Graham has been in the studio with the modfather Paul Weller and the results are available to download from iTunes now!

Talking about the collaboration, Graham said “As a long time admirer of Paul I never dared imagine getting a chance to work with him so I was bricking it when we first met…but he is an absolute gent and a shockingly great singer and musician. It’s been a total pleasure.” Paul returned the compliment saying “I’ve always been a big fan of Graham’s and love his work, so it was exciting for me to work on something new with him.”

Lead track “This Old Town” is a Coxon/Weller collaboration. There are also two B sides: “Each New Morning” is a Graham Coxon composition, while “Black River” was written by Paul Weller.

The limited edition 7” vinyl is available on July 30th, on Regal Recordings.

You can see Graham and Paul perform “This Old Town” live on the Jonathan Ross show on BBC1 this Friday night! (6^th July ‘07)

Edit: Added video of Jonathan Ross performance.

via www.grahamcoxon.co.uk

Blur bass player Alex James has turned his back on pop to run a farm and a cheese-making business. He had a brief foray back into the world of pop last year with flop project WigWam alongside 1990s legend Betty Boo. He’s taken time away from his farm to pen an autobiography, Bit of a Blur, about his years carousing on the pop scene. The book is out now.

Read the full interview at Metro.co.uk

Damon Albarn has criticised Kaiser Chiefs in the strongest possible terms - by comparing their new album to Blur’s famously underwhelming 1995 record The Great Escape. The singer said: “I’ve made two bad records. The first record [Leisure], which is awful, and The Great Escape, which was messy.

“The Kaiser Chiefs’ new record (Yours Truly, Angry Mob) sounds a bit like The Great Escape in that it sounds a bit empty. Sometimes records are like that if you try too hard to repeat your success.”

It’s quite a change of heart for Albarn. Two years ago he was so moved by a Kaiser Chiefs gig at Leeds Metropolitan University he burst into tears (”I think it was a compliment,” said Kaisers drummer Nick Hodgson at the time).

Kaiser Chiefs - who Liam Gallagher once unfairly dismissed as “a bad Blur” - have made no secret of the debt they owe Albarn and co. What’s more, Ricky Wilson and Damon Albarn have hung out together several times (they even went together to watch ex-Blur guitarist Graham Coxon’s solo gig at South By Southwest in Texas last year).

We wonder if the atmosphere might be a bit more frosty the next time they meet…

via Q4music

‘Blur’ Drummer David Rowntree, is running in the Marylebone High Street By-Election. The election is on Thursday, 3rd May 2007.

UPDATE: Dave Rowntree was not elected. Here’s a PDF of the results.

The Good, The Bad and The Queen’s latest single - ‘Green Fields’ is out now. It’s available on 2 x 7″ vinyl and enhanced CD.

The CD includes the original demo Damon Albarn recorded with Marianne Faithfull. Track listing as follows:

7″ R6738
1. Green Fields
2. England, Summer (in black & white) Dog House

7″ RS6738
1. Green Fields
2. England, Summer (in black & white) Polling Day

Enhanced CD CDRS6738
1. Green Fields
2. England, Summer (in black & white) Polling Day
3. Green Fields” (original demo)
4. Kingdom of Doom” (video)

All 3 formats are available to buy from HMV and Amazon.co.uk

Green Fields is also available as a digital download from iTunes and 7 Digital.

Also just released is a Live from SoHo EP - an iTunes exclusive. Recorded acoustically with a string quartet at the Apple Store in New York last month. The 5 track EP includes: History Song / Herculean / Behind The Sun / Nature Springs / Three Changes.