British Music and American perspective.

otto-bot · Post by **otto-bot** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 10:39 am

I don?t really dislike Kasabian and their ilk. I just don?t think they are particularly special either. Franz Ferdinand were big for a blink of an eye but I don?t think their latest album is getting much attention. To be honest IMO there are far better bands coming out of the US and Canada at the moment. There does seem to be a British self importance that doesn?t translate well to the Americans. In some cases it appears to be big fish in a small pond syndrome. Magazines like NME hype every mediocre band playing out of London. It quickly becomes a matter of ?the boy who called wolf? and you just stop listening. I look forward to new material from Boards of Canada, Brian Eno, Radiohead and Ladytron if that is of any consolation.

The other side of the story is that much of what is ?mainstream? in America. It?s not even the American equivalents of the music you?ve mentioned.

krylenko · Post by **krylenko** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 10:56 am

+1 to otto. It's pretty funny to see British bands charge out of the UK with big heads only to be met by a huge and often well-deserved yawn in the US.

davemono wrote:I'm think I can see some kind of blueprint to what the American music fan doesn't like :

British Indie Bands who talk about working class life, lager and "Britishness"
but why should you? You've heard it already and it bears no relation to your life and so there's nothing to indentify with!

I'm not turned off by unfamiliar cultural references but rather undistinguished ones. The Streets have great lyrics that paint an acutely observed portrait of a milieu different from the one I'm used to. It's fascinating.

But I'm not that interested in generic songs about drinking, rocking, and hooking up, whether British or American.

nordberg · Post by **nordberg** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 10:04 pm

as i say on my myspace profile: "scranton bands are good. english ones are better." i don't know how so much great music comes from such a (relatively) small place!

Mklein · Post by **Mklein** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 9:33 pm

My Bloody Valentine!
Stone Roses (apparently not reuniting anymore)
Damon Albarn (He's British, right?

And from Scotland, we Americans love us some Teenage Fanclub & Mogwai.

CarlosEs · Post by **CarlosEs** » Mon Mar 30, 2009 11:09 pm

mertmo · Post by **mertmo** » Tue Mar 31, 2009 10:42 am

ELBOW

DOVES

RADIOHEAD

three of my very favorites for several years now.

also was an obsessive U2 fan for like... half my life. not so much anymore. BTW, duh I realize they are irish but to me they have always belonged squarely in the "british rock band" genre.

mertmo · Post by **mertmo** » Tue Mar 31, 2009 10:44 am

oh yeah, TALK TALK. how could I forget them?

oh yeah, how 'bout the POLICE. they were kinda good

vvv · Post by **vvv** » Tue Mar 31, 2009 11:30 am

Recent popular English stuff that I know of: Radiohead and Portishead (still) and Amy Winehouse. (I dislike Coldplay like I dislike Avon perfume; it's innocuous and adequate and thus disliked, not even hated.) Then there's Ireland's U2 and Scotland's Idlewild ...

My fave late-model American stuff (still) is/are Kings of Leon, DBT, Steve Wynn.

Trick Fall · Post by **Trick Fall** » Tue Mar 31, 2009 8:09 pm

I might have to give the beat down to the next person who refers to U2 as British. But seriously I think there has been a divergence the last few years between the US and UK. I think it started with the Strokes. They seem to have had success and influence on a much bigger level in the UK than the US. Even Kings of Leon are much bigger on the other side of the Atlantic than they are here. I think that has lead the music business and mainstream media over there to give more support to guitar based rock bands.

It's also a hard slog to make it in the US. I don't think any of the bands the op mentioned have put in the kind of relentless touring they would need to do to really break over here.

Dr Rubberfunk · Post by **Dr Rubberfunk** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 4:05 pm

ipressrecord wrote:Though I am not a fan of anything after "A Rush of Blood To the Head", and I'm definitely more a fan of the sound of the first two records than the songs, Coldplay are huge in America. Fucking Huge.

My friends and I are fans of Ed Harcourt, Field Music/School of Language/The Week That Was, as well as The New Mastersounds and the Bees (known as A Band of Bees in the US). Obviously not as huge as the Beatles or The Stones, but great bands/records.

I actually was able to catch The Bees in London at the Astoria (which is now gone!) two years ago. Totally great show, great band, cool smelly rawk venue. Like the Khyber in Philly but 200 times larger. Anyway, I really thought that the Bees put on a great live show.

Jeff

Great to see the New Mastersounds and the Bees getting some love - both great live bands. Did you ever hear the Madlib remix of Chicken Payback? Bonkers

jesse_baccus · Post by **jesse_baccus** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 4:41 pm

ipressrecord wrote:.. and the Bees (known as A Band of Bees in the US).

i didn't realize this was the same band, definitely dig The Sunshine Hit Me

ubertar wrote:Are any new American bands earning respect in the US?

right? the bands who are doing something interesting don't have interest in commercialism, because the stigma on the labels is they don't have interest in something interesting, which furthers the notion that bands who are doing something interesting shouldn't have interest in major labels... feedback loop!
and now with the internet no one needs to do anything to have their music heard (technically), so it comes back down to how hard the bands work for it, but they can't work hard enough to earn the respect of the consensus, and subsequently the interest of major labels, being major labels aren't interested in anything interesting...
in the 70s it was different because the feedback loop had just started, but now... music is so saturated that if people don't rely on what is force fed to them, they just get confused,
between the internet and consumer tools (digi), the whole industry is turned on its face and niched, so whats the measure of success anymore outside of commercialism?

"is winning all you care about?"
"yes, its the only standard of excellence left"

-Death Race 2000

so i guess the simplest way to answer this question would be to check out the billboard charts.

curtiswyant · Post by **curtiswyant** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 5:15 pm

I'm more excited about what's coming out of Sweden.

saint360 · Post by **saint360** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 9:29 pm

curtiswyant wrote:I'm more excited about what's coming out of Sweden.

+1!!

otto-bot · Post by **otto-bot** » Sat Apr 04, 2009 11:08 am

saint360 wrote:
curtiswyant wrote:I'm more excited about what's coming out of Sweden.
+1!!

Well, don't be shy. What is coming out of sweden?

Message Board

British Music and American perspective.

Who is online