Bad Vibes: Britpop and My Part in Its Downfall

Luke Haines's Bad Vibes is a ripping account of the 1990s Britpop scene, as told from someone who was right in the middle of it (as the founding member of The Auteurs). Haines is a natural storyteller with a razor-sharp ability to spot phoniness and pretension, and he spares nobody — Blur, Oasis, Matt Johnson, even himself — in his caustic put-downs. This is also a very good book about the artistic process more generally, and how bands respond to commercial pressures to tailor their music to reach a wider audience.