Blur to celebrate 25th anniversary of self-titled LP with Tim Burgess listening party

Tim Burgess has announced that he’ll be hosting a special 25th anniversary listening party tonight (February 10) for Blur‘s self-titled 1997 album.

• READ MORE: The best things we’ve learned from Tim Burgess’ Twitter ‘listening parties’

The Charlatans’ frontman has been hosting listening parties for a multitude of albums on Twitter since the UK went into its first coronavirus lockdown back in early 2020.

This afternoon he announced that Blur members Alex James and Dave Rowntree, as well as producer Stephen Street will be joining him and his followers tonight for a listening party to celebrate the band’s fifth album turning 25.

‘Blur’ was originally released on February 10, 1997, and featured the singles ‘Beetlebum’, ‘On Your Own’, ‘M.O.R.’, and the iconic anthem ‘Song 2’. It topped the UK charts, was certified platinum, and it became the band’s most successful album in the US where the Britpop scene had been largely unsuccessful.

“Join @alexjameshq, @daverowntree and @streetstephen for Tim’s Listening Party to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of ‘Blur’ (self-titled album) tonight at 9pm GMT over on @LlSTENlNG_PARTY #Blur25,” Burgess tweeted about the event.

Join @alexjameshq, @daverowntree and @streetstephen for Tim’s Listening Party to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of ‘Blur’ (self-titled album) tonight at 9pm GMT over on @LlSTENlNG_PARTY #Blur25

Photo by Fred Duval/Film Magic pic.twitter.com/CD8L4ZESnT

— blur (@blurofficial) February 10, 2022

Other special Tim’s Twitter Listening Parties that have taken place in recent months include John Lennon’s ‘John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band’, DMX’s ‘It’s Dark And Hell Is Hot’, Dan Sartain’s ‘Century Plaza’, and SOPHIE’s ‘Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides’. You can view an archive of the listening parties here.

Meanwhile, Damon Albarn recently addressed the backlash over his controversial comments about Taylor Swift while performing in LA.

Ahead of his concert at Los Angeles’ Walt Disney Concert Hall on January 24, the Blur and Gorillaz frontman participated in an interview with the LA Times where he explained that Swift’s “co-writing” approach was at odds with his “traditionalist” view of songwriting.

When journalist Mikael Wood put it to him that Swift was “an excellent songwriter”, Albarn responded: “She doesn’t write her own songs.” He went on to say that co-writing “doesn’t count”.

Swift later hit back at the musician, tweeting: “@DamonAlbarn I was such a big fan of yours until I saw this.

“I write ALL my own songs. Your hot take is completely false and SO damaging. You don’t have to like my songs but it’s really fucked up to try and discredit my writing. WOW.”

Albarn then apologised “unreservedly and unconditionally” to Swift, claiming that his words had been “reduced to clickbait”. He said: “The last thing I would want to do is discredit your songwriting. I hope you understand.”

Swift’s fans, collaborators and her fellow musicians have since expressed their support for the star on social media.

In a review of Albarn’s LA gig, Spin wrote that that singer-songwriter took a moment to reflect on the frenzy ahead of playing his final track – a new rendition of Blur’s hit single ‘Song 2’.

He told the crowd that the LA Times’ Mikael Wood had requested he played the classic “before he cast me into the social media abyss” with the interview in question. “You can judge for yourself,” he said, adding: “I think I’m becoming old fashioned.”

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