Tied to the 90s
March 28, 2013 2:13 PM Subscribe
What can we really tell about these tracks’ place in a world where the common consensus has airbrushed the Outhere Brothers and Robson & Jerome into a parallel world?
Track one: Parklife by Blur. Track two: Cigarettes and Alcohol by Oasis. So began Polygram's series of Shine compilations, ten double CDs issued between April 1995 and August 1998 - an imperfect document of a timeframe that includes a battle for number one making the news bulletins, and Jarvis Cocker invading Michael Jackson's Brit performance.
The Shine Years, by Simon Sweeping The Nation, is recapping the Shine compilation albums chronologically, track by track.
This remains one of my favorite albums. When buying imported CDs as a teenager was prohibitively expensive, along came the Shine compilations and the "Best album in the world..." compilations. They often featured the same tracks, but it didn't matter. From the beginning, an intro to one of the better Blur songs (in my estimation) "End of a Century" along with Gene's "Olympian" (it was love at first listen) and my favorite Boo Radleys tune. These made growing up in suburban Ohio a bit less of a death sentence - there is another world out there...and the music is awesome. Thanks for the post, liquidindian!
posted by buzzkillington at 2:30 PM on March 28, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by buzzkillington at 2:30 PM on March 28, 2013 [4 favorites]
This is a really interesting idea, and the tumblr is (knowingly or not) doing something akin to what the Shine compilations themselves did, in that it is offering a limited, or distilled version of what it was like to read irritating Britpop-era music journalism in the mid to late nineties. The videos made me nostalgic for a less complicated time, the notes made me want to punch someone.
posted by tigrefacile at 2:30 PM on March 28, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by tigrefacile at 2:30 PM on March 28, 2013 [3 favorites]
(referring to Shine 3, obvs.)
posted by buzzkillington at 2:45 PM on March 28, 2013
posted by buzzkillington at 2:45 PM on March 28, 2013
Earlier this week, Damon, Graham, and Noel were all onstage together.
...featuring Paul Weller on drums! Proving that with the Modfather, all things are possible.
posted by scody at 2:56 PM on March 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
...featuring Paul Weller on drums! Proving that with the Modfather, all things are possible.
posted by scody at 2:56 PM on March 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
Those are English words on that site. I can tell tell they are ordinary English words. Yet when put together like that, my eyes don't want to look at them.
posted by Jimbob at 2:59 PM on March 28, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Jimbob at 2:59 PM on March 28, 2013 [2 favorites]
This is good timing as I was having a debate this morning on facebook over who the most English (rather than British) band of all time is/was (The consensus was The Kinks). I had some if not all of the Shine albums at some point.
posted by TwoWordReview at 3:03 PM on March 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by TwoWordReview at 3:03 PM on March 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
man, dose woy da daze! except Oasis - I never really cared for them and their antics.
posted by spicynuts at 3:25 PM on March 28, 2013
posted by spicynuts at 3:25 PM on March 28, 2013
oh wow oh wow oh wow. There goes my weekend.
(I'm another that was never moved much by Oasis. I think I saw them live in 97 or so at a festival in New York, but even then -- nada. Supergrass never got the acclaim they deserved -- some, but not enough -- and that's just sad for the Kinks of the 90s.)
posted by maudlin at 3:33 PM on March 28, 2013 [3 favorites]
(I'm another that was never moved much by Oasis. I think I saw them live in 97 or so at a festival in New York, but even then -- nada. Supergrass never got the acclaim they deserved -- some, but not enough -- and that's just sad for the Kinks of the 90s.)
posted by maudlin at 3:33 PM on March 28, 2013 [3 favorites]
TIL that Pulp may have nicked the riff from Common People from this.
I need a cup of tea now.
posted by maudlin at 3:41 PM on March 28, 2013 [3 favorites]
I need a cup of tea now.
posted by maudlin at 3:41 PM on March 28, 2013 [3 favorites]
Weird. I bought a ton of CDs during this time period, but never had these comps on my radar. The comp series I really enjoyed was the Volume series, esp. the Trance Europe Express ones.
posted by shortfuse at 3:57 PM on March 28, 2013
posted by shortfuse at 3:57 PM on March 28, 2013
Nobody beanplates like a British music critic. If you like this list you'll love these books.
posted by The Card Cheat at 4:07 PM on March 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by The Card Cheat at 4:07 PM on March 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
TIL that Pulp may have nicked the riff from Common People from this.
