OK, so who amongst us is popping out lunchtime to buy the Arctic Monkeys album?

NOT this.

I don't think the AMs like the internet much.

!!!

What is "daterape" Indie?

"On release, the Oasis album sold 60,000 on day one.

The Arctics have shipped 200,000."

Which Oasis album 'though; and does this mean that we should be anticipating that they're already poised to become 333% as: (a) inexplicably all-pervasive, and; (b) irritating; as the Gallagher brothers?

Most significantly 'though Mr. G., are they actually any good?

This is the OTMiest thing I've read this year. The fact that it applies to an awful lot of pop music is irrelevant.

I bet that they smell awful on the dancefloor.

NOT IN MY NAME!

We're talking debut albums, so "Definitely Maybe" on that score.

Any good? I dunno. The "Dancefloor" single was very fine (all three tracks there), the "Fake Tales of SF" didn't grab me as much, but I only heared it once, maybe twice.

the album aint going to please all that loved the single thats for sure ..

Very true.

The fact that it almost invariably seems to apply to awful (or, at best, mediocre) pop music; when there's almost always quite clearly no shortage of otherwise comparable but musically superior stuff about; and how this succession of poor-to-mediocre bands seem to get selected - apparently at random - to be elevated to a level of hysterical massed worship far in excess either of other otherwise comparable bands or of any identifiable talent or ability that they may or may not possess; is a never-ceasing source of bemusement 'though.

When's there a new Pay As U Go Cartel EP hitting the shelves though? That's what the kidz want to know.

I suspected as much.

Where's all the hype coming from all of a sudden?

And is it really "all of a sudden" or is that just me?

I haven't been particularly conscious of them: but then I am getting on a bit you know; and since I moved away from the bright lights of Reading I don't get out as much as I used to, so I really haven't got my finger on the popular pulse any more, not like I used to....

A few more than that...

xpost

this would be enough to get to #1 at certain times of the year.

LONDON (Reuters) - The Arctic Monkeys, who first built a loyal following on the Internet, are now set to have the fastest-selling debut album since chart records began in Britain.

The Sheffield rockers have already had two number one singles and critics are showering the quartet with accolades. They were nominated on Tuesday for four top prizes at next month's NME awards.

[-88057]
Their first album "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not" sold more than 100,000 copies on day one, and is currently outselling the rest of the top 20 albums combined.

"The Arctic Monkeys have connected with the mainstream in one leap," said Gennaro Castaldo at music and books retailer HMV Plc. "This is an outstanding figure as January is a quiet time of the year for sales."

He said sales could top 350,000 by the end of the week.

The British record for the fastest-selling debut album is currently held by talent-show group Hearsay's debut "Popstars" which sold 306,631 in its first week in March 2001.

Damian Peachey of Web site www.amazon.co.uk declined to give exact sales figures but said: "We sold more Arctic Monkeys albums on day one than we did for Franz Ferdinand in the whole of their first week.

"The Arctic Monkeys were outselling Richard Ashcroft, who is next on our charts, by four to one," he told Reuters. "This has been very much word of mouth."

The group played their first gigs in 2003, handing out their demos to fans who posted them on a Web site.

They signed with the independent label Domino, whose last major big breakthrough act was Franz Ferdinand.

Now the Arctic Monkeys are battling with fellow nominees Bloc Party, Kaiser Chiefs, Oasis and Franz Ferdinand to be named Best British Band at the NME Awards on February 23.

They have also been nominated in the categories of Best New Band, Best Live Band and Best Live Track for "I Bet You Look Good On The Dance Floor."

NME assistant editor Malik Meer said: "Contrary to all the rumours and myths and panics about the record industry going into meltdown because of music online, it has had the opposite effect.

"The fact that they have had two number one singles means they are not just for a core of obsessive fans. This is good old honest rock 'n'roll, which we have been lacking lately," he told Reuters.

ok what the fuck. It doesn't look to me like there's been any shortage recently of meat & 2 veg r&r. More like a feast (of shit) rather than a famine!

And this is the recurring meme that's driving the extra-musical critic love. "At last! A band that falls into (walks into?) the categories we want to lionise: young, male, provincial, hetero, 4/4, guitars, eeh it's just like back in the 6th form again".

30 year-olds doing it ought to get a fucking grip.

x post

U MAKE ME FEEL OLD

LOL

Do you have a taste for stale dogshit?

Last night these two bouncers
And one of em's alright
The other one's the scary one
His way or no way, totalatarian

He's got no time for you
Looking or breathing
How he don't want you to

So step out the queue
He makes examples of you
And there's nowt you can say
Behind they go through to the bit where you pay
And you realise then that it's finally the time
To walk back past ten thousand eyes in the line

And you can swap jumpers and make another move
Instilled in your brain you've got something to prove
To all the smirking faces and the boys in black
Why can't they be pleasant?
Why can't they have a laugh?

He's got his hand in your chest
He wants to give you a duff
Well secrectly I think they want it all to kick off
They want, arms flying everywhere and
Bottles aswell it's just
Something to talk about
A story to tell you

Well I'm so glad they turned us all away we'll put it down to fate

I thought a thousand million things that I could never say this morning

Got too deep, but how deep is too deep?

