A record can easily capture a time, an era in both in music and society. Most of the time these records are by single artists or bands, released at the peak of their influence. I believe, however, that one of the discs that does it best is the Help compilation of 1996, recorded to benefit the charity War Child and its efforts for children in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

This was at the height of the much-maligned Britpop era, a scene that has been unfairly mocked and insulted in the years after its death. It did become, without a doubt, bloated to a point where Oasis’s eight-minute cocaine operettas seemed quite appropriate, but it was also ambitious and unapologetic, two things that should be respected no matter the music. An album like Help, showcasing cooperation and camaraderie between many popular British and Irish artists of the time, served to take this somewhat caricatured scene and make it serious. Even if the music was the same, the purpose was different.

On September 4th, 1996, in studios all over the country, each band involved recorded a song. Some were originals, others covers. Orbital’s “Adnan” had the wonderful quality of all Orbital tracks, sounding melancholy and emotional. In fact, Orbital still stands today as the one techno/electronica group I can fully enjoy. Amid the usual heavies (Oasis, Blur, and Radiohead giving us the first release of “Lucky”), there were more one-off tracks by bands I never heard of again. The Levellers, for instance, contributed “Searchlights” to the collection, offering a pro-immigration song with their blend of English folk-tradition and shouting punk vocals.

The standout song for me has always been the remix of “The Magnificent” theme, as done by The One World Orchestra, aka Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty of KLF. It is a dance track, yes, but it’s also unique in the monotone samples taken from B92, Serbia’s underground radio station.

Ten years have passed since Help was released. As such, it could be looked at as a historical piece—a novelty artifact from an era that people rarely seem to care about anymore. Give it another ten, though, and Britpop will probably going through the reevaluation it deserves. It was about lads and cocaine and Kate Moss—but it was also about change, even through something as frivolous as pop music.

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