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Popscene (San Francisco)
"Popscene" is a song by English alternative rock band Blur, released as a non-album single on 30 March 1992. Despite its relatively low chart placing, it has since become critically praised and regarded as one of the pioneering songs of the Britpop genre. Recording The song was first played live in late 1991, and recorded at Matrix Studios in Holborn with producer Steve Lovell. The lyrics showed frontman Damon Albarn's distaste for the music business, complaining that there were too many insignificant indie bands. Musically, it was different to the style seen on the group's first album ''Leisure'' and featured heavily flanged guitars, a Can influenced drumbeat, and brass from session players the Kick Horns. The band considered "Popscene" to be the loudest and best thing they had worked on at that point. Reception The single reached No. 32 on the UK Singles Chart, and was panned by both ''Melody Maker'' and ''NME''. The Beastie Boys, guest reviewing for NME, suggested the re ...
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Blur (band)
Blur are an English rock band formed in London in 1988. The band consists of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree. Their debut album, ''Leisure'' (1991), incorporated the sounds of Madchester and shoegazing. Following a stylistic change influenced by English guitar pop groups such as the Kinks, the Beatles and XTC, Blur released '' Modern Life Is Rubbish'' (1993), '' Parklife'' (1994) and '' The Great Escape'' (1995). As a result, the band helped to popularise the Britpop genre and achieved mass popularity in the UK, aided by a chart battle with rival band Oasis in 1995 dubbed "The Battle of Britpop". Blur's self-titled fifth album (1997) saw another stylistic shift, influenced by the lo-fi styles of American indie rock groups, and became their third UK chart-topping album. Its single " Song 2" brought the band mainstream success in the US for the first time. Their next album, '' 13'' (1999) saw the band experime ...
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UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-selling Single (music), singles in the United Kingdom, based upon physical sales, paid-for downloads and music streaming, streaming. The Official Chart, broadcast on BBC Radio 1 and MTV (Official UK Top 40), is the UK music industry's recognised official measure of singles and albums popularity because it is the most comprehensive research panel of its kind, today surveying over 15,000 retailers and digital services daily, capturing 99.9% of all singles consumed in Britain across the week, and over 98% of albums. To be eligible for the chart, a Single (music), single is currently defined by the Official Charts Company (OCC) as either a 'single bundle' having no more than four tracks and not lasting longer than 25 minutes or one digital audio ...
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John Harris (critic)
John Rhys Harris (born 1969) is a British journalist, writer and critic. He is the author of ''The Last Party: Britpop, Blair and the Demise of English Rock'' (2003); ''So Now Who Do We Vote For?'', which examined the 2005 United Kingdom general election, 2005 UK general election; a 2006 behind-the-scenes look at the production of Pink Floyd's ''The Dark Side of the Moon''; and ''Hail! Hail! Rock'n'Roll'' (2009). His articles have appeared in ''Select (magazine), Select'', ''Q (magazine), Q'', ''Mojo (magazine), Mojo'', ''Shindig! (magazine), Shindig!'', ''Rolling Stone'', ''Classic Rock (magazine), Classic Rock'', ''The Independent'', the ''New Statesman'', ''The Times'' and ''The Guardian''. Early life Harris was raised in Wilmslow in north Cheshire; his father was a university lecturer in nuclear engineering, and his mother a teacher who was the daughter of a nuclear research chemist. He became fixated by pop music at an early age. He attended the comprehensive Wilmslow High S ...
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ARIA Charts
The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the official Australian music chart in June 1988, succeeding the Kent Music Report, which had been Australia's national music sales charts since 1974. History The '' Go-Set'' charts were Australia's first national singles and albums charts, published from 5 October 1966 until 24 August 1974. Succeeding ''Go-Set'', the Kent Music Report began issuing the national top 100 charts in Australia from May 1974. The compiler, David Kent, also published Australia's national charts from 1940 to 1974 in a retrospective fashion using state-based data. In mid-1983, the Australian Recording Industry Association commenced licensing the Kent Music Report chart. The first printed national top 50 chart available in record stores, branded the '' Countdown'' chart, w ...
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On Your Own (Blur Song)
"On Your Own" is a song by English rock band Blur. It was released as a single on 16 June 1997 from the band's fifth studio album, '' Blur'' (1997). It charted at number five on the UK Singles Chart. Although it was not released exclusively under the name, Damon Albarn, frontman of both musical projects, has since referred the song as 'one of the first ever Gorillaz tunes'. Music video The music video for "On Your Own" was directed by Sophie Muller and recorded in Barcelona, in what at the time was an industrial site, by the Besos Water Tower. B-sides The B-sides were all recorded at John Peel's home studio: Peel Acres. They were previously broadcast on BBC Radio 1 on 8 May 1997. Stickered copies of CD1 and the white vinyl 7-inch features the text 'includes POPSCENE'. This is because " Popscene" did not appear on the UK version of '' Modern Life is Rubbish'' and was, therefore, rare and sought after by fans until its inclusion on '' Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur''. T ...
