Is it Something in the Water?

[the tourist]

Lately I find myself only listening to bands/artists from the UK. There's something cliche about mentioning The Beatles, but there's nothing cliche about mentioning George Harrison as a solo artist because there's such a different feel than the music of the Fab Four--he somehow takes what he'd built on with his few-and-far-between Beatles hits ("Something," "Here Comes the Sun," and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps") and gives it wings, balls, card-games and old friends.

And then there is just such a youthful exhuberance in Arctic Monkeys--no one can resist the toe-tapping tongue-twisters rattled off by these freezin' chimpanzies.

Hard-Fi sounds like a wonderfully skanky roller-rink from 1975, especially the wonderful song that is currently spinning on my myspace (www.myspace.com/ostentatioustourist).

Then there's this new band whose album I just got as an early Christmas present--they're called The Kooks and I am very excited at what I'm hearing so far, thick Scotish accents and all.

Not to mention the twins known as Editors (there is no The preceding their name) and The Cinematics (there's enough The in Cinematics for both bands) throw new wave its 21st Century bone in so sonically a pleasing way it makes you wanna hop on the skinny-jean trend and wear a black-and-white-striped t-shirt that is not quite criminal but not quite pirate.

And I just must know. Is it something in the UK water which gives them all the talent? Is there something in their streams which teaches boys the art of a melody when they're but wee lads? I'm left to wonder. But I'll savour these delicious sounds long as I can.

 

[intedomine]

The Brits put the Yanks to shame when it comes to producing musical talent.

The US have some guns (Springsteen, Pearl Jam, Gin Blossoms, REM, Interpol), but for a population of 300 mil, their musical output doesnt come anywhere near the Brits with their comparatively wee population of 70 mil or whatever.

And us Aussies, well, the less said about us (at least in recent years), the better

 

[cobl04]

And us Aussies, well, the less said about us (at least in recent years), the better

quoted for the mother fucking truth.

i hate the arctic monkeys. well. dislike.

 

[Zoobaby14]

And us Aussies, well, the less said about us (at least in recent years), the better

Like COBL_04 said its the truth

although the pub rock scene is starting to pick up a bit...

But music from the U.K out ranks alot of bands/artists from other countries.

The have produced the worlds biggest bands, and still pump out some good music

 

[Zoots]

Let's analyze my last.fm Top 20, shall we?

UK
U2 (or maybe this should be under US, lol)
The Beatles
Radiohead
Pink Floyd
Oasis
Keane
Depeche Mode
Snow Patrol
Kate Bush
Coldplay
Muse
Led Zeppelin
TOTAL = 12

US
Tori Amos
Pearl Jam
Red Hot Chili Peppers
R.E.M.
The Smashing Pumpkins
The Killers
Madonna
Aimee Mann
TOTAL = 8

Yeah there is definitely something in the water. Even reality shows nowadays never fail to have at least one judge speaking in a British accent. Everyone is crazy about the British even though they colonized the whole damn world!

 

[Axver]

And us Aussies, well, the less said about us (at least in recent years), the better

This probably can't be quoted for truth enough. The disease seems to be spreading across the Tasman to New Zealand too. Back in the 1980s and early 1990s, the Dunedin Sound/Flying Nun scene was quite possibly the best in the world. The sheer quality of that scene even at its obscurest depths is just ridiculous. Now? We're selling bullshit like Elemeno P and Steriogram to the world, and as much as I enjoy a few Evermore songs as guilty pleasures, they aren't exactly the pinnacle of quality music either. Thank fuck Jakob are putting out wonderful music and some of the Dunedin Sound artists are still active.

I'd certainly agree with the tourist re: UK bands. It's simply stunning the amount of incredible bands that have come from that part of the world. I think the most productive parts of the planet in terms of quantity of quality (if that makes sense) are the UK, Scandinavia, and Dunedin. I wouldn't actually agree with any of tourist's picks though! For me, bands like Porcupine Tree, Pure Reason Revolution, Anathema, and Pink Floyd are some of the UK's best representatives.