This town's a different town today
This town's a different town to what it was last night
You couldn't have done that on a Sunday

That girl's a different girl today
Said that girl's a different girl to her you kissed last night
You couldn't have done that on a Sunday

Well I'm so glad they turned us all away we'll put it down to fate

I thought a thousand million things that I could never think this morning

Got too deep, but how deep is too deep?

Last night what we talked about
It made so much sense
But now the haze has ascended
It don't make no sense anymore

my new bus doesn't have hackney schoolgirls on it :(

this is TERRIBLE.

i mean, back when oasis became the biggest thing since sliced tedium, i was at the barricades, yelling about how appallingly fucking shit they were. but now? now we've got the arctic monkeys and i DON'T PARTICULARLY MIND THEM. what's the world coming to when i can't muster up any foaming and pointless hate for a bunch of over-hyped indie chancers?

i must be getting old. either that or, eh, i quite like them ;)

whatever, i dont really like indie music, but mystifying it might be, and it certainly was mystifying to see hordes of indie kids (and i mean kids, getting ID-ed) heckle lethal b or stand bemused (genuinely they might not even rememeber "Oi!" i guess) last night, whilst waiting for Bromheads Jacket to come on (?!?!?! dont ask me i just work here). Why does the NME pull this sort of stunt?! poor old lethal bizzle and ossie b, i thought they did as best as job they could. er well as i was saying, mystifying it might be, but ive come to realise that all my vitriol towards all this stuff is a) weak as piss, not enough to bother with, b) god i just wish i was one of these 16yr olds and could date cute indie girls, and wore clothes like that when i was 16.

in the light of this i dont trust my own griping/lame jokes about to be entirely justified

this is crazy but hear me out: possibly these nme readers hadn't heard 'oi!'.

i guess yr right, i just thought it got to number 1, or number 10, or something? i remember seeing it on mtv once, maybe i just extrapolated from that that it is burnt into the consciousness of everyone in the UK.

i thin they were all students anyway, maybe i just saw some people getting id-ed then projected that onto the lot of em. im not too hot on detail.

the point stands though: dont put lethal b on a bill with local indie heros

well we used to slag off NME and others for not mixing it up a bit more. now when they do, the indie kids complain and so do we so they can't win.

i mean, how would you feel being shouted at to "fuck off" by pasty looking skinny guys, in skinny ties and covered in badges?

http://www.rock-a-rolla.com/

Welcome to the official website of ROCK-A-ROLLA, a bi-monthly UK publication covering the best in avant-rock, noise, metal, and variations thereof. Over the course of the next few months ROCK-A-ROLLA aims to be your one and only stop for information, news and views on artists changing the face of music.

and nick i have a) lived in non-london small towns and b) talked to working class people in my life, you know.

I'm glad I'm not the only one thinking, "That doesn't help."

Many xposts.

the image of Lethal B on stage taking heckles from the audience described here is too hilarious to not fully support and encourage actually.

01 (05) Will Young - All Time Love
02 (03) Richard Ashcroft - Break The Night With Colour
03 (01) Sugababes - Ugly
04 (02) Coldplay - Talk
05 (06) Robbie Williams - Advertising Space
06 (08) Texas - Sleep
07 (07) The Pussycat Dolls - Stickwitu
08 (10) Shayne Ward - That's My Goal
09 (16) A-Ha - Analogue
10 (11) Beyonce Featuring Slim Thug - Check On It

11 (09) Starsailor - This Time
12 (04) Madonna - Hung Up
13 (12) Hi-Tack - Say Say Say (Waiting 4 You)
14 (15) Lee Ryan - When I Think Of You
15 (23) Meck - Thunder In My Heart Again
16 (13) Kelly Clarkson - Because Of You
17 (18) Pharrell - Angel
18 (22) Sugababes - Push The Button
19 (20) Notorious BIG Featuring Diddy, Nelly, Jagged Edge & Avery Storm - Nasty Girl
20 (30) Sunblock - I'll Be Ready

21 (28) Richard Hawley - Just Like The Rain
22 (24) Tom Novy Featuring Michael Marshall - Your Body
23 (31) Kubb - Grow
24 (21) Daniel Powter - Bad Day
25 (17) Kanye West Featuring Adam Levine - Heard 'Em Say
26 (27) Protocol - Where's The Pleasure
27 (43) Madonna - Sorry
28 (19) James Blunt - Goodbye My Lover
29 (47) 50 Cent - Hustler's Ambition
30 (29) Hard-Fi - Cash Machine

31 (46) Chris Brown - Run It!
32 (52 *) Fall Out Boy - Sugar, We're Goin' Down
33 (14) Girls Aloud - See The Day
34 (26) The Arctic Monkeys - When The Sun Goes Down
35 (33) Eminem - When I'm Gone
36 (32) KT Tunstall - Suddenly I See
37 (36) Young Jeezy - Soul Survivor
38 (142 *) El Presidente - Turn This Thing Around
39 (37) The Strokes - Juicebox
40 (82 *) The Source Featuring Candi Station - You Got The Love

http://www.nme.com/images/84_NME_Cover280106_L190106.jpg

Is this an attempt to coin a new catchphrase?

