The Spinning Top | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 11 May 2009 | |||
Recorded | 2008–2009 | |||
Genre | English folk | |||
Length | 68:26 | |||
Label | Transgressive | |||
Producer | Stephen Street | |||
Graham Coxon chronology | ||||
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Singles from The Spinning Top | ||||
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Aggregate scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 66/100 [1] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [2] |
Clash | (7/10) [3] |
Gigwise.com | [4] |
The Guardian | [5] |
The Independent | [6] |
Pitchfork Media | (4.7/10) [7] |
Planet Sound | (7/10) [8] |
PopMatters | (8/10) [9] |
NME | (8/10) [10] |
Uncut | [11] |
The Spinning Top is the seventh studio album by Blur guitarist Graham Coxon on new record label Transgressive Records. The album is produced by Stephen Street and was released on 11 May 2009. It was Coxon's first album since Crow Sit on Blood Tree (2001) to be released while concurrently a member of Blur, and the first to be released following his returned to Blur in 2008. [12] It is a concept album that follows a narrative of a man from birth to death. [13]
The album was supported by the single "Sorrow's Army", released on 18 May.
The cover art and liner artwork, like previous releases, was painted by Coxon himself. [14] The two music promos Sorrow's Army and In the Morning were filmed by creative director Nick Craske. Dead Bees, the third single from The Spinning Top, was filmed by Chris Hopewell.
Coxon took the album on tour around the release date in May 2009 and also in November 2009 after the cool down from July's Blur reform gigs at Hyde Park and Glastonbury. Coxon played with his Power Acoustic Ensemble. Live Members included Coxon (Guitar, Vocals and Soprano Saxophone), Graham Fox (drums), Gareth Davies (Bass), Lucy Parnall and Jen Clayton (Vocals), Owen Thomas (Bass, Guitar), Louis Vause (piano), Ranbir (dilruba), Bee2 (Percussion). The short tour played the full album in order. The last concert on the list was at the Barbican Theatre in London where Coxon would play with some of his all time heroes. The gig featured Robyn Hitchcock and Martin Carthy (guitars), Natasha Marsh (Opera Vocals) and Max Eastley (The Arc). It also featured Radiohead visual artist Chris Hopewell.
Blur are an English rock band formed in London in 1988. The band consists of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bass guitarist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree. Their debut album, Leisure (1991), incorporated the sounds of Madchester and shoegaze. Following a stylistic change influenced by English guitar pop groups such as the Kinks, the Beatles and XTC, Blur released the albums Modern Life Is Rubbish (1993), Parklife (1994) and The Great Escape (1995). As a result, the band helped to popularise the Britpop genre and achieved mass popularity in the UK, aided by a widely publicised chart battle with rival band Oasis in 1995 dubbed "The Battle of Britpop".
Parklife is the third studio album by the English rock band Blur, released on 25 April 1994 on Food Records. After moderate sales for their previous album Modern Life Is Rubbish (1993), Parklife returned Blur to prominence in the UK, helped by its four hit singles: "Girls & Boys", "End of a Century", "Parklife" and "To the End".
Graham Leslie Coxon is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter who came to prominence as a founding member of the rock band Blur. As the group's lead guitarist and secondary vocalist, Coxon is featured on all of Blur's studio discography. He has also led a solo career since 1998, producing and playing all instrumentation on his solo albums. As well as being a musician, Coxon is a visual artist: he designed the cover art for all his solo albums as well as Blur's 13 (1999).
Think Tank is the seventh studio album by the English rock band Blur, released on 5 May 2003. Continuing the jam-based studio constructions of the group's previous album, 13 (1999), the album expanded on the use of sampled rhythm loops and brooding, heavy electronic sounds. There are also heavy influences from dance music, hip hop, dub, jazz, and African music, an indication of songwriter Damon Albarn's expanding musical interests.
Blur is the fifth studio album by the English rock band Blur, released on 10 February 1997 by Food Records. Blur had previously been broadly critical of American popular culture and their previous albums had become associated with the Britpop movement, particularly Parklife, which had helped them become one of Britain's leading pop acts. After their previous album, The Great Escape, the band faced media backlash and relationships between the members became strained.
13 is the sixth studio album by the English alternative rock band Blur, released on 15 March 1999. Continuing the stylistic shift away from the Britpop sound of the band's early career, 13 explores experimental, psychedelic and electronic music.
"Song 2" is a song by English rock band Blur. The song is the second song on their eponymous fifth studio album. Released physically on 7 April 1997, "Song 2" peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart, number four on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart, and number six on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.
"Parklife" is a song by the English rock band Blur, released in August 1994 by Food and Parlophone as the third single from the band's third studio album, Parklife (1994). The song contains spoken-word verses by the actor Phil Daniels, who also appears in the music video, which was directed by Pedro Romhanyi.
"Coffee & TV" is a song by British rock band Blur. It was written by the band's guitarist, Graham Coxon, who also sang lead vocals rather than frontman Damon Albarn. The song appears on Blur's sixth studio album, 13 (1999), and was the second single released from the album on 28 June 1999. The lyrics describe Coxon's struggle with alcoholism and the song's video, featuring a sentient milk carton searching for Coxon, won several awards. Commercially, "Coffee & TV" reached No. 11 in the United Kingdom and No. 26 in Ireland. It was a major hit in Iceland, where it peaked at No. 2 in September 1999.
