Anything but middle of the road

Blur star Alex James says there is a feeling that the band may be about to take their "last bow", ahead of their reunion at tomorrow night's Brits.

Being a radio DJ is a cinch nowadays. Where once upon a time a DJ had to haul crates of records into work, now they can simply take in their iPod, set it to shuffle and then lie down for an executive nap.

Recorded in much the same way as previous efforts (jamming, recording, looping, cutting and pasting), the biggest surprise about the latest from this Portland, Oregon, trio is how darn traditional it sounds.

As this year's BBC talent show Over The Rainbow reaches the end of its yellow brick road, one talented hopeful will be thrust into West End stardom. Whoever is chosen will have it made. A role in a West End show sets you up for life, right?

There's an honourable tradition in the Labour Party of bravely standing against an unjust war – as long as the war ended several years ago. So, one by one, Labour's leadership candidates are announcing their opposition to the invasion of Iraq, just in time for it all to end. Labour leaders did a similar thing after the Vietnam War, and the First World War, and at the moment they all support keeping the army in Afghanistan, but I bet they haven't a good word for the Second Crusades, which is the main thing.

Blur's frontman, Damon Albarn, has revealed that the band are planning to record more new songs. The Britpop pioneers, whose revival last summer drew huge crowds, created intense interest when their first new song for seven years, "Fool's Day", was sold through independent record shops in limited numbers last month.

Blur frontman Damon Albarn has revealed plans for the band to record more new songs.

An anti-smoking charity called today for Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn to be prosecuted for smoking a cigarette on stage on the first night of a tour.