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     Blur , 13       (rating:8 out 10)

(note 5/3/99: as I write this my roomate tells me he heard that Blur has broken up. A quick search of the internet didn't reveal any confirmation of this, though one of my favorite bands, The Verve, has indeed broken up.)

     Don't know how Blur fit into the Pantheon of great modern music. Who knows if anyone will remember them 20 years from now. Will anyone speak of them the same way many speak of bands such as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones or Led Zeppelin? Have no clue, yet there's something about them which resonates, to me anyways. They sure have come a long way from the pretty boys who sang THERE'S NO OTHER WAY about 8 years ago. As to the question of their stature in the Pantheon of Rock-n-roll: They're taking a stab for a place in it, even though in reality, they probably don't give a f**k.
     "Lord, I need to find someone who can heal my mind," sings Damon Albarn in TENDER, the first track of Blur's 6th record, 13. As a full-fledged gospel choir beckons you to "Come on, come on, come on/Get thru it" you might wonder if the experimental, lo-fi, eccentric sound of their last record (the eponimously titled Blur, 1997) has gone out the window and been replaced with sentimental drivel. On the contrary, the band continues on the same tradition, moving forward to new musical soundscapes and taking risks. I confess this review is somewhat biased--Blur is one of my top favorite bands; and this record only makes me like them more. This time, the lo-fi stylings introduced in their last record have been mixed with electronic soundstrokes. The results are varied and very interesting.
    How's this for interesting? After the 6 minute-plus gospel -inspired opener, TENDER, the next song is the blistering, fuzzy, white-noisy BUGMAN, in which lead singer Damon Albarn sings highly spirited non-sense such as "I go out in the city/I stay from the bugs/Look out, look out for the bugman." The track even breaks apart in the midst of dissonant noise only to start again with a vengeance--it ends with Albarn singing in a disembodied voice, "Space is the place/Space is the place." If it sounds as if it's just a silly song without a payoff, it's not, it works on sheer driven absurdity (similar to the way in which SONG 2, from their last record, worked--Weehoo!) The first time I heard it, fully blasting on my car CD player, I was blown away.
     Lead Guitarist Graham Coxon's contributions to the band have become more important. He sings some of the songs now, and the third track, COFFEE AND TV, is proof he needs to stay in front along with Damon. COFFEE has a sweet sing-song chorus and a driving strumming progression that is catchy and simply perfect pop. It's definetely a single. Graham's guitar takes an otherwise sluggish track such as 1992, named such after the fact it was a "lost" track dated that year, and transforms it into an airy, haunting atmospheric trip-out a la Pink Floyd. The guitar, or synths (which is which is hard to tell) obliterate the track towards the end as it breaks out like a sudden storm. The line between guitar and electronic instruments becomes increasingly BLURry as the record progresses; a fact which the band refers to as intentional this time around. Is that a guitar on some strange pedal, or a synth tuned to a weird chord modulation? Another thing is that you won't be able to make out most of the lyrics, and Damon Albarn is fine with this--he commented in a recent interview that his priority is for the lyrics to convey something emotional and not to be read literally.
     After the complete punk-like absurdity of B.L.U.R.E.M.I., Damon cooes his way thru the multi-layered, rythmic track BATTLE, which sounds like a post-grunge rock-out built around a gentle-lullaby core. MELLOW SONG starts as a straightforward acoustic little ditty and then suddenly turns into a humble, but stern dance track, which points to another one of this record's characteristics: Its fragmentary nature. Musical interludes come between the songs, like potential songs threatening to happen. Portions of compositions float between tracks creating a disorienting listening experience. And yet, the record manages to create surprisingly effective songs that are more than the sum of their parts, parts which sound awkward, clashing and unmelodic: Like the track TRAILERPARK, which manages to engage a groovy sound despite the springy sound effect and messy synth line being married to each other in the background.
     Breaking away from tradition, the band went with producer William Orbit instead of the long-running Stephen Street. Orbit's known for electronica albums under his name or produced by him. Recently, he was responsible for Madonna's sound in her last record, Ray Of Light. Orbit has tempered Blur's lo-fi compositions with electronic instrumentation, sequencing and digital editing. He reffered to the collaboration experience with Blur as "exhausting", yet you can't heard anything exhausting in these tracks. Later in the record comes its best track in terms of craftmanship, CARAMEL, featuring Coxon's experimental guitar riffs, electronic sequencing and effects. CARAMEL is a controlled spacey composition which holds back from becoming a full blown rock track, ending with the soothing musings of a soft sequenced loop and a stroking guitar rift.
     The loud streak in the record climaxes in TRIMM TRABB, a curiously titled gem which starts as an acoustic foot-taping number then develops into a throbbing, industrial bonfire. At this point, one feels like the record will end in some electro-rock orgy, yet Blur surprises us yet again by coming down in their last two tracks. In what could be one of the most honest breakup songs ever, Damon sings "It's over/you don't need to tell me." He sounds broken-hearted and it's the real deal--he and Justine Fritschman(?) (remember the band Elastica?) broke up their relationship of several years. As Coxon plays a slightly grunged Blues line, Damon pours his pain out in a saddening and moving way. For it's closing, there's the obscurely titled instrumental OPTIGAN1, sounding like an ancient recording found in your Grandma's attic.
     Two years after re-inveinting their sound and breaking away from the stigmatizing label of BritPop, Blur continues to live and shine. The record itself is a mixed bag, it could have used more unity between the tracks, yet as one music magazine wrote, Blur has given up a glimpse on the sound and music of the coming century. And I'm all for that. Give a listen to 13. And, Blur, keep rockin'.
(note 5/3/99: Let's hope they are still rockin' if they haven't broken up)                                                                              

                                                                             Armando Valle.

                                                                             May/2/99

    Armando can be e-mailed at this address:[email protected]

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