Music24

] 1997 was a brilliant year for music. Though I can in no way claim to remember any of it, being only two years of age, a mere glance at the end-of-year lists tells you all you need to know. OK Computer , Urban Hymns , Homework to name but three of the most iconic albums dropped in the 90s. One that perhaps gets overlooked in favour of its older siblings, however, is Blur’s self-titled fifth album Blur . Even the name conjures up a simplicity in its newfound no-nonsense approach. That’s not to say that Parklife and Modern Life is Rubbish were full of nonsense, but they were decidedly more lavish, extravagant and concept-driven in comparison to their 1997 counterpart. Blur was inspired hugely by Pavement and the US, and it shows.  That said, the Englishness is still there throughout, however subtle that may be. The opening track, ‘Beetlebum’ signals this change perfectly. As for the music video, pairing Coxon’s hypnotic outro with drone footage of London’s grimy industrial facad...

Recently, I saw a meme on Twitter mocking Keir Starmer supporters - rightly so of course. Within the dystopian montage of images set to MGMT’s excellently memeable track ‘Little Dark Age’ were the usual valid critiques of Starmer and his fanbase . However, one part I couldn’t forgive was the inclusion of the generic Spotify template proclaiming ‘This is Elbow’, as if being a fan of Elbow is somehow akin to believing in Centrism in all its (lack of) glory and progress. Well frankly, I’m not having it. Sure, ‘The Seldom Seen Kid’ probably strikes a chord with every dad across the land and beyond with its wistful and poignant croons that could just as easily be courtesy of your dad’s mate down the pub. Sure, ‘One Day Like This’ has inevitably become the overplayed staple of those that yearn for the Britain of the 2012 Olympics when everything was fine and dandy (it only took a year after those London riots as well - amazing!). But at the risk of sounding hipster, there was so much before ...