SOMETHING IN THE WATER :: Music from the U.K.
As someone born just on the cusp of the nineties, I was a little too young to experience Britpop in its heyday, but I discovered Oasis in my preteen years (circa 1997’s Be Here Now), and from there found my way deep into the discographies of bands like The Beatles, The Clash, The Smiths, The Stone Roses, The Jam, Joy Division, and New Order. I went on to spend a questionably large portion of my early teen years devouring NME, Mojo, and Q magazines and desperately holding out for some kind of major resurgence in the British music scene. I’m not so sure that it ever really happened, although there certainly was a big to-do when the first Arctic Monkeys record came out, and Mumford & Sons have recently made some huge strides to help make folk rock cool again.
Fads aside, I have England and Scotland to thank for many of my favourite modern-day artists, even if it does feel like North America is so often foolishly ignoring them. Ever since I was young, I’ve tried to follow the British music scene as best as I can — despite the large body of water between us — and I usually don’t get around to sharing even half of them on MvM. In light of this, I threw together a mix of some of my favourite bands/artists that have come out of the U.K. in recent years, as well as some up-and-comers well worth keeping an eye on. If you find yourself enraged by any glaring omissions, keep calm and carry on, then feel free to leave a comment at the bottom.
ZIP: Something in the Water :: Music from the U.K. Mix
mp3: Baxter Dury - Trellic from Happy Soup (2011)
Wingrave, England
mp3: Black Black Hills - A Drowning (2012)
Brighton, England
mp3: Bombay Bicycle Club - What You Want from A Different Kind of Fix (2011)
London, England
mp3: Chapel Club - All the Eastern Girls from Palace (2011)
London, England
mp3: Elbow - Open Arms from Build A Rocket Boys! (2011)
Bury, England
mp3: Fanfarlo - Deconstruction from Rooms Filled With Light (2012)
London, England
mp3: Fiction - Parakeets [Single] (2011)
London, England
mp3: Foals - This Orient from Total Life Forever (2010)
Oxford, England
mp3: Frank Turner - I Am Disappeared from England Keep My Bones (2011)
Meonstoke, England
mp3: Frightened Rabbit - Scottish Winds from A Frightened Rabbit EP (2011)
Selkirk, Scotland
mp3: Glasvegas - Shine Like Stars from EUPHORIC /// HEARTBREAK \\ (2011)
Glasgow, Scotland
mp3: Guillemots - I Must Be A Lover from Walk the River (2011)
Birmingham, England
mp3: The Horrors - You Said from Skying (2011)
Southend on Sea, England
mp3: Kasabian - Let’s Roll Just Like We Used To from Velociraptor! (2011)
Leicestershire, England
mp3: The Maccabees - Heave from Given to the Wild (2012)
London, England
mp3: Matthew and the Atlas - Beneath the Sea from Scavengers EP (2011)
London, England
mp3: Miles Kane - Rearrange from Colour of the Trap (2011)
The Wirral, England
mp3: Noah and the Whale - Just Me Before We Met from Last Night on Earth (2011)
London, England
mp3: Patrick Wolf - Time of My Life from Lupercalia (2011)
London, England
mp3: Stornoway - I Saw You Blink from Beachcomber’s Windowsill (2010)
Oxford, England
mp3: The Playmakers - She’s A Mystery [Single] (2011)
Cirencester, England
mp3: Spector - Grey Shirt & Tie [Single] (2011)
London, England
mp3: The Vaccines - Nørgaard from What Did You Expect From the Vaccines? (2011)
London, England
mp3: The Veils - The Stars Came Out Once the Lights Went Out from Troubles of the Brain EP (2011)
London, England
mp3: We Were Promised Jetpacks - Circles and Squares from In the Pit of the Stomach (2011)
Edinburgh, Scotland
mp3: Wild Beasts - Deeper from Smother (2011)
Kendal, England
mp3: Wolf Gang - Lions in Cages from Suego Faults (2011)
London, England
mp3: The xx - Open Eyes (demo) (2011)
London, England