Also: NME chasing emo dollar as well: Arctic Monkeys really are the Bluetones of haircut indie, then. Nice to have a contingency plan.

What is the target age for the NME now. I like the AM album but it's no better than The Kooks or Clearlake's albums also out this week. Why is the country so nuts about AM? (Hint: The NME is selling more because of the AM. Not the other way round.) Is it the lyrics? I can see how they would appeal to the key 14-17 age range but I worry about anyone over 25 (or maybe even 21) that connects with this. If you look at the lyrics compared to Def. Maybe it's like what the Gallagher's would have been thinking a few years earlier if that makes sense (and the repective ages match up.)

last year it was defined as 17 year olds from Doncaster, and the editor talked about hanging out with teenagers in Walsall

that is the real question

x posting

I like it. You'd probably like it, too, Ned -- it reminds me of "Precious."

SUEZ CRSS

fuckin colonial!

that is the real question

Fuckin' Total Film? Fuckin' Popcorn? Fuckin' Sight and Sound?

"Meteors vs. Comets" Episode: #1.1 - 15 July 1997
Hattie Hayridge .... Herself
Ford Kiernan .... Himself
Kim Newman .... Himself
William Shatner .... Himself

"Blobs vs. Things" Episode: #1.2 - 22 July 1997
Claudia Christian .... Herself
Sara Cox .... Herself
Walter Koenig .... Himself
John Moloney .... Himself

"Omegas vs. Alphas" Episode: #1.3 - 29 July 1997
Sophie Aldred .... Herself
Ford Kiernan .... Himself
Fred Macaulay .... Himself
Sylvester McCoy .... Himself

"Quarks vs. Roms" Episode: #1.4 - 5 August 1997
Max Grodénchik .... Himself
Simon Hickson .... Himself
Trevor Neal .... Himself
Armin Shimerman .... Himself

"Leias vs. Lukes" Episode: #1.5 - 12 August 1997
Bruce Dickinson .... Himself
Ford Kiernan .... Himself
Angela Rippon .... Herself
William Shatner .... Himself

"Stingrays vs. Thunderbirds" Episode: #1.6 - 19 August 1997
Alexander Armstrong .... Himself (as Alex Armstrong)
Ben Miller .... Himself
Kim Newman .... Himself
Gareth Thomas .... Himself

"Astronauts vs. Cosmonauts" Episode: #1.7 - 26 August 1997
Ronni Ancona .... Herself (as Ronnie Ancona)
Ed Bishop .... Himself
Felix Dexter .... Himself
Rob Grant .... Himself

"Jetsons vs. Rocketeers" Episode: #1.8 - 2 September 1997
Fred Macaulay .... Himself
Sylvester McCoy .... Himself
Terry Pratchett .... Himself
Elaine C. Smith .... Herself

"Morks vs. Mindys" Episode: #1.9 - 9 September 1997
Ed Byrne .... Himself
Claudia Christian .... Herself
Robert Llewellyn .... Himself
Susan Moore .... Herself

"Vulcans vs. Klingons" Episode: #1.10 - 16 September 1997
Chloë Annett .... Herself
Kevin Day .... Himself
John Moloney .... Himself
Tricia Sullivan .... Herself

The "exciting new mag to combat boring music press" thing that DJ Martian poster has been banging on and on about since mammoths walked the earth. The quote marks were my attempt at distance

A: because, you judgemental planks, this kind of thing makes you all feel so bloody old.

watch yourselves though.

lets takl about sheffield as the new centre of british indie/rock or whatever. some one said it is, cant remember who.

or lets talk abotu sandman magazine, or why theres no techno in sheffield any more.

It makes me kind of homesick for Chesterfield/Sheffied and nostalgic for being 17 again (yes, almost half my life ago - ok, now I'm depressed).

Bad review, funny comments.

this is why we have bloc party, lex.

http://www.dustscience.com/Home/

That wouldn't be nearly as much phun, though, would it?

there's always been a part of ILM that's all "how can the young people like new band X when they sound like a rubbish version of band Y from 10 years ago", but still. STOP THIS MADNESS

I think it is valid when something you don't get is being pushed just about everywhere you listen/read as being the unbelievable ultimate greatest thing (since the last U.U. "greatest thing") Under such circumstances, it's good to know you're not the only one who doesn't get/like it! (the thing is, I always want to like it)

there's always been a part of ILM that's all "how can the young people like new band X when they sound like a rubbish version of band Y from 10 years ago", but still. STOP THIS MADNESS

true enough, I remember the original 1st STROKES thread, ha! IT WILL NEVER END THOUGH.

-- The Lex (alex.macpherso...), January 25th, 2006.

keep digging, indie boy.

