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Miles - 2008-10-02 17:35:22
Well, since you mentioned the U.K. charts again, and since I missed commenting on your post a few days ago about not liking Britpop, I'm going to take this opportunity to do so.
Generally speaking, I agree with you that the bands lumped under that moniker aren't as spectacular as their hype (and that's a very weird list that you linked, since I'd think it would and should be limited to 1988-1995 or so, instead of being so broad that it might as well have the Beatles and Arctic Monkeys on it).
But there's a lot of very good stuff in there. Some examples, drawn exclusively from the top 20 artists on that list:
If you've never heard Blur's Modern Life is Rubbish, you oughta - it's got a great Kinks-like vibe to it and top-shelf songwriting. Parklife, the album that broke them bigger in the US, is more of a pastiche of the prior 30 years of British pop, but Modern Life shows tremendous originality. I also highly recommend the heavily damaged 13, which, beyond "Tender," is pure crazed howling loss.
The Verve did great work before "Bittersweet Symphony" - much of it appealingly feedback-drenched. The opposite poles of their catalog are well-represented by "This Is Music" and the sublime "The Drugs Don't Work" . If neither of them clicks, they're not for you, but of course I hope they might.
Pulp! Paula, you have to like Pulp! Arch, wry, witty, hooky! Warning: Pulp really wasn't the Pulp of today until 1994; I bought the pre-His and Hers albums once and didn't feel the need to keep them. Everything since then, including solo Jarvis Cocker, is worth having.
James... I have a soft spot for them, and think Tim Booth has one of the best voices in rock, though I know a lot of folks think he oversings too. The work with Eno (Laid and Wah-Wah) really is the peak, but I enjoy all of their stuff.
Anyway, just some serving suggestions!
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Miles - 2008-10-02 17:39:09
Urgh, should have remembered to put some break or paragraph tags in there - forgot that Blogspot doesn't automatically look at carriage returns as line breaks. Sorry everyone!
I also had links to YouTubage for the Verve's "This Is Music" and The Drugs Don't Work. Let's see if they take this time.
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Miles - 2008-10-02 17:40:04
and make that "Diaryland" instead of "Blogspot." I'm going to quit while I'm behind, ugh...
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Paula - 2008-10-02 17:41:34
Thanks, Miles!I liked the Jarvis C solo album from last year...that may even have been my impetus for re-investigatin'. I am keeping an open mind.
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Paula - 2008-10-02 17:42:29
The captch-a for that comment above was "Wound Schooner," which, if you pronounce the first word like a noun, is an awesome band name. It
s going on the list.
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Miles - 2008-10-02 17:50:48
Speaking of band names, have you seen Mandy's band names lists on her MySpace blog? Two rounds of them so far, here and here.
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Mr Lojban - 2008-10-02 20:28:34
Is this a good spot to say something about James? I have a soft spot for them too. Also, they are one of those bands who are better live than on record, I think, & I'm not just saying that because I got to see them in 1991 ;~)
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Ian of the Larch - 2008-10-02 20:51:56
I'd also like to recommend Modern Life is Rubbish by Blur - that's a particularly good one of theirs. Wonderful production and nice eccentric, slightly dark yet catchy songs...
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Miles - 2008-10-02 22:12:51
And for my umpteemth post in this thread after a too-long silence from the Carino commentz, I'll add to Mr. Ian of the Larch's comment that Stephen Street was the producer of Modern Life Is Rubbish, which is, I guess, what he did after helming the best Morrissey music yet made (Viva Hate and the singles collected on Bona Drag). IMO he's one of the unsung great producers.
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MacGregor - 2008-10-02 23:19:36
I bought Urban Hymns just for Bittersweet Symphony, and I won't say it's rare that I buy an album on the basis of one single, but it's rare that I like any other songs on it. I don't know what they did before UH but they didn't too badly at all on that one. And I agree... the drugs don't work.
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MacGregor - 2008-10-03 16:01:02
I wish our government could view the world with as much compassion as those little girls from that school. Hell, I wish most of hte people who voted for our government could. As of this very day, our vice-president's business partners are still selling weapons to opposing factions in Congo Republic and other African nations. Thanks, Dick!
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Paula - 2008-10-03 21:09:53
Speaking of Blur!
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