On one hand they’re the creators of 'Brit Pop,' on the other they create very bizarre beautiful music with satire, with both hands together things are a bit glared. Scared to death of 'Woo Hoo' of 'Song 2', I found refuge in Albarn's side projects, Gorillaz and Mali Music as well as glimpses of hope in 'Tender' off 1999’s 13, I decided to take a chance on rediscovering Albarn's long running four-letter project Blur.
Blur's seventh record is entitled 'Think Tank,' which is comprised of 13 tracks, hand picked from 25 finished songs. The album marks the parting of founding guitarist, Graham Coxon whom was present through the recording, but only played on the closing track. 'Think Tank,' was recorded in London then moved to a farm in Morocco, were Alburn track his vocals.
'Ambulance' kicks off the the disc to a brilliant start with pulsating electric beats and a deep cure-esqe bass line which holds solid ground, for Albarn's eerie vocals 'I ain’t got nothing to be scared of/’cos I love you.' The track shimmers and shines with an ambient flow of fuzz guitars until the song breaks with howling melodies and a groovey bass line.
A slow and lanky bass line and minimal raw drums open 'Out of Time,' as Albarn’s sings, “You’ve been so busy lately that / You haven’t found the time / To open up your mind / And watch the 5:06d spinning gently / Out of time.” with beautiful eastern influenced acoustic guitar that riddles about this gentle track.
The single, 'Crazy Beat' was produced by Fatboy Slim, which picks things up with a distorted guitars, distorted vocals with a lot of 'Yeah Yeah Yeah's' as Alburn screams “TV’s dead and there ain’t no war / in my head.”
After the blast comes, 'Good Song' which gently floats down stream, with some catchy guitar, cradled in a easy beat held by David Rowntree, as Damon sings in a Bono-like fashion.
After the blast comes, songs like 'Good Song' which gently floats down stream, with some catchy guitar cradled in a easy beat, as Alburn sings in a Bono-like fashion, and cosmic 'On the Way to The Club' take things back down to an ambient groove as well as the funky urban driven 'Brothers And Sisters' which has a Happy Mondays/Beck type feel as Alburn exclaim's 'Bothers and Sisters rebuild your lives / We're all drug takers, give us something tonight!'
'Caravan” is an exceptional track with a bass groove hook and lightly patted drums, holding sparkling keys and airy vocals as the one minute punk rock infused 'We've Got a file on You' begins with Eastern flavors fluttering about.
'Think Tank,” bends and curves with bittersweet 'Sweet Song' and fresh free-form grooves of 'Jets' as the album closes with ballad 'Battery In Your Leg,' featuring Graham Coxon, lightly layering his masterful guitar work against dreamy piano's with Albarn's lyrics 'This is a ballad for the good times/and all the dignity we had.'
Blur tend to experiment and develop many sounds, many styles, and many themes, which leaves room for fans of different cups of tea, to appreciate their diversities, where even I can find some pleasures as well as the Woo Hoo-in lovers of song 2. After seven albums and a line up change, Blur is still creating worthy tunes for all of us.
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