Category: Britpop

FILM REVIEW | NO DISTANCE LEFT TO RUN

8/18/2020

photo manipulation by nacrowe

filmed at a time when BLUR had reconvened with all original members after nearly a decade apart for a pair of comeback shows at LONDON's HYDE PARK, NO DISTANCE LEFT TO RUN (PULSE FILMS, 2010) finds the the band describing their journey as a band.

and what a journey it has been. BLUR is obviously a preeminent cultural force that found its root in the 1990s BRITPOP scene along with other groups like PULP, SUEDE, ELASTICA and of course, OASIS. in a familiar arc to many a successful INDIE band, they started out playing small clubs and then found incremental successes up until their breakout release PARKLIFE (FOOD, 1994) which found them playing large stadiums to new crowds they felt alienated from.

the two big players in the story are DAMON ALBARN and GRAHAM COXON, the two main songwriters and their reaction to fame, not necessarily each other. ALBARN is shown to be rather workmanlike and very ENGLISH in his attitude of barreling through obstacles and suboptimal situations. he gets pegged as being careerist but i think he is just someone that wants to fulfill his potential and do everything in his power to make his creative efforts successful. in COXON you have a more sensitive, introspective presence (with every bit the equal creative force to his partner) who used alcohol as his way of dissociating from large crowds and screaming girls. its a unique dynamic that was bound to find that partnership eventually grind to a halt, which it did during the recording of THINK TANK (PARLOPHONE, 2003), when COXON failed to show up.

not to get too much into the weeds of business speak, but ALBARN was hurt in that there was an opportunity cost to his involvement with BLUR. he could be doing other projects that interested him but made the record out of loyaly to his longtime mates. the fact that COXON didnt give him that same respect was crushing. and it shows because ALBARN went on to create the massively successful GORILLAZ as well as various eclectic projects that saw him working with AFRICAN musicians and members of THE CLASH and FELA KUTI's AFRICA 80 band and producing various projects. his post-BLUR career saw him spread his creative wings.

COXON put out a series of INDIE / POWER POP albums in the vein of PAUL WELLER and conquered his substance abuse issues and the underlying coping mechanisms. both seemed happy with their position. the HYDE PARK SHOWS for this documentary were a one-off for the fans.

except they werent in the end.

after this documentary they did were scheduled to do some one-off shows in JAPAN in 2013, but those were cancelled and they found themselves in HONG KONG. so they did what any band does when they are waiting to play, they recorded. these ideas were done in a studio and forgotten about. that is until COXON took up the mantle of creating instrumentals that he sent to ALBARN.

at this point ALBARN had a full plate and BLUR was not a priority. but the instrumentals were promising and in a sense it revitalized his creative relationship with COXON, who did the heavy lifting, something he failed to do on THINK TANK. THE MAGIC WHIP (WARNER BROS, 2015) is an iconic BLUR album which is up their with PARKLIFE and their best work. it remains to be seen if this is their last effort but now it really feels like an adequate end to their journey.

this documentary was interesting but incomplete. the story is only 2/3 the way through. if you are a fan of BRITPOP or ALTERNATIVE ROCK in the 1990s this is required viewing.

0 Comments

FILM REVIEW | OASIS: SUPERSONIC

6/30/2020

0 Comments

photo manipulation by nacrowe

OASIS: SUPERSONIC (MINT PICTURES, 2016) is easily one of the better documentaries ive watched in recent years, not least because strucurally it is an anomaly having two competing narrators in the GALLAGHER BROTHERS walking us through their story on separate tracks. recorded separately with no interaction, which seems as good a description as any for the dynamic within the group. this film shows how this highly dysfunctional pair of siblings rose to prominence with the BRITPOP movement and cemented their legacy as iconic BRITISH cultural exports on par with THE BEATLES and THE SEX PISTOLS from previous generations. its an amazing story.

