Luke Haines - "Bad Vibes - Britpop and My Part in Its Downfall" (2009)

El Britpop. A aquestes alçades són incomptables els volums i articles dedicats a explicar-ne la història. El problema és que sempre l'expliquen els mateixos: agents implicats, cronistes oficials i representants de la pròpia indústria que se'l va treure de sota la màniga. Per això són d'agrair veus dissidents i mirades crítiques com les de tot un Luke Haines. L'home que va veure néixer i créixer la criatura des de dins i com a motor creatiu dels mai prou reivindicats Auteurs. L'home a qui part de la premsa de l'època va atribuir la condició de pioner en una escena de la qual mai ha volgut saber res. L'home que de bon principi es va adonar de l'absurditat de tot plegat. De com la indústria britànica s'havia inventat de la nit al dia un cul de sac per vendre grups que no tenien en comú res més que la maleïda etiqueta -de Suede als primers Radiohead, passant per Oasis, Blur o uns Pulp que encara no deuen saber què nassos pintaven enmig de tot allò-. "Bad Vibes - Britpop and My Part in Its Downfall" (2009) va ser el debut literari de Haines. Les memòries de qui es va aïllar de la Cool Britannia enregistrant un disc amb Steve Albini -un any després de la mort de Kurt Cobain- i signant un àlbum conceptual sobre la Baader-Meinhof mentre Blur cantaven sobre cases de camp. Un comprimit d'acidesa, humor i mala llet -si una cosa no té aquest home són pèls a la llengua-. I, sobretot, la contracrònica definitiva del Britpop. El llibre no està d'actualitat -porta cinc anys editat i es manté inèdit tant en català com en castellà-, però un servidor l'ha estat llegint aquests dies i els pot assegurar que no li sobre ni una coma. La meva recomanació literària per aquest Sant Jordi.



"Once upon a time, in the faraway land of Britannia, there were two popular singing groups. The first group was called Suede; they were the more popular of the two singing groups. All the little girls and boys of the kingdom of Britannia loved the Suede group and their singer called Brett. He sang songs to them of his life lived in council houses and sniffing glue, and when he sang he swished his floppy hair around and pulled funny faces. All the children laughed and danced and swooned. The other group was called The Auteurs. They were not as popular as the Suede group, although they had better songs. One of these songs was called 'American Guitars'. Some of the lance corporals of the kingdom of Britannia thought they heard a story in the song about an ancient mythical war between Britannia and the old kingdom of America. In their excitement the lance corporals hadn't listened to the song properly. Nevertheless, it gave them an idea about a new kind of music for the children of Britannia. They announced their idea in Select magazine in April 1993. On the cover of the magazine the singer called Brett pulled one of his funny faces in front of the stripy flag of Britannia. The lance corporals had written the commandment 'Yanks Go Home' in crayon above the popular singer's funny face. Inside, the less popular singer from the Auteurs said some things about the Kingdom of Britannia, as did some older groups with names like Saint Etienne and Denim. The lance corporals realised that the children of Britannia were never going to love the two older groups so they banished them from the kingdom. What they really needed were lots more younger groups like Suede and the Auteurs to sing to the children of Britannia.
But over in the old kingdom of America there was an ogre, an ogre that could not be vanished, for he was too talented and blessed with the evangelical spirit of rock'n'roll through the ages. All the children of the whole world loved Kurt the ogre, for he was kind and gentle. However, the lance corporals knew that Kurt was deppressed and addicted to heroin, and were sure that one day he would take his own life. It would only be after that sad day that the lance corporals would be allowed to unleash their new music for the children of Britannia: they would call it Britpop"

Aquest fragment del capítol "Brick budgie" explica el Britpop molt millor que qualsevol especial d'NME.