More Best of 1997

[Jon Browne]

In article <3.0.2.32.19971217221412.0308a628 at online.no>,
cannibal at CUTEY.COM writes
>There is no underground if you read Q, you are right there! Radiohead
>or The Verve etc. were not even really "underground" 5 years ago IMO...
>more like "those British 'indie' bands that NME and MM write about all
>the time"

Alright, let me rephrase that. The bands that pass for underground these
days are not original, not experimental, more often than not even
entertaining and all of them want to be on Top Of The Pops. This is what
I mean by no underground. No one rejects that machine anymore, they all
want their 15 minutes. Saying that, I am very into British "indie"
bands, like the NME write about, so no surprises there. When Blur got a
single in the Top 20 5 or 6 years ago, it was quite a big deal that one
of "our" bands had made it. It's nothing now, a big chunk of the charts
is made up of stuff that wouldn't have got a look in the late 80's/early
'90's. I'm not drawing any big conclusion, it just occurs to me on the
plus side, there's actually some pretty good stuff in the charts these
days (for the first time in my life) and on the downside, all the bands
want to be pop stars rather than "Dropping Out, Turning On, Tuning In"
or "Smashing The System in '77". That's the trouble with kids today, no
one wants to smash the system anymore ;)

>... occasionally I get Ptolemaic Terrascope, which is a great
>UG music source... or WIRE... Mojo I also buy occasionally...

Mojo rules. I would buy it every month if it was a hardback that cost
£15.
>
>
>>Highlights...
>>
>>Spiritualized _ Ladies And Gentlemen, We Are Floating In Space
>>Primal Scream - Vanishing Point and Echo Dek
>>HW - 1999 & DH
>>Chemical Brothers - Drill Your Own Hole
>>Radiohead - OK Computer
>>Supergrass - In it For the Money
>>Bentley Rythm Ace - S/T
>>Photek - Modus Operandi
>>Verve - Urban Hymns
>>Charlatans - Telling Stories
>>Cornershop - When I was Born For The 7th Time
>>Prodigy - Fat Of The Land
>>Foo Fighters - Colour and Shape
>>Lee Scratch Perry Box Set
>
>Hmm.. all these bands save 4 (3 if I don't count Foo Fighters as Nirvana)
>were regular NME/MM material last time I read those 5 years ago...

Yes, but no one bought them except NME readers, now they are mainstream.
This is my point. I said they'd been around for years.

> Hawkwind
>are of course exempt from that calculation... I mean... Charlatans?
>The Stone Roses clone-band with one or two good pop songs on "Some
>Friendly"?? The band with the keyboard player who robbed the post office?
>Why the hell haven't they split like the rest of that crop, eh??!!

Yes, they are highly referential, though more to exactly the kind of
'60's pop-psyche that I am so beloved off. They have a much better
strike rate than the Roses (who were alright too) and all of their five
albums are good day-time background music. They're not the greatest band
in the world but they have their moments and they're good live too.

>The band with the keyboard player who robbed the post office?

The late Rob Collins did not rob a post office. He was driving a "mate"
home from the pub when they stopped for petrol. His "mate" went to pay
for the gas while Rob stayed in the car. Next thing the idiot comes
running out shouting "Drive!" He'd basically decided to stick his hand
in the till on the spur off the moment. No doubt, Chris, you would not
have driven off saying "What have you done, you stupid c**t!!"  but
would have pulled the vehicle over and said "No, lad, it's straight to
the police for you, my former amigo!" Yes, it was dumb, but you can see
how a situation like that can happen. (well, to someone else at least!)
Anyway, He did a year in prison instead of touring their #1 album round
Thailand. He rejoined the band for a year then went through the
windscreen. Poor Sod, I think.
>Why the hell haven't they split like the rest of that crop, eh??!!

Because a) People like them, attend gigs and buy records.
        b) Possibly having to go through that much shit makes you a bit
more resiliant. They're not thickheads like a lot of their
contemporaries and they are stayers.

>
>Or more recent britpop fluffheads Supergrass... I'll admit to being charmed
>by their first one, fun throwaway rockin 60s pop...ok... but, beyond that...??

