#the nearer the fountain more pure the stream flows

[no-distance-left-to-run]

happy birthday to damon albarn’s album ‘the nearer the fountain, more pure the stream flows’, released 12 november 2021

#i really can’t overstate how much i adore this album #the first time i heard it was in my bed with my headphones on and my eyes shut #and it truly transported me to the beautiful landscapes in iceland that inspired it #damon albarn #the nearer the fountain more pure the stream flows

[damonalbarn]

York Minster, December 2nd 2021, via amyelizabethwood81

#york minster #damon albarn #the nearer the fountain more pure the stream flows #tntf #church #New Yorker

[terracottahearted]

I’m finally listening to my Damon vinyl. Its so good, like very good sound quality.

#this album was meant for vinyl #i took an edible so im just vibing #music #txt #damon albarn #the nearer the fountain more pure the stream flows #vinyl

[runway-houses-city-clouds]

i've been listening to this song an unhealthy amount recently lmao

#damon albarn #the nearer the fountain more pure the stream flows #darkness to light #Spotify

[thiddly]

The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows

#my art #art #illustration #illustrators on tumblr #blur #blur fanart #gorillaz art #gorilaz #gorillaz fanart #damon albarn art #damon albarn #damon albarn fanart

[depressedraisin]

song diaries: damon albarn edition

i thought i'd wait until the end of this week to do this weekly library entry for the music i've been checking out, but you know what? fuck it let's to it today, i've just got too much to say.

so this week i've been on a damon albarn discography expedition. listening to the ballad of darren over and over for like a month and consuming hours worth of concert and interview content has clearly broken something in my brain and this old geezer's music is my new hyperfixation. not complaining though cause there's just SO MUCH. there's like five lifetime's worth of music he's put out in 40 years give or take, and i can't think of one genre he hasn't dipped his toes into. also he's worked with so many SO MANY amazing musicians and artists!!!!! which is always so cool so many new people to discover and get obsessed with <3

now blur and gorillaz on their own are pretty much lifetime achievements but albarn also has such rich body of work outside them as well. i've kinda been familiar with those two for years, my recent forage has mainly been into his non-blur, non-gorillaz music.

here are some highlights i need y'all to be obsessed with just as much as i am:

The Moon Exalted (from the opera Dr Dee, 2011)

did u know damon albarn is an composer of operas as well?! i had no idea! a couple days back i heard him mention working on orchestrating one of goethe's unfinished librettos and i, of course had a very Normal reaction to that. (my obsession with classical music might be sleeping but never dead) so i went checking and learnt he already has 3 opera compositions under his belt. woah.

anyway this piece/song is from the 2011 production dr. dee: based on the life story of some elizabethan magic dude. there's a bunch of traditional elizabethan folk instruments- viola de gamba, lute, shawm, recorder etc etc, the wonderful kora (malian instrument, a blend of lute and harp), the harmonium (literally never saw harmonium being used in any music from the west lol im bengali so i get terribly excited abt this) and the iconic, the legendary tony fucking allen featured on this. the vibes are more folksy, earthy than renaissance-lite which i find pretty cool.

the moon exalted is such a lovely, lovely song though. one of the prettiest things albarn's ever written probably. the kora interlude makes me sob like a baby every single time.

check out this live from his solo concert at the globe theatre:

Go Back (feature on Tony Allen's album Film of Life)

legendary drummer tony allen (i've been listening to afrobeat a bit as well, that's for another day) and albarn has had a long working relationship and friendship. they've worked together on gorillaz, they were in two supergroups together, they worked extensively to champion western african music.

this track is a personal favourite already. wonderful afrobeat elements and tony's distinctive style coupled with some solid jazz keyboard-ing from albarn.

this performance tribute to tony allen makes my heart especially ache (he sadly passed away in 2020). albarn's talked a lot about how much allen meant to him, as a collaborator, mentor and friend, and it's all quite emotional.

