Having spent a prominent part of their career writing about British customs and social behaviour, it must be with some discomfort that Blur now find themselves a British custom. Since guitarist Graham Coxon rejoined the band in 2009 after seven years in exile, the band’s huge summer gigs in London (in 2009 and at the Olympics closing ceremony in 2012 and now again this coming June) have become a focal point for diverse British tribes. Britpop nostalgists, groups of 30-something “lads”, and less gregarious souls who identify with Blur songs about vulnerable British types all gather in festival mood.
These days, Blur’s own concerns and lifestyles are far less parochial. In the past 20 years, singer/principal songwriter Damon Albarn has rebooted world music for a new audience, and written two operas – one in Chinese. After forays into TV presenting, bassist Alex James is now an artisanal cheesemaker on nodding terms with David Cameron. Only drummer Dave Rowntree (who retrained as a solicitor after Blur’s ostensible demise in 2003) and Graham Coxon (who lives a resourceful but scattershot life just out of the spotlight) display some of the idiosyncrasy and quiet desperation of the classic Blur character.
Seeking, it appears, to make up for the erratic behaviour that led to him being expelled from Blur in the first place, it is Coxon who is the engine of this new Blur album. When bad weather forced the cancellation of a Japanese festival at which the band was due to appear in 2013, Blur were marooned for several days in Hong Kong, but instead of simply relaxing, they chose to book studio time. What emerged were several promising demo fragments that Coxon — a talented arranger — then took it upon himself to develop, with the assistance of producer Stephen Street. After several months of work, Coxon reconvened the band for additional recording, with Albarn contributing vocals at the start of this year.
The Magic Whip is a good record, certainly, but it does prompt some questions about what sort of way a group like Blur might be said to meaningfully exist these days. Of the music released so far, both opener Lonesome Street and third track Go Out are reminiscent of the upbeat guitar band Blur were somewhere around their breakthrough album Modern Life Is Rubbish in 1992: all suit jackets, social reportage and band-as-a-gang. The videos for both, however, feature, respectively, a Chinese amateur dance troupe and a lady making some ice cream in her kitchen. Cute, but they don't exactly speak of a group completely committed to the programme, or even interested in being in the same room at the same time. At one wistful moment in the album, Albarn recalls a time when "we were more like brothers/But that was years ago …"
Which seems a shame. In the mid-1990s, it fell to Oasis to lay claim to being heirs of The Beatles, but members of the band came and went so fast, you barely had time to warm to the idea of Scott McCloud when Matt Deighton came to replace him. Who? Who? Well, exactly. Blur, however, with their identifiable personalities and amusing foibles, seemed to adhere most closely to that Fab paradigm. If you replaced a piece, it simply wouldn’t be the same thing any more.
As it is, the story of Blur after 2003 is one that can be condensed into bumper-sticker wisdom: old Britpop bands don’t die – they just diversify. While Blur was formerly the vehicle for most of his creative ideas, the success of Albarn’s extracurricular projects has encouraged him – the main compositional talent of the band – to pursue more. Coxon, whose electric guitar gave the band character and heft, was left to make solo albums which unleashed his considerable firepower on insubstantial targets. The others went to whey and conveyancing.
The Magic Whip projects some of that diffuseness. Blur have historically been a band with a strong sense of place, be that the British home counties or (as on their previous album Think Tank) a north African/Middle Eastern soundworld. Here, it seems the band is trying the same kind of thing with Hong Kong. Albarn found room in his schedule to return to the city to seek inspiration for his lyrics, but in spite of a song called Ong Ong, which sounds as if it might have escaped from Abbey Road, the Kowloon-referencing reggae of Ghost Ship and the Chinese-sounding strings section on the closer Mirrorball, it doesn't quite come off.
What instead is more strongly evoked is travel and by extension, rootlessness. In two tracks we've travelled from East Grinstead to Hollywood. By track five (the very good Thought I Was a Spaceman), we're back in Hyde Park. When the band essayed this kind of anomie in transit on Look Inside America from 1997's Blur, it sounded like an artless rock star whining. Now, it sounds like a band exploring, after a long and eventful time away from making new music, who they are and what they might collectively have to say.