Beyond that, their equally good second album. More fun throwaway rockin'
60's pop please, sir! In a recent interview, they said that at least
three of the tracks on the new album are swipes of Gong's "Oily Way".
You gotta love 'em!

>Foo Fighters... eh... that video sucks! Huh.. huhuh... huh... (at least ex
>Germ, Pat Smear, found a job that pays...?). I guess there are alot worse
>things than Foo Fighters but they are not excactly breaking ground either..?

No, Beavis, but they do rock, don't they? Heh heh!  (Ain't seen no
video)
>
>Prodigy... sigh... that Psycho-Clown trend... ("Clownwave"!?? Along with
>Marilyn Manson and Psycho Killah Klown Posse... (or whatever!))

Prodigy are fan-fuckin-tastic live! Again, they've been around wot?, 8
years, they've been dead good all that time. So Keith (who, yes, is a
plank) is going through a bit of a dodgy image phase at the moment. So?
Prodigy is Liam Howlett and the strength of Firestarter is unarguable.
>
>Radiohead... I don't get it here... there's all the talk that they
>are so fresh and innovative though I hear nothing I haven't really
>heard before... some agreeably nice tunes though?

No, there's nothing more to it than that, agreeably nice tunes work for
me. I like Radiohead for the same reason I like Porcupine Tree.
Agreeably nice tunes.
>
>I'd give thumbs up for Chemical Bros though, even if I don't own
>any of their stuff. Rockin/dancey/innovative all at once if nothing
>else.

BUY THEM ALL.
>
>I kinda like this Bentley's Rhytm Ace track on this freebie compilation I
>have...
BUY IT TOO.
>
>>Big Bummer - Dinasaur Jr. split.
>
>Oh, c'mon, they/he ceased being a real band years ago anyway and had
just been
>treading MTV waters in vain ever since the Brief Grunge Age flooded all
those
>bands up the charts, and letting most get washed so far back down on
their
>asses they never got back up... I mean, J. Mascis playing golf to a
slow
>booooring song >sigh<!!! (theo? need a new caddie? Look up "J. Mascis"
in
>Massachusetts.)>#


J.Mascis is the most influencial guitarist of his generation and you can
lay grunge entirely at his door. No Dinosaur, No Nirvana, Tad, Mudhoney
etc    Disappearing up your own ass happens to the best of us. I have
been up mine now for years. He has a great soul voice and his
understated guitar is masterly. He is still playing nifty lead breaks in
an age where no one bothers to actually learn how to play. He's Cool,
Beavis. "Feel The Pain" is not a boooring song, and people got HURT
making that video!
>>
>>pretty obvious stuff for me thses days. No more dodgy noise merchants
>>making "difficult" music for me, middle age I guess....

>
>What next? Phil Collins? Sting? eh? You better find some way to get
>high without keelin' over!

Oh there are still several ways.....

>Or sumptin' to save you from "Dad rock" Hell
>in 10 years! :))

I am just beginning to get philosphical about this. After all, what is
worse, an old fart or an old fart still dressing like a teenager and
thinking he's down with the kids. I stopped wearing my baseball cap
backward last summer ;-) But as for the Live Aid Brigade, c'mon!!!?!

For about 15 years all I could listen to was Cardiacs, Swans, Foetus,
Throbbing Gristle, Einsturzende Neubaten etc. I respect what these guys
do, but I just want to listen to indie-pop-dance-bubblegum-psyche and
Hawkwind, these days. Especially Hawkwind. I can't hack difficult music
anymore, I just find it too wearying. Agreeably Nice Songs now please.
Porcupine Tree, mmm, nice.
>
>>Interpreter was 1996 otherwise I'd have ranked it too!
>
>
Julian Cope. Agreeably nice *and* socially confrontational! Peggy
Suicide is one of the greatest albums ever recorded.

>PS, Jon: I knew all along about Grant Morrison's muse(s) (meeses??)
>- it's not like it hasn't been obvious the past decade or more!!!! :)

No, you misunderstand me. It actually *was* Grants' *I* did. He gave it
to me. ;)

--
Jon