Damon Albarn is the frontman of Blur and the face of Britpop. While his peers have gradually fallen by the wayside, Albarn has reinvented himself as the mastermind behind Gorillaz. With his eclectic solo projects--such as the much-revered The Good, the Bad & the Queen--and his work with legends like Bobby Womack, he has proven that he is one of British music's most innovative and important personalities. With the 2015 release of Blur's first album for more than a decade, Damon Albarn took his place once more as an iconic jewel in the crown of the British music scene. This updated book covers his multiple musical personas in depth, with first-hand interviews by those close to Albarn in his formative years, as well as social and musical context that covers the Britpop era and Albarn's reemergence as the Godfather to the iPod generation.

DAMON ALBARN is the frontman of Blur and the face of Britpop. While his peers have gradually fallen by the wayside, Albarn has survived Britpop to completely reinvent himself as the mastermind behind the global phenomenon that is Gorillaz. With his eclectic solo projects - such as the currently much-revered The Good, the Bad & the Queen - and his work with legends like Soul music icon Bobby Womack, he has proven again and again that he is one of British music’s most respected, innovative and important personalities. And in 2015, with the release of The Magic Whip, Blur’s first album for over a decade, Damon Albarn will take his place once more as an iconic jewel in the crown of the British music scene. This fully up-to-date book - the only available dedicated biography of Albarn - covers his multiple musical personas in depth, with first-hand interviews by those close to Albarn in his formative years, as well as social and musical context that covers the Britpop era and Albarn’s re-emergence as the Godfather to the iPod generation.

A compendium of artwork, essays, and more that celebrates the twenty-year anniverary of the virtual British band Gorillaz.

The nineties was the decade when British culture reclaimed its position at the artistic centre of the world. Not since the 'Swinging Sixties' had art, comedy, fashion, film, football, literature and music interwoven into a blooming of national self-confidence. It was the decade of Lad Culture and Girl Power; of Blur vs Oasis. When fashion runways shone with British talent, Young British Artists became household names, football was 'coming home' and British film went worldwide. From Old Labour's defeat in 1992 through to New Labour's historic landslide in 1997, Don't Look Back In Anger chronicles the Cool Britannia age when the country united through a resurgence of patriotism and a celebration of all things British. But it was also an era of false promises and misplaced trust, when the weight of substance was based on the airlessness of branding, spin and the first stirrings of celebrity culture. A decade that started with hope then ended with the death of the 'people's princess' and 9/11 - an event that redefined a new world order. Through sixty-eight voices that epitomise the decade - including Tony Blair, John Major, Noel Gallagher, Damon Albarn, Tracey Emin, Keith Allen, Meera Syal, David Baddiel, Irvine Welsh and Steve Coogan - we re-live the epic highs and crashing lows of one of the most eventful periods in British history. Today, in an age where identity dominates the national agenda, Don't Look Back In Anger is a necessary and compelling historical document.

Portobello Road is London’s most iconic street and a unique place to live and visit. Despite the waves of gentrification, soaring rents and the recent arrival of High Street chains, its Bohemian, anarchic, creative spirit still survives. Julian Mash, a former bookseller at the famous Travel Bookshop, meets the traders and shopkeepers, film-makers and fashionistas, punks, promoters and poets who make Portobello what it is. From his encounters with famous residents like Damon Albarn and life-long market traders like Peter Cain there emerges a vivid and sometimes surprising picture of one of Britain’s most famous neighbourhoods. This fascinatingly illustrated book explores how Portobello Road has been at the centre of trends as diverse as racial integration, health food, vintage fashion, the property boom and the life and death of record shops.

The Gorillaz Art Book is here! Featuring brand new artwork by Jamie Hewlett, who has invited more than 40 creators to offer new interpretations of 2D, Murdoc Niccals, Noodle, and Russel Hobbs in one expansive volume of original artwork. Contributing artists include Ruff Mercy, Kim Jung Gi, Robert Smith, Kerbscrawler Ghost, Robert Valley, Craig McCracken and Tim McCourt & Max Taylor. Celebrating 20 years of Gorillaz, this latest Z2 partnership sees Hewlett expand the band’s collaborative vision to fellow visual artists in The Gorillaz Art Book, a stunning visual feast of 288 pages.

In this marvelous anecdotal history, Justin Kaplan––Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer of Mark Twain––vividly brings to life a glittering, bygone age. Endowed with the largest private fortunes of their day, cousins John Jacob Astor IV and William Waldorf Astor vied for primacy in New York society, producing the grandest hotels ever seen in a marriage of ostentation and efficiency that transformed American social behavior. Kaplan exposes it all in exquisite detail, taking readers from the 1890s to the Roaring Twenties in a combination of biography, history, architectural appreciation, and pure reading pleasure

A London boarding-house becomes a battle ground in this “dazzling display of character-led fiction” from the award-winning author of The Old Boys (The Independent). William Wagner Bird spent his life collecting lost souls—dispossessed immigrants, lonely old ladies, and the simply half-mad—to live in his London boarding-house. But when he dies, the true intent of his work is revealed in his diary. Bird had been watching them all closely, keeping notes on their sad and peculiar circumstances. And then there’s the matter of his will, in which he leaves the house to the two tenants who most despise each other, the petty thief Mr. Studdy and the equally nasty Nurse Clock. In this “rhapsody to misanthropy” Whitbread Award winner William Trevor paints a fascinating group portrait of society’s outcasts, each of whom sees their small life unravel “in a manner somewhere between Dubliners and Grimm’s fairy tales” (The New York Times).

The official story of the most significant British band of the 90s. Now updated with fresh interviews including insights into lead singer Damon's new act, Gorillaz, that is sweeping awards on both sides of the Atlantic. This is the story of bitter rows with record companies, farcical feuds with Oasis, fist fights with each other, struggles with the bottle, foundering romances and a love-hate relationship with America. Drawing on the hours of exclusive interviews he has done with the band since their early days, Stuart Maconie offers a gripping insight into this intense, hedonistic quartet. Updated with fresh interviews including insights into Damon's award-winning new act Gorillaz. The official story of Blur, told through exclusive interviews.

Just For One Day takes you on Louise Wener's musical odyssey from awkward 80s suburban pop geek to 90s jet-set Britpop goddess. Of course, once she's living the dream at the height of Britpop's glory, things aren't quite how they appeared from the other side. With her band Sleeper, Louise goes from doing gigs in toilets to gigs in stadiums, and on to the big interviews, constant touring and endless excess via Top of the Pops. These are the hilarious adventures of a girl's journey through Britpop, from the embarrassments of growing up to trying to remember what on earth it was you really wanted while eating Twiglets backstage and enviously eyeing up Damon Albarn's plate of foreign cheeses. PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED AS DIFFERENT FOR GIRLS