A Buffet of 'Britpop!'

I recently finished reading John Harris' "Britpop!: Cool Britannia and the Spectacular Demise of English Rock", a stellar account of that magical moment in the mid-1990s where it seemed that our beloved birds and blokes from across the pond would save us from the dying flannel mess grunge had become. Harris, a Brit mag writer who witnessed it all first hand and interviewed all the bands involved delivers a fantastically entertaining page-turner, with loads of the requisite snogging, shagging, backstabbing, and the chemical debauchery that would ultimately spell the end of the all-too-short era. More interestingly, Harris ties in the British politics of the day, and how Tony Blair's Labour Party ultimately used the bands involved to his advantage. Great stuff that will have you dragging out your old Britpop records before you're even finished reading.

"We started this thing, and it got distorted and made less special and commercialised, in the form of Britpop. When we started, it was edgy: it wasn't this big gang of people all slapping each other on the back and drinking lager." --Brett Anderson of Suede

"I can't think of anything better than sixteen year old boys wanking and looking at a poster of me. But don't quote me on that 'cos I'll kick your head in."
--Justine Frishmann of Elastica.

"That wanker DJ Sasha said the scene round my house was 'seedy'. Well, I didn't see him complaining at the time. -Noel Gallagher of Oasis.



Downloads:
Elastica "S.O.F.T."
Suede "The Drowners"
Blur "Country House"
Pulp "Common People"
Oasis "Morning Glory"
The Verve "Catching That Butterfly"
Kula Shaker "Hush"