Britain’s last great alternative music movement or, as eternal walking soundbite Noel Gallagher neatly quipped, “a ni_ y sentence to sum up a load of shit music”? _ e truth about ‘Britpop’ probably lies somewhere in between those two extremes. Some genuinely great records were made in those heady 90s years. British guitar music dominated the airwaves and record labels fell over themselves to sign anything with a pulse, a haircut and a parka. Of course, as with any musical movement, plenty of bands got lumped in with a scene they didn’t belong to and the A&R thirst for more of the same meant some absolutely terrible records got released. For every Di_ erent Class, Dog Man Star and De_ nitely Maybe in my own 90s collection, there lurked albums by Hurricane #1, Kula Shaker, Northern Uproar and Space. Whatever your thoughts on the mid-90s Britpop boom, it’s a great tale, and Michael Stephens returns to his old Camden stomping grounds to investigate in our cover feature this month, with contributions from some of the bands, labels, record shops and PR types who propped up the bar at _ e Good Mixer and Dublin Castle. _ ere’s also an essential 40 Britpop LPs to reminisce over. Elsewhere this month, Kevin Parker checks in to talk about the massive new Tame Impala album, _ e Slow Rush, I have a cuppa with the always lovely Lanterns On _ e Lake, while New Zealand singer-songwriter Nadia Reid, Cornershop and Jonathan Wilson give us the lowdown on their new albums. Also not to be missed is the story of Soho institution Sister Ray, a potted history of New York’s Sire Records and a look at the collectable vinyl albums to emerge from the MTV Unplugged series. _ anks for picking up this issue of the new-look Long Live Vinyl. It’s now three years since we launched, our third o_ cial Record Store Day guide, and we continue to _ y the _ ag for independent shops, labels and all aspects of collecting culture. If someone told you they were going to launch a print magazine about music released on a physical format in 2020, you’d probably advise them to have a lie down while you alerted a health professional, but we’re still here and that’s thanks to you. I hope you enjoy this issue.