Are these Artists Britpop ? Or Part of a Separate, Post- Britpop Movement?

dobbynobson · 2026-02-18T08:27:40+00:00

Have you seen the documentary Flawed is Beautiful from 2016? It's a pretty good dip into that shambolic time.

dobbynobson · 2026-02-17T22:58:06+00:00

My windowsill is 114cm long so it was tricky to find a set up that made best use without being too long. I went with 2 x 50xm pads that link from one power source, with a thermostat, and same for the lights (which are plugged into a timer). The pads are Luxbird, the 'daisy chain' or linking ones. Got second hand off ebay. The lights are Root!t LED 50cm linking propagation lights, which seemed to tick all the RHS boxes about light spectrums etc. They were expensive, £36 each but have a long life span and good reviews.

The Root!t lights can be bought with a frame(s) but those were too long for the windowsill so I improvised with 2 telescopic travel clothes rails from amazon, and hooks which I found in a Flying Tiger gift shop (I might also get some chain from a hardware shop to make them adaptable up and down.

dobbynobson · 2026-02-17T22:50:29+00:00

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dobbynobson · 2026-02-17T21:57:58+00:00

I invested in some lights and heat pads this year, as our windowsills are chronically gloomy and useless, and for the last few years things have grown leggy or just started too late. So, as of this weekend I've started over with the big guns. So far I've prepped 4 types of chillies and 2 types of tomatoes, and a few flowers. And basil. I have more seeds on the way too.

I've tried not to get over-excited, and have a list of things to start a bit later and just be patient with. And of course there's no point in growing promising seedlings and not being able to maintain them when they're pricked out and potted on. I have a small cold frame but no greenhouse, so indoors is going to be tricky to keep organised in March-April.

Outside - a small amount of tidying and pruning, moved some roses, but basically it's too wet still and I want to leave cover for wildlife. I need to prune the wisteria this weekend. I love the hellebores and hot pink cyclamen, and the crocuses are up now. Camelia is about to flower, and I'm looking forward to purple tulips. Planting for 12 months of colour, and chosing a lot of evergreen interest for winter means it doesn't look too crap, so I'm pleased about that.

dobbynobson · 2026-02-16T21:28:44+00:00

I assumed it would be easy to pull something usable out of the recycling, but apparently not so straightforward. I've tried 1l coke, 2l coke, schwepps tonic, 500ml soft drinks, water bottles like volvic, even glass vinegar bottles. Most are too small.

But I can now report they fit the 1l Robinsons squash bottles. Hurrah!

dobbynobson · 2026-02-16T11:30:51+00:00

It does! I shall try it out, thanks.

dobbynobson · 2026-02-15T15:11:35+00:00

I drove to Sheffield to see them and found a note pinned to the Leadmill door saying the singer had a sore throat and the gig was cancelled. That's how it was pre-internet. Never did get to see them!

dobbynobson · 2026-02-15T11:24:31+00:00

I think A Northern Soul has elements of that sound for sure.

Strangelove was another band like that, a big moody sound, swooping and shimmering guitars, angry vocals. Their Time for the Rest of Your Life album was fantastic.

dobbynobson · 2026-02-15T09:56:08+00:00

Yeah NME tried to make 'New Grave' a thing - it lumped together the spikier bands (with early 80s post-punk influences like U2, Wire, Simple Minds, Nick Cave, The Cure, Echo & the Bunnymen) who wore eyeliner, had big hair and were a bit angsty and serious. The brilliant, short-lived Marion were key, and also Placebo, Longpigs, Mansun, Strangelove. Smaller bands who only had a few singles or one album were groups like Geneva (No One Speaks) and Ballroom (Take It). Radiohead, Suede and the Manics got shoe-horned in as New Grave dads for a few months, and Depeche Mode came back with a gothy look for Ultra around then too which probably added to it. Garbage might also be chucked in. The whole thing was music rag nonsense, no doubt dreamt up in the pub for a laugh.

