Record Boy Ink:

Got to hand it to the Blur boys. Bringing in producer William Orbit to shape their new album "13" was an inspired idea. Orbit’s sonic mastery is applied to this collection of a lot of so-so songs and a few brilliant ones. If you have never really thought about the importance of the role of a producer, this album could serve as Intro. class 101. Orbit takes this assortment of tunes, the weak (did anybody ask these guys to rewrite "Suffragette City" as "Bugman"?) and the strong ("Tender", "No Distance Left to run"), and turns "13" into a listening experience. From the extraordinary range of guitar tones ( including some of the most rippling buzz saw distortion ever captured on record… check out the tunes "B.L.U.E.M.I." and "Battle" specifically), to the variety of vocal settings, to the unexpected ambient backgrounds, the listener is drawn in and held fast from beginning to end.

Two important Record Boy observations:

1. The way "13" is written on the album cover looks like a "B" especially if your vision is Blur-ed ( you have to get up pretty early in the morning to get past ol’ Record Boy).
2. Blur leader, Damon Albarn recently broke up with Elastica’s Justine Frischmann. In the song "Trailerpark" he sings "I lost my girl to the Rolling Stones". Record Boy now thinks he knows who to blame for posting those naked Keith Richards photos on the Internet.

Justine…how could you???!?!