This Is A Low (live from Shakespeare's Globe)

listen listen listen i said no blur- but. you gotta listen to this version of this is a low (from Parklife, 1994). he plays quite a bit of blur on the piano for his solo shows but they are kinda a hit or miss tbh. but this one works. for this 2021 solo concert albarn introduced a discordant piano solo in place of graham coxon's rather iconic guitar solo. and omfg it came outta nowhere and hit me straight in the face i love it so much

(don't tell anyone but ipreferthepianosolo)

The Nearer The Fountain More Pure The Stream Flows (from The Nearer The Fountain More Pure The Stream Flows, 2021)

damon albarn has two Solo ™ albums and the second, and lastest, one of these is the nearer the fountain more pure the stream flows released in 2021. initially starting out some sort of an orchestral piece inspired by the changing scenery outside the window of his home in albarn, it eventually ended up becoming this set of very melancholic and intimate set of songs. about so many things: loneliness and our changing relationship with nature and anxiety over life etc etc. post-pandemic feels basically.

it's a deeply emotional listening experience, with sweeping strings at places and gentle piano in others. quite a good showcase of albarn's pianowork imho (u see a pattern here right?). my fav out of them is the title track. the name comes from a john clare poem and it's absolutely stunning.

Mr. Tembo and The Selfish Giant (from Everyday Robots, 2014)

albarn's first solo record, everyday robots of 2014, is up there are one of his best works in my books. it's a set of autobiographical songs inspired by various moments in his life, with elements of triphop, folk and electronica and general themes of isolation and nature/technology etc: which are such quintessentially damon albarn, y'know?

mr. tembo is a adorable lil folksy song about this orphaned baby element he met in tanzania. aaaaannnnd, it features a gospel choir because mr. tembo grew up take care of by forest rangers who listened to a lot of gospel radio. cute.

speaking of the selfish giant........oooffff. big ooooffff. such a gut punching song, goodness. like when i heard the line "it's hard to be a lover when the tv's on" it knocked me out of service for a while.

Waterloo Sunset (The Kinks cover with Ray Charles, somewhere in the late 90s)

this one's quite a legendary performance. in the early blur days, damon albarn was often talked of as like a successor to sir ray davies, he of the kinks fame and witty observational character studies of english life.

this performance of them duetting the iconic the kinks song waterloo sunset was a passing of the baton moment of sorts. and when davies breaks into parklife in the end- all the feels, man, all the feels.

Mali Music (2002 album)

written in collaboration with afel bocoum, toumani diabaté & friends featuring ko kan ko sata, this album explores- you guessed it- music from mali. now i know next to nothing about mali or west african music really so i'm gonna be using this album as a reference point to learn and research more.

Poison Tree (from the 2018 The Good The Bad And The Queen album, Merrie Land)

the good the bad and the queen is 100% for sure one of the most underrated supergroups ever. i mean paul simonon (the clash), simon tong (the verve), tony allen and albarn- can you imagine the sheer level of awesomeness?!

they have two albums, and it's unlikely they'll ever have another. poison tree from their second album is perhaps my fav tgtb&tq song. merrie land was written about and as a reaction to brexit, and there's feelings of farewell and isolation and desolation prominent throughout. but poison tree also reminds me strongly of blur songs like battery in your leg and sweet song and no distance left to run. so yeah, emo hours.

(*for those uninitiated in blur lore the first two songs albarn wrote for/about graham coxon when he left the band in 2003, and the latter was written about his breakup with justine frischmann in 1998)

On Melancholy Hill (live from Matera, 2019)

blur got a cheat entry, so to balance things out, gorillaz gets one as well. on melancholy hill is a heartbreakingly tender song as it is but solo piano version makes it heartbreaking-lier and tender-er *sniffles*

#otify #Youtube #damon albarn #blur #gorillaz #the good the bad and the queen #song diaries #send me recs if y'all have them!!!

[musicwithoutborders]

Damon Albarn, The Tower Of Montevideo I The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows, 2021

#Damon Albarn #voice #nowhere #cities

[dirtgemini]

why did i not know until Just now that the nearer the fountain the more pure the stream flows has a deluxe edition with a whole concert featuring not only the album & instrumentals but also performances of 3 thousand blur songs AND el mañana

#barumm #g posting #wait...i was pregnnt last year thats probably why #but like. wow. wow (big sparkle eyes) #albarn posting...sigh...