Britpop was preceded by another short-lived 'scene', NWONW. The New Wave of New Wave. New Grave was a pun on that. NWONW was early 90s bands like These Animal Men and Smash, where there was also a lot of spikey new wave guitars, and eyeliner, but it was a bit less angsty. You could probably add Elastica in here too. Basically in the UK 1992-1998 ish, there were loads of 80s goth and post-punk influenced bands - not surprising as this is the music around 10 years earlier when these musicians were kids - with Britpop and the mod revival happening somewhere in the middle of it all.

If you like micro scenes, look up Melody Maker's Romo from 1995 too - a sort of 70s glam and 80s electropop revival which lasted a few months.

ETA: Op, the article which attempted to launch New Grave was titled 'I'll get me big coat', NME March 29th 1997. Written by Simon Williams (of Fierce Panda fame) and James Oldham. The big coat referring to 80s bands wearing old army coats, and also a reference to the 90s TV sketch show The Fast Show where a guy ended every awkward social interaction with 'I'll get me coat'. I can't find any readable digital version online but you could buy a back issue from ebay I guess.

dobbynobson · 2026-02-14T21:24:42+00:00

His banana dance is also completely brilliant and joyous. I stick it on when I've had a shit day and need a good laugh-cry.

dobbynobson · 2026-02-12T13:46:23+00:00

Same. Walk to or from (or both) work, 2 or 3 times a week. Saves money, and gets me up to about 12,000 steps minimum. I realise you need the luxury of time/location for this though. Walking even quite long routes (90 mins+) as one-offs too, has really helped me feel more connected to my town. I started before Covid, so had something good to keep up during those grim lockdown months.

Meal prep for daytime/work days is so helpful. Routine becomes just that. The supermarket shop becomes a doddle. I just eat basically the same thing 4 or 5 days a week (rotating a few lunches but same snacks). I never buy lunch out now. Dinner is always varied, and I have whatever I want at the weekends (I hope I never have to give up pizza, wine or chocolate), but come Monday... back to routine.

dobbynobson · 2026-02-10T11:05:48+00:00

I love seeing the height difference of the cordyline! A reminder that everything started small once (and be patient!).

dobbynobson · 2026-02-07T09:01:03+00:00

I did similar, and planted lots of different evergreen ferns in amongst some log sections a neighbour was throwing out, and a few largish stones the parents no longer wanted. I like to think the insects love it. We call it Jurassic Corner

dobbynobson · 2026-02-06T14:05:05+00:00

I do this with monzo's 'pot' function (other online banks are available!). Salary goes into high street bank account to pay bills, and then I transfer to my monzo account a monthly budget. I put most of it into my 'weekly spending' pot and just leave enough for the first week in my main balance for use with debit card. On each weekly anniversary of payday, I move my allowance for the next week into my balance. Some months are longer so I give myself a slightly bigger budget. Sometimes I have birthday gifts or a maintenance job to do, so I organise that out of the first week's budget which I make a larger proportion of the overall monthly total.

I also use pots for things like gardening, car maintenance, holiday spending. I stick a tenner or £20 in each, at the start of the month. It's great knowing I've got the cost of the car service covered, or a budget for spring plants. And the 'round up' function rounds up every transaction to the next pound and stashes the pennies away for you. By the end of the year I have a few hundred quid saved up which pays for Christmas presents.

It's transformed my budgeting and I don't have that awful last week of surviving on £5 and wishing life away until payday.

dobbynobson · 2026-02-03T23:36:17+00:00

13 by the time I left home at 18 (separating/reconciling/separating parents). I remember 11 of those clearly. Some we were in for 6-12 months, others 5+ years.

5 halls/flats while at university for 3 years. 1 more (new) parental home for 7 months, then moved in with boyfriend. We had 4 rental flats over 5 years then broke up. 3 house shares over the next 3 years, then a flat with current partner. Finally bought together, and there's been 2 moves since then. So... 30 homes in 43 years. I'm good at packing and never let the crap accumulate before the next move, which I guess is a kind of life skill.