At times you could conclude that was not much, and that we are mainly listening to tracks that didn't quite make the cut from Damon Albarn's excellent solo album Everyday Robots. There, Albarn explored the idea of personal remoteness in a time of supposed heightened connectivity via social media, and some of the language of that investigation is certainly present. There's a reference to "logging on" in the moving second track New World Towers and in Mirrorball, to logging out. Likewise, some of the intense synthesiser textures characterise a production by Richard Russell, with whom Albarn worked on his own album. In such moments, Blur seem rather surplus to requirements, uncertain about what to contribute to this fait accompli.
Still, this is a group which abundantly knows how to sequence an album. A particularly strong section of The Magic Whip begins with the boisterous kind of throwaway (see also: Crazy Beat, Bank Holiday) which has traditionally provided a change of pace on otherwise melodic Blur albums. I Broadcast sounds very much like a wry look at cocaine use on a promotional tour, and feels very much banged out in the moment, with Coxon quoting the post-hard-core group Slint in his guitar line, while samples of Albarn's laughter are woven into the recording. This lively outburst then gives way to the more contemplative wound-licking of My Terracotta Heart.
True enough, this again feels quite Albarn solo and darkly contemplative, but here Coxon and Alex James both integrate themselves beautifully with the electronic essence of the composition, Coxon's guitar line an entropic high point of the record. The peak of the record comes with the next song, There Are Too Many of Us, in which a synthesiser line reminiscent of Kate Bush's Running Up That Hill introduces a piece of melancholic, Malthusian rock.
Over a brisk march, Albarn assumes an omniscient view, acknowledging the hopes and dreams of successive generations for happiness and contentment. Still, he notes that this means a proliferation of people in identical suburbs, all of us "in tiny houses", unable to extricate ourselves from the social patterns of our parents. It feels like a classic Blur song, but deepened with social responsibility rather than jokey reportage. In the video, the band are all filmed crammed in a small studio together, to celebrate the moment that Britpop finally attained the gravity of Jude the Obscure.
Given the band's diverse interests, their separate lives and growing age, it would be ridiculous to expect a Blur album made after a gap of 12 years to pick up where they left off. What's most impressive about The Magic Whip is its candour: the occasional unevenness in tone, and its unwillingness to try and turn the clock back. This isn't the old gang getting back together in their old haunts, but an honest reflection of the many different places where Blur are at today. Consider it an encouraging conference call — which tentatively proposes more such meetings in the future.
John Robinson is associate editor of Uncut and the Guardian Guide’s rock critic. He lives in London.
Kanguva
Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode
Directors: Raj & DK
Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon
Rating: 4/5
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Your rights as an employee
The government has taken an increasingly tough line against companies that fail to pay employees on time. Three years ago, the Cabinet passed a decree allowing the government to halt the granting of work permits to companies with wage backlogs.
The new measures passed by the Cabinet in 2016 were an update to the Wage Protection System, which is in place to track whether a company pays its employees on time or not.
If wages are 10 days late, the new measures kick in and the company is alerted it is in breach of labour rules. If wages remain unpaid for a total of 16 days, the authorities can cancel work permits, effectively shutting off operations. Fines of up to Dh5,000 per unpaid employee follow after 60 days.
Despite those measures, late payments remain an issue, particularly in the construction sector. Smaller contractors, such as electrical, plumbing and fit-out businesses, often blame the bigger companies that hire them for wages being late.
The authorities have urged employees to report their companies at the labour ministry or Tawafuq service centres — there are 15 in Abu Dhabi.
THE%20FLASH
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The biog
Hobbies: Salsa dancing “It's in my blood” and listening to music in different languages
Favourite place to travel to: “Thailand, as it's gorgeous, food is delicious, their massages are to die for!”
Favourite food: “I'm a vegetarian, so I can't get enough of salad.”
Favourite film: “I love watching documentaries, and am fascinated by nature, animals, human anatomy. I love watching to learn!”
