(EMI)

(almost) a best-of for Britpop ‘royalty’ (metaphorically – read Phonogram: Rue Britannia…)

You might have heard, ‘90s Oasis-baiters and indie pop poster boys Blur have returned for some giant UK reunion shows, enticing guitar-maestro Graham Coxon back into the mix with genre-naut Damon Albarn, local councillor and drummer Dave Rowntree, and floppy fringed, gourmet cheese-making bassist Alex James. In a bit of no-brainer timing, EMI has seen fit to drop a nifty new 25-track best-of collection in our laps. Midlife, subtitled A Beginner’s Guide To Blur, perhaps works best as an entry point for young listeners curious as to why these now almost middle-aged men command such a fanbase. The immediate pop tunes are there, including Parklife, Girls And Boys and the blockheaded radio staple Song 2 (no Country House or There’s No Other Way though, if you wanted their really dopey stuff), but it’s the inclusion of more intriguing efforts like Coffee & TV, the heartbreaking Out Of Time, ultra-rare single Popscene, and genuine (and under-appreciated) Britpop zeitgeist-definer For Tomorrow, that makes the collection a cut above the usual best-of. It’s a great introduction to the band’s willingness to mess about impishly with pop conventions, an inventiveness that went hand-in-hand with Blur’s more tuneful moments. Oasis might have won the sales war back in the day, but Blur – in retrospect – remain the more interesting band, and this collection (compared to Oasis’s desperately compiled Stop The Clocks) proves it clearly. The only thing that marks it down is the mystifying absence of Music Is My Radar – Blur’s crowning synthesis of art-rock and angular dance rhythms. It’s not really a best-of without their best song, is it?

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TOPHER HEALY

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