There's Only Music So That There's New Ringtones

I'm late on this but Sasha Frere-Jones wrote about Brit Pop's forumla for success in America. Why is Coldplay and that awful James Blunt popular there while the Arctic Monkeys and Robbie Williams remain unrecognized relative to their success in the UK?

On what works:

Nevertheless, they have several crucial things in common: their lyrics tend to be uplifting; they lack identifiably English accents, and they avoid British slang unfamiliar to Americans. These attributes are what distinguish their music from another strain of mainstream English pop, which rarely makes it big in the States, even when it should.

And what doesn't:

Logistical factors—the comparative ability of independents and majors to promote acts, the tight strictures of radio—are partly to blame, but the bigger problem is one of accents and attitude. If your songs are cynical, ironic, or misanthropic, and loaded with references to Tesco or “tracky bottoms tucked in socks,” Americans may simply turn the dial.

I'm not sure what the real definition of Brit Pop is anymore. Some might argue that genre in its truest sense left with Blur and the best days of Oasis. All I know is that I prefer my music with drama, saddness and attitude, which is why British music comes second only to CanCon on my iTunes. SFJ is right on when he describes Coldplay's better songs as miniature epics. "Everything's Not Lost" is my favourite of the band's discography. At more than five minutes just like my favourite Embrace song's "Out of Nothing" (5:31), both songs are not simple declarations of one idea or feeling but they are bouquets of emotions, multi-layered in lyrics and composition.

Arctic Monkeys - A Certain Romance (The "tracky bottoms" song and my favourite Monkeys song)
Coldplay - Everything's Not Lost
Embrace - Out of Nothing
Embrace - All You Good Good People (A happy Embrace tune for the Americans)

Photo: Taken on Lantau Island on the Wisdom Path during a hike in Western Hong Kong.

Comments

[Laurie Lambert]

Can we just talk about how awesome SFJ is? Love his blog and his articles. He's never on the pulse, he's always ahead of it.

[Nic]

Arctic Monkeys are awesome, they're witty, clever, and oh so very British. Who else would use wanker in a song? I can't enough of them.

[optimus]

i'm having trouble getting my sympathy up for robbie williams, or finding any enthusiasm for a north america with more robbie williams in it.

[Andrea Chiu]

Oh Nik, you're going to have to convince me that the Monkeys are witty and clever for a reason besides the word "wanker."

Optimus: Robbie Williams is a sexy arse to many-a-lady and a good handful of lads too. His ridiculously expensive concert in Hong Kong is already sold out.

[rrobertsjnr]

If you talk about BritPop and not mention the Girls,
you are either brain dead or live under a rock.

If Pop has any future of living while that awful
HipSlop is polluting the airwaves, GA
is the group to do it.

They are doing the ONLY pop
music of any interest at all.

S F-J thinks so, too.

[Andrea Chiu]

Funny, if S F-J "thinks so, too" he failed to mention Girls Aloud in his article. He must be brain dead or lives under a rock.

I do like the Girls though.

[rrobertsjnr]

One needs to check one's facts before
one attemps to use one's mind…

let alone attempts to write lame humor.

But, then again, perhaps one doesn't know how to search
for other recent articles by sf-j.

Hint… does G ring a bell?

[Andrea]

One said, "if you talk about BritPop and not mention the Girls, you are either brain dead or live under a rock."

One later said, (after it was pointed out that Sasha Frere-Jones had not mentioned Girls Aloud in this article), sf-j doesn't count as braindead because he's mentioned the band in other articles. (Duh!)

One thinks he's the only person who reads the New Yorker when he can barely write a proper sentence.

One must have a valid argument before commenting on a blog, especially when unnecessarily rude to others.

One must have a very sad and lonely life to be randomly insulting people on the Internet.