I have been looking through my CD and mp3 collections, and it has dawned on me that I own so little 'new' British music. And I have to ask myself why that is, and the only answer I can think of is that new British music is in general very poor, generic and unadventurous, as I tend to prize quality, inventiveness and originality pulled off with panache when it comes to music.
Am I alone in thinking this, or are there others? Johnny Foreigner, Dananananakroyd and Los Campesinos! may be leading the charge (I don't like all of those bands all that much, but Id probably call Dananana.. my favourite UK act) but they are doing a very similar vein of music.
Can someone show me the light in terms of new, inventive and varied British music?
UK 'new' music
I have been looking through my CD and mp3 collections, and it has dawned on me that I own so little 'new' British music. And I have to ask myself why that is, and the only answer I can think of is that new British music is in general very poor, generic and unadventurous, as I tend to prize quality, inventiveness and originality pulled off with panache when it comes to music.
Am I alone in thinking this, or are there others? Johnny Foreigner, Dananananakroyd and Los Campesinos! may be leading the charge (I don't like all of those bands all that much, but Id probably call Dananana.. my favourite UK act) but they are doing a very similar vein of music.
Can someone show me the light in terms of new, inventive and varied British music?
I know
it's not really in keeping with the bands you mentioned but in my humble opinion I think for some awesome pop music, you can't go wrong with Esser.
Magistrates are also pretty good.
mm
esser is actually truly Very Good.
Try:
Those Dancing Days
Neon Neon
Noah And The Whale
The Golden Silvers
Glasvegas
Are Those Dancing Days British?
I thought they were like Belgian or somehing
swedish i think
Damn
I forgot, still their good!
those dancing days are scandinavian
but they're amazing anyway
^^^
massive yes to those above too. Arrows of Eros by Golden Silvers is especially good. Or anything by Glasvegas.
Those Dancing Days =
Swedish
But don't you see?
All those bands are indie, and fairly generic and similar. They're not really my kind of thing.
And the Neon Neon album promised so much and delivered so little.
*shit
ox eagle. lion. man and bearsuit
also ipso facto, hatcham social and the late of the pier album was pretty good.
(bearsuit aren't new but they're amazing)
Hatcham Social are a giant turd of a band
I like The Horrors but HS are terrible drivel.
Ipso Facto are a bit crap too. Ox Eagle Lion Man are ok, much more what I'm looking at. But again, they're all British Indie hyped types, who peddle similar music for kids to dance to.
i suppose ox. eagle. lion. man are the one's that are different
i've been to a lot of their shows and they seem like they're actively trying to stop people dancing
bad punctuation, cadence, syntax etc
Exactly
Why do people have to be made to dance like you would in a club because you're from the UK and making music? Whatever's wrong with kranking it up and cutting loose. I go to a gig to cut loose and flail about and lose my shit a little. Not to wiggle my hips and twostep.
i agree
i hate dancing anyway
Bearsuit are well new innit.
i'm not sure what your point is?
I'm just as bad at grabbin UK bands
although I have JoFo and love it as I do Dananana...
I like Tubelord but they aint to new by DiS standards, This Town Needs Guns aint either really.
Dot Rotten is a grime MC who is damn new and wicked, might not be your thing though.
what's dot rotten like?
kinda usual grime thing
but he kinda broadens it out a bit like Trim and Ghetto by sayin stuff that isnt about kicking peoples arses. He makes his own beats and they are damn good. I wrote about it on my blog.
http://thesonicminefeild.blogspot.com/2008/07/dot-rotten-rip-young-dot.html
and there is his previous mixtape on there under a diffrent name he gave away free the other yeah.
ahhh he absolutely SLAYS wiley
http://youtube.com/watch?v=dBpRltekrgw&feature=related
what happened there?? he uses his style and stuff, and is really personal, like trim does
hehe
wiley is even on his new album so he must not have taken it to personaly heheh.
um...
