Album: Foxbase Alpha
Artist: Saint Etienne
Artist: Saint Etienne
Born: Croydon, London
Released: September 1991
Genre: Indie Dance
Any record that references Plumstead Common, a green oasis near where I grew up, would always win my heart. Luckily, Saint Etienne's debut album Foxbase Alpha definitely deserves its place on this list on merit, not least for pioneering a stunningly original sound that bridges acid house and Britpop. No band in modern times has documented London life like Saint Etienne, not just in music but on film too – A London Trilogy is a wonderful, moving document of the world's most dynamic capital city. Founding band member Bob Stanley is also one of pop's great historians, with his book Yeah Yeah Yeah. Stanley's friendship with fellow Croydon schoolboy Pete Wiggs was the foundation of the group, both sharing a love for Swinging Sixties pop and the once great French football side, AS Saint-Étienne. Their approach to music was modern though, taking inspiration from acid house loops, hip hop sampling and the atmospherics of Detroit house and techno records. Their ability to fuse the old with the new is best exemplified by their 1990 single, Only Love Can Break Your Heart, a very original take on a classic Neil Young song. Foxbase Alpha opens with a sample from a French radio station about football and, just as the presenter mentions Saint-Étienne, the audio stops and in cuts Only Love Can Break Your Heart. Putting wistful lyrics to a Balearic beat made the song an early example of Saint Etienne's specialism for melancholy electronic music, with dreamy vocals performed by Moira Lambert. Saint Etienne had planned to use different female vocalists for each single release, but Sarah Cracknell's brilliant performance of Nothing Can Stop Us and her glamorous allure persuaded Bob & Pete to keep her.
Nothing Can Stop Us was later recorded with the group by Kylie Minogue and also features a sample of Dusty Springfield track, I Can't Wait Until I See My Baby's Face, but this classic slice of pop is structured like a De La Soul song. Saint Etienne always had one eye on the past and another on the future. Wilson isn't perhaps the most satisfying experiment on the record, but its mix of drug references and snippets of English voices from a decimalisation training record is certainly original. Carnt Sleep is one of my favourites on the LP, in the way it conjures up a long London summer's night of heartbreak and yearning. Girl VII ups the tempo and Cracknell's breezy vocals list a series of obscure London neighbourhoods (Arnos Grove, Old Ford, Tooting, etc), which are elevated to the same status as some of the world's more exotic locations (Costa Rica, Alice Springs, Baffin Island, etc). It reminds me of the sign on Del Boy's van: Trotters Independent Trading Co, New York-Paris-Peckham. The album changes pace and style constantly and is not just an ode to London but also the diverse offshoots of the exploding dance music genre, from the ambient house of Stoned To Say The Least to the blissed out Euro Disco of Spring. The album does meander in parts but that's also its charm, the luxurious sound of Bob & Pete's analogue synths especially to the fore on London Belongs To Me. Cracknell's ethereal Cocteau Twins-style vocals enhance a song that captures the beauty of being young and in love while living in one of the world's great cities ("Close our eyes, breathe out slowly / today London loves us only").
Any record that references Plumstead Common, a green oasis near where I grew up, would always win my heart. Luckily, Saint Etienne's debut album Foxbase Alpha definitely deserves its place on this list on merit, not least for pioneering a stunningly original sound that bridges acid house and Britpop. No band in modern times has documented London life like Saint Etienne, not just in music but on film too – A London Trilogy is a wonderful, moving document of the world's most dynamic capital city. Founding band member Bob Stanley is also one of pop's great historians, with his book Yeah Yeah Yeah. Stanley's friendship with fellow Croydon schoolboy Pete Wiggs was the foundation of the group, both sharing a love for Swinging Sixties pop and the once great French football side, AS Saint-Étienne. Their approach to music was modern though, taking inspiration from acid house loops, hip hop sampling and the atmospherics of Detroit house and techno records. Their ability to fuse the old with the new is best exemplified by their 1990 single, Only Love Can Break Your Heart, a very original take on a classic Neil Young song. Foxbase Alpha opens with a sample from a French radio station about football and, just as the presenter mentions Saint-Étienne, the audio stops and in cuts Only Love Can Break Your Heart. Putting wistful lyrics to a Balearic beat made the song an early example of Saint Etienne's specialism for melancholy electronic music, with dreamy vocals performed by Moira Lambert. Saint Etienne had planned to use different female vocalists for each single release, but Sarah Cracknell's brilliant performance of Nothing Can Stop Us and her glamorous allure persuaded Bob & Pete to keep her.
Nothing Can Stop Us was later recorded with the group by Kylie Minogue and also features a sample of Dusty Springfield track, I Can't Wait Until I See My Baby's Face, but this classic slice of pop is structured like a De La Soul song. Saint Etienne always had one eye on the past and another on the future. Wilson isn't perhaps the most satisfying experiment on the record, but its mix of drug references and snippets of English voices from a decimalisation training record is certainly original. Carnt Sleep is one of my favourites on the LP, in the way it conjures up a long London summer's night of heartbreak and yearning. Girl VII ups the tempo and Cracknell's breezy vocals list a series of obscure London neighbourhoods (Arnos Grove, Old Ford, Tooting, etc), which are elevated to the same status as some of the world's more exotic locations (Costa Rica, Alice Springs, Baffin Island, etc). It reminds me of the sign on Del Boy's van: Trotters Independent Trading Co, New York-Paris-Peckham. The album changes pace and style constantly and is not just an ode to London but also the diverse offshoots of the exploding dance music genre, from the ambient house of Stoned To Say The Least to the blissed out Euro Disco of Spring. The album does meander in parts but that's also its charm, the luxurious sound of Bob & Pete's analogue synths especially to the fore on London Belongs To Me. Cracknell's ethereal Cocteau Twins-style vocals enhance a song that captures the beauty of being young and in love while living in one of the world's great cities ("Close our eyes, breathe out slowly / today London loves us only").
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