recorded albums for Creation regardless of success. That was paid for by the label‘s more profitable acts like Ride. Super Furry Animals and. of course. ()asis. ‘()ne thing I think Alan doesn’t get much credit for is that he’s a very moral person.‘ declares Pastel. ‘They were all loonies on drugs. but they were decent folk. We always got our royalties right on time. Alan was certainly a megalomaniac with all these masterplans. We weren‘t so keen on being manipulated by Alan. I think most of the things that were really great about Creation were those Alan never had a masterplan for things like My Bloody Valentine.’ And it is this masterplan which

[oasis .0

McGee has rapidly

changed. Poptones. his new music venture. has been unveiled; his plan. as he told it to NMIS. was 'to fuck the music industry" with the intention of putting

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They might be giants

What can we expect from Oasis’s first non-Creation album 'There's two shit ones on it but the other seven are mega.’ This was Noel Gallagher's brief assessment of his band’s new album Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants, which is due out on 28 February. The name is taken from the inscription on a £2 coin. The single ’60 Let It Out' is the first taste of the album the public will get on its release on Monday 7 February. A rather subdued return by all accounts, the initial breakbeaty drum intro to the song would allude to talk of Noel's flirtation with dance music and electronics, but as the flute-like backing a la 'Strawberry Fields' rings into the chorus, you remember again exactly which band from Liverpool they still can't resist aping.

As B-sides 90 ‘Lets All Make Believe' is a bitter-sweet acoustic tale toddle, which breaks into a melancholy 'let's all make believe we like each other' chorus. Despite the huge production values, it still falls a little flat. As for ‘(As Long As They've Got) Cigarettes In Hell' multi-tracked backward guitars hark back to Sound Effects era Jam. Despite the atrocious title, this shows a measure and calm rarely displayed in the Oasis canon. It is sadly spoilt by smoking and coughing noises over the last 30 seconds or so. Noel Gallagher has a very peculiar sense of funny and cool.

Aside from the opener to the album 'Fuckin' In The Bushes’ - a track based around a drum loop from a Jimi Hendrix sample which was eventually re-recorded by drummer Alan White, no other tracks have been made '

available north of the border. A

Reports about the rest of the 0

album suggest it's one for the musos rather than the pop kids and the hefty production from Noel and Mark 'Spike' Stent has ensured that Q and Mojo readers will no doubtspend hours picking out the classic reference point. It appears that whatever they had planned to do, they could never have pleased everyone. (Mark Robertson).

(‘le in the shops and on—line by the likes of Lee 'Scratch' Perry. Mad Professor and ex—llurricane .\'o.l singer Alex Lowe at £7.99. potentially banning him from many High Street stores.

'McGee got bored working in a corporate record company.' says Bobby (iillespie. ‘He thought: “Fuck it. I want to go back to not having to answer to anyone.” And it‘s totally commendable. They [Sony Records] are corporate philistines. The man‘s 3‘). he‘s got to go and do his own thing. The things he‘s saying and what he‘s doing. it‘s the most aliye he‘s been in about ten years. He‘s like a

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total fucking mad punk.‘

Whether McGee‘s latest endeayours will come to fruition. or be the success he claims. will be reyealed in the coming months. But he still has the likes of (iillespie on side. ‘There‘s hardly anyone with a rock 'n‘ roll heart lel't except Alan McGee. I'm sure it'll go well l‘or him.'

3 -l7 Feb 2000 THE lIST9