Come on guys everyone knows finding the square root of 'normal' = rock'n'roll nirvana.

i don't understand alan's point at all. it's a talkboard, people talk. if they only talked about stuff they 'got' (and i'm not sure i don't get the arctic monkeys; i just don't like them, or what they represent) then it would be a very boring board.

whether younger people ('VER KIDZ') like something or not is neither here nor there.

xpost ahahaha yes the yeah yeah yeahs are JUST SO WEIRD.

-- fandango (...), January 25th, 2006.

How about "just not nichey." You must only say that based on how they look because their music is certainly quirky and different. You know, like a guy walking down the street in plain clothes who has a head full of interesting ideas vs. a guy who walks down the street with an emo haircut and boring ideas. "Normal" is relative. Yeah Yeah Yeah's are too "weird/untraditional"?! Give me a break. More like totally expected and boring.

The Arctic Monkeys have almost NO interesting ideas. It's an average record, floating in an ocean of ridiculously fussed on & sonically exhausted gtr/drums/bass outfits. The rough edges are JUST enough to make it stand out... but about a million miles away from making it anything like great, let alone OMFUCKINGGOD ROCK IS BACK, BACK AGAIN.

a guy walking down the street in plain clothes who has a head full of interesting ideas I like The Streets actually, so there.

Who could get annoyed about the Monkeys? Southern Shandy Drinkers with a really, really extreme prejudice for Northerers?

the girl is the twist!

Your square root of normal theory sounds pretty fucking stupid. You must be a niche-jumper always outside "the mainstream" (whatever that is). So edgy! As if there is any such thing anymore.

Who could get annoyed about the Monkeys?

You, Pashmina, j blount, the reviewers linked above, etc. Haha.

i like the mainstream (girls aloud) and i like 'edgy' stuff whatever you mean by that. the problem with the arctic twats is not that they are either but that their music and image is COMPLETELY SHIT.

misogynist!

Why don't you explain why this band have the ultra-broad appeal to cross over like they have dipshit?

You must be a niche-jumper always outside "the mainstream"

Shall I make some assumptions about you based on misreading your posts? WTF is a niche-jumper anyway? You're making no sense.

xpost - thanks Lex :/

I don't much like hype, street teaming etc, I'm not particularly annoyed abt the arctic monkeys, they're just another boring-ok-ish indie band, really. I probably "like" them a little better than the yyys, but that isn't saying much, really.

Also, you're a knob.

Ha, Pashmina, you're a knob.

"Square root of normal theory."

Took it straight down to meet the anarchist's party.
I met a groovy guy, he was arty farty,
He said 'I know a little latin man a cus man a kai'
I said 'I don't know what it means' he said 'neither do I'

Eat natural foods, bathe twice daily,
Fill your nostrils up with gravy.
Don't drink tea and don't drink coffee.
Cover your chin in yorkshire toffee.

Dancing in the disco, bumper to bumber,
Wait a minute, where's me niche jumper, ( x4 )

Dancing at the disco, bumper to bumber,
Wait a minute, where's me niche jumper ? ( x5 )
Oh no.
Dancing at the disco, go, go, go.
Dancing at the disco, oh no, oh no, oh no.
Dancing at the disco, go, go, go.
Dancing at the disco, oh no, oh no.
It's alright to say things can only get better,
You haven't lost your brand new sweater.
I know I had it on when I had my tea,
And I'm sure I had it on in the lavatory.
Oh no.
Dancing in the disco, go, go, go.
Dancing in the disco, oh no, oh no.
Dancing in the disco, bumper to bumper,
Wait a minute, where's me niche jumper ? ( x5 )
It's alright to say things can only get better,
You haven't lost your brand new sweater.
Pure new wool, and perfect stitches,
Not the type of jumper that makes you itches
Oh no.
Dancing in the disco, go, go, go.
Dancing in the disco, oh no, oh no.
And my mother, will be so, so angry.
And my brother, will be so, so angry.
And my girlfriend, will be so, so angry.
And my dog, will be so, so angry.
Cos I was dancing at the disco, bumper to bumper.
Wait a minute, where's me niche jumper ( x5 )
Oh no !

-- pscott logged out

*chuckle* :)

Oooooooooooh
And my parents love me
Oooooooooooh
And my girlfriend loves me
Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh (nananananana)

except the kaiser chiefs have broad appeal.

Fixed.

-- Nofret Bassfisherman This, & Tom upthread, are interesting comments... or maybe it is ALL street-teaming, hmmm. Either way, I'm not adding much to a pretty poor thread so far. Ciao.

xpost - not MONKEY SIZED though is it?

http://www.hellowendy.com/images/wonder_stuff.jpg

xpost yeah a kind of quick-witted storyteller's voice, the kind of bloke you'd pay attention to in the pub even when thinking he's probably bullshitting. I'm not sure about this "regional accents are unusual" notion though, it seems odd in a tradition that venerates the Beatles, there's always been regionalism in British pop, since the early 60s, it ebbs and flows I suppose.

This, & Tom upthread, are interesting comments... or maybe it is ALL street-teaming, hmmm.

