Whilst he was working on 13, there were various reports that he and Hewlett were working on a secret project, which turned out to be Gorillaz, a virtual band.

The band's leader Damon Albarn had been in a long-term relationship with Justine Frischmann, of the Britpop band Elastica. Web beacons”, “tags”, and “pixels” are electronic files used to record information about how you browse the Site. But Blur stripped down for 1997's Blur, the back-to-school blast of guitar junk that spawned the American hit "Song 2" (you remember: "Wooo-hooo!

Once again, Blur has kept one step ahead of expectations (well, okay, they didn't with The Great Escape, but that was still a great record) and continued to impress.

The entire process went from 'take my money' to 'take my breath away', it was simple, straightforward and superb. To celebrate the 21st anniversary of their debut release, Blur’s sixth album 13 has now been expanded! The album marks a departure of the band's longtime producer, Stephen Street, with his role being filled by William Orbit, who they had chosen after the release of the remix album, Bustin' + Dronin' (1998).Coxon admitted, "I was really out there around 13, which made for some pretty great noise but I was probably a bit of a crap to be around. In a more mixed assessment, Heather Phares of AllMusic felt that "the group's ambitions to expand their musical and emotional horizons result in a half-baked baker's dozen of songs, featuring some of their most creative peaks and self-indulgent valleys. Keith Cameron of NME concluded that 13 was "Blur's most inconsistent and infuriating statement thus far. As do the other great moments on 13, "Coffee and TV" gives you the pleasant feeling of getting run over by a hit squad on Vespas: all in all, a smashing time. Blur's sixth album 13 has now been expanded across two discs, cut on heavyweight 180 gram, audiophile vinyl and housed in a replica of the original sleeve artwork.

But it's Orbit's UFO studio tricks make 13 a much more cohesive and consistant record than the eponymous LP. has received accolades from music critics, which ranks it among the greatest albums of the 1990s, according to Acclaimed Music. Reproduction is prohibited other than in accordance with the copyright notice, which forms part of these terms and conditions. However, their relationship became strained over time, stated reasons including Albarn's desire to have children as well as Frischmann's continued friendship with ex-boyfriend Brett Anderson of Suede, who had shared a musical rivalry with Albarn. At its heart, '13' is an ambitious art rock LP which dwells in Allbran's recent breakup, and features influences from trip hop, neo-psychedelia, and noise rock.Recorded at Hive Mind Studios in Brooklyn, NY, with the help of producer/arrangers Mike Buckley and Vincent Chiarito (both members of Charles Bradley's Extraordinaires) and crack team of a-list musicians, his upcoming album blends heavy arrangements and introspective lyrics with sophistication, leaving the listener in a blissful wash of wonderment.

Over its 40 years in business, PIAS has grown to be one of the largest independently-owned music groups in the world, carving out its own in-house recorded music division PIAS [Recordings]. They released their second album, "Modern Life Is Rubbish", in 1993, to moderate success and began attracting attention for their stubborn determination to lead Britain out of the miasma that was the grunge years. With producer William Orbit spreading gobs of digital fuzz, guitar wash, and deep- space bleeps in heavy strokes with William De Kooning- esque glee, the tracks on 13 bounce between studio walls, planets, and effects pedals until slowly unraveling and releasing with mercurian flashes and cherubic keyboard.

In a way, Blur is one of the last big old- school "album" bands, a band more concerned with their entire career than radio singles, more concerned with "album" than "song. It also seems like there are slight distortions from the factory, throughout the whole record, popping scratching sounds. Blur's previous studio album, Blur (1997), had seen the band move away from the Britpop movement and take on a more alternative rock-influenced direction, primarily under the suggestion of guitarist Graham Coxon.