Bit of a Blur by Alex James is published by Little, Brown Book Group on 7th June. Hardback £16.99

For Alex James, music had always been a door to a more exciting life: a way to travel, meet new people and, hopefully, pick up girls. But as bass player of Blur – one of the most successful British bands of all time – his journey was more exciting and extreme than he could ever have predicted. Success catapulted him from a slug-infested squat in Camberwell to a world of private jets and world-class restaurants. As ‘the second drunkest member of the world’s drunkest band’ life was always chaotic, but Alex James retained a boundless enthusiasm and curiosity at odds with his hedonistic lifestyle. From nights in the Groucho with Damien Hirst, to dancing to Sister Sledge with Bjork, to being bitten on the nose by the lead singer of Iron Maiden, he offers a fascinating and hilarious insight into the world of celebrity. At its heart, however, Bit of a Blur is the picaresque tale of one man’s search to find meaning and happiness in an increasingly surreal world. Pleasingly unrepentant but nonetheless a reformed man, Alex James is the perfect chronicler of his generation – witty, observant, frank and brimming with joie de vivre.

As well as still being in Blur, Alex James is now a farmer and a Visiting Scientist at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Europe’s largest space research facility. He lives with his wife and children in the Cotswolds.

Pre-order Bit of a Blur now from Amazon.co.uk for only £11.21.
via Blur Fan Club

Via www.blurcentral.co.uk

(from this week’s NME, cover date: 3 March 2007) Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon look closer to revealing plans to work together again, after NME confronted the Britpop legends.

Last week (February 17), Coxon declared he’d been thinking about a Blur reunion, so when we were given a chance to talk to Albarn about The Good, The Bad & The Queen this week, we couldn’t help but enquire about his old band.

With a single and more live dates planned for GBQ, along with an ‘opera’ and new anti-nuclear weapons website, Albarn has plenty on his plate, but we still sneaked in a Blur question. Here’s what he had to say…

Read the full interview over at www.blurcentral.co.uk

Green Fields, the third single taken from The Good, The Bad & The Queen, will be released on April 2. Written late at night somewhere on the Goldhawk Road (1999 - 2001), this is a song that Damon Albarn says ‘came back to me’ - he had gifted the demo to Marianne Faithfull, only to be reminded of it when she re-recorded it in 2005.

Green Fields will be available on gatefold 7”, 7” coloured vinyl and CD.

The Good, The Bad and The Queen will be performed at the closing weekend of Hammersmith Palais on Saturday March 31st. On April 1, the bulldozers move in and one of Britains cultural institutions will be demolished to make way for a new office block.

The Palais has been home to some of Britain’s great musical events and was immortalised in The Clash’s (White Man) In Hammermith Palais. Paul Simonon returns to the Palais for a final send off - this grande dame of venues will see a few treats from The Good The Bad & The Queen before she goes. Special guests The Tony Allen Orchestra, and others still to be announced.

Don’t miss out! Tickets go on sale at 9am on Friday March 2nd for £25 – www.gigsandtours.com

Onsale and ticket info :

Rock Werchter tickets will go onsale on Tuesday, 20th February 2007, at 9 am.

Ticketprices :

Combiticket (valid the 4 days of the festival), 28th June - July 1st : €160
Dayticket Thursday 28th of June : €75
Dayticket Friday 29th of June : €75
Dayticket Saturday 30th of June : €69
Dayticket Sunday 1st of July : €75

*** All tickets are inclusive of public transport (trains NMBS and festivalshuttle De Lijn from Leuven) within the Belgian borders.

The festival lasts from Thursday 28th of June till Monday 2nd of July.

All info and ticket reservations :

www.rockwerchter.be
www.proximusgoformusic.be

Ticket phone :

In Belgium : 0900 2 60 60
In Holland : 0900 45 000 45
All other countries : +32 34 00 00 34