"Tender" is a song by English rock band Blur from their sixth studio album, 13 (1999). Written by the four band members about Blur frontman Damon Albarn's breakup with musician turned painter Justine Frischmann, the song was released in Japan on 17 February 1999 and in the United Kingdom on 22 February as the album's lead single. "Tender" became Blur's 11th top-10 hit on the UK Singles Chart, debuting and peaking at number two the week after its release. It also reached the top 20 in Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, and Spain.
"Out of Time" is a song by British band Blur from their seventh studio album, Think Tank (2003). The song was written and produced by band members Damon Albarn, Alex James and Dave Rowntree, with Ben Hillier also serving as a producer. After being premiered via BBC Radio 1 on 3 March, it was released as the album's lead single on 14 April 2003, by Parlophone. The song became the band's first release without guitarist Graham Coxon. It is a pop ballad featuring acoustic guitars and bass, as well as a Moroccan orchestra. Lyrically, it deals with a civilisation that has lost touch, with Coxon's departure being referenced in the lyrics.
"Girls & Boys" is a song by English rock band Blur, released in March 1994 by Food Records as the lead single from the group's third studio album, Parklife (1994). The frontman of Blur, Damon Albarn wrote the song's lyrics with bandmembers Graham Coxon, Alex James and Dave Rowntree, while Stephen Street produced it.
The Golden D is the second solo album by Blur guitarist Graham Coxon, released in 2000. This outing saw him come back with some heavier, even lower-fi guitars and vocals. With only one track reminiscent of The Sky Is Too High, "Keep Hope Alive," the album was a departure from both Blur and his previous work. The album features two covers, "Fame and Fortune" and "That's When I Reach for My Revolver", both from early eighties post punk band Mission of Burma. All other tracks were written by Coxon, who recorded all instruments, produced and mixed the album as well. The title of the album is a tongue in cheek reference to his favourite guitar chord, possibly at the time or a constant preference.
The Sky Is Too High is the first solo album by Blur guitarist Graham Coxon. Released in 1998, he wrote, recorded and produced all the music himself. Most of the album consists of lo-fi acoustic songs with some overdubbed electric guitar and percussion, similar in style to the Blur songs "Miss America" and "You're So Great".
"To the End" is a song by English alternative rock band Blur. It appears on their third studio album, Parklife (1994), and was released as a single in May 1994 by Food Records. The song describes a couple unsuccessfully trying to overcome a bad patch in a relationship, and features full orchestral accompaniment with a choric refrain in French by Lætitia Sadier from Stereolab. The song was produced by Stephen Hague, unlike the rest of the Parklife album, which was produced by Stephen Street. Blur have produced several different recordings of the song.
Grace/Wastelands is the debut solo studio album from the Babyshambles frontman and the Libertines co-frontman Peter Doherty. It was released in Australia on 13 March 2009, in the UK on 16 March, and in the US on 24 March, with the single "Last of the English Roses" preceding it by one week. The album features contributions from Blur guitarist Graham Coxon Dot Allison, Peter Wolfe, and members of Babyshambles. Most of the songs have been played live or feature in demo form on leaked sessions.
A+E is the eighth studio album by British singer-songwriter Graham Coxon, released on 2 April 2012 through Parlophone. The album was made as a "reaction" against Coxon's prior album, The Spinning Top, which consisted of psychedelic folk songs. A+E, on the other hand, consists of pop rock songs. Coxon, who is also the guitarist of Blur, recorded 21 songs during the album's two-month-long recording process with producer Ben Hillier. The 11 songs that did not make it onto A+E were divided into a separate album that was supposed to be released in late 2012, but Coxon was never announced it as of 2023. The album received positive reviews from critics, although some criticized its songs for being too long. Despite its critical success, it was Coxon's least successful album on the UK Albums Chart since The Kiss of Morning, peaking at number 39 and staying on the chart for only one week.
"Under the Westway" is a single by English band Blur, released in July 2012. After being played by Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon at Brixton Academy as part of a charity performance for War Child, speculation rose as to "Under the Westway"'s release. On 25 June 2012, it was announced on Blur's Twitter account that the track would be performed live by the band via a live stream and released for download shortly after, with Albarn stating "I wrote these songs for [the upcoming Hyde Park show] and I’m really excited about getting out there and playing them for people." The single was released as a download-only release on 2 July 2012, accompanied by "The Puritan", and received a physical release in August. The song also made its radio debut on Steve Lamacq's BBC Radio 6 Music show on the same day. It was the band's first single since 2010's "Fool's Day". An early mix of the song is included on the Blur 21 box set.
The Magic Whip is the eighth studio album by English rock band Blur. It was recorded in Hong Kong and London, and released by Parlophone on 27 April 2015 and Warner Bros. Records on 28 April 2015. It was the band's first studio album in 12 years since Think Tank (2003), marking the longest gap between studio albums in Blur's career, and the first in 16 years since 13 (1999) to have featured the original line-up. The album also marks the return of the band's longtime producer Stephen Street following Blur (1997).
The Waeve is an English band formed in London, in 2021 by singer-songwriters and musicians Graham Coxon and Rose Elinor Dougall. They describe their music as "a liquid meeting of musical minds and talents. A powerful elixir of cinematic British folk-rock, post-punk, organic songwriting and freefall jamming." They released their debut album, The Waeve, in 2023.