Maybe even more interesting because I meant Men At Work not Men Without Hats. Any of the bands I listed don't really sound like AM, but I guess I hear emphasis on quirky melodies and vocal delivery that reminds me of certain elements of these bands.

At this point, we know we can push the boundaries of music to bizarre levels, so to me it is more surprising to hear something a little different from the usual attempts to disrupt the too familiar with something "inaccessible," which has also become too familiar (!!!, YYY, Ice Testicles), and I can see how it would appeal to people who miss rock more than the Strokes or Interpol. Popular rock was always stripped down and basic, but had an interesting hook or something that made the songs stand out. Tthat's what AM sounds like they're shooting for. By comparison, Strokes and Interpol just sound way too familiar. However, I would never buy this AM record judging by what I've heard.

we don't even have CDs to sell Ned...underground 4 life! we'll never be crushed under the boot of commerce!!!!!

we're probably not as good as arctic monkeys though.

100) Derek and Clive - (Live) 1976 *(marked as a forgotten gem.)
99) Patrick Wolf - Lycanthropy 2004
98) Roots Manuva - Run Come Save Me 2001
97) Led Zeppelin - IV 1971
96) Adam and The Ants - Kings of The Wild Frontier 1980 *
95) Julian Cope - Jehovahkill 1992
94) The Futureheads - S/T 2004
93) Brian Eno - Here Come The Warm Jets 1974*
92) Oasis (What's The Story) Morning Glory? 1995
91) The Fall - This Nation's Saving Grace 1985
90) Supergrass - I Should Coco 1995
89) Blur - Parklife 1994
88) Underworld - Dubnobasswithmyheadman 1993
87) The Small Faces - Ogden's Nut Gone Flake 1968
86) George Harrison - All Things Must Pass 1970
85) ABC - The Lexicon of Love 1982
84) Redskins - Neither Washington Nor Moscow... 1974 *
83) Wire - Pink Flag 1977
82) The Happy Mondays - Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches 1990
81) Antony and The Johnsons - I Am A Bird Now 2005
80) Black Sabbath - Paranoid 1970
79) Teenage Fanclub - Bandwagonesque 1991
78) Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works 85-92 1992 *
77) The Beta Band - The 3 E.P.s 1998
76) Cornershop - When I Was Born For The 7th Time 1997
75) Tricky - Maxinquaye 1995
74) Prodigy - Music For The Jilted Generation 1994
73) Kasier Chiefs - Employment 2005
72) Joy Divison - Closer 1980
71) Buzzcocks - Love Bites 1978
70) Spacemen 3 - The Perfect Prescription 1987
69) Roxy Music - For Your Pleasure 1972
68) The Pretty Things - SF Sorrow 1968 *
67) Coldplay - A Rush Of Blood To The Head 2002
66) Elvis Costello - This Year's Model 1978
65) Radiohad - Kid A 2000
64) Gang Of Four - Entertainment! 1978
63) David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars 1972
62) Saint Etienne - Fox Base Alpha 1991
61) Echo and The Bunnymen - Ocean Rain 1984
60) The Human League - Dare! 1981 *
59) The Clash - S/T 1977
58) Suede - Dog Man Star 1994
57) The Cure - The Head On The Door 1985
56) Portishead - Dummy 1994
55) Bloc Party - Silent Alarm 2005{In the text this reffered to as a self titled album}
54) Morrissey - Vauxhall & I 1994
53) The Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed 1969
52) Madness - One Step Beyond 1979
51) Billy Bragg - Talking With The Taxman About Poetry 1986
50) The La's - S/T 1990
49) The Who - My Generation 1965
48) Elastica - S/T 1995
47) The Libertines S/T 2004
46) Pulp His 'N' Hers 1994
45) The Streets - A Grand Don't Come For Free 2004
44) Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures 1979
43) The Rolling Stones - Exile On Main St. 1972
42) The Jesus and Mary Chain - Psychocandy 1985
41) Kate Bush - Hounds Of Love 1985
40) Dizzee Rascal - Boy In Da Corner 2003
39) Ride - Nowhere 1990
38) Spiritualized - Ladies and Gentleman We Are Floating In Space 1997
37) Manic Street Preachers - The Holy Bible 1994
36) The Beatles - S/T 1968
35) Radiohead - OK Computer 1997
34) The Jam - All Mod Cons 1978
33) Coldplay - Parachutes 2000
32) The Zombies - Odessey and Oracle 1968 *
31) Massive Attack - Blue Lines 1991
30) Suede - S/T 1993
29) Led Zeppelin - II 1969
28) Nick Drake - Bryter Layter 1970
27) Polly Harvey - Dry 1992
26) The Smiths - Hatful Of Hollow 1984
25) The Kinks - The Village Green Preservation Society 1968
24) Pet Shop Boys - Please 1986
23) New Order - Technique 1989
22) Super Furry Animals - Radiator 1997
21) Muse - Absolution 2003
20) The Beatles - Rubber Soul 1965
19) The Smiths - Strangeways Here We Come 1987
18) Franz Ferdinand - S/T 2004
17) The Streets - Original Pirate Material 2002
16) Dexy's Midnight Runners - Searching For The Young Soul Rebels 1980
15) Primal Scream - Scremadelica 1991
14) David Bowie - Hunky Dory 1971
13) The Verve - A Northern Soul 1995
12) The Specials - S/T 1979
11) Radiohead - The Bends 1995
10) The Libertines - Up The Bracket 2002
9) The Beatles - Revolver 1966
8) The Clash - London Calling 1979
7) Pulp - Different Class 1995
6) Blur - Modern Life Is Rubbish 1993 *
5) Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not 2006
4) Sex Pistols - Never Mind The Bollocks 1978
3) Oasis - Definetly Maybe 1994
2) The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead 1986
1) The Stone Roses - S/T 1989

