Where Did All the Bands Go?

So, Alex James from Blur is having a moan about the charts. And honestly? I kind of get it. He’s saying it’s all Taylor Swift and Lily Allen up there, and… well, he’s got a point, hasn’t he?

I was reading this thing where he said he had to take his daughter somewhere, heard the Top 40, and it struck him how a few big names hog all the spots. Like, where’s the variety? He’s reminiscing about the 90s, Britpop’s “golden era,” and how back then, it was BAND after BAND. Different sounds, different vibes. All bands.

I remember that. I lived that. And it was different.

It’s easy to dismiss it as nostalgia, right? Just an old guy yearning for “the good old days.” But there’s something to what he’s saying about musical landscape. It feels… curated, maybe? Or homogenized. I don’t know. I’ve seen this happen in other industries, this consolidation of power and influence.

He even said something about the 90s feeling like yesterday, but it’s actually as far away as “Back to the Future” goes. Isn’t that mad? Makes you feel old.

And he’s still out there doing his thing, you know? Doing that Britpop Classical thing—apparently they played some festival. Not sure if that’ll keep going. Plus, he’s got his farm. Pigs, mud, the whole deal. Which he apparently needs a break from because, “the more time you spend there, the harder it is to escape.” I feel that on a spiritual level, honestly. The pull of a routine… it gets you.

Maybe he’s just craving that tour bus life. Get out there again, see some faces. The tour kicks off in London. Royal Albert Hall. Classic.

I guess what I’m thinking is, it’s not about dissing pop stars—they’re great at what they do. But is there space for more? More bands, more weirdness, more… different different? Sometimes I think the algorithm just wins. And that’s a bit of a shame.

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