Damon Albarn lays into Jarvis Cocker

It's like Britpop never ended

Damon Albarn has lashed out at old Britpop adversary Jarvis Cocker, saying he has some “odd ideas about reality”.

Speaking in the latest issue of Uncut magazine, the star, who releases his new album ‘The Good, The Bad And The Queen’ on January 22, insisted he was opposed to Cocker’s infamous stage invasion during Michael Jackson’s performance at the 1996 BRIT Awards, as well as his controversial 2006 debut solo single ‘Cunts Are Still Running The World’ (later shortened to 'Running The World').

Albarn said: “I’ve always had a problem with Jarvis’ stance on that, I found it really disturbing when he pulled his pants down in front of Michael Jackson, that just seemed totally wrong. If someone is sick, he’s not open to ridicule.”

He added: “He’s got some very odd ideas about reality. I think it’s a collective responsibility to say ‘No you can’t go and do what you’re doing’, not just to ridicule him.

“The world is not full of cunts; we have a collective responsibility not to slag people off and instead try to understand them.”

Also in this month’s Uncut - the inside story on the making of Radiohead’s classic ‘OK Computer’ ten years on, a preview of the year’s most anticipated albums and you lot put the questions to rock legends Aerosmith.

There are also reviews of the new albums from The Shins, Norah Jones and Klaxons, among others. There’s also a free CD featuring all the month’s best new music.

Uncut is on sale in all good newsagents now, priced £4.20.