Exhibit A: What they do is hardly original.

Um, are Sugababes original ? Are the 'blessed' Girls Aloud original ? What is original anyway ? What the AMs seem to have is, like loads before them, a combination of influences (Libertines, Pulp, etc) that, put together, make something new and fresh. 'When The Sun Goes Down; is a brilliantly told tale that sounds like a snotty-nosed teen doing an updated post-Doherty version of Pulp's 'Underwear'. Which it indeed gloriously is.

Exhibit B: They are overtly loved by the NME.

Ok, the NME is pretty meaningless to anyone over 19 and not at university. But so bloody what. As was said upthread - get over it ! The AMs seem to be setting the agenda far more than the NME, who have been desperately playing catch-up for months.

Exhibit C: Their success is purely down to 'street teams'

Well that would hardly set them apart from their fellow Hit Paraders, would it ? Most of the top ten regulars got a leg-up from either a talent show, by whoring themselves around the nations schools or by becoming part of the incestuous, invite-only Saturday morning TV family. By those standards, the AMs are a welcome shot in the arm - they haven't even been on TOTP yet, have they ?

Exhibit D: They are British and worse, provincial

OMG ! A popular British group ! Quick, let's get at them !

oh to be clean....

They might regret that in the morning.

Um, are Sugababes original ? Are the 'blessed' Girls Aloud original ? What is original anyway ? What the AMs seem to have is, like loads before them, a combination of influences (Libertines, Pulp, etc) that, put together, make something new and fresh. 'When The Sun Goes Down; is a brilliantly told tale that sounds like a snotty-nosed teen doing an updated post-Doherty version of Pulp's 'Underwear'. Which it indeed gloriously is.

OTM OTM OTM OTM apart from the bit that's actually about the Arctic Monkeys which I don't have the slightest clue about. I don't understand why the 'formulaic' or 'unoriginal' stick is always used to beat guitar bands with when a) they probably don't particularly care about being sonic trailblazers and b) the 99.9% of house music is also utterly formulaic and that makes no difference whatsoever to the quality of the actual tune.

Which makes no real sense whatsoever (not least because I have never heard a song by them).

I don't understand why the 'formulaic' or 'unoriginal' stick is always used to beat guitar bands with It isn't always used AT ALL, it's being used completely appropriately in this case.

"Sonic trailblazing" overstates the task at hand, even incredibly retro-fixated bands who have sold quite well in the past HAVE managed to come up with new ideas The Smiths - How Soon Is Now for example.

And The Sugababes have CLEARLY done more original things!! "Freak Like Me" for instance, riding the mashup craze into the top 10. I'm not gonna defend Girls Aloud (dud for me) 99& of ILM can do that job...

I don't understand why the 'formulaic' or 'unoriginal' stick is always used to beat guitar bands with

I think it's pretty straightforward, actually, and I relate to what you're saying. But it makes me squirm a bit nevertheless because ... I don't know. The Lansing-Dreiden album seemed like one of the most forward things to me in 2004. Of Montreal's The Sunlandic Twins (an electronic album, really, but based very much on electric guitars and electric bass guitars) seemed like one of the most forward things to me last year.

My issue was not "are they good" or even "are they great" more "Are they as spectacularly as good as the hype and sales are given to show", and if so could this be a way of 'fantastic' stuff like this to exist once more?

That's a lot of ifs, granted.

what bothers me is that they are unlistenable. it's retrogressive and limited and parochial. it isn't fun at all (if it was, that could redeem most of the above). it's VERY BORING.

I think the provincial thing is a straw herring in that yes it's far too cliched for indie/rock bands (or anyone) to parade their accent or region like that. But I don't think the Arctic Monkeys really do this whereas Oasis and Blur did/were made to look as if they were.

Today the landlady, she said to me (what did she say)
You're looney friend just made a pass at me (slap him in the face)
Perhaps you might enjoy a cottage by the sea

So pack your toys away
Your pretty boys away
Your 45's away
Your alibis away
Your Spanish flies away
Your one more tries away
Your old tye-dyes away
You're moving out today

Your nasty habits ain't confined to bed (Ha, Ha Ha Ha)
The grocer told me what you do with bread (what do you do?)
Why don't you take up with the baker's wife instead of me, fool!