you don't have to look very far in this film to see examples of singer LIAM GALLAGHER's loutish womanizing behavior that have made his king hooligan public persona the stuff of legend. but honestly that stuff bored me. what you really get at the heart of their relationship, and by definition the crux of this film, is this notion of an unbalanced division of labor. guitarist NOEL GALLAGHER comes off as the brooding, sensitive son of an abusive MANCUNIAN father who made himself into a songsmith whose innate sense of melody and human observation led him to write transcendent songs that put him in the pantheon of great BRITISH songwriters along with the aforementioned LENNON/MCCARTNEY as well as RAY DAVIES, MORRISSEY/JOHNNY MARR, ELVIS COSTELLO, ELTON JOHN/BERNIE TAUPIN, VAN MORRISON, IAN CURTIS and even DAMON ALBARN. but that only got him so far without the magnetism, charisma and straight-up sex appeal of LIAM in the vein of iconic BRITHS frontmen like JOHNNY ROTTEN, FREDDIE MERCURY, PAUL WELLER, NICK LOWE, JOE STRUMMER and of course (again) JOHN LENNON. with NOEL you got the substance of an older brother that took the blunt of the blows from their father and with LIAM the upstart baby of the family, shielded from such abuse, who wanted all the attention good or bad. super interesting family dynamic and expressions of warped masculinity that was probably also influenced by poverty, unemployment and the like in 1980s MANCHESTER.

perhaps my favorite moment in the film is when NOEL is hard at work writing songs for their follow-up record in the studio while everyone else in the band has pissed off to the local pub, leaving him with all the creative control, but also the pressure. at some point he asks LIAM for ideas and his brother is totally dismissive, saying that he didn't have time for that right now. you really get the sense in this film, admittedly by both narrators, that this was NOEL's ship (despite the fact that he didn't start the band) and that LIAM was just in it for the fame, glory and the birds.

it makes sense now that NOEL's solo career has blossomed into, for all intents and purposes, the second phase of OASIS' career given that the quality of the material has never diminished. this can't be said for LIAM's solo work or lackluster BEADY EYE efforts, the later of which saw the remaining OASIS members dismally attempt to recreate the magic sans NOEL to no effect. its super glaring and obvious now, but by watching this documentary you begin to understand that this trajectory was embedded in the very framework of OASIS and how it functioned and that LIAM seriously better set his ego aside and make nice with his brother.

seriously, for all our benefit. make up and go conquer the world again. nobody died. you all survived. nobody took your throne so got out and kick ass again.

please. i really want to hear "ROCK N ROLL STAR" in a stadium. just do it.

0 Comments

"DEER GOD RADIO 83: BLUR" NOW AVAILABLE

5/17/2020

0 Comments

parody by nacrowe

check out HERE this recent streaming video episode of DEER GOD RADIO dedicated to iconic 90s BRITPOP / INDIE ROCK band BLUR.

past episodes of DEER GOD RADIO as well as other MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC shows like MAKE HER SPACE, NOWHERE FAST, THE SYNTHESIZER SHOW and CLASSICAL-ISH WITH NUTMEG are available here at the DEER GOD website.

and if you haven't done so already get the FREE PHONE APP for IOS/ANDROID and enjoy listening to MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC 24/7 at your convenience!

0 Comments

"DEER GOD RADIO 83: BLUR" LIVE TONIGHT AT 930PM EST ON MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC

2/16/2020

0 Comments

parody by nacrowe

tonight's new streaming video episode of DEER GOD RADIO at 930PM EST on MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC is all about 90s BRITPOP / INDIE ROCK outfit BLUR. soooooo very much looking forward to gushing about my admiration for DAMON ALBARN and GRAHAM COXON, who i first heard when visiting a relative in ENGLAND back in the mid-90s. hopefully i wont go on too long but this band basically is my childhood!

past episodes of DEER GOD RADIO as well as other MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC shows like MAKE HER SPACE, NOWHERE FAST, THE SYNTHESIZER SHOW and CLASSICAL-ISH WITH NUTMEG are available here at the DEER GOD website.

and if you haven't done so already get the FREE PHONE APP for IOS/ANDROID and enjoy listening to MAKERPARKRADIO.NYC 24/7 at your convenience!

0 Comments

THROWBACK THURSDAY | "DEER GOD RADIO 20: BRITPOP"

2/6/2020

0 Comments

parody by nacrowe

waaaay back in november 2018(!), BRIAN and i did our 20th episode of DEER GOD RADIO on the 90s BRITPOP movement, which is something near and dead to my heart.

growing up overseas in NIGERIA during the mid 90s, i had the pleasure of spending time in ENGLAND visiting extended family. being AMERICAN, its hard to relate how disorienting it is to be in a country that speaks your language (hell, they invented it) yet has few of your cultural references. people call that culture shock, but for me it was always the most exhilirating part of the process of being abroad since over time you acquiesce to their culture and these blindspots disappear.

