On the Shelf 080: Martin Rossiter
Dec. 13th, 2012 09:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bedsitter23Oh, 90s Britpop.
It's legacy is Oasis vs Blur (Oasis surely had the bigger pay day, but I'd rather be Damon in 2012), and Menswear jokes (oh, and there was Pulp, too).
There were a lot of very good and interesting bands at the time, though, and I was a big Britpop guy.
One of my favorite bands was Gene fronted by Martin Rossiter. gene specialized in songs for the lost and lonely- Morrissey-style songs.
1995's debut Olympian didn't do Moz songs better than Morrissey, but it at least did Moz songs better than Morrissey was doing himself in 95.
Follow-up Drawn to the Deep End was where the band found itself and made an album that I consider an under-appreciated classic.
I followed everything they did, but like many bands, Gene gave us diminishing returns until they split.
Rossiter has been largely unseen in the last decade, just now emerging with the largely self-funded The Defenestration of St Martin released earlier this month.
It is the typical fare and since there are only so many Moz Songs to be written, Rossiters's topics don't seem too far away from later-day Moz titles like "I Have Forgiven Jesus", "I Know Very Well How I got my Name", and "Satan Rejected My Soul". (Rossiter's visage has also become increasingly Moz-like in the passing years).
Still, despite the topics, the execution is pretty strong, and a lot of the British music mags are pushing this as a late year "Best Of 2012" contender
Rossiter's album is a collection of piano ballads. Like Brett Anderson, that shouldn't be surprising, but it makes the music far less accessible without the occasional hard rock guitar.
It's good to have Martin back, and I encourage fans to check it out (or if you didn't catch him the first time around, and like similar artists).
Not for everyone, sure, but a strong comeback from someone we miss.
It's legacy is Oasis vs Blur (Oasis surely had the bigger pay day, but I'd rather be Damon in 2012), and Menswear jokes (oh, and there was Pulp, too).
There were a lot of very good and interesting bands at the time, though, and I was a big Britpop guy.
One of my favorite bands was Gene fronted by Martin Rossiter. gene specialized in songs for the lost and lonely- Morrissey-style songs.
1995's debut Olympian didn't do Moz songs better than Morrissey, but it at least did Moz songs better than Morrissey was doing himself in 95.
Follow-up Drawn to the Deep End was where the band found itself and made an album that I consider an under-appreciated classic.
I followed everything they did, but like many bands, Gene gave us diminishing returns until they split.
Rossiter has been largely unseen in the last decade, just now emerging with the largely self-funded The Defenestration of St Martin released earlier this month.
It is the typical fare and since there are only so many Moz Songs to be written, Rossiters's topics don't seem too far away from later-day Moz titles like "I Have Forgiven Jesus", "I Know Very Well How I got my Name", and "Satan Rejected My Soul". (Rossiter's visage has also become increasingly Moz-like in the passing years).
Still, despite the topics, the execution is pretty strong, and a lot of the British music mags are pushing this as a late year "Best Of 2012" contender
Rossiter's album is a collection of piano ballads. Like Brett Anderson, that shouldn't be surprising, but it makes the music far less accessible without the occasional hard rock guitar.
It's good to have Martin back, and I encourage fans to check it out (or if you didn't catch him the first time around, and like similar artists).
Not for everyone, sure, but a strong comeback from someone we miss.
