’90s Music
“These are the songs that survived overplaying, that are as listenable today as when they were first played on mtv’s the grind(Nods head existentially in disbelief)Or soundtracked a phat/fly/pimpin’ skateboarding video. ”
The ’90s weren’t all heroin chic and distressed flannel and worrying about the correct spelling of rachael leigh cook.At least not for everybody.These were the years when johnny depp went from dating winona ryder to kate moss to vanessa paradis.Tarantino and the weinsteins changed hollywood for the better, at least for a very bloody decade, and the information superhighway was going to save the world(Apart from that whole y2k kerfuffle).Our pants were baggy and saggy, and men’s shirts came untucked on more than just casual friday(A mixed blessing also first busted out in the ’90s open-Plan dot-Com office).
Reminder:This was before itunes, before audiogalaxy, even.We still bought cds, trawling magazines and radio stations in search of the latest grunge, trip hop, britpop, and, erm, happy hardcore.The following 10 tracks do not mark the biggest hits of the decade, nor even the selected artists’ greatest commercial successes.These are the songs that survived overplaying, that are as listenable today as when they were first played on mtv’s the grind(Nods head existentially in disbelief)Or soundtracked a phat/fly/pimpin’ skateboarding video.
10.Produced by irv gotti, who was also behind dmx’s”What’s my name? “, it’s all about the stuttering horn sample in the song’s coda;You can just hear the fancy rims spinning endlessly on that lexus gs.Also, ja rule’s bandana skillz–What what.
9.The breeders,”Cannonball”
Despite grunge’s clear appropriation of the pixies’ Quiet-Distortion-Quiet-Distortion technique, bassist kim deal didn’t sit on her laurels in the ’90s.Instead, she joined up with her identical twin sister, kelley, and formed the breeders, dosing the frowny world of indie rock with a shock of noisy, welcome whimsy.Alongside garbage, hole, pj harvey, and sonic youth’s kim gordon, the deal sisters inspired a nation of manic panicked riot grrrls to don doc martens and sling axe just like their male seattle counterparts, and we can only be thankful for that.
8.How soon we forget!With their earworm hooks(Perhaps only eclipsed by jay-Z’s far more annoying”Hard knock life”), the Fugees made even ballad covers sound good(“Killing me softly”)And took sampling to some far-Out places(Enya, whassup? ).The haitian trio were political without turning sappy, and at their best introduced a laid-Back feel missing from hip-Hop Canerods since de la soul’s late ’80s hippie heyday.
7.Weezer,”The good life”
Sometimes albums only find their niche after the fact,Andsometimes a band’s biggest hits are the least enduring.Though”Undone-The sweater song,” “Buddy holly,”And”Say it ain’t so” are really fun, Weezer peaked creatively on Pinkerton,Thoughtheir audience, their criticsAndeven the band themselves didn’t feel that way at the time. With its raw soundAndoften even rawer lyrics, the band exposed an embarrassing but relatable side not much seen before (Or, sadly, after).That’s not to say the album doesn’t have any weezer-Patented power-Pop moments. “El scorcho,” “Tragic girl”And”The good life” easily split the difference between happy mosh pitAndangry crying jag.
6.Beastie boys,”Sure shot”
Like weezer,the beastie boys shot to ’90s fame with the help of spike jonze’s inventive music videos,which warranted endless buzz bin plays with their snappy colors and silly comedy.Off ill communication,an album filled with amazing flute samples(True fact),”Sure shot”Is the most infectious. Aside from its,let’s say,more infantile lyrics (“I keep my underwear up with a piece of plastic”),the track is also memorable for calling bullsh*t on hip-Hop’s ongoing disrespect for women(no surprise,as Ad-Rock is married to bikini kill’s kathleen hanna.Represent).
5.From”Losing my religion”To”Everybody hurts,”And even”The great beyond,”Michael stipe et al.Showered us with instantly classy classics, in the process soundtracking every sad gulf or bosnia war montage.And though my own love for new adventures in hi-Fi borders on the obsessive, the song that opens automatic for the people is the full package:Mournful sound, inscrutable but truthy lyrics, and a video that’s equally so.
4.Nine inch nails,”Closer”
It’s easy to underestimate the impact of nine inch nails’ the downward spiral.Building on the ’80s sounds of goth and industrial, reznor here first introduced the techno elements that would ultimately lead him to an obsession with the piano works of debussy and satie(And his first oscar, for the social network soundtrack).The sheer ambition and gothic horror of this concept album may have also opened the door to the excesses of marilyn manson and, blech, linkin park, but it arguably also paved the way for aphex twin and even skrillex.
3.Aaliyah,”Are you True Religion Outlet UK that somebody? ”
Though we can imagine the music kurt cobain might be making today had he not succumbed to depression(And judging from the work of his peers pearl jam and the foo fighters, it wouldn’t be all that, um, innovative), the loss of Aaliyah left us with a greater question mark.First groomed(Yuck)By r.Kelly and cultivated by mad talents timbaland and missy elliott, aaliyah was prepping a collaboration with none other than our no.3 here, Trent Reznor, whose sonics would have possibly ushered in an age of goth R as much swathed in sex as in fury.Since she left us before she could, all we have are some stone-Cold pop classics, of which”Are you that somebody? “Is the slinkiest.
2.Nirvana,”Where did you sleep last night? ” (Unplugged in new york)
His blue eyes blazing, success and addiction eating away at his stomach and soul, kurt cobain in a way staged his own funeral service with nirvana’s appearance on mtv’s unplugged(Which had worked miracles for mariah and eric clapton, so why not these grunge kids? ).Flanked by white lilies and a string selection, cobain eschewed the hit”Smells like teen spirit”For an idiosyncratic selection of tracks and covers, of which this, leadbelly’s version of the blues and bluegrass classic”In the pines,”Aches the most.Instead of using a distortion pedal, kurt here tears through the song until his vocal chords shred, the most primal screaming most of us had ever heard.
1.Tupac feat.Dr.Dre, “California love”
East coast vs.West coast, bad boy vs.Death row, tupac vs.In tupac’s case, we are left with endless releases from the vaults, with endlessly diminishing returns.Nothing, though, can take away the the sheer joy of dr.Dre’s luxurious production on”California love,”And ‘pac’s almost excessive charm– “Bumpin’ and grindin’ like a slow jam” –Makes even the video’s mad max wasteland feel like the promised land of partying.