Ellie Goulding, Delphic, Florence + The Machine and La Roux. Apparently they’re all rising stars and some of the best in Pop and Indie at the moment. At least according to the Brits themselves.
Last year was overall a good year for Indie and pop. America was in the front seat of the more experimental side of the Indie scene with the Brooklyn movement, exemplified brilliantly by Animal Collective, Grizzly Bear and Dirty Projectors. At the same time some very interesting pop infused acts emerged from Scandinavia, France and the rest of Europe, but the only really great act from the British Isles lately have been The XX. The south west London trio have been a massive success, and there’s no wondering why. Their music is refreshing, with melancholy moods and fragile vocals contradicting the rest of Britain’s flock of sheep, including the aforementioned four. However, other than The XX, there’s no other British band really worth mentioning.
The British press might have sensed the same thing, and having such a rich history of pop sensations, they might be a bit unsatisfied with the current situation. No bands are doing anything worth international acclaim, and the charts are infected with JLS, Calvin Harris, Dizzie Rascal and the latest from the cheese factory that is the X-factor. So, what the press seems to be doing now, is clasping onto whatever act that might possibly receive a little bit of hipster cred, praising them to the skies and beyond without taking into consideration their international peers in hope that people wont open their ears and look a bit further than the shoreline. But when the records are finally released and put into the context of the rest of the world, the bubble pops and the music falls through the massive media created hype and the reality becomes very clear: British Pop is dead.
And i’m sorry if that seems a bit harsh. I’m not trying to trash any of the British acts. All of the ones I have mentioned so far (with an obvious exception in JLS, Dizzie and Calvin Harris) does have something good going on. I do listen to their stuff now and then, and its totally acceptable. But that’s kind of where it stops. With acceptable. And for them to then be praised as the best of the best in several English publications is fairly worrying. NME called Delphics debut, “Alcoyte”, “The first great debut of 2010”, Ellie Goulding won the Brit Critics’ Choice Award and The Guardian said Little Boots’ debut ”sounds impressively poised, built to withstand — indeed, even deserve — the hype”. The only reviewer to get it right seems to be Pitchfork, which has given the albums in question 5, 6.8 and 5.9 out of 10, respectively. It seems the British press is living in a bubble. Totally oblivious to the amazing bands emerging everywhere, they cling on to easily forgettable, and quite frankly disappointing British bands in a desperate attempt to salvage some of their musical pride. But thankfully, I’m not British. I can just put my earphones on and keep on listening to the Dirty Projectors, Lindstrøm and Neon Indian in bliss while the Brits scream after something to be proud of.
