The perplexity of being an American trying to keep up with the British music scene can be a curious thing. Not only does the British music press seem driven to anoint a new, fairly forgettable British band as the next big thing every few years, but the British music fans also leave me scratching my head. It seems the debate over who was the great ‘90s Britpop band—Oasis or Blur—could reach near-hooligan levels of frenzy. UK fans and critics with more perverse sensibilities might occasionally toss out the name of Pulp every once in a while to add some fire to the debate.
None of these bands seem all that worthy of idolization to me, to be honest. (Of all their albums, I seem to prefer the late-‘90s Blur albums, Blur and 13; that’s only fitting, I suppose, since those albums were reportedly made to appeal to a U.S. alternative audience—like me, for example. Oasis is solid, accessible British alt-rock, but past “Live Forever” and “Wonderwall” it rarely possesses me; heck, I’d take the Verve’s Urban Hymns over any Oasis album, any day. And I admire the subversion of Pulp’s stuff more than I actually like listening to it, although “Common People” is irrefutably awesome.)
Perhaps better than all those bands, however, is an act that seems all but unknown stateside—the Auteurs. The guitar lines bring the hooks, Luke Haines sings with a charming sneer, and the sensibility is despicably, delightfully insidious. What’s not to love?
I first came to the Auteurs through a Haines side project called Baader Meinhof, named after a German terrorist organization—a set of deviant songs told from the point of view of an assortment of international ill-wishers. That’s the twisted way his imagination runs, you see. Not long after sinking my teeth into that tasty, misanthropic tidbit, I had the three prior Auteurs albums, which also spent plenty of time tantalizing my eardrums.
Here’s some Auteurs. Enjoy it in all its depravity.
Playlist 1
Playlist One highlights the first three Auteurs albums, New Wave (1993), Now I’m a Cowboy (1994), and After Murder Park (1996). Great stuff.
Playlist 2
Playlist Two was supposed to be an LP-length playlist including the entirety of the brilliant Baader Meinhof side project (the best of the albums compiled here), plus a few tracks from How I Learned to Love the Bootboys (1999).
But the Baader Meinhof album (1996) is not available on Spotify. I found the title track (which is more of an introductory track, really, not one of the better songs on the album by any stretch) on a compilation.
Cover Art:
- Now I’m a Cowboy and After Murder Park (inner sleeve): Source, Discogs.com, Fair use.
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