new

How Has Football and Music Culture Changed Over the Last Decade?

Once upon a time, football and music were inextricably linked, both being bastions of the working class. The late seventies and early eighties saw a culture grow up around the two; the casual. Terraces that had once been rife with anger and fighting began to look like catwalks, featuring young men mostly in Adidas trainers, Fred Perry polo shirts and other designer gear.

Image credit: GQ

They would follow bands that were equally as fashion savvy, but with a message that resonated with the working class of the time. The Jam were a classic casual band, spouting lyrics that mattered but doing it with a style that was both relatable and desirable.

Football and music culture moved on, into the early nineties when rave took hold. New Order sang ‘World in Motion’, a song classed as a game changer by the Independent. It preached togetherness and love, whilst in the clubs in the UK hooligans used to fight on a Saturday; they were now embracing rave, and dance.

Britpop came and had a similar effect; Three Lions followed England around Euro 96 as Cool Britannia seeped into modern life. Floppy haircuts and baggy jeans dominated the football grounds of the UK, whilst bands like Oasis, Blur and the Lightning Seeds set the soundtrack for a generation.
However, in the last decade there has been a visible split in how music has influenced the terrace scene in the UK. In some respects, a north / south divide has opened, or perhaps even a divide between the branded, corporate top flight and those who still stand on a terrace with their mates.
A feature by Ladbrokes on club football’s relationship with music highlights the success some of England’s biggest teams have had, looking to set a soundtrack to represent that success. Many of those clubs now have celebrity followers, artists wanting to drop names into their lyrics, Stormzy being a good example.

Arsenal Fan TV reflects that urban culture and how it’s been influenced over the last decade. There’s no rhythm and reason to their language and style, but it’s easily identified as the urban, working class voice of today. It’s language that’s perhaps alien to supporters of smaller clubs in provincial towns, or perhaps even those north of Birmingham.
On the other hand, there is a strong sub-culture taking grip at grass roots level of the English game. The Guardian describes this as a force for good at many European clubs, the ‘ultra’ is the current-day equivalent of the eighties casual, the new breed of supporter that still embodies the angry working class. There’s no Stormzy here, no urban culture seeping out of the videos on YouTube. The northern ‘football lad’ (or lass) would likely be found at a Courteeners gig, or listen to a Jake Bugg track.

Perhaps this is the natural evolution of the old-style casual. There is still a focus on clothing, or ‘clobber’ as it’s usually referred to. Old school polo shirts and jumpers are just as popular as modern-day Stone Island or CP Company, almost always paired with Adidas trainers. Instead of working class bands like The Jam or the Specials, there is still a burning desire for bands with direction and a message, but equally conscious of having the right look as well.

It’s interesting to see the definite split in culture, perhaps as reflective as the north / south divide as much as anything. Whilst big acts link themselves with clubs and the Premier League, where it really matters the scene is still organic and fan led, with bands chosen and followed not because they’re pushed heavily, but because they fit the style perfectly,
The changes have only begun to develop over the last decade, but the next 10 years will be fascinating as we watch the scene evolve further.

We See Lights and Frightened Rabbit DJs added to anniversary show lineup

A couple of announcements re the previously-announced birthday/anniversary/xmas show on the 13th…

Opening proceedings on the 13th at the Electric Circus will be local indie combo We See Lights – watch the site for a mini-feature on the act soon, and have a look at the video below (though no guarantees the puppets will be at the show!)

We also have Scott Hutchison of Frightened Rabbit spinning some tunes while is this music? DJs will fill in the rest of the gaps with some festive tunes chosen by the website’s writers.
Tickets are now available via Ripping & Tickets-Scotland as well as Tickets for the show can be found online at TicketWeb
and See Tickets.

The rest of the info is as before, pasted below for your convenience

Indie music website isthismusic.com is celebrating its 10th year in existence with a show at Edinburgh’s Electric Circus on Thursday December 13th, with headliners ballboy, plus a solo set from Adam Thompson (singer with We Were Promised Jetpacks) plus local indie types We See Lights, and Scott Hutchinson from Frightened Rabbit on the wheels of Steel (or possibly iPod). Entry is £6.

The night will double up as itm?’s Xmas night out and doubtless writers past and present will also be in attendance at what will be one of the must-see lineups of the busy festive gig calendar.

About the bands:
ballboy are stalwarts of the Edinburgh indie scene. They have appeared on countless is this music? bills over the past 10 years with singer Gordon Macintyre often a solo addition to itm? shows across the country. Their appearance on the 13th is also particularly apt: issue 2 of is this music? featured ballboy as its cover stars.

We Were Promised Jetpacks are a band who have been supported by is this music? for many years. And vice versa, the band donating, as many acts have, a track for one of the many cover CDs that came with the printed version of the magazine. In fact, it was an itm? gig which saw the band make their live debut under their current name – part of the magazine’s long-standing tie-in with Tigerfest.

We See Lights, an Edinburgh-based indie collective – i.e. we’re not quite sure what form they will take on the night, but they’re always engaging and entertaining, and since itm? somehow hasn’t had them on a bill before we’re very pleased that they will open up what is for us quite an auspicious occasion.

Frightened Rabbit gained their first exposure through is this music? so it’s apt and very pleasing that Scott should share a few of his favourite tunes with us

About is this music?
is this music?’s first issue went to print in November 2002, with cover stars Idlewild and the exclusive tale of Bob Fairfoull’s departure from the band. This first issue was followed by a more substantial second the following month with a free CD and ballboy on the front. 22 more issues followed over the next 5 years before financial reasons and good sense meant the transition to a web-only publication, which continued for the next 5 years (and beyond).

The magazine had a few notable ‘firsts’ – Franz Ferdinand made their print feature debut, as did Frightened Rabbit, as well as a plethora of, er, less successful acts. The magazine also commissioned cover features for the likes of Snow Patrol, Mull Historical Society, the Beta Band, and of course Teenage Fanclub (from whom the magazine took its name). We also saw around 250 bands exposed to thousands of music fans by appearing on the cover CDs, which, in the days before the open internet access we have today, became something which the magazine was as well-known for as the printed word.

However, no magazine is anything without its writers, and itm? has seen over 200 come and go – some remain to this day, while others are now carving out a career in journalism and music with the likes of NME, the Guardian, Daily Record, The List, BBC Scotland and Capital Radio. God help us if they all show up on the 13th!

Summer Soundtracks

...
...

Finding the perfect soundtrack for your summer is a serious task. The warm summer months go by all too quickly so it’s important to have music that you can return to in the dark days of winter and remember the feeling you had when you were lying in the grass with the sun on your face listening to the perfect song.  
more… “Summer Soundtracks”