Blur

We’ve been watching the cricket as usual at Uncut today, but even I’ve noticed that the Olympics have kicked off this afternoon. A useful reminder of this is the fact that an embargo has been lifted this morning on reviewing Damon Albarn’s Monkey CD; the studio recalibration of his Chinese opera, “Monkey: Journey To The West”.

A lost career collected: his solo masterpiece, plus it's follow-up

Sell-out show by the Gorillaz collaborators

Former Blur guitarist, Graham Coxon lends his support

You might remember that last week’s playlist contained a Mystery Record, sternly embargoed and so on by the record company, thoroughly underwhelming to listen to. A few of you had a decent stab at guessing the high-security identity of the artist(s), suggesting I was sat on new MP3s by The Verve, Bob Dylan produced by Rick Rubin, Paul McCartney, David Bowie, The Wu-Tang Clan, Blur, Oasis, Ride, Guns N’ Roses, Prince, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Kraftwerk or Rage Against The Machine.

Meet Randy and Dean: figureheads of LA's new punk underground

Go-Between mourns his lost partner + Uncut Q&A

Noel Gallagher and Gem Archer help out on The Modfather’s new single

Sweetly-observed coming-of-age drama; Plus director Q&A and trailer!

Buck, Mills and Stipe finally head back to Rockville – at speed