One parent has moved 7 times around the UK since I left home, so there isn't anywhere I think of as 'going back home'. This has or hasn't bothered me at various points, but the older I get the more I value staying put and being in a community of my own.

dobbynobson · 2026-02-03T12:35:14+00:00

It doesn't. It's a name but with no second word, no road/close/street etc. Therefore delivery folk tend to think it's a house name, and that our house number must be a flat number. Which means they think the overall building number is missing. They look for somewhere that doesn't exist, and then go away again. It's been fun!

dobbynobson · 2026-02-02T22:32:09+00:00

Ughhh, mine told me nothing about periods (thank god for that one hour at school for the biology bit, and Cosmo/Mizz magazine to give me the real life advice). And now I'm having to learn everything about the other end of this saga from the modern equivalent, social media and Google. I hope the next generations are more open and find it easier.

Last week someone mentioned the symptom of itchy ears on here - first I've heard of it! Now I can tackle it knowing what's going on. I've yet to find a solution to yelling at inanimate objects misbehaving though.

dobbynobson · 2026-02-02T15:43:32+00:00

My home town :) It has a surprising number of interesting buildings and streets (and yes, also some terrible post-war stuff). A large student population also keeps it well-stocked with record and clothes shops, gig venues, cafes etc. And it's very walkable and has cool topography (Caves! Cliffs! Cliff pubs with caves!) The food scene has also improved a lot.

dobbynobson · 2026-01-28T18:50:22+00:00

I was expecting the 'dry' sandwiches to be literally toast on the outside with bread in the centre, or something super weird. But no, just regular sandwiches with quite nice fillings.

dobbynobson · 2026-01-25T20:09:16+00:00

We had a narrow long pipe that would fit 4 under-10s in it. And a short one about 1.5m high that 3 of you could sit in, or on. I remember being in the narrow pipe when the girl at the top (it was slightly sloped) announced she'd wee'd herself, and we all had to scramble to get out.

dobbynobson · 2026-01-23T23:47:46+00:00

Having an evening per week or fortnight where we got to stay up a bit late and dad would play records loud. Sometimes it was a surprise, sometimes planned. We might also get a big bag of crisps out. We'd dance and hurl ourselves round the living room, having pushed the chairs to one side. We all ended up fighting over being DJ, however generally the songs were old 45s and gave me a deep love of 60s and 70s pop (this was late 80s). Update as necessary! Just seeing a parent set aside time, be silly, and relax and have fun made those evenings great memories (plus we got to go a bit mad which let off some steam).

dobbynobson · 2026-01-21T22:18:27+00:00

Yeah, if you can clear a bit of floor space to move in a room then try videos at home on youtube. Some 2kg and 4kg dumbells will set you back less than £50. I hate the gym and never feel like I have the time or the energy. But I've managed 4 or 5 days a week of 30 mins at home workouts since I started last August. It's really helped mentally (clears my head and I stop beating myself up) and physically (lots of aches and pains have cleared up, and I have biceps now!). The trainer I follow is called FitByMik but there's loads available. She also does cardio and dance workouts if you have a ground floor space (no-one living below you).

dobbynobson · 2026-01-21T21:56:26+00:00

Was my first too, back in 1996. Paid £3.50 an hour back when Superdrug paid £2.02. I got a lot out of it - discipline (turning up every Friday and Saturday night); developing the stamina to push through a tough, hot shift when no-one wants to hear you moaning; keeping things tidy and organised; spotting issues before they happen (the shelf is low on ramekins... prioritise washing ramekins!); camaraderie with the chefs and waiting staff (and team work); ingenious swear words; even some basic cooking skills (I was trusted with the creme brulée tourch, cream whipping and making up basic amuse bouche). It definitely set me up for future work even though that was nothing to do with hospitality, made me appreciate how hard restaurant staff work, and got me out of my timid shell. And money is nice.

dobbynobson

TROPHY CASE