did anyone watch the britpop documentary last nite? i only watched cos i thought (hoped) there'd be some silver sun on it but alas...

one thing became clear though, as much as i hated the gallagher brothers, noel came out as a funny intelligent guy, and now i hate liam even more. what a tw...

damon albarn came across as arroagant (arent all musicians tho i suppose) and jarvis cocker was kinda funny.

though noel really did steal the show. if anyone saw it, the line about s-club juniors, had me in fits. i thought it was a damn good documentary, and when im fresh outta media school thats what i'll be making.

"the rise, fall and rise again of silver sun" who's with me?

alex

Too right, what you said about the Gallaghers.

I remember seeing an interview with the both of them on TV once, and Noel was funny and witty, generally being entertaining, and Liam... well, he just proved that he's a chimp.

I have a lot of thoughts about that film. But the funniest bit for me is the fact that 3D from Massive Attack is driving round the Mall complex in Bristol... and in the background you could clearly see the cinema I was watching it in. Very strange.

Other thoughts...

1) Noel Gallagher sometimes managed to be funny, but sometimes came across as an idiot.
2) Liam Gallagher - yep, idiot.
3) Damon Albarn - I didn't think he came across too well, but when I saw it again on TV I changed my mind. He pretty much answered everything that was asked of him except for the question about the 'battle' with Oasis. But as he said, that was because there was more to it than most people know about. There wasn't just a battle over music, but also over a certain singer from a certain band that could have been massive if they hadn't become smackheads...
4) Jarvis Cocker - the guy is a hero.
5) James Brown (Loaded editor) - what a monkey.
6) Jon Savage - see point 5.
7) Louise Wener - see point 5.
8) The film from a musical standpoint - missed opportunity. They could have covered a far more broad spectrum of what was going on, but I guess they thought it would be too unfocussed. But quite where Massive Attack (much as I like them) fitted into their story is anyone's guess.
9) The film from a political/ cultural standpoint - missed opportunity. A few people persuaded themselves that they were at the centre of the earth for a while. They were deluding themselves. The Blur/ Oasis thing got out of the NME and onto the main news, for a few weeks. That was it. Sure they could fill arenas but so could, say, the Smashing Pumpkins. And the whole linkage of the rise and fall of 'Britpop' and 'New Labour' was crap as well. Sure, New Labour tried to score some cred points from what was popular with 'the kids', but there was so much more going on. And Damon Albarn met Tony Blair at Parliament in 1994 before he was in power... something else that gets glossed over.

Maybe I'm just bitter that so much was lumped under one label (Britpop) which meant that when a few ignorant pundits decided it was 'over', then apparently it was all over. Personally, I think that The Bluetones, Blur and Pulp have made far better records since, whereas Oasis made one decent record in 1994 - none of this fits into any convenient timeline at all.

So anyway, yep, think it could have been better. Personally, I preferred 24 Hour Party People, which was at least honest about the way it took liberties with the truth.

This is a bit 'off topic' (as it were) but does anyone know if Louise Wener's books are any good? I remember The Guardian's Saturday supplement carrying a fairly hefty chunk of the first one, but it seemed spectacularly average to me.

I wondered what happened to her, i remember reading she was looking to become an author but didn't realise she'd had anything published.

Had a look around on the net and her two books seem to be getting excellent reviews all round.. been on the lookout for something new to read so might pick one of them up and see..

Used to really like Sleeper, in fact, probably wouldn't have heard of Silver Sun otherwise as it was seeing them supporting Sleeper that first got me listening to them.

Hoorah!

Picked one up yesterday "Goognight Steve McQueen" - read about 40 pages last night and so far it makes for a very good read. Definately worth a look if you're after something new to read.

yeah i heard her books were good. arent they about a girl trying to break it into the music industry or something? i might try get one soon, though im not big on girls in the music industry. it sounds a little sexist but i just dont do female singers, sleeper are the only band i have with a female vocalist. everything else just doesnt tickle my fancy. theres just something that wil always scream 'pop' and not 'rock' about female singers. (i fear i could be digging a hole for myself if no-one agrees)

alex

I can understand your point about female vocalists having a 'pop' rather than a 'rock' sound, but maybe it's just easier for women to 'make it' in the pop scene than the sweaty, testosterone-riddled fanboy world of rock. There are a few noble exceptions: Elastica, Sleater-Kinney and Pixies songs where Kim Deal sings.

The books about a guy who's been in a band for years and his girlfriend has given him 6months to either get a record deal or find another job otherwise she's gonna leave him.. or something like that. Haven't had chance to read anymore just yet.

There's a nother book she's got out too called "the big blind" or something like that, might pick it up after i finish this one.