Track Listing

1. Blue Jam Intro
2. Doc Phone
3. Lamacqsting
4. 4FT Car
5. Suicide Journalist
6. Acupuncture
7. Bad Sex 2
8. Mayosting
9. Unflustered
10. Moylessting
11. TV Lizards
12. Doc Cock
13. Hobbs Sting
14. Morton interview
15. Fix It Girl
16. Porn
17. Kids Party
18. Club News
19. Whiley Sting
20. Little Girl Balls
21. Blue Jam Outro
22. WWW.Bishops Lips.Com

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12204 in Music
• Released on: 2000-10-23
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
Radio and TV Broadcaster, Chris Morris is a magus of bad taste, a true millennial terrorist who takes pot shots at the powers that be, often with hilarious consequences. Clever, funny and original, Morris has consistently flouted convention with surreal, satirical programmes like BBC 2 's The Day Today. After the cancellation of his Channel 4 show, Brass Eye in 1997, Radio 1 commissioned Blue Jam: an inspired mixture of ambient music and edgy sketches, which had the tendency to unfold slowly into nightmares. Performed with a group of British comedy actors, Blue Jam's sketches, spoofs and stings reveal Morris' unnerving ability to steer unsuspecting celebrities into unhinged interview scenarios and his irreverent approach to taboos like child abuse, suicide and AIDS. With haunting musical accompaniment from Labradford, Jimi Tenor, Aphex Twin and Funki Porcini among others, Morris sets up preposterous situations leaving you wondering if you really heard someone calling Childline to complain about a four-year-old girl with a magnum battering a cow to death ("Little Girl Balls"). This deeply disturbing compilation includes his piss-take interview with Princess Diana biographer, Andrew Morton ("Morton"), "Suicide Journalist", "Doc Cock" and a series of stings on his colleagues, Steve Lamacq, Jo Whiley and Mary Ann Hobbs. Surrealism can be an excuse for not bothering with structure or punchlines, but Morris avoids this problem because his pieces don't seem aimless. The aim of Blue Jam is to unsettle, trouble and entertain. --Maxine Kabuubi

Customer Reviews

the blackest of humour
I remember seeing the Jam TV show when it was aired a while ago and thinking 'Yes, it's very good. Yes, it's daring. But, I'm afraid Chris Morris seems to have finally disappeared up his own arse just a little bit'.

After 'The Day Today' and 'Brass Eye', (Blue) Jam was the inevitable conclusion to the ever-darkening of the blackly-comic sketch. It seems that this is as dark as humour can get before being simply gratuitous - on occasion, the sketches simply weren't funny enough to support the blackness and just fell completely flat.

I'm glad I got this CD, as I never heard it on the radio. It includes some genuinely funny sketches from the TV show and apparently the best of the radio ones, too. The sketches are extremely tasteless and very funny, and the music complements them perfectly (especially if, like me, you are a fan of these artists already).

The sketches are funny mainly because they are depicted in such a surreal manner. Each show (and this CD) starts and ends with a couple of minutes of total gibberish, filled with stupid words that make you laugh inexplicably at complete nonsense. Most of the CD is funny BECAUSE it's so horrible and bizarre (ie phoning the cable repair man because lizards are coming out of the TV or the suicide journalist).

I'm sure I read an article somewhere in which Peter Baynham (co-writer and author of the some of the more controversial sketches) said that although Jam was funny, it would be really terrible if all comedy was like this. And it appeared to me that Morris himself was hinting that he's going to have to change direction a bit following Blue Jam.

If you liked Brass Eye etc, you aren't necessarily going to like this unless you appreciate very strange and very dark comedy. If you do, then this CD is an absolute must.

Only a small portion of Blue Jam
The thing about Chris Morris is, you either love him or you don't (the two teams were more or less decided after that fatefull Brass Eye in 2001). For those of you who avidly follow his work, this is more or less a must-have. It includes a range of sketches from the Radio 1 series, including short but sweet gems like 4ft Car, and disturbing and word-bending monologues like Suicide Journalist. Despite pre-purchasing cynisism, you will probably listen to this album a lot more than once, even though it's the same thing every time; there is a fantastic soundtrack with the likes of Brian Eno and Aphex Twin, and some of the tracks take a few listens to truly understand.
So why only 4 stars? Well, there were roughly 18 episodes of Blue Jam when originally broadcasted, each one an hour long. So basically you are missing a lot of stuff, if you are a completist. I dare say, however, you can find the remaining material floating around the net.

No visual effects needed
Blue Jam is fantastic, just use your mind and let it take you back 20 years, and use that imagination to fully appreaciate the genius that is Chris Morris. This is real evidence that comedy can work without visualisations. (sorry Chris, but i prefer the cd's) The dark humour in which Chris Morris gives us is just a splendid example of satire today and with sketches like Bad Sex 2, the suicide journalist and Doc C**k it is well worth your money. Listen to it as often as you like, at the end of the day if you like it you'll listen to it as often as you like! Look out for the My Wrongs DVD, it is just superbly scripted and directed. Watch out for those ducks....!