The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, November 20, 1996, Page 5, Image 5
Wednesday, November 20,1996
TUn I
I V1C I
review of the both
Rored of listening to the same old dirge rock
on alternative radio stations? Want some
variety in your old collection?
Well, there is an alternative to going out
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and buy a Brit album instead.
And no, I'm not talking about the new
Bush album.
British bands haven't ei\joyed much success in the United
States in recent times, but all that might be about to change
with the latest influx of new, exciting British acts into the
American market.
Heartened by the partial breakthrough of Elastica and
Oasis, both the record companies and the acts themselves
ow seem prepared to invest the time and money necessary
to achieve a major breakthrough in this the most lucrative
music market in the world.
Let us put aside for the moment the likes of Seal, Spacehog
and the aforementioned Bush, as no one in Britain cares about
these chancers. All have succeeded in America by conforming
to the US seund and attitude to such an extent that I wonder
how many people actually know their nationality.
This is not true of the acts currently dominating the British
music scene, as whether it be Britpop, Trip-Hop, Drum V
Bass or any other type of music, all are as far removed as it
ji possible to be from the sound being made by current American
acts.
The resurgence in British guitar bands can be traced back
to the release of Blur's "Parklife" album in 1994, which became
the first so called 'indie' album to sell one million copies in
Britain and transformed the lacklustre British music scene.
Suddenly it became cool for bands to want popularity again
rather than attempting to retain their much sought after
credibility by settling for selling a few thousand copies of their
, ecords on limited edition green vinyl.
' The much-hyped Oasis vs. Blur chart battle in Britain
last year, when both bands released singles on the same day,
was Derhans the culmination of this, as both anneared to he
saying that they not only wanted to be the best but also the
biggest, an attitude which would have been seen as 'selling
out' in the feverishly anti-commercial attitude that was
prevalent amongst indie bands of the '80s and early '90s.
Now even my parents have heard of Liam Gallagher's
wild antics and Jarvis Cocker (Pulp's lead singer) jumping
on stage and waggling his butt in Michael Jackson's face.
i | Ibis is exactly the kind of disreputable behavior that needs
to be encouraged in the bland and boring world of American
popular music. I mean, who can possibly get excited over the
inane warblings of the likes of Billy C organ and that guy from
Hootie. And cheer up, Eddie Vedder, surely life as a multi
i flHV fly
E
est musicians from merry
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millionaire isn't all ?
that bad.
Of course, you |
don't want to sell out
and engage in ,
commercial activities, w "
such as actually
making videos for
MTV, but I'm sure
you still chuckle ever B Black Grape " It S Gl
so siightiy to yourself straight...Yeah"
when all those kids, u_ .
brainwashed by your I Blllf " Pafkllfe
anti-commercial j ElaStiCa - "ElclStiCa"
stance, go and shell
out $15 on your latest I Goldl? " "TiltlGlGSS"
steaming pile of self- , 0asjs . "Definitely IVI
indulgent toss. '
But maybe the Portishead - "Dumm
Kk?ofBlur and Palp , The p^jgy . -MUSi?
eccentrically British i Pulp - "Different Cla
LaSiladTentr SuP?r ffV Animals
, i im ? uii :
^enainiy songs line | mCKy IVIclAinqiiayi
"Magic America," a
somewhat tongue in
cheek outsiders view
of this country, are
not going to endear
Blur to the American public. Likewise, Pulp's hilariousl;
sleazy take on British life is unlikely to go down well in th
country that invented PC.
More than likely it will be the second wave of Britpo]
bands that go on to achieve major success in America. Band
les... Chaplait
ter H1F
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TIMEOUT!
Read Gamecock Sports.
(Game On)
rc
one 1
> old England. Written by a
Cheoenton,
comten
BEN MULOROW The Gamecock
i such as Supergrass,
| Cast, The
I L- Bluetones, Black
Grape, Elastica,
I Sleeper and most
LiLUUI I/O recently Kula
Shaker, have
jumped onto the
>*??? \wufln v?,.',0 Britpop'bandwagon
r6dt Wn6ll YOU r? andachieved
varying degrees of
success in their
homeland. Most,
like Oasis and to a
lesser extent Blur,
draw heavily from
13 Vb? * the bands of the late
* '60s and early '70s
y for their musical
! For The Jilted Generation" inspirad?n;lbut the
w cream of the crop
SS i|i actually use these
- "RlZZV LO^IC" influences to make
' ? their own distinctive
> sound, rather than
just apeing their
musical heroes.
Inevitably,
as is the case with
the post-Nirvana
y bands in America, not all these bands live up to the standards
e of their forerunners, and the focus is now shifting to try to
find the next new sound,
p Fortunately, the resurgence of British music isn't just
s confined to guitar bands. The much-heralded Bristol sound
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?
Brit for Americans.
/
of Massive Attack, Tricky and Portishead has lead to a fall
grown explosion of what has been termed Trip Hop', a weird
mixture of Hip Hop, Jazz and funk. Massive Attack set the
ball rolling with their acclaimed "Blue Lines" album of 1991.
Even though it took them four years to get around to
recording their follow up, it was worth waiting for. Portishead
are equally unprolific and seemingly unexcited by the whole
pop- star shenanigans, and so it is probably up to Tricky to
try to break this new sound in America. Look out for his new
album. Tre-Millennium Tension" in the record stores in the
next few months.
If that doesn't excite you rock fans out there, then what
about The Prodigy and The Chemical Brothers, both of whom
are more rock V roll than Metallica will ever be, even without
the use of guitars.
The Prodigy can probably best be described as a techno
band, although this is a bit misleading as they sound like no
other group on the planet. Their live performances are legendary
and in dancer/occasional singer Keith Flint they have one of
the most weird and wonderful guys in the business.
Yet the real star of The Prodigy is Liam Howlett, the bands
technical genius who creates the group's distinctive sound.
He's succeeded in appealing to both rock and dance fans all
over Europe, and the next logical step is to bring their music
to this country.
The Chemical Brothers also have that uncanny ability to
appeal to a broad cross section of music fans with their own
unique brand of music which relies heavily on crashing bass
beats surrounded by an atmosphere of total mayhem. You
may haVe seen both groups recently on MTVs Alternative
Nation show with their latest singles, both of which were '
surprisingly huge hits in Britain despite their undeniably
hardcore sound.
The final stop on our truncated guide to the best in new
Brit music is Jungle or Drum n Bass as it is sometimes known.
This music started out as a hardcore underground sound^but
has crossed over to a more mainstream audience in recent
times. Its most visible face is Goldie, who is probably most
famous in this country for his relationship with Bjork.
Other emerging stars of this exciting new form of music
are LTJ Bukem, Alex Reece and Photek.
Of course, the previously mentioned music is just the tip
of the iceberg, and there is loads more great stuff out there.
Just give it a chance and maybe youH be surprised, not all
Brit bands are as bad as Bush.
So get ahead of the game and go out and buy a few Brit
albums so that next year when Kula Shaker are plastered all
over MTV you can say to your friends, "Get with it guys. I
had that album ages ago. Isn't it about time you listened to
something new?"
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