[sugar-and-vice-mogai]

thenearerthefountainalbumic

[pt: thenearerthefountainalbumic /end pt]

a gender related to Damon Albarn's 2021 album "The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows"

[first image id: a flag with a white border. inside the border there are 5 stripes. these are: grey, light grey, silver, dark grey and slate grey /end id]

[second image id: a flag with a white border. inside the border there are 5 stripes. these are: grey, light grey, silver, dark grey and slate grey. the album cover is imposed in the middle of the flag. /end id]

#jules' homemade genders #xenogender #mogai #liom #albumgender #musicgender

[lavov]

#Spotify

[no-distance-left-to-run]

the nearer the fountain, more pure the stream flows hits so different in iceland

#I listened to it sailing around the harbour and it illustrated the landscapes so perfectly #and yes that mountain is esja that damon named a song after #you can really understand where it came from when you’re here #it’s the peacefulness but also the bleakness of the surroundings #i love it even more now #damon albarn #the nearer the fountain more pure the stream flows #iceland

[puhtchkchk]

BEST ALBUMS OF 2022 - 2022 YILIN EN İYİ ALBÜMLERİ: -black midi - Hellfire:  https://open.spotify.com/album/68z6MWYYNmvTcru1QMcYId?si=iYydlLBFT6q675JwUahIWA

-The Oh Sees, Osees - A Foul Form: https://open.spotify.com/album/6KbOhrDyyCuTtqsknmyX4w?si=w23M3SRfTwmjvlqyGrzGbA  

-Nu Genea - Bar Mediterraneo: https://open.spotify.com/album/2OeKJLLD5jcYMgJAExURqS?si=bZzqLSLKT8SB9AKZT-37zg

-Foals - Life Is Yours: https://open.spotify.com/album/7CBK26TFXHyt2l6NQcXIsq?si=DsXuPF4oRS-rx5Exviz_fw 

-Fontaines D.C. - Skinty Fia: https://open.spotify.com/album/2ZMViS2A6M15Z1kN6n6O8S?si=EYBEOADsTPWqrId2lCqXfw

-The Smile - A Light for Attracting Attention: https://open.spotify.com/album/009EjjwUjtdjvH7UP0wHzi?si=9nX1Era2TFaX-R8VI3PzCQ 

-Damon Albarn - The Nearer Fountain, More Pure Stream Flows: https://open.spotify.com/album/6GPFSYXLhTPSPG3c8nuGxv?si=tfWgQjTxTOeObBiliQ-IIQ

-Jack White - Fear of the Dawn: https://open.spotify.com/album/46qeiLBu3KwqFQpJBT7t6B?si=q7cjzMhYS8yswhCk4KRDjw

-Jack White - Entering Heaven Alive: https://open.spotify.com/album/4GxhBXlAhfNzI7ehTDmFJ5?si=KyD0c6dpTbC7297aPJp14g

-Sports - Get a Good Look: https://open.spotify.com/album/2BbQV71MEMZ0nTTgOJl3wD?si=eLIsf-XjQ0OFHuewgQVK0A 

-Plastikman - Consumed In Key: https://open.spotify.com/album/00dUezlxTHmpfW165QLbEW?si=FdZkyzy8R-u1bg-xNZwR5w

-Arcade Fire - We: https://open.spotify.com/album/2sAePf08xIp4tnDlMUCV8B?si=Equ7xBHNT4eqpRGjdNTywA

-Arctic Monkeys - The Car: https://open.spotify.com/album/2GROf0WKoP5Er2M9RXVNNs?si=WBcV6RWcSpeCdqDJolH3Fg -Kendrick Lamar - Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers: https://open.spotify.com/album/79ONNoS4M9tfIA1mYLBYVX?si=VPYSCTRTSR-3y5xsQq-amA 

-Kelly Lee Owens - Inner Song: https://open.spotify.com/album/79fGMhdBAKmCiih3K8Gwqz?si=NK2jp_V1Tdi7OaharkkjYw 

-Toro y Moi - Mahal:  https://open.spotify.com/album/16AQyjz1z9rOsTm6iVrBUR?si=4KtxEMB6T8CADYDE9Uj5Uw

-Working Men’s Club - Fear Fear: https://open.spotify.com/album/5qKXYz1XhJhJV3BHJR3eq5?si=IllrljsZQKyHVzNN9XUR9A 

-Orlando Weeks - Hop Up: https://open.spotify.com/album/2aPLSAu2Eujekx57UtM2qx?si=JE4Pp3wsSZ2ynXgfD0UwbA

-White Lies - As I Try Not To Fall Apart: https://open.spotify.com/album/32LcezSSnKv5hiCVBcQ04L?si=rJXDUYlSSUKgFrBi7a1hcg  

-Calibro 35 - Scacco El Maestro Volume:1: https://open.spotify.com/album/67xUiBAxO2Mri7wxHd2Ulz?si=OsmfYUluTp-OH5Y7W23EpQ