Pennines
Munch Munch
lots more. i'll come back!
Penines are great
I really didn't like Munch Munch live at all. All the bad bits of AC mixed with terrible foppishness and ADHD. But they are at least trying something different from the normal indie pop in 4/4, which gets a lot of a respect from me.
...
Give Errors a go mate. Like foals but much better
Agree with Late of the Pier. Good band
The Beep seals
The Wave Pictures
The High Wire
Fryers
fryars is a good one
he stands out a bit. no guitars and stuff
Late of the Pier are ok
clever, no doubt. Not sure I like what they do all that much.
The other acts are too indie for me.
I actually really like Foals, and think they will prove to be a pretty important band in years to come.
the whole
dananananaykroyd, johnny foreigner, tubelord, blakfish, this town needs guns, pennines, colour etc scene is in full swing at the minute.
frightened rabbit and charlottefield have produced my two favourite records of the year so far, both UK bands.
there is alot of stuff, just got to look harder. the leeds scene (pulled apart by horses, wintermute, cowtown, that fucking tank, quack quack, pifco etc) is doing reasonably well. i think glasgow is pretty strong at the moment as well. couldnt comment on down south though.
Yes!
That Fucking Tank and Pulled Apart By Horses. And Bilge Pump!
Don't like FR and Charlottefiel are sadly no more. They were really great.
TTNG are accomplished, not v original though really are they? Same goes for Tubelord.
well out of that top list
id say i only really like danana, jofo and pennines. the others are pretty unoriginal or shit.
bilge pump are hardly new, though i guess new lp this year counts.
and yeah charlottefield are gone ;(
I get the feeling that Jo Fo wouldn't excite me as much if they weren't UK
They are so different to what most people here are trying right now, but they never whip me up into the frenzy that someone from the US like TVOTR would.
I think I also just like old music. Because I'm slowly becoming a cliche.
...
The Sleeping Years, Songdog, Last Harbour
I would agree with you
Most of the new music I like right now is American.
Good mentions so far
Some british bands I've enjoyed lately are:
Bossk(Post Metal)
Humanfly(Stoner/Post Metal)
Kaneda(Post-Rock)
The Modus Vivendi(Fugazi esque post hardcore)
and more recently Rampant Rabbit(http://www.myspace.com/rampantrabbitsafe)
Bossk are UK?
Didn't know that. Really been enjoying their albums this year.
oh and
the tupolev ghost and wooderson are doing uk dischord.
I'm remembering a lot of bands now
I can't afford to buy anything right now, and that government legislation on filesharing today has made me feel guilty.
This is pretty good - not sure if it's too your taste though
http://www.drownedinsound.com/articles/3719882
On an unrelated note - where are the UK screamo / metalcore etc etc bands hiding these days?
Get the
Maths/Throats split
they're both screamo/metalcore.
not heard the cd personally though.
ESSEX
but most of them really suck.
Polar Bear
they are from the UK and have a new album coming out that will no doubt be amazing, if you like your deranged jazz with spaffed out electronics
Saw them this year
Definitely good.
I do like some UK music! hurrah, I am patriotic!
yay
I love that band they are so good live.
How about Down I Go for some proper hardcore badass rock music I love Tyrant
I'm a bit of an anglophile
so it's with a heavy heart I say you guys have fallen way off the curve in recent years. Or, I dunno, maybe Brits were overachievers for 40 years...
it's a small country though
the weirder stuff can't really keep afloat : (
Truckers of Husk
frYars
The School
Golden Silvers
Wild Beasts
Lemuria
female-fronted summery pop rock.
from
the UK?
they're from Buffalo you spaz.
:O
I just assumed...weird that
They're from Hull, yeah?
and
what Price, Wonderland?
Facel Vega
Kids Return
Die Emergency
are all doing the punk/emo think.
and these aren't new, but are still around:
Dartz!