regardless it was around the mid 90s when i was introduced to ELASTICA, OASIS, PULP, BLUR, SUEDE, SLEEPER, LUSH, SUPERGRASS, PRIMAL SCREAM, RADIOHEAD, PLACEBO, SAINT ETIENNE, SUPER FURRY ANIMALS and various other groups from the BRITPOP scene as well as other electronic groups like MASSIVE ATTACK and PORTISHEAD from the coastal TRIP HOP scene. not to mention THE PRODIGY who emerged concurrently from the underground electronica scene at the time. it was quite the time and these bands were part of the soundtrack to my years living in NIGERIA with peers that were probably more indebted to the BRITISH sphere of influence than the AMERICAN one.

this show i embedded below goes into the roots and legacy of the scene, which you can also read about in my BOOK REVIEW of JON HARRIS' BRITPOP: COOL BRITANNIA & THE SPECTACULAR DEMISE OF ENGLISH ROCK as well as past SPOTLIGHT features GRAHAM COXON and ELASTICA. i have future shows planned on exploring my favorite various groups from this period as well, so look forward to that as well. endlessly fascinating for me as it was a diverse period with top-notch songwriting all around and was arguably the last time ROCK N ROLL had any large scale cultural or political sway in the UNITED KINGDOM.

0 Comments

CHECK OUT THIS BAND | ELASTICA

9/3/2019

0 Comments

photo manipulation by nacrowe

growing up in SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA in the mid-90s means i was very much aware of local legendary LOS ANGELES rock station KROQ 106.7FM. it is almost absurd to consider the amount of bands that have broke big internationally due to exposure at this single radio station. i still think its incredible that such a corporate entity still had room for the esoteric pursuits of legendary resident taste-makers like RODNEY BINGENHEIMER.

my problem was that in this pre-internet age (yep i am that old) i oftentimes didn't know who the bands were since the rotation of songs weren't often tagged by the DJs, which makes sense given how ubiquitous these songs must have been to their regular audience. as a child and later a preteen, i was definitely not that clued in unfortunately.

it wasn't until years later in middle school abroad in NIGERIA that i realized songs i was familiar with were by bands like ALICE IN CHAINS ("MAN IN THE BOX"), NIRVANA (obscure b-side "SAPPY"), SPACEHOG ("IN THE MEANTIME") and THE BREEDERS ("CANNONBALL").

one of these bands was ELASTICA and the song was "CONNECTION." i distinctly remember hearing that song while waiting in line for SPACE MOUNTAIN at DISNEYLAND in elementary school. sadly, i didn't rediscover this band until high school in the early 2000s after relocating to SACRAMENTO from KUWAIT during my senior year. to me their debut album ELASTICA (GEFFEN, 1992) is a perfect album, easily the best thing to come out of the whole 90s BRITPOP movement (check out this BOOK REVIEW i did if you are unfamiliar with that scene). what i loved about it aside from JUSTINE FRISCHMANN's snarky, seductive crooning was angular guitar work which after further investigation introduced met to POST-PUNK bands that influenced them like WIRE and GANG OF FOUR. the inter-textual nature of art where different scenes, eras and modes are referenced and re-appropriated is something i've always appreciated. ELASTICA to me is an example of a stellar band that encourages me to stay curious, dig further and expand my ears to different sounds. i don't tend to fixate, if anything each new great band i learn about only serves as a new nexus point for other new discoveries.

if you aren't familiar with ELASTICA, check out either of their two releases. along with THE SMITHS, they are on my bucket-list of bands i hope and pray to see play live on day. nobody is cooler than JUSTINE FRISCHMANN. no one.

0 Comments

CHECK OUT THIS ARTIST | GRAHAM COXON

8/21/2019

0 Comments

photo manipulation by nacrowe

because of my father's job, my family spent part of the 90s living overseas in NIGERIA. during the summers stretching from 1996-98 we spent time with a british relative in a northern LONDON suburb of HATFIELD. that community was home to the DE HAVILLAND AEROSPACE COMPANY that during WWII produced the MOSQUITO fighter jet, of which my relative was a part engineer. dude was one of the coolest guys i've ever met, but that's for a later post.

it just so happened that those years were at the tail end of the BRITPOP explosion which exposed me to all sorts of bands from OASIS and BLUR to ELASTICA, PULP, SLEEPER, LUSH, SUPER FURRY ANIMALS, SUEDE, THE PRODIGY and beyond.

one of my favorite groups from that era is BLUR, probably because aesthetically they were very much informed by the narrative songwriting of BRITISH INVASION bands like THE KINKS and THE WHO while also embracing the discordantly melodic and expressive qualities of more sonically experimental american INDIE ROCK music like PAVEMENT and DINOSAUR DJ.