-Stereophonics - Oochya! https://open.spotify.com/album/4LbVuFXMXZaBOdqVnByOVi?si=f_7E9dePR0WPXSCH76QQDA 

-Metronomy - Small World: https://open.spotify.com/album/5CHaXCMeag2aPjo72Ib8Xj?si=6VGxUt3eQF6i74FnUlde9w 

-Beyonce - Renaissance: https://open.spotify.com/album/6FJxoadUE4JNVwWHghBwnb?si=FRcvkDsOTJaZaaHeKL0CFA 

-Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs - When The Lights Go: https://open.spotify.com/album/2aApNIlo8yWlCk6x899rhY?si=2uha3KWQR4yCKu8sDQgAkQ -Sebastien Tellier - Extatic: https://open.spotify.com/album/68dFckjqN3mRFHZtU0UrkM?si=U1StaT9kRT6uub2qHeHytA 

-Charlotte Adigery - Topical Dancer: https://open.spotify.com/album/4ivk3u8J7qg7YoWUZlnGNz?si=zEtgUQD7R32j22RV5n7nMg 

-Confidence Man - Tilt: https://open.spotify.com/album/79LH6YoGvFv3uVd1JGgi89?si=3oIG7Mn4RmGWC-gsbEIXRg 

-The Kooks - 10 Tracks to Echo In The Dark: https://open.spotify.com/album/5qVcQzxnSthvOT7OOIXDdH?si=hXKjPmgGRP-aEIXSJ_7qyA 

-Wet Leg - Wet Leg: https://open.spotify.com/album/0r9awI5WRCZpwk0aVQ4bKO?si=levaLwx9ROu5NkotmythfA 

-Yard Act - The Overload: https://open.spotify.com/album/4rXBcuJMRSt4izAwXNrTQu?si=HwMBkYvoQ_ydYAEvpSfYWQ  

-Self Esteem - Prioritise Pleasure: https://open.spotify.com/album/6Q4b8zTe5hFiDaUxNOiBih?si=_W1Ozqq5TbWYoPpsVBFAJw 

-Kokoroko - Could We Be More: https://open.spotify.com/album/48e8LFqiVUxumlXDIVyNYl?si=mkF71wCsTPSXON0i93H-9Q

-Kasabian - The Alchemist’s Euphoria: https://open.spotify.com/album/5YAOV1BIL0uPv2Xa491hCM?si=D0Ar73GISBqN_O-QJ8L2Lw

-Ho99o9 - Skin: https://open.spotify.com/album/6gl8rX7dP20vjIQPi1mlDO?si=6bGRrZCUQiu5NXDluq00AA 

-LIFE - North East Coastal Town: https://open.spotify.com/album/14FIEPxYcaxjrPa8pcMU2i?si=D9hY0yq9TsqSquL6HVyZxQ 

-Harvey Sutherland - Boy: https://open.spotify.com/album/5R4MKy2TupcljTY07AcAWv?si=R9Syndv6TX64Jr59erc3dA 

#bestalbumsof2022

[the-hindu-times]

BLUR - Eastbourne Winter Garden 21/5/23

Post-pandemic, having seen Daman Albarn perform for Banquet records, upon the release of his last solo LP, we knew going into a Blur reunion gig that the musicianship wouldn't be as high, and the vibe not as interesting as the reworked songs he performed with 'The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows' band. Still, to see the original line up, knocking out the songs as they were intended, in a 2,000 capacity venue (not too much bigger than Kingston’s Pryzm) was not to be missed. Eastbourne Winter Garden was the 2nd night on the 4 date ‘warm up’ tour, and it reminded me of the seaside spot that introduced me to live music at the end of the Britpop era; Folkestone Leas Cliff Hall - where I saw bands like Embrace and Stereophonics on their debut albums so, tonight's setting was perfect for that '90s' nostalgia.

For a room that is now rarely used, with the majority of tributes and the odd touring TV comedian happening in their other building, the Congress Theatre, walking around the costal town, you wouldn't know that a stadium-sized band were here for one night only; Apart from the queue beginning to form in the afternoon, and the pub next door getting busier towards stage time, the rest of this retirement region was just like any other sunny Sunday there.

We needed an extra ticket, and the first guy we asked happened to have a spare so, we gave him the face value of £60 (he would have paid more, himself, with the booking fee add-ons). Going in, we saw Ash's Tim Wheeler coming out just as we were met with another familiar face on the door; Max, who reps a lot of London shows, was running the guestlist, and we were equally surprised to see each other outside of the capital.