Stapleton
Tellison
Hot Club de Paris
there is plenty when you properly think about it
*thing
and *What
Worriedaboutsatan
brilliant post rock and ambient music that is influenced by minimal and all that good stuff.
http://www.myspace.com/worriedaboutsatan
Not very new,
I haven't bought much this year yet, but some favourites from last;
Definitely worth checking out are
Sine Star Project http://www.myspace.com/sinestarproject
The Outdoor Types
http://www.myspace.com/theoutdoortypes
and for something different
The Hat
http://www.myspace.com/wearethehat
The Hat
Very good.
Excellent!!
I thought it was just me that liked them.
Hat
Something that's not just run-of-the-mill indie.
A lot of thought has gone into the arrangements
Awful.
It peaked in 04. Been getting progressively worse since Arctic Monkeys' debut.
I blame The Libertines for rubbish UK music, you realise
Agreed.
But The Strokes have a lot to answer for too.
So do Joy Division.
They're still all good.
But I won't unconditionally support The Libs. If I'm around these 'OMG I LUV PETE' types, I think they're crap.
I think that bands like that had such an impact because there were so few others
The UK is too small to accomodate more than one real big 'scene' at any one time. I guess that's why bands like The Hold Steady, Animal Collective, TV on the Radio and Jay Z can flourish alongside each other in the states and not have problems.
Size is everything, contrary to belief, it would seem.
The Tupolev Ghost
you'd like them, I think.
Wild Beasts?
I know these aren't anything like the above
but recently I are be mostly enjoying the Benga album and everything that Astral Social Club is releasing
http://www.myspace.com/astral_social_club
These guys are from Newcastle and made Boris look like total poo when they supported them. Not massively inventive or anything, but heavy!
http://www.myspace.com/landbong
These guys seem pretty good
http://www.myspace.com/wolfpeople
Kong
two members of oceansize and more playing loud noise rock
www.myspace.com/kongdom
Good stuff
I don't know if I love it, but it's different.
Anyway, I thought my opening post made it clear
I didn't want boring snooze indie, I wanted weird out there stuff.
Jonquil
www.myspace.com/jonquiluk
attempt
untitled musical project
maths class
this town needs guns
we were promised jetpacks
That new Brainlove compilation
would actually be a pretty good introduction...
detroit social club
?
mmm
http://www.myspace.com/thempostwaryears
http://www.myspace.com/joyofsex
http://www.myspace.com/myfirstradio
The Wave Pictures
Hayman, Watkins, Trout & Lee
Restlesslist
Attic Lights
Brakes
Frightened Rabbit
The Accidental
Sons of Noel & Adrian
Theres a start.
I LOVE Brakes
I saw them live last year and they really surprised me!
This:
The Rayographs
Haemostatic Picnic Races
King Alfred, Man Of Leisure
The Sceptres
Spin Spin The Dogs
Vessels
Rope Chain $piller Kidz
Bela Emerson
Buttonhead
Sweet Baboo
Tropics
Fireworks Night
Family Battle Snake
Kyte
all from the UK, all new(ish), all highly recommended, and none of them run-of-the-mill indie
no mention for...
Micachu or Rolo Tomassi?
...or the wonky scene: Hudson Mohawke, Rustie, Ikonika, Joker, etc..?
also: new MCs like Chipmunk, Ice Kid, Envy - and No Lay and Durrty Goodz finally coming through.
*ahem*
sweet baboo album
out september 1st!
inelegant JAG ends.
Rolo Tommassi (new?)
Tupelov Ghost
Have you heard Action Beat? You might like them, although I thought they were a little underwhelming live.
well...
i think yet-to-release-debut-album (not mini album) seems a decent criterion for newness, even when people have been bubbling under a while.