There's a bit of "Leader of the Pack" in there, too.
posted by Sys Rq at 4:46 PM on March 28, 2013
There's a bit of "Leader of the Pack" in there, too.
posted by Sys Rq at 4:46 PM on March 28, 2013
... the common consensus has airbrushed ... Robson & Jerome into a parallel world?
And that world would be Westeros, as (an almost unrecognisable) Jerome plays Bronn in the HBO series Game of Thrones.
posted by misterbee at 5:05 PM on March 28, 2013
This made me want to listen to the Now That's What I Call Music! (US) albums.
Vol. 1 looked good and seeing the most recent, Vol. 45, made me feel like Nosferatu catching some morning rays.
posted by codswallop at 5:27 PM on March 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
Vol. 1 looked good and seeing the most recent, Vol. 45, made me feel like Nosferatu catching some morning rays.
posted by codswallop at 5:27 PM on March 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
My modest contribution to Britpop music writing is a review of Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie’s indie comic Phonogram.
posted by subdee at 5:43 PM on March 28, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by subdee at 5:43 PM on March 28, 2013 [3 favorites]
I leave this Fast Show clip of 90s indie hyperbole here as a particularly beautiful piss take on it.
posted by ambrosen at 6:52 PM on March 28, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by ambrosen at 6:52 PM on March 28, 2013 [4 favorites]
I appreciate the link here and I think I see a Travis reference in the post title, no?
Heaven forbid someone do a track-by-track commentary of our finest American music compilation series, Now That's What I Call Music.
Pssst... want to feel old? They just released Now That's What I Call Music 45.
posted by Old Man McKay at 10:16 PM on March 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
Heaven forbid someone do a track-by-track commentary of our finest American music compilation series, Now That's What I Call Music.
Pssst... want to feel old? They just released Now That's What I Call Music 45.
posted by Old Man McKay at 10:16 PM on March 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
I was a Shine 5 boy myself. Getting a bit misty-eyed listening to Angel Interceptor. Cast still sound like shit though, don't they?
posted by creeky at 12:00 AM on March 29, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by creeky at 12:00 AM on March 29, 2013 [1 favorite]
I leave this Fast Show clip of 90s indie hyperbole here as a particularly beautiful piss take on it.
Damn, you've sent me on a path of Fast Show reminiscence - this week I are mostly being niiiicee, hi I'm scorchio, suit you, off road! thits amoizing, I was very very drunk, commenting on MetaFilter is very much like making love to a beautiful woman, Boutros Boutros Boutros Galli.
posted by kersplunk at 12:01 AM on March 29, 2013 [2 favorites]
Damn, you've sent me on a path of Fast Show reminiscence - this week I are mostly being niiiicee, hi I'm scorchio, suit you, off road! thits amoizing, I was very very drunk, commenting on MetaFilter is very much like making love to a beautiful woman, Boutros Boutros Boutros Galli.
posted by kersplunk at 12:01 AM on March 29, 2013 [2 favorites]
Blimey, I'd forgotten how completely and utterly shit Shed Seven were. Teenage Rick Witter hatred reactivated!
our finest American music compilation series, Now That's What I Call Music.
Originally British, I'm afraid. The most useless bit of pop trivia I know: the phrase 'now that's what I call music' was borrowed from a 1920s advert for bacon that was hanging on the wall at the Virgin offices.
posted by jack_mo at 12:56 AM on March 29, 2013 [1 favorite]
our finest American music compilation series, Now That's What I Call Music.
Originally British, I'm afraid. The most useless bit of pop trivia I know: the phrase 'now that's what I call music' was borrowed from a 1920s advert for bacon that was hanging on the wall at the Virgin offices.
posted by jack_mo at 12:56 AM on March 29, 2013 [1 favorite]
And that world would be Westeros, as (an almost unrecognisable) Jerome plays Bronn in the HBO series Game of Thrones.
