Steve Lamacq: Lost Alternatives

Beautifully packaged and researched period piece. You will remember some of the bands and maybe some of the songs (that's why you're here, right?), but there's a lot of stuff that you probably missed and you are going to like because you were spending a lot of your money at the time down the pub, weren't you? There are extensive notes from uncle Steve. Yes, it's expensive, but this was a productive era and deserves a proper review of some of the lesser-known stuff. Glad I got it - I am finding 5 or 6 killers on each CD, which is a pretty good hit rate for compilations of this size.

Not the best of the box sets of late but enough to make it worthy of a purchase when reduced in price

Great comp

The problem with "I was there" statements (as evidenced by LCD Soundsystem's awesomely hilarious 'Losing My Edge') are twofold. Firstly, it's impossible to confirm or deny and secondly, they're usually the rabidly defended bastion of a particular kind of hipster indie bell-end. I, however, was there. In the 90s, when the blood and guts were flying and secondhand Fred Perry tops and feathercuts were suddenly back with a vengeance but also no. For many, the 90s is either Blur v Oasis (or "how to sell two well-below par singles and call it a cultural event") or Kurt Cobain blowing his brains out in defiance of the corporate machine (he was depressed but at the time we thought he was punk rock, man) but there was so much more than that. There was awful provincial indie as this lovingly curated boxset demonstrates. Rubbish versions of much better bands, doing pastiches of songs that didn't so much reinterpret the original for a new generation as completely misunderstand what made them any good in the first place. Men in cagoules. And then there was S*M*A*S*H and These Animal Men. Words cannot describe but the hype around these bands was HUGE. It's laughable now but that's almost anything viewed through the unforgiving lens of age for you. Except for The Dark Crystal. These awful Buzzcocks and Clash wannabes were the progenitors of the Libertines. They planted the seeds that would later bloom (with the help of the Strokes injecting some much needed sex appeal into indie rock) into the 00s landfill indie explosion. Without them, there would be no Fratellis, Pigeon Detectives, Courteeners, Kooks, Kaiser Chiefs and so on. Personally, I could live without any of these bands and most of the bands on the boxset too but it serves as a cruel and awesome reminder of how fickle and fleeting (and mostly imaginary) the notion of "Indie Cool" was and still is. Last year's big deal is now little more than Poundland fodder and time marches on. I think, with the exception of Teenage Fanclub, the Auteurs, Suede and Elastica's debut, I've got rid of almost every artist album I took a youthful and oft misguided punt on. Ash, Mansun, Bluetones, Bis, Catatonia, Bis, Tiger, Scarfo, Kenickie, Idlewild, Delgados, Ten Benson, Seafood et al. All gone but they were fiercely loved at the time.The 90s would like to pretend that it was a more innocent and punk rock era for music but, in reality, it was equally subject to corporate tastemakers like Lamacq here as we are today, in the age of Instagram influencers and social media buzz. The legacy of the 90s is that you could be three guys (or gals) from nowhere and get played on the radio, even just once. You might even get your video shown on The Chart Show. The limited amount of exposure available in the pre-internet days made any play or appearance feel like a huge victory but, more often than not, it lead nowhere. Nowadays, an act can thrive in Bandcamp obscurity for years and still get some Pitchfork or Stereogum love every once in a while without it actually being a big deal. This boxset showcases the very few winners in the great post-Nirvana scramble to monetise indie and alternative values but it's okay. Sometimes just acknowledging the losers is okay. That's what the 00s is all about after all: you might not win but you do get a sticker for participating.Get the 4CD set as the vinyl omits a lot of tracks. The very charm of this set is the sheer volume of tracks you're being presented with. It's no Nuggets (as I'm sure Lamacq went into the project thinking he was this generation's Lenny Kaye but no. I always preferred Jo Whiley anyway) but it's very well put together and truly evocative of the era. I can actually remember enthusiastically swinging my then long hair to some of these (now admittedly awful ) tracks at the (equally awful) local indie disco and, for me, that warrants a purchase.

Was an indie kid, so had heard or bought most of these previously .....but such a blast listening again to bands who went on to bigger things “Suede” / “Charlatans”, those who failed to fulfil their initial promise “These Animal Men”& discovering gems that passed me by first time round such as the “Llama Farmers”. & “Perfume”. Yes there are some bands here who deserve to be forgotten but with 71 tracks, it’s good value well put together set.

Not really a review just pointing out the fact that saying it contains music not available on any streaming service is a lie. So, anyway, there you go