2010.02.18 - A brit zene

The Beatles first arrived on the
Liverpool music scene in the early 60’s creating a huge
controversial craze among their fans known as Beatle
Mania. But there are many different kinds of music (musical
genres) that have helped shape British youth and here are
just a few.

Bhangra originated as a dance from
the farms in the Punjab region of India. Historically
the dance was performed to traditional Indian music
to celebrate a harvest, or a big village event,
like a wedding. But for the past couple of decades
Bhangra has also been a music sensation in the UK where it
is a fusion of traditional Indian music and modern
music styles.

Britpop is a form of Alternative Rock
with a definite "British" sensibility and attitude.
The music these artists make is quite diverse: groups
such as Blur and Radiohead are more experimental,
sometimes bordering on art-rock, while others, such
as Oasis and Black Grape, deliver a hard-rocking wall of
sound. In any form, Britpop has maintained a unique
slant on rock and roll from the late ‘80s forward.

Garage music originated in the USA in the
1970s. The name ‘garage’ came about because it was all about
young bands playing their own kind of music in their garages.

Glam rock was a peculiarly British
phenomenon, a style of rock music popularised in the
1970s, which approached music with a get dressed up
and be freaky attitude, distinguished by the
wild costumes and otherworldly stage acts of the performers
rather than any particular aspect of their music.

Grunge is also popularly referred to as
the Seattle Sound and the most famous Grunge group is
probably Nirvana the tragic American band of the 1980s.
Although it became hugely popular in the UK with its fusion
of punk, thrash metal and alternative rock, its popularity
was short-lived. When Kurt Cobain (of Nirvana) committed
suicide in April of 1994, grunge music effectively
began its decline. Interestingly, Cobain had
often been photographed wearing t-shirts stating that "Grunge
is Dead".

Hip Hop originated in New York in the
late 1970s. The MCing, DJing youth culture of hip hop
encompasses not just the music, but fashion,
break-dancing (b-boying) and grafitti art. MCing otherwise
known as rapping is the vocal expression of lyrics in sync
to the rhythm beneath it.

Indie isn’t so much a sound as a
concept. Taken from the word independent it began as a
revolt against MOR (middle of the road) pop,
manufactured bands and the major record labels. The idea is
to set up your own recording and distribution label free of
long term contracts.