altrok main 9/23/2004

for September 23, 2004

Matt Would Have Played That... II
by Stiffy Biceptz

With the current state of radio, it's no wonder it seems as if there is no alternative music being made anymore. Without great outlets like the old WHTG or the Melody, you’d might never know of all the great music being made in the UK right now. This was how it was for me back in the early 80’s, but fortunately I met Matt Pinfield at the Melody and the rest is history.

As far as Stiffy is concerned, the UK is where it's at right now. With the U.S. music biz so corporatized and focused only on the next HUGE thing, a zillion cool bands are being overlooked.

The Libertines just released their self-titled album on August 30th of this year. My favorite track so far is "Last Post On The Bugle" which makes me jump around my office. This would have been big at the Melody as well as on FM 106.3.

The Streets put out an album last April containing a track called "Fit But You Know It". This tune is a very English, punky track with an entertaining smarty-pants attitude, the kind of thing that only the Melody crowd would have appreciated. I think you will too, so check it out.

Better Late Than Never: Back in 1997 the 60 Ft. Dolls cranked out an energetic tune called "Happy Shopper" off their album The Big 3. It’s a fun upbeat street anthem that reminded me of the Clash and the Replacements. Political punk fans should dig this as well as all the rest of you.

For the latest and greatest from Britain including the tracks I just mentioned, check out icebergradio.com and go to the "Cool Brittania" channel in the alternative section. [They're also being played on Altrok Radio's web stream regularly. If you haven't checked it out, why not do so now? - Ed.]

That’s all for now. Thanks for listening.