Best spot in the UAE: “I fell in love with Fujairah and anywhere outside the big cities, where I can get some peace and get a break from the busy lifestyle”
Brief scores:
QPR 0
Watford 1
Capoue 45' 1
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants
ETFs explained
Exhchange traded funds are bought and sold like shares, but operate as index-tracking funds, passively following their chosen indices, such as the S&P 500, FTSE 100 and the FTSE All World, plus a vast range of smaller exchanges and commodities, such as gold, silver, copper sugar, coffee and oil.
ETFs have zero upfront fees and annual charges as low as 0.07 per cent a year, which means you get to keep more of your returns, as actively managed funds can charge as much as 1.5 per cent a year.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five biggest providers BlackRock’s iShares range, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors SPDR ETFs, Deutsche Bank AWM X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
SPECS
Engine: 4-litre V8 twin-turbo
Power: 630hp
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: 8-speed Tiptronic automatic
Price: From Dh599,000
On sale: Now
Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Cargoz%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EDate%20started%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20January%202022%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Premlal%20Pullisserry%20and%20Lijo%20Antony%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2030%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Seed%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
GROUPS
Group Gustavo Kuerten
Novak Djokovic (x1)
Alexander Zverev (x3)
Marin Cilic (x5)
John Isner (x8)
Group Lleyton Hewitt
Roger Federer (x2)
Kevin Anderson (x4)
Dominic Thiem (x6)
Kei Nishikori (x7)
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
Company%20profile
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MATCH INFO
Newcastle United 3
Gayle (23'), Perez (59', 63')
Chelsea 0
TCL INFO
Teams:
Punjabi Legends Owners: Inzamam-ul-Haq and Intizar-ul-Haq; Key player: Misbah-ul-Haq
Pakhtoons Owners: Habib Khan and Tajuddin Khan; Key player: Shahid Afridi
Maratha Arabians Owners: Sohail Khan, Ali Tumbi, Parvez Khan; Key player: Virender Sehwag
Bangla Tigers Owners: Shirajuddin Alam, Yasin Choudhary, Neelesh Bhatnager, Anis and Rizwan Sajan; Key player: TBC
Colombo Lions Owners: Sri Lanka Cricket; Key player: TBC
Kerala Kings Owners: Hussain Adam Ali and Shafi Ul Mulk; Key player: Eoin Morgan
Venue Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Format 10 overs per side, matches last for 90 minutes
When December 14-17
DUBAI CARNIVAL RESULTS
6.30pm Handicap US$135,000 (Turf) 2,410m
Winner Dubai Future, Harry Bentley (jockey), Saeed bin Suroor (trainer).
7.05pm UAE 1000 Guineas Listed $250,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
Winner Dubai Love, Patrick Cosgrave, Saeed bin Suroor.
7.40pm Dubai Dash Listed $175,000 (T) 1,000m
Winner: Equilateral, James Doyle, Charles Hills.
8.15pm Al Bastakiya Trial Conditions $100,000 (D) 1.900m
Winner Laser Show, Kevin Stott, Saeed bin Suroor.
8.50pm Al Fahidi Fort Group Two $250,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner Glorious Journey, James Doyle, Charlie Appleby.
9.25pm Handicap $135,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner George Villiers, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar.
The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Know your cyber adversaries
Cryptojacking: Compromises a device or network to mine cryptocurrencies without an organisation's knowledge.
Distributed denial-of-service: Floods systems, servers or networks with information, effectively blocking them.
Man-in-the-middle attack: Intercepts two-way communication to obtain information, spy on participants or alter the outcome.
Malware: Installs itself in a network when a user clicks on a compromised link or email attachment.
Phishing: Aims to secure personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.
Ransomware: Encrypts user data, denying access and demands a payment to decrypt it.
Spyware: Collects information without the user's knowledge, which is then passed on to bad actors.
Trojans: Create a backdoor into systems, which becomes a point of entry for an attack.
Viruses: Infect applications in a system and replicate themselves as they go, just like their biological counterparts.
Worms: Send copies of themselves to other users or contacts. They don't attack the system, but they overload it.
Zero-day exploit: Exploits a vulnerability in software before a fix is found.
Nepotism is the name of the game
Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad.
Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE squad
Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind
Fixtures
Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, first leg
Liverpool v Roma
When: April 24, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Anfield, Liverpool
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
