CABARET VILLE MAGAZINE. P252. CONTINUED FROM P251
WORLD OF JAZZ, POP AND ROCK
THE BEST MUSICIANS AND TOP BANDS IN GREAT BRITAIN TODAY
6.
Blur
Their
name may have been picked under duress from a record company shortlist of
meaningless epithets, but it suits them. Blur are all about velocity.
Whether you consider Damon Albarn a mercurial genius or a dexterous
dilettante, he never sits still, the only constant being a passionate
belief that pop and art are not mutually exclusive. A full decade after
they drew Britpop's battle lines, Blur are immersed in playful junk-shop
funk and plaintive ballads on a seventh album, Think Tank, which may be
their finest yet. Sound:15 Songs:18 Gigs: 18 Style:15 Attitude:15
7.
Mis-Teeq
Britain's answer to Destiny's Child (albeit with a penchant for PVC
jerkins), Mis-Teeq have long since outpaced the garage scene that created
them. It's hard to believe this
primped
and polished - but utterly cool - trio were raised in south and west
London. There's a Gothic eeriness to hits like Scandalous and One Night
Stand that differentiates them from their US counterparts. Until they
start hankering for solo careers, the future is shiny. Sound:15 Songs:16
Gigs: 16 Style:17 Attitude:15 Total: 79
8. The
Darkness
Proving, as Adam Ant said, that ridicule is nothing to be scared of, the
Darkness sashayed out of Lowestoft to give glam-metal a 21st-century
voice. Though their spandex leotards and high-decibel pounding appear to
be a style magazine's idea of a prank, they are serious enough about it to
have sold 450,000 copies of debut album Permission to Land in three
months. They may last only until Justin Hawkins's hysterical falsetto
gives out, but every ludicrous bite should be savoured. Sound:10 Songs:14
Gigs:15 Style:19
Attitude:20
9. The
Streets
He looks like a naughty schoolboy and sounds like a rascal, his days one
long blur of PlayStation, dope and too much brandy. But in putting that
lackadaisical life to a soundtrack of cheap bleeps and Casio melodies,
Mike Skinner pushed UK garage to a whole new level. Last year's debut,
Original Pirate Material, exuded wit as it chronicled the warts-and-all
life of one cocky, unreliable, skint, very British lad. It will be
thrilling to see where this cheeky, utterly engaging geezer goes next.
Sound:20 Songs:17 Gigs:11 Style:10 Attitude:19
10.
David Bowie
One of rock's pivotal style icons and innovators, Bowie's major
achievements (Ziggy Stardust, Young Americans, Low, Heroes et al) have
involved remodelling fringe ideas for the mainstream. By the 1980s,
having explored glam rock, androgyny, astral travel, "plastic soul",
synthesisers and cocaine, he was exhausted, and by the 90s he had
panicked into following trends (notably drum'n'bass for 1997's
Earthling). Recently, however, Heathen (2002) and Reality (2003)
received glowing reviews. Fans have speculated whether the twin-colour-eyed
genius is an alien life-form, a theory given credence by the fact that,
at 56, he looks better than he did in 1975. Sound:16 Songs:14 Gigs:18
Style:15 Attitude:13
11.
Dizzee Rascal
Last month, 19-year-old Dylan Mills won the Mercury prize. The reponse
from the music industry was muted, possibly because no matter how many
awards he wins, Mills's music is likely to remain unpalatable to the
mainstream. However, a lack of commercial potential doesn't make his
work any less vital. His lyrics offer a witty, disconcerting skewering
of teenage life in inner-city Britain, while his noisy, uncomfortable
sound is as close to the cutting edge as British urban music gets in
2003. Sound:20 Songs:20 Gigs:- Style:15 Attitude:20 Total: 75
12.
Super Furry Animals
When SFA emerged in the mid-1990s, British pop had never seen anything
like them. With a line-up including politico/poet Gruff Rhys and
disgraced former schoolteacher "Bunf" Bunford, they offered a
kaleidoscopic vision of pop possibilities. Their 1996 debut Fuzzy Logic
took in marxism, Welsh nationalism, dole culture, drug smugglers,
unicorns and more. However, their fondness for a jape should not
overshadow the enormous thought that underpins their music. Six albums
down the line, the band have achieved a level of consistency matched by
few British outfits since the Beatles. The recent Phantom Power was
their second to chart in the top five, and they remain one of Britain's
best-loved live bands, often turning up at gigs with tanks and furry
costumes. Sound:17 Songs:15 Gigs:16 Style:10 Attitude:16