...and the parallel world of 1889 Whitechapel, as the brooding Sargent Bennet Drake (where, interestingly enough, fellow time-traveler from Westeros Ser Jorah Mormont [aka Iain Glen] dropped by as Colonel Madoc Faulkner for an episode, clearly just taking a quick detour to the early 20th century as Sir Richard Carlisle in Downton Abbey).
posted by scody at 8:54 AM on March 29, 2013
...and the parallel world of 1889 Whitechapel, as the brooding Sargent Bennet Drake (where, interestingly enough, fellow time-traveler from Westeros Ser Jorah Mormont [aka Iain Glen] dropped by as Colonel Madoc Faulkner for an episode, clearly just taking a quick detour to the early 20th century as Sir Richard Carlisle in Downton Abbey).
posted by scody at 8:54 AM on March 29, 2013
Cast still sound like shit though, don't they?
Weirdly, Cast take me right back to skipping school to travel to see Oasis at Whitley Bay ice rink more than Oasis or their support, Ocean Colour Scene do. I retain quite a bit of affection for them.
posted by liquidindian at 9:45 AM on March 29, 2013
Weirdly, Cast take me right back to skipping school to travel to see Oasis at Whitley Bay ice rink more than Oasis or their support, Ocean Colour Scene do. I retain quite a bit of affection for them.
posted by liquidindian at 9:45 AM on March 29, 2013
jack_mo, I'm afraid your useless bit of pop trivia is rendered a less unique bit of knowledge if, like me, you had a jumble sale copy of Now That's What I Call Music! (double LP, of course) which had a picture of the ad on the back cover. There was a pig in a farmyard looking up at a crowing rooster on a farmyard wall and saying whistfully "Now, that's what I call music!". I don't know how it advertised bacon, or how it fit in with the style of the early 80s, but that's what it was.
posted by ambrosen at 10:09 AM on March 29, 2013
posted by ambrosen at 10:09 AM on March 29, 2013
You can compare hindsight to what was thought at the time via the complete scans of Select.
Britpop was my teenage years, for all the good and bad of it. But none of these sound quite right, because they should have that cassette wurble, from being recorded off friends' CDs onto some very over-used tapes.
posted by Coobeastie at 1:03 PM on March 29, 2013
Britpop was my teenage years, for all the good and bad of it. But none of these sound quite right, because they should have that cassette wurble, from being recorded off friends' CDs onto some very over-used tapes.
posted by Coobeastie at 1:03 PM on March 29, 2013
jack_mo, I'm afraid your useless bit of pop trivia is rendered a less unique bit of knowledge if, like me, you had a jumble sale copy of Now That's What I Call Music! (double LP, of course) which had a picture of the ad on the back cover.
I got it new from Our Price with my Christmas money! Still gets played if I need to listen to Total Eclipse of the Heart.
I'm willing to bet I read the explanation of the pig/chicken image in Smash Hits - no doubt referring to 'Sir Richard of Branson' and featuring the term 'fact fans'! - when the first album came out (or at some point later on; the pig was used a mascot on covers and in adverts for the first few years).
And that world would be Westeros, as (an almost unrecognisable) Jerome plays Bronn in the HBO series Game of Thrones.
Holy. Shit. I had absolutely no idea that was him.
In other news, Robson's chief occupation nowadays is shouting very loudly in the vicinity of fish.
posted by jack_mo at 5:59 AM on April 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
I got it new from Our Price with my Christmas money! Still gets played if I need to listen to Total Eclipse of the Heart.
I'm willing to bet I read the explanation of the pig/chicken image in Smash Hits - no doubt referring to 'Sir Richard of Branson' and featuring the term 'fact fans'! - when the first album came out (or at some point later on; the pig was used a mascot on covers and in adverts for the first few years).
And that world would be Westeros, as (an almost unrecognisable) Jerome plays Bronn in the HBO series Game of Thrones.
Holy. Shit. I had absolutely no idea that was him.
In other news, Robson's chief occupation nowadays is shouting very loudly in the vicinity of fish.
posted by jack_mo at 5:59 AM on April 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
« Older Say Hello, Wave Goodbye | "generations of killer ink" Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
I'm so old.
posted by elsietheeel at 2:27 PM on March 28, 2013 [3 favorites]