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America may be the home of Rock & Roll, but pop music at it's best is from Britain. Britpop is a thriving, diverse and eclectic environment. They just seem to be a lot more experimentation going on over there. Maybe it's the legacy of the Beatles, I don't know, but UK artists seem to put a lot more heart and soul into what is essentially a disposable art form.
Like most musical genres, any close scrutiny reveals a fracturing of the perceived whole. Pop is so broad as to be meaningless, and carries hundreds of sub-categories under it's heading. Britpop often refers specifically to '90s bands that consciously aimed at the Beatles tradition, (and everything else since punk, new wave, glam, alt rock) AND was unambiguously commercial. Oasis and Suede are prime examples of Britpop bands.
Some of the more fun sub-genres that have developed over the years are "Madchester," "Twee Pop" and my favorites "Shoegazing" and "Sadcore" The last two are just what they sound like... music for depressed people, by depressed people, to listen to while staring at your feet.
Formed in 1998, coming strongly out of the Britpop scene, Cousteau is considered to be in the Sadcore realm. Their orchestrated songs are much deeper and richer than most pop music... but there is a mature melancholy here, rather than angst and despair. Their eponymous first album, released first in the UK, and then re-recorded for the states, is beautiful throughout and wonderful for intense listening, as well as more ambient background music. They released a second album this past summer, but I haven't picked it up, yet.
Their "almost hit" is below, called "The Last Good Day Of The Year." I think it was sampled for a Nissan commercial, recently.
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