A select few non-indie things...
http://www.myspace.com/albanova - I'm assuming you like Gossamer Albatross / Held By Hands since you're on DiS, well, here's something similar
http://www.myspace.com/fliesarespiesfromhell - *shudders to say it* - post-rock. Sort of.
http://www.myspace.com/greenasaprimary - folktronica? Maybe. If that wasn't such an awful tag. Glitchy-but-organic stuff, if you like. Like Hood.
http://www.myspace.com/dirtydiggers - not *too* new (in fact, they've split now) but their last album was in the last year, and the first track that plays on their myspace is a CHOON, so they get a mention. And decent non-Roots Manuva UK hip-hop gets overlooked on this site. Try if you like Braintax, Example, etc.
http://www.myspace.com/likeathief - hardly "inventive", but very well done (I think). PJ Harvey -esque, essentially.
http://www.last.fm/music/Pete+Green - again, not original, and actually not too non-indie either. But still, he's a really nice guy, and deserves a listen. I also realise in advance that ^that^ link won't work... sorry...
Oh, and
http://www.myspace.com/jonathankrisp
Can't believe nobody's said Copy Haho
seeing as all of you on here bum them. Think you might like them, Phil. Obvs you know about Pulled Apart by Horses and Bilge Pump and stuff. Sunset Cinema Club? Definitely your sort of thing. I really like William but I don't think you will very much. I'm just looking through my big list of bands now. Most of the UK stuff's folk, to be fair. Ooh, you'll like this band: http://www.myspace.com/myangelempire
Shin Jin Rui (Newcastle band) sound a bit like mclusky. Erm... Damn Shames? Who Owns Death TV (former Million Dead)? To The Bones? Factory Floor (quite droney and Joy Divisiony)?
Fuck Buttons?
so they're not particularly 'new' but they are pretty well 'out there'.
other than that i must say i find myself listening to less and less british music these days. like my favourite records of this year are almost exclusively american now i think about it. even generic 'indie' stuff like sslyby is way better than it's/their british equivalents imo :(
the earlies are not new
but are the best new ish band about
*Prepares for tirade of shit bands*
Oh wait, too late.
its never too late
*your musics shee ite it keeps me up all niee ite*
not that new really
and not sure how much folk stuff you;re into, and I ALWAYS say it:
but David Thomas Broughton
Folk singer, really unique, really influenced by drone. Uses loop pedal lots, but in a different style to everyone else I know that uses it.
if you're looking for cutting edge or unique, I'd recommend trying out his record with 7 hertz - probably my favourite from last year.
Or, The Complete Guide To Insufficiency, which is honestly my favourite record ever made.
www.myspace.com/davidthomasbroughton
seconded
- however long he's been around, it's only now - hopefully with the next record - that he's gonna reach a bigger audience.
thirded
COLOUR...
are amazing. They get my vote as the best thing i've heard in a long time.
pretty average last night
that whole tubelord, pennines, colour, shapes, blakfish, meet me in st louis, this town needs guns "scene"/sound is getting stale already, they all sound way too similar.
Down I Go
www.myspace.com/downigo
You want weird out there stuff?
www.myspace.com/bigblock454uk
Grammatics
http://www.grammatics.co.uk
Surprised nobody's mentioned these already, by far and away my favourite 'new' UK band...
MATHS CLASS
Awesome, Elle Milano, Popular Workshop,
William The Band, too many to list
Stig Noise Soundsystem
Gay Against You
Cats In Paris
I'd say three of the countries best kept secrets at the moment.
this thread
is going to keep me occupied for ages. I'm only just starting to realise that there are quite a lot of great bands there are in the UK if you look hard enough.
...
Arch M
Banjo or Freakout
Gentle Friendly
Graffiti Island
Wild Beasts
Rustie
Hudson Mohawk
PENS
American Spirit
Sexy Kids
Let's Wrestle
to name a few
Banjo Or Freakout
- good mention (even if an Italian living in London)
I don't think anybody mentioned Fury of the Headteachers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwZOI6Z_r88
.
shield your eyes
pseudo nippon
gentle, friendly