As for the last.fm top twenty comparison that Zoots did, my stats reveal a similar strong British performance. As I've logged over 100,000 plays, I think a top thirty rundown would be more representative: 12 British, 8 Kiwi (counting Crowded House as Kiwi for ease), 5 American, 2 Israeli, 2 Irish (counting U2 and Passengers separately), 1 Norwegian, and 1 Swedish.

 

[Zoots]

Oh that's right... I forgot U2 was from Ireland.

 

[bono_man2002]

quoted for the mother fucking truth.

i hate the arctic monkeys. well. dislike.

You hate THE arctic monkeys, but do you like Arctic Monkeys?

Personally I really enjoy listening to them...

 

[intedomine]

The current Melbourne rock scene seems to be saturated in all-been-done post-new-wave-commercial-punk like Kisschasy, Something With Numbers and Bodyjar....a real shame really, after Motor Ace showed such promise around about the turn of the this decade....

When Aussie rock radio is resorting to overhyping someone like Thirsty Merc, you know something is severely wrong down under.....

Our pop/dance is ok though......Kylie is a saving grace

 

[dudeman]

i'll take shoegaze over grunge 8 days a week.

for fans of late 80's/early 90's brits, you absolutely HAVE to check this out...

http://www.rhino.com/store/ProductDetail.lasso?Number=159804

laters....

 

[gherman]

This probably can't be quoted for truth enough. The disease seems to be spreading across the Tasman to New Zealand too. Back in the 1980s and early 1990s, the Dunedin Sound/Flying Nun scene was quite possibly the best in the world. The sheer quality of that scene even at its obscurest depths is just ridiculous. Now? We're selling bullshit like Elemeno P and Steriogram to the world, and as much as I enjoy a few Evermore songs as guilty pleasures, they aren't exactly the pinnacle of quality music either. Thank fuck Jakob are putting out wonderful music and some of the Dunedin Sound artists are still active.

I'd certainly agree with the tourist re: UK bands. It's simply stunning the amount of incredible bands that have come from that part of the world. I think the most productive parts of the planet in terms of quantity of quality (if that makes sense) are the UK, Scandinavia, and Dunedin. I wouldn't actually agree with any of tourist's picks though! For me, bands like Porcupine Tree, Pure Reason Revolution, Anathema, and Pink Floyd are some of the UK's best representatives.

As for the last.fm top twenty comparison that Zoots did, my stats reveal a similar strong British performance. As I've logged over 100,000 plays, I think a top thirty rundown would be more representative: 12 British, 8 Kiwi (counting Crowded House as Kiwi for ease), 5 American, 2 Israeli, 2 Irish (counting U2 and Passengers separately), 1 Norwegian, and 1 Swedish.

You do have Silverchair who has made a little comeback They are from Australia... right?

 

[gherman]

You do have Silverchair who has made a little comeback They are from Australia or NZ... right?

 

[bono_man2002]

You do have Silverchair who has made a little comeback They are from Australia... right?

Yep Silverchair are from Australia.

 

[gherman]

I'm not from the UK but it seems that here in the U.S. the talet is there its just you have to look for it so much more. The current state of MTV and VH1 just does not help because they shove their music down kids throats and keep telling them they like it until they do. Just a form of media brain wash which we are so good at doing here.

 

[gherman]

A band I just got into here after going to Arcade Fire is LCD Sound System from NY. They are pretty good.

 

[Irishteen]

I have to agree too, I seem to like bands from the UK more than the US, I don't know what it is but something attracts me to them more.

I mean if you look at my last.fm top 20, 9 are British, 6 are Irish, 4 are American, and 1 is Canadian. Well all the Irish bands can be explained with the simple fact that I am Irish

 

[Axver]

You do have Silverchair who has made a little comeback They are from Australia... right?

Yep, as bm2002 said, they're Aussies, from Newcastle (that'd be our one in NSW, not England's one upon Tyne). I've never really thought much of them despite the acclaim they seem to receive. Though they leave Powderfinger for dead, that's for sure.

Well all the Irish bands can be explained with the simple fact that I am Irish

With a screen name like yours, whoever would've guessed!