those two tendencies in BLUR's music undoubtedly is rooted in the tastes of their two main songwriters, DAMON ALBARN and GRAHAM COXON. ALBARN is widely celebrated, for good reason, as one of the great songwriters of his era, having genre-skipped with delight throughout his numerous solo and side endeavors including GORILLAZ, THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE QUEEN and ROCKET JUICE & THE MOON, not to mention his production work with BOBBY WOMACK, AMADOU & MARIAM, THE STROKES, DE LA SOUL and numerous collaborations and film work. the vein through his work is his mercurial sense of songwriting brilliance that can navigate through seemingly any sonic texture or genre aesthetic.

but i feel that the work of COXON is equally as compelling, only the palette much more limited and the scope of his music more controlled, confined and determined. his songwriting is more along the lines of SYD BARRETT or NICK DRAKE in that he uses sound and lyrics to give off a vibe rather than a clear perspective. it is at once deliberate yet paradoxically opaque. whereas ALBARN tends to use music and lyrics as a way to draw the listener into a particular character or worldview, COXON invites the listener to enjoy the visceral ride and not get caught up in red herrings like meaning and interpretation.

i enjoy both songwriting traditions that each encompasses, but i just wanted to shed light on what a brilliant songwriter COXON has always been. if anything that push and pull of these two styles was a key element into what made BLUR such a creative and artistic force.

0 Comments

BOOK REVIEW | "BRITPOP: COOL BRITANNIA & THE SPECTACULAR DEMISE OF ENGLISH ROCK" BY JOHN HARRIS

6/14/2019

1 Comment

photo by nacrowe

John Harris' BRITPOP: Cool Britannia & The Spectacular Demise of English Rock (Da Capo, 2004) is a comprehensive exploration 1990s British musical culture and all that came with it: the rise of the Labour Party, Ecstasy, Kurt Cobain, Hip Hop and heroin. It covers every major band of the period from OASIS, BLUR, SUEDE, PULP, SUPER FURRY ANIMALS, SLEEPER, RADIOHEAD, SPIRITUALIZED, MASSIVE ATTACK, LUSH, SUPERGRASS, PORTISHEAD and (my personal favorite) ELASTICA but ultimately the key narrative BRITPOP harkens back to again and again is how to express British identity in a modern context where the nation itself is becoming more diverse, jaded and fragmented.

Harris makes the argument that by actively seeking to shed NIRVANA's influence (in terms of their sound & aesthetic) and by becoming politically active (video of NOEL GALLAGHER at 10 Downing Street) with respect to the rise of New Labour, the movement marked itself as something new. something that had not been seen before in terms of political and cultural influence.

as much as i love the music of this period, and i do (ELASTICA, MASSIVE ATTACK, BLUR & OASIS especially), i don't think they were that influential beyond the UK. the very fact that a lot of this music of this period was constructed in opposition to or in the tradition of something else marks it for me. What do I mean?

DAMON ALBARN's early celebrated work with Blur uses fictional characters and settings meant to parody or mimic the narrative styles of RAY DAVIES, LENNON & MCCARTNEY, JOE STRUMMER, PETE TOWNSEND or countless other classic British songwriters of the 1960s & 1970s. He grew out of this and made exceptional work, but during this period he was consciously pushing himself to be in this musical tradition in opposition to american bands of the day.

To mention the OASIS' indebtedness to 1970s Glam or THE BEATLES is beside the point. They fact that there was a blueprint that they kept so close to kinda shackles them a bit. The fact that they were such a strong band and that NOEL has largely transcended this as well to be in the greater aforementioned pantheon of great English songwriters (along with ALBARN), is a testament to his def ingenuity, craft and talent. Its just during this period he kept to the script, and why not?

the one band from this period that exemplifies this push and pull of establishing a new identity by transcending its component parts is MASSIVE ATTACK. ethnically diverse, geographically remote, economically lacking and politically estranged, this group reinvented hip hop, reggae/dancehall/, film music, r&b and rock into a seamless concoction that perfectly reflected the emerging new face of Britain that came from the far reaches of rural council estates. their music still sounds fresh and it is hard to pin point an antecedent sound that predates it, given its surreal originality (in my opinion).

listen, i love 1990s Britpop. even dedicated a radio show to it. i just don't think you can call something revolutionary if it is actively seeking to reimagine, re-contextualize, re-live something that came before.

That ain't revolutionary. That's reactionary. But no doubt the music was still great.

LIVE FOREVER (BBC, 2003) Trailer

1 Comment