IMAGI-BLOG
Nothing cheers me up like a boxset!
Submitted by imaginary liz on June 19, 2007.Hot off the Pitchfork presses...
It's like I've died and gone to UK record store heaven! A little High Fidelity (the book) anyone?
Forget those $50 White Stripes Meg and Jack jump drives, I NEED this boxset. It is made up of songs that held the title of "favorite" at one time or another (my eyes have skipped over that Oasis track on there) and packaged to look like a typical English phone booth-- complete with a battery-powered flickering lightbulb-- and an 80-page booklet bursting at the seams with photos, interviews, essays, and memories from the likes of Creation's Alan McGee, producers Stephen Street and Alan Moulder, and numerous Brit Box artists.
The boxset it broken into four discs --roughly organized chronologically like so: Disc 1 (1985-1990), Disc 2 (1991-1993), Disc 3 (1994-1995) and Disc 4 (1996-1998).
I can't find an image of it online... has anyone else seen or (gasp) held one?
Glory be... THE BRIT BOX!!!
Disc 1:
01 The Smiths - "How Soon Is Now?"
02 Cocteau Twins - "Lorelei"
03 Felt - "Primitive Painters"
04 Shop Assistants - "Somewhere in China"
05 The Mighty Lemon Drops - "My Biggest Thrill"
06 The Cure - "Just Like Heaven"
07 Echo & The Bunnymen - "Lips Like Sugar"
08 The Jesus and Mary Chain - "April Skies"
09 Spacemen 3 - "Walkin' With Jesus (Sound of Confusion)"
10 The Primitives - "Crash"
11 The Wonder Stuff - "Unbearable"
12 The Stone Roses - "She Bangs the Drums"
13 The Charlatans UK - "The Only One I Know"
14 Happy Mondays - "Step On"
15 Primal Scream - "Loaded" [single version]
16 Inspiral Carpets - "This Is How It Feels"
17 The Trash Can Sinatras - "Obscurity Knocks"
18 The La's - "There She Goes"
19 The Sundays - "Here's Where the Story Ends"
Disc 2:
01 Ride - "Vapour Trail"
02 Pale Saints - "Sight of You"
03 My Bloody Valentine - "Only Shallow"
04 Lush - "For Love"
05 The Telescopes - "Flying"
06 Chapterhouse - "Pearl"
07 Catherine Wheel - "I Want To Touch You"
08 Bleach - "Trip & Slide"
09 Curve - "Coast Is Clear"
10 Five Thirty - "You"
11 Moose - "This River Will Never Run Dry"
12 The Family Cat - "(Thought I'd Died) And Gone To Heaven"
13 The Dylans - "(Don't Cut Me Down) Mary Quant in Blue"
14 Thousand Yard Stare - "0-0 A.E.T. (No Score After Extra Time)"
15 Ned's Atomic Dustbin - "Grey Cell Green"
16 Birdland - "Shoot You Down"
17 Manic Street Preachers - "Stay Beautiful"
18 Teenage Fanclub - "Star Sign"
Disc 3:
01 Suede - "Metal Mickey"
02 Swervedriver - "Duel" [radio edit]
03 Eugenius - "Breakfast"
04 Superstar - "Barfly"
05 New Order - "Regret"
06 James - "Laid"
07 Nick Heyward - "Kite"
08 The Boo Radleys - "Lazarus"
09 Saint Etienne - "You're in a Bad Way"
10 Stereolab - "Wow & Flutter"
11 Blur - "Tracy Jacks"
12 Oasis - "Live Forever"
13 Pulp - "Common People"
14 These Animal Men - "Speed King"
15 Mega City Four - "Wallflower"
16 Echobelly - "Insomniac"
17 Gene - "Sleep Well Tonight"
18 Menswe@r - "Sleeping In"
19 Supergrass - "Alright"
20 Cast - "Alright"
21 Elastica - "Stutter"
Disc 4:
01 Dodgy - "In a Room"
02 Ash - "Girl From Mars"
03 Sleeper - "Sale of the Century"
04 Marion - "Sleep"
05 Kula Shaker - "Tattva"
06 Ocean Colour Scene - "The Riverboat Song"
07 Babybird - "You're Gorgeous"
08 The Bluetones - "Slight Return"
09 Super Furry Animals - "Something 4 the Weekend"
10 The Divine Comedy - "Something for the Weekend"
11 Cornershop - "Brimful of Asha"
12 Silver Sun - "Service"
13 Spiritualized - "Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space"
14 Mansun - "Wide Open Space"
15 Hurricane #1 - "Step Into My World"
16 The Verve - "Lucky Man"
17 Rialto - "Untouchable"
18 Catatonia - "Mulder and Scully"
19 Placebo - "You Don't Care About Us"
20 Gay Dad - "Oh Jim"
To celebrate, I've painted myself with glow in the dark paint (in an animal print of course):
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3
imaginary liz said on June 19, 2007:
Yea - does anyone know why they chose "Tracy Jacks" for the Blur track? I'm surprised they just didn't go for "There's No Other Way" or "She's So High"... or "Chemical World"?
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Erik Gonzalez said on June 19, 2007:
Or freaking "Girls & Boys". That's the song that put Blur on the map. I probably would have put "Sit Down" by James instead of "Laid" (if you ever heard the live version of "Sir Down" recorded in Manchester, you'd know why), "Black Metallic" instead of "I Want to Touch You" for Catherine Wheel and maybe "Fait Accompli" for Curve. And what about the total lack of Jesus Jones, or the bigger crime of a lack of Pop Will Eat Itself? That being said, EEP!
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michael said on June 19, 2007:
god bless Rhino, supplier of all my Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Land of the Lost DVDs.
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7
Rick said on June 20, 2007:
I dunno - call me old, but I'm all about disc 1. Then it kinda drops off for me...
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8
ChrisB said on June 20, 2007:
I think this is great because Rhino already gave me another reason for being glad to be alive not too long ago.
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The Grim said on June 20, 2007:
Looks amazing. Well, amazing up until halfway through disc three for me. After that, maybe I'm too old, too. From a purely aesthetic sense, I'm not sure how wild I am on that weird-assed packaging. I'll have to see it.
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Kev said on June 20, 2007:
who knows Oslo? Norwegian Wood festival last weekend, some good stuff. anybody up?
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diana said on June 20, 2007:
i actually work/intern for Shout! Factory, the dvd/audio label started by the same exact guys who started Rhino, and if you like this box set (allow me to do some shameless plugging of my company!), you might like this boxset of British Invasion stuff, although it's old stuff from the 60s and 70s. the Zombies and all that.
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greggoir said on June 20, 2007:
What? No Slowdive?!
Aww, how nostalgic. To be fair though, there is a lot of expendible stuff on their.
Ooh, High Fidelity moment? Top 5 British Songs anyone?
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MC "Big Freak" Estey said on June 20, 2007:
I just want to put a passionate plug in as well for Shout F.! for the amazing Harry Smith 2 CD/2 DVD set (with Nick Cave's ferocious take on "John The Revelator," Lou Reed's mind-melting "Keep My Grave Clean," and brilliant performances by Costello and others) probably still on display at Easy Street, and for handmade re-issuing a beautiful edition of T-Bone Burnett's "Proof Through The Night," long languishing out-of-print and drooled over by his fans.
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Reviews
imaginary dana said on June 19, 2007:
Oh god, that's like, not even fair, it's so good. I'm powerless.