 

[Irishteen]

With a screen name like yours, whoever would've guessed!

Come on we all know people look at avatars and not screen names

 

[bono_man2002]

Yep, as bm2002 said, they're Aussies, from Newcastle (that'd be our one in NSW, not England's one upon Tyne). I've never really thought much of them despite the acclaim they seem to receive.

Silverchair are great....but not that great...like not....cleaning up the Aria Awards good....I guess that goes to show how meaningless award shows are.

 

[Axver]

Come on we all know people look at avatars and not screen names

Does that mean that I am New Zealand?

Silverchair are great....but not that great...like not....cleaning up the Aria Awards good....I guess that goes to show how meaningless award shows are.

How soon you forget. It's not called the ARIA Awards any more; it's now the Silverchair Awards. They're perfectly justified in cleaning it up!

 

[Irishteen]

Does that mean that I am New Zealand?

Wait are you telling me you're not? Well there's my entire perception of you completely destroyed

 

[Axver]

Wait are you telling me you're not? Well there's my entire perception of you completely destroyed

I'm not a geographic entity, unfortunately.

I even have Australian citizenship these days.

 

[bono_man2002]

Does that mean that I am New Zealand?



How soon you forget. It's not called the ARIA Awards any more; it's now the Silverchair Awards. They're perfectly justified in cleaning it up!

And Next Year It Will be the Delta Goodrem Awards.....

 

[Axver]

And Next Year It Will be the Delta Goodrem Awards.....

If there is an award Our Delta has not won, it shall be either awarded to her or banished from all existence!

 

[cobl04]

The current Melbourne rock scene seems to be saturated in all-been-done post-new-wave-commercial-punk like Kisschasy, Something With Numbers and Bodyjar....a real shame really, after Motor Ace showed such promise around about the turn of the this decade....

When Aussie rock radio is resorting to overhyping someone like Thirsty Merc, you know something is severely wrong down under.....

Our pop/dance is ok though......Kylie is a saving grace

2 Hearts

I hate the ARIA awards as well. There's about three arists each year who win everything. This year it was Silverchair. Last year it was Missy Higgins. Year before? Ben Lee. Powderfinger, Delta Goodrem...

and then there's the annual artist-no-one-has-ever-heard-of-but-wins-all-the-backseat-awards.

 

[bono_man2002]

2 Hearts

I hate the ARIA awards as well. There's about three arists each year who win everything. This year it was Silverchair. Last year it was Missy Higgins. Year before? Ben Lee. Powderfinger, Delta Goodrem...

and then there's the annual artist-no-one-has-ever-heard-of-but-wins-all-the-backseat-awards.

At least one good thing came out of the Arias This year, and that was Sarah Blasko (aka the less commercial ...and sometimes better version of Missy Higgins) got awarded best female pop Artist , or album or something...either way....Way to go Sarah!

Though the previous year...I just had to laugh with all the hype about Wolfmother.....who had been around for almost a year before last years Arias, and they won so much off the back of one song.....when there's practically an album full of great songs on the rest of the album.

 

[Axver]

Whenever Wolfmother win an award, it really should just be passed on to the surviving members of Led Zeppelin and Queen.

 

[bono_man2002]

Whenever Wolfmother win an award, it really should just be passed on to the surviving members of Led Zeppelin and Queen.

Unlike how People say Every Oasis song sounds just like the Beatles (I still don't understand the similarities...apart from both bands are British)

Wolfmother on the other hand, sometimes I wonder....are Led Zeppelin getting royalties for this??.....So I agree with you there....as much as I Like(d) Wolfmother.....its a very on and off relationship we have!

 

[Canadiens1131]

Arctic Monkeys--no one can resist the toe-tapping tongue-twisters rattled off by these freezin' chimpanzies.

 

[cobl04]

Whenever Wolfmother win an award, it really should just be passed on to the surviving members of Led Zeppelin and Queen.

While I do like Wolfmother, I have to wholeheartedly agree with that.

Another thing I hate about the Arias is that most acts are winning awards and it's been like two years since the album was released and everyone has forgteen. Like Delta will win about six awards next year, but the album will be a year old.