwich before heading to London, it has been announced.

The red carpet bash will take place on Wednesday, July 24 in the character’s home town.

The hapless radio DJ, played by Steve Coogan, will greet fans at Anglia Square before boarding a helicopter to get to London in time for the evening premiere in Leicester Square.

Coogan speaking as Partridge said: ‘You can imagine how hurt and litigious I felt when people said I was planning to debut my movie in London instead of Norwich, or that I’d allowed my head to be turned by the prospect of big city fame.

‘Any suggestion I’ve hastily cobbled together the lunchtime Norwich screening in response to a local Twitter campaign will be met with the full force of the law.’

The news comes after a Facebook campaign attracted 7,100 followers to the cause of returning Alan to his rightful town.

Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa is set for release in UK cinemas on August 7. 

Luis Suarez for Chelsea move?

Chelsea ‘prepare bid’ for Luis Suarez

How Suarez would look if he decided to sign.

Liverpool have told Luis Suarez he has until the end of July to sort out his future or forget about a transfer away from Anfield this summer.

The bold ultimatum was put to Suarez as he flew out to South America this week to begin a three-week holiday, after competing in the Confederations Cup with Uruguay.

Reds boss Brendan Rodgers has already been informed the striker still intends to seek a move away, having announced his desire to leave Liverpool at a press conference last month.

But Rodgers is not willing to let the saga dominate the rest of the transfer window, and has reportedly made it clear to Suarez that he has until the end of July to sign for a new club or he will be forced to stay put until at least January.

Suarez’s preferred move is believed to be to La Liga giants Real Madrid but they are yet to firm up their interest with a bid, and Chelsea has now emerged as a new option.

According to Spanish publication Marca, Blues boss Jose Mourinho is considering Suarez after failing to land Edison Cavani, who is edging closer to a transfer to PSG.

Chelsea would be able to offer the 26-year-old lucrative terms to move to Stamford Bridge, but it is not clear whether Liverpool would sell the player to a Premier League rival.

Bayern Munich have previously been linked with Suarez, while betting was suspended on him joining Arsenal this week following a shock flurry of activity.

However, there are yet to be any formal offers on the table for Suarez. Where do you think he'll be heading to this summer, if, at all?

Say Hey...

Japanese Robot described as "expensive, out-of-date toy"

Say Hello, or Konichiwa, to Asimo, the impressive Robot created by Honda.

The walking, talking android works at the Miraikan Science Museum, Japan, as a guide. Unfortunately his first day on the job didn't quite go to plan…

The robust little fella is unable, at present, to detect any human body language and will only answer to questions if you raise your hand.

Unfortunately, as visitors were constantly taking pictures with their smartphones, this only confused Asimo who, rather than posing for the crowd, repeatedly asked: ‘Who wants to ask Asimo a question?’

As you can imagine, this glitch was quite embarrassing for Honda and poor Asimo, who has no voice recognition software and can only respond to pre-set questions selected from a touch-panel device.

So, although very impressive, Satoshi Shigemi, Honda’s robotics technology chief is still working to expand Asimo’s features and develop him into a truly masterful machine, rather than a paranoid android.


See his full features to date on our video below, plus, more inspiring tech videos on our YouTube channel.

Enjoyed our post? See more Gadget related posts here.

10 of the best dressed-up animals...

Archive press cuttings from the 1900s released today reveal that our obsession with looking at pictures of dogs in fancy dress is nothing new.

But nowadays it is not just dogs that get to strut their latest styles on the catwalk. We are dressing up cats for Halloween competitions and chimps for TV adverts.

And who could forget the dapper monkey Darwin, who took an unplanned trip to an Ikea store in Canada wearing a rather fetching coat.

Without further ado, here are 10 of the best dressed-up animals...

  

Magician Dynamo takes the bus – on a gravity-defying ride!

Clearly, walking on water isn’t enough of a challenge for mind-blowing magician Dynamo.

The master of levitation has done the seemingly impossible again… this time by walking on air while holding the side of the upper deck of a bus.

Dynamo pulled off his latest stunt today as the number 543 bus, seemingly with open-mouthed passengers on the top deck, travelled through London.

The 30-year-old TV illusionist looked utterly at ease with only his hand placed on the bus roof to stop him falling into the traffic below.

Shoppers and tourists could barely believe their eyes as he passed alongside the Houses of Parliament before crossing Westminster Bridge.

‘The reaction of the public as I was travelling was incredible. It was great to see so many people taking in the excitement,’ said the Yorkshire-born conjurer.

His act was part of a promotional launch for soft drinks giant Pepsi Max.

The company’s British marketing director Sebastian Micozzi said: ‘I think you could see from the reaction of people on the route what an incredible piece of magic this was.’

The illusionist is probably best known for his documentary show Dynamo: Magician Impossible and for walking on the River Thames in 2011.

Other tricks in his repertoire include transporting a mobile phone into a glass beer bottle and bringing paper butterflies to life.

A new series of Dynamo’s Pepsi Max-sponsored magic show starts on July 11 on Watch with an online premiere airing on July 4.

Eating chocolate could stop you getting sunburn?

First it had health benefits, now it's got skin benefits too! How can we avoid temptation now?

There we were, all proud of ourselves for avoiding chocolate for the last few days (that bag of Galaxy bubbles doesn't count) and then we hear this latest news...that chocolate not only improves your mood, it also acts like a mild sunscreen. It's basically a health food then, right?

German researchers set up a trial where 24 women had to add cocoa to their breakfasts every day for three months. Half of the women drank hot cocoa that was rich in flavonoids, a natural plant-based antioxidant, and the other half drank cocoa that had little or no flavonoid. The volunteers skin was tested against UV light before and after the trial.

The results were striking. The skin of the women who had drunk the antioxidant-rich cocoa did not redden as much as the women who had drunk the alternative. They also reported smoother and moister skin than the others. 

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