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A-side And B-side
The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company intends to be the initial focus of promotional efforts and radio airplay and hopefully become a hit record. The B-side (or "flip-side") is a secondary recording that typically receives less attention, although some B-sides have been as successful as, or more so than, their A-sides. Use of this language has largely declined in the 21st century as the music industry has transitioned away from analog recordings towards digital formats without physical sides, such as CDs, downloads and streaming. Nevertheless, some artists and labels continue to employ the terms ''A-side'' and ''B-side'' metaphorically to describe the type of content a particular release features, with ''B-side'' sometimes representing a "bonus" track or other material. ...
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Modern Life Is Rubbish
''Modern Life Is Rubbish'' is the second album by English alternative rock band Blur, released in May 1993. Although their debut album ''Leisure'' (1991) had been commercially successful, Blur faced a severe media backlash soon after its release, and fell out of public favour. After the group returned from an unsuccessful tour of the United States, poorly received live performances and the rising popularity of rival band Suede further diminished Blur's status in the UK. Under threat of being dropped by Food Records, for their next album Blur underwent an image makeover championed by frontman Damon Albarn. The band incorporated influences from traditional British guitar-pop groups such as the Kinks and the Small Faces, and the resulting sound was melodic and lushly produced, featuring brass, woodwind and backing vocalists. Albarn's lyrics on ''Modern Life Is Rubbish'' use "poignant humour and Ray Davies characterisation to investigate the dreams, traditions and prejudices of sub ...
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The Buzzcocks
Buzzcocks are an English punk rock band formed in Bolton, England in 1976 by singer-songwriter-guitarist Pete Shelley and singer-songwriter Howard Devoto. They are regarded as a seminal influence on the Manchester music scene, the independent record label movement, punk rock, power pop, and pop punk. They achieved commercial success with singles that fused pop craftsmanship with rapid-fire punk energy. These singles were collected on '' Singles Going Steady'', an acclaimed compilation album described by music journalist and critic, Ned Raggett, as a "punk masterpiece". Devoto and Shelley chose the name "Buzzcocks" after reading the headline, "It's the Buzz, Cock!", in a review of the TV series '' Rock Follies'' in ''Time Out'' magazine. The "buzz" is the excitement of playing on stage; "cock" is northern English slang meaning "friend". They thought it captured the excitement of the nascent punk scene, as well as having humorous sexual connotations following Pete Shelley's ti ...
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Inspiral Carpets
Inspiral Carpets are an English rock band, part of the late-1980s/early-1990s Madchester movement. Formed in Oldham in 1980, the band's most successful lineup featured frontman Tom Hingley, drummer Craig Gill, guitarist Graham Lambert, bassist Martyn Walsh and keyboardist Clint Boon. Several line-ups were loosely used from 1980 until Lambert and singer Stephen Holt met at The Moor End indie disco in Oldham 1983. Holt sang on the first two independent singles. Holt departed the band before they signed with Mute Records,Thompson, Dave (2000) ''Alternative Rock'', Miller Freeman, , p.425-427 Inspiral Carpets was known for using organs and distorted guitars with influences from psychedelic rock. In 2011, Hingley departed the band, though members disagree about the circumstances. The band continued on, reuniting with Holt. The group have been inactive since Gill's death in 2016. On 17 October 2022 the band announced they would be reforming and going on a tour of the UK in Ma ...
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Smash Hits
''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand for a spin-off digital television channel, now named Box Hits, and website. A digital radio station was also available but closed on 5 August 2013. Overview ''Smash Hits'' featured the lyrics of latest hits and interviews with big names in music. It was initially published monthly, then went fortnightly. The style of the magazine was initially serious, but from the mid-1980s became increasingly irreverent. Its interviewing technique was novel at the time and, rather than looking up to the big names, it often made fun of them, asking strange questions rather than talking about their music. Created by journalist Nick Logan, the title was launched in 1978 and appeared monthly for its first few issues. He based the idea on a songwords ma ...
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Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band formed in Aberdeen, Washington, in 1987. Founded by lead singer and guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic, the band went through a succession of drummers, most notably Chad Channing, before recruiting Dave Grohl in 1990. Nirvana's success popularized alternative rock, and they were often referenced as the figurehead band of Generation X. Their music maintains a popular following and continues to influence modern rock culture. In the late 1980s, Nirvana established itself as part of the Seattle grunge scene, releasing its first album, '' Bleach'', for the independent record label Sub Pop in 1989. They developed a sound that relied on dynamic contrasts, often between quiet verses and loud, heavy choruses. After signing to major label DGC Records in 1991, Nirvana found unexpected mainstream success with " Smells Like Teen Spirit", the first single from their landmark second album '' Nevermind'' (1991). A cultural phenomenon ...
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Grunge
Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of punk rock and heavy metal, but without punk's structure and speed. The genre featured the distorted electric guitar sound used in both genres, although some bands performed with more emphasis on one or the other. Like these genres, grunge typically uses electric guitar, bass guitar, drums and vocals. Grunge also incorporates influences from indie rock bands such as Sonic Youth. Lyrics are typically angst-filled and introspective, often addressing themes such as social alienation, self-doubt, abuse, neglect, betrayal, social and emotional isolation, addiction, psychological trauma and a desire for freedom. The early grunge movement revolved around Seattle's independent record label Sub Pop and the region's underground music s ...
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