Down the stairs, the stage was directly in front of the open doors. We went past the merch stand (where there were Blur T Shirts [in black or white], with the 4 tour dates on the back, for sale, along with a black hoodie of the same design) to the bar, which was pretty much empty, with some exclusive beer options. Bassist, Alex James, was just outside, smoking so, we knew they wouldn’t be onstage any time soon. Looking at the positioning of the D&B V8 PA system, it was obvious it was going to be great sounding show.

Coming on at 9:06pm, they opened with the punkish new song ‘St. Charles Square’, which was a red herring for what was to come; possibly not wanting to have too many live versions of songs from the forthcoming album appearing on Youtube before its official release. ‘Modern Life Is Rubbish’’s ‘Coping’ was performed for the first time since 2003, when The Good, The Bad & The Queen’s Simon Tong was the guitar player – so, the last time Graham Coxon had played it would have been in 1999. ‘Parklife’’s ‘Trouble In The Message Centre’ from Friday’s first night in Chelmsford made way for this. Another ‘Modern Life Is Rubbish’ song that wasn’t aired in Essex was ‘Young & Lovely” which, again, replaced another ‘Parklife’ track – the sadly missed ‘Badhead’. Of course, both shows couldn’t go without the title track of that album, but in Eastbourne we were treated to Phil Daniels, from the original recording, joining the band onstage for his part; where Damon met his match, with the heightened boisterous behaviour. Heading down to the toilets, where there was an extra, empty beer-only bar, I walked past Phil Daniels in the corridor but I dropped my clear earplug on the floor, which comedian, Josh Widdicombe, helped me find.

Stereolab’s Lætitia Sadier would have also been a welcomed addition for her vocal part in ‘To The End’, as the call and response duet lacked without it.

‘Modern Life Is Rubbish’’s “Oli Water’ was swapped out to represent the day of the week with ‘Sunday Sunday’ from the same album, whilst ‘Trimm Trabb’ was restarted after Damon locked into the wrong beat, which was all part of the charm of this intimate gig; feeling like we were part of the process which they wouldn’t be able to get away with at Wembley Stadium.

After 20 songs, it was time for us to catch the last train; passing the girls and boys outside the venue, who weren’t lucky enough to get tickets but were trying to get a good view through the window; sticking around for the final 3 songs.

Blur will play Wembley Stadium on Saturday 8th (with support from Self Esteem and Jockstrap [Slowthai is now longer performing]) and Sunday 9th July 2023  (with support from Paul Weller and The Selector)

Nic Bennett

[runway-houses-city-clouds]

this song is beautiful i love it so much

#damon albarn #the nearer the fountain more pure the stream flows #particles #Spotify

[relaxvideobar]

Sabías que, hoy cumple 55 años Damon Albarn, músico inglés nacido en Whitechapel, Londres, voz solista y autor de la mayoría de los temas del grupo Blur, hasta su disolución en 2003. Desde entonces se centra en su proyecto personal Gorillaz, una banda virtual que consiste en la sociedad de Damon con Jamie Hewlett, un dibujante de comics que crea los personajes virtuales del grupo en los videos. Su estilo de música, en la que participan numerosos y variados colaboradores, abarca múltiples estilos y la idea del grupo surgió, según Damon "para burlar toda esa basura que dan por MTV". En abril de 2014 publicó su álbum debut en solitario, ‘Everyday Robots’. En 2009 hubo nueva reunión de Blur y en 2015 publicaron ‘The Magic Whip’. La entrega más reciente de Gorillaz fue ‘Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez’ en 2020 y en 2022 realizaron una gira mundial que los llevó por Argentina, Chile, México, Brasil y España. Damon ha colaborado entre otros con Michael Nyman, Terry Hall, Stroke, Bobby Womack, De La Soul y Nathan Haines y en 2021 publicó su segundo trabajo en solitario, ‘The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows’. @relaxvideobar www.relaxvideobar.com (at RELAX Videobar RETRO) https://www.instagram.com/p/CqKHUOcsCyv/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[mancopan]

robin.photo: Damon Albarn at Philharmonie de Paris, March 5th 2022. (Posted on 05/04/2022)

#damon albarn #philharmonie de paris 2022 #the nearer the fountain more pure the stream flows