Pack up your rubber duck
I'd like to wish you luck
Your funny cigarettes
Your sixty-one cassettes
Pack all your clothes away
Your rubber hose away
Your old day-glos away
You're moving out today

Pack up your dirty looks
Your songs that have no hooks
Your stacks of Modern Screen
Your portrait of the Queen

Your mangy cat away
Your baby fat away
You're headed that-o-way
You're moving out today

Pack up your fork and spoon
Please leave my lorna doones
Your map of Mozambique
Your water bed that leaks

This is why Franz Ferdinand made it big in the U.S. and the Arctic Monkeys will not.

I think it's better than Franz' debut.

It sounds like the album we wished the Libertines would make, but didn't.

Yes, it's that good.

Hooray.

However, this week I have been told twice that the AMs are "authentic" by people from London and Oxford. I'm not from San Francisco, I'm from Hunters Bar (I really am). This makes me laugh, but it also makes me slightly embarrassed to be from Sheffield. Is this really what people think Sheffield is like?

Anyway, I still quite like them.

sigh. yes... good 'honest' rock & roll isn't it? Not like that nasty dishonest lying conniving electro'n'b-hop nonsense... People be _plenty_ stupid about why they like what they like don't they?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/features/story/0,,1696156,00.html

I do like a good conspiracy...

p.s. lex, that one's for you :)

I like this statement. Esp. given that The Knife have only played live once or twice ever. Are they really the most popular band on ILM right now? (the Arctic Monkeys, it would seem, despite threads of such length as this, are not).

FFS

It certainly wasn't a reference to how good they are as a live act (possibly excellent, but it was hard to tell with the kind of audience they had at that show).

Re: (dis)honesty, I'm reminded of that John Peel quote about intelligent drum and bass.

I still wish they had been 'busted' for it though, for giggles & the reactions it might have caused.

NME assistant editor Malik Meer said: "The fact that they have had two number one singles means they are not just for a core of obsessive fans. This is good old honest rock 'n' roll, which we have been lacking lately."

EXCLUSIVE:
We find blonde who inspired hot new band's sad love song

ARCTIC MONKEYS PUT ME IN THE CHARTS FOR BREAKING THEIR HEARTS

By Rachel Spencer

THIS stunning blonde was the secret inspiration for a hit song by No1 pop sensation Arctic Monkeys—after DUMPING two boys in the band.
First Lauren Bradwell dated drummer Matt Helders before switching to singer Alex Turner.

But then she broke Alex's heart when she ditched him for an older lad with a car. And, unable to forget, he poured out his sadness in Bigger Boys And Stolen Sweethearts—the flipside of Arctic Monkeys' first chart-topping single I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor.

Lauren, 20, said: "I knew as soon as I saw the lyrics that the song was about me, and Alex admits it.

"We dated when we were in the fourth year at Stocksbridge High School in Sheffield. He was a lovely lad and I still have feelings for him now. But this older boy charmed me away. I was impressed by stupid things, his age and the car. Now I wish I'd stayed with Alex."

So did he! In his song Alex tells how he regrets not making the most of his young love before she upped and got engaged to a new fella—and confessed he was too scared of his taller rival to ask for a second chance.

The chorus wails: "They've got engaged, no intention of a wedding. He's pinched your bird and he'd probably kick your head in."

Lauren revealed: "I dated Matt first. We just used to hang around together at breaktime. And a couple of months after we split I started going out with Alex. I got one of my friends to ask him in the playground. We were only 14—too young for pubs and we didn't have any money to go out properly.

"But Alex would come to my house and we'd just chat and listen to music together. He was a really sweet lad, a real gentleman who was kind and treated me with respect.

"He was quite shy and quiet but all the girls liked him. He was really good-looking but not arrogant with it. We got on well and talked for ages about all sorts of stuff.

"He used to write songs and always said he wanted to be in a band. He'd sit in lessons daydreaming, doodling lyrics in the back of his book.

"The wildest thing we did was have a party when my dad was out. Alex brought Andy Nicholson (the band's bass player) round one night and we got really drunk raiding my dad's drinks cupboard. Andy passed out on the couch and me and Alex stayed in my room upstairs, just kissing and cuddling."

But after four months of inncocent fun Lauren fell for the big boy with the Peugeot 405, who took her out for drives when she should have been in class.

In the song, Alex writes of his love rival picking up a girl at the school gates and how she "wagged English and science just to go in his car."

Lauren told us: "It's quite embarrassing now but that was me. It's really sad and shallow but I was impressed and thought the guy was cool. My mates were all envious.

"When I told Alex I didn't want to see him any more he wasn't expecting it, but seemed to take it well. He was still polite and we'd say hello in the corridor but the friendship was gone."

Friends told her Alex was secretly devastated—especially when she got engaged to her new boyfriend six months later.

"Two years on I realised the mistake I'd made," said Lauren. "The guy treated me badly and we split up. I was gutted and wished I'd stayed with Alex. He's a good-looking lad and was so lovely to me.

"I can't believe the mess I made of it, not because he's famous, but because he's a nice, genuine lad."

