Blur's

Career: Best known for his roles in Quadrophenia, Scum and EastEnders, and as a lead vocalist on Blur's song Parklife.

Portrait of the artist: Phil Daniels, actor 2011

Artists ranging from Ry Cooder to Björk to Blur's Damon Albarn have trekked there to collaborate with such iconic international stars as singer Salif Keita, kora master-musician Toumani Diabaté and the late blues-tinged guitarist Ali Farka Touré.

Garden Grunge, Animals in the Park Andy Beta 2011

For 11 years, the Mousetrap has been a mainstay of the D.C. dance scene, drawing both college students with giant Xes on their hands and 30-somethings who remember dancing to Blur's "Girls and Boys" back when it was a brand-new import CD.

Nightlife Agenda 2010

As impersonations go, this is equal parts Blur's "Tender" and all of Spiritualized.

Space Chimp on Vimeo 2010

Balancing all this will be the key to Blur's success.

Blur: hands-on with Activision's rocket-powered racer 2010

I have no idea where that film can be seen now, or where it was originally going to be, etc. * shrug* You can see trailers for it on Blur's site, but the actual film seems to be nowhere to be found now.

Goodbye, Brad scarybaldguy 2007

All the while, Blur's Damon Albarn and "Tank Girl" creator Jamie Hewlett are pulling the strings from behind the virtual curtain.

Shawn Amos: Spinal Tap and the Best Fake Bands of All Time 2009

The blind husband-and-wife duo from Mali have opened for Coldplay, played the Glastonbury Festival, and count Blur's Damon Albarn as a fan.

Shawn Amos: Let Us Now Give Thanks for These Bands Below the Top 40 Radar 2009

* * Hey, Activision, while we're on the subject, here are three songs we, like, need for GH III: "Foggy Mountain Breakdown," Blur's "Song 2," and Smashing Pumpkins' "Geek USA."

Playlist: Spaced Out Architecture, Troll 2 Fest, Futurama DVD 2008

Seriously, I did see a program with short films, in which the most visually stunning was Blur's "Gentleman's Duel" - though it seems to have been a lot of effort for little result, and "Sergej Prokovjev's Peter and the Wolf" was pretty good puppet film with CG, though I did find it a bit too angst-ily modernized...

Images from Annecy 2007 (I) Hans Perk 2007