Analogue Slop

April 1995 Part 1 - The Stone Roses, Scott Walker

In which Scott Walker returns from self-imposed exile with Tilt, a record so confrontationally out of step with Britpop Britain it feels beamed in from another reality. While the Stone Roses attempt to reclaim their throne via a legendarily ropey Oslo comeback show, woollen knitwear, and several metric tonnes of cocaine-era optimism.

July 1999 Part 2 - Landfill Wu-Tang, Mr. Scruff

In which we revisit Mr. Scruff’s Keep It Unreal, trace the path from Ninja Tune curiosity to permanently licensed British institution, and ask whether any late-90s album has worked harder in service of TV background music, car adverts and graphic design degree coursework. Elsewhere, we conduct a full spreadsheet-assisted audit of the post-Wu-Tang Forever collapse: RZA’s disappearing production credits, the rise of landfill Wu-Tang, Ghostface’s lone quality-control operation, and why Beneath The Surface deserves rescuing from the great late-90s rap mulch pile.

July 1999 Part 1 - Manic Street Preachers, Star Wars, Festival Season

In which the Manic Street Preachers attempt to survive peak overexposure, Melody Maker desperately tries to make festival season feel culturally decisive, and Star Wars crosses the invisible line between treasured generational reference point and permanently monetised corporate property.

October 1992 Part 2 - Sonic Youth, Dr. Dre, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Eazy-E

In which Eazy-E sues pretty much everyone in sight, we trace the origin story of Deep Cover (and its many afterlives), and a small news item quietly reroutes the entire future of Death Row, Interscope and several billion dollars’ worth of hip hop history. Elsewhere, Sonic Youth attempt to weaponise the alternative nation moment with Youth Against Fascism — a major label push that mistakes cultural weight for crossover potential, and raises the eternal question of whether some bands are simply too cool (or too dissonant) to ever properly land.

October 1992 Part 1 - Nirvana, Bob Dylan, Primal Scream & Sinead O'Connor

In which we trace a week where Nirvana quietly extend the Nevermind moment with Incesticide (outtakes, victory laps and all), Primal Scream attempt to stretch Screamadelica into an arena-sized endgame for striking miners, and Bob Dylan is celebrated, second-guessed and sporadically coherent at a sprawling Madison Square Garden tribute that may or may not be for him. Elsewhere, Sinéad O’Connor collides head-on with the limits of acceptable dissent, the UK music press attempts to decide who gets to be radical (and how), and we revisit a moment where rebellion starts to look suspiciously well-behaved. Plus: techno pagan sound systems, proto-post-rock glimpses, Madchester comedowns, and one extremely bitter letter writer.