With Arctic Monkeys topping the singles chart with second release When The Sun Goes Down AND the album chart with What People Say I Am That's What I'm Not, Lauren added: "I love the music and I'm really pleased they've done so well.

"It's mad seeing your school boyfriend become a worldwide star. I just wish I'd treated him better."

I was impressed by stupid things like age and car, I should have been impressed by lots of money instead.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/30/arts/music/30monkeys.html

Teen Spirit: Arctic Monkeys Observed in the Wild
By KELEFA SANNEH
Published: January 30, 2006
GLASGOW, Jan. 29 — He is one of the biggest rock stars in Britain, leader of one of the most exciting bands on the planet. He just turned 20. And on Friday night he could be found in a grotty little room in Glasgow, talking about his grandfather.
He is Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys, a scrappy and brilliant group from Yorkshire that is currently awash in hyperbolic praise. The debut Arctic Monkeys album, "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not" (Domino), has been instantly — and accurately — hailed as a modern classic, even though it was only released a week ago. The British music magazine NME ranked it at No. 5 on a recent list of the greatest British albums ever. It sold over 360,000 copies in the last week, making it the fastest-selling debut album in British history.

But despite this whirlwind, Mr. Turner seemed unusually self-aware but not at all worried as he sat backstage at the Carling Academy Glasgow before playing yet another sold-out show.

"My granddad said to me, 'I think you've overdoon it,' " he said, acknowledging with his Yorkshire pronunciation the huge fuss about the little band. "And I said, 'I think you're right.' "

Hype isn't really the right word to describe the Arctic Monkeys phenomenon, which began with sold-out local gigs and homemade CD's passed from old fans to new ones. Record executives struggled to keep up; Domino Records eventually signed the band and released a single, "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor," which topped the British charts. The follow-up single, "When the Sun Goes Down," also went to No. 1.

If only the music weren't so thrilling, there would probably be a serious backlash afoot. The Arctic Monkeys specialize in tidy but anthemic little postpunk songs, propelled by bursts of guitar chords and constant zigzags. In "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor," the band hurtles through three different riffs — all utterly infectious — in the 30 seconds before Mr. Turner lets loose his thin voice and thick accent.

Then he does, and the song gets even better. Mr. Turner's lyrics are worth waiting for and often worth memorizing, too. He delivers pithy, unpretentious descriptions of a teenage world defined by daydreams and nightlife. And he has an uncanny way of evoking Northern English youth culture while neither romanticizing it nor sneering at it.

(that's only the beginning of the article)

I've heard I Bet You Look Good On the Dancefloor - it's good, but I'm not convinced it's the greatest thing to be released in years.

It's also partly this "fairness" idea that makes the audience respond to "low" values: Alex's low age and his low social origins. These are "real", even if most people in Britain are middle class and a bit older. The real is absent. That's the rock idea, intit? Funny to see Kelefa buying into that!

Still, there's nothing here as good, in terms of storytelling, as Howard Devoto or Mark E. Smith telling us about the "bingo master's breakout" or the lady who puts the little plastic robins on the Christmas cakes. Although perhaps those lyrics will get quoted eventually. Nice to see the pomo-meta thing reaching the working classes!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/features/story/0,,1695373,00.html
Take heart popists, there is no whiteout, Simon Webbe is the UK's top selling urban artist in ages.

-- pengwan (pengw...), January 25th, 2006.

hahahaha!

yeah but it was couched exclusveily in terms of "black people listen like THIS"

yes sure but the black audience is a tiny fraction of the white audience, so for her to play up the putative 'racial' aspect of listening to music defeats her *own* argument.

So what is the future for black British music? Investing and nurturing talent, instead of just dropping it, would make a huge difference. So, too, would developing more of a live scene. BBC radio's 1Xtra and digital TV's Channel U are a good start. It's about ensuring the foundations are there so that when black British music is back in the limelight, it stays there.

So underground Black music is too sneeringly indie for it's own good, and in order to survive it needs to be made more... Corporate Indie?

The bit about her going to Glastonbury was hilariously clueless!

I can't decide which is a stupider criticism, "bland" or "pretentious".

Top 25 Indie Albums Ever
http://rateyourmusic.com/list/Mikey2000/top_25_indie_albums_ever

probably a NME/Q reader

The Onion needs to get on this:

Music Geeks Think Much-Hyped New Band Really, Really Sucks

"Oh woe is me, bouncers and stupid drunk girls and people who solicit prostitutes and people what wear rap chav clothes are totally oppressing me and birds I keep meeting in clubs are rilly perplexing and your band is shite and oh man EVERYONE'S A VAMPIRE BUT ME. I am the world's only victim."

Lad-emo. No. God, no.

Cut to the chase, my friend. Surely you just mean 'lamo.'

Hahaha! Fantastic. Christ knows what album he's listening to, but fantastic

I really would have liked to be able to dance to this crap but shit me, it's really NOT actually that conducive (which goes for 99.9% of other "anthems" of this kind) after all. I'd kind of imagined they did have rhythm after all. Yeah album's alright, not as hateable as I wish it could be.

Ah well. Better luck next time.