Chris mapped every #1 hit since 1958... but that means he missed the counterculture. On the final New Music DNA, I make him a mix that pairs '90s classics he missed with new artists they inspired.
I’ll bite, maybe the heirs to big beat are making uk bass or juke e.g. conducta, interplanetary criminal, kettama, dj swisha, machinedrum (and his mentor rip dj rashad), mall grab.
I was thinking this morning about some of the iconic female singers of the 90s. I don't know if they would fit the theme of the playlist but, broadly speaking, ordered from more mainstream to more niche.
I jumped with joy (or whatever the equivalent is from on the couch) seeing "Loud Bark" here. My fave song on 'I Got Heaven' and maybe my fave Mannequin Pussy song ever! Hole is for sure an apt comparison, "Violet" is basically sacred music for me.
I also appreciate the light Oasis shade and, of course, the feeble little horse inclusion
they do to me too. i actually thought about that for a long time when I was writing and kind of gave up. are they just generic alternative? whatever that means? retroactively they have been named "minivan rock" by some but I don't think it had a name back then
Sounds like a new book is in order: Songs that DIDN'T hit number one! Although I have to admit to not knowing many of these artists so it's not surprising that they didn't hit the more mass appeal focused Hot 100.
this actually makes me happy because I was worried that I was picking artists that too many people would have heard of or would have fought me on! hope you enjoy the playlist
The nineties were my era. I turned 18 the week Nevermind was released. Last year I read Mark Yarm's oral history of Grunge 'Everybody Loves Our Town', which opens with members of the U-Men grappling with the logistics of setting fire to a moat. After the U-Men imploded, a couple of them went on to play in Cat Butt, whose tour with L7 is legendary in a 'I can't believe nobody died' kind of way. I recommend Cat Butt's first and only album - the unpolished gem 'Journey to the Centre of...'
Reading the Yarm's book made me realise what a stranglehold the weekly music press in the UK held over who got publicity. There are bands mentioned in the book who played a key role in Grunge who I had never heard of.
One of the biggest what ifs in popular music, as far as I am concerned, is 'What if Andrew Wood hadn't OD'd? Mother Love Bone were geared up to be the first breakout band from Seattle, but their album 'Apple' and the Shine EP are stadium rock records. 'Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns' rules but it's nothing that you wouldn't have heard growing up in LA in the late 1980s. It makes me wonder, had Mother Love Bone not come to an abrupt end, would the other Seattle bands have changed their sound to fit their template, in the same way that a load of UK bands in the early 90s dramatically changed their image to fit in with Britpop?
The albums from the 90s that I still listen to regularly are surprising to me: Sharkboy's debut 'Matinee' still gets a lot of love, as does Delicatessen's second album 'Hustle Into Bed' (I still listen to 'Buy a Chance to Breathe' a lot). Gene's first album 'Olympian', Suede's debut and its successor 'Dog Man Star', and the first two Saint Etienne LPs - 'Fox Base Alpha' and 'So Tough' - all get regular airings. Then there are outliers like 'New Wave' and 'After Murder Park' by The Auteurs, the first two Tindersticks albums (both titled 'Tindersticks'), 'Pastoral Hide & Seek by The Gun Club, 'Mexican Moon' by Concrete Blonde, and 'Setting the Woods on Fire' by The Walkabouts.
The most obscure 90s release I still play is 'Firebombs' by Chicane who seemed poised for greater things but imploded before they could record their debut LP. The album compiles their EPs in one place. A few years later another artist began using Chicane as a moniker which effectively erased them from history.
The nineties were great decade for music - the last great decade in my opinion, though I am certain that we won't see eye to eye on that.
a ton of other stuff could use a mention! this article could go on for miles and miles! I left out some of my absolute favorite bands like sleater kinney. in other words keep em coming
Hey @Gabbie, any chance you could include Qobuz in the future? This is admittedly a selfish request, but it also has some community value since they pay artists much better than Spotify and place a lot more value on curation and community to help people find music.
The 90s were such a feast of music that inevitably you'll have to leave some out, but I feel like alt-country (Uncle Tupelo, Old 97s, Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle) is a noticeable snub here considering the recent revival of the style (Waxahatchee, Wednesday & MJ Lenderman, Florry, Ryan Davis).
i "snubbed" some of my own personal favorite genres so I categorically reject this analysis since I really was not into alt country at all and have no business writing about it (though I do like the revival well enough, especially Wednesday)
I guess I meant they feel like washed out versions rather than evolved versions. I do think that changes in sampling and changes in drug culture has really affected both these genres though.
i would really encourage you to listen to an artist like FKA twigs before calling her washed out. she might not be very close to what 90s trip hop was, but she is very much influenced by it, and frankly i think in many ways her music is far more evolved. i know that's a really tough sell for anyone who places that much importance on a specific genre of a specific time, but I don't know how one can listen to an album like Magdalene and think it's lesser than.
I’ll give it another go. I’m not being stuck in my time either, i’d love nothing more than a massive wave of bands who grew up listening to trip hop and giving it a go from a new perspective.
Definitely no Big Beat, I would also argue that none of the modern Trip Hop bands are even close to being homeopathic versions of Trip Hop. Maybe Chase and Status are the only thing that makes me feel like listening to Chemical Brothers in the 90s.
that's kind of funny. i would have assumed homeopathic in this context would mean diluted, not similar. anyway.
i think i did a good job with my trip hop pick, but yes, modern trip hop is typically a spin on the original rather than a direct 1:1 take. i don't see that as a negative, though? people often want me to give exact replicas (though others get mad at me for doing exactly that, so nobody is ever happy in the end, really) but isn't the nice thing that music, and all art, ultimately evolves?
Incredible! Cant wait to give this a deep listen.
I feel only marginally guilty for basically ignoring everything else you told me and focusing on just this one little thing but it had to be done!!
Perhaps it is not exclusively 90s, but my favorite genre that I associate with the 90s is New Jack Swing
OH MY GOD i should have included this. what a weird and wonderful time the '90s were.
Two other very 90s genres that come to mind are ska and acid jazz.
I’ll bite, maybe the heirs to big beat are making uk bass or juke e.g. conducta, interplanetary criminal, kettama, dj swisha, machinedrum (and his mentor rip dj rashad), mall grab.
I was thinking this morning about some of the iconic female singers of the 90s. I don't know if they would fit the theme of the playlist but, broadly speaking, ordered from more mainstream to more niche.
The Cranberries
10000 Maniacs
Indigo Girls
Laurie Anderson
Kirsty MacColl
i think the theme was just "stuff I thought of first"!!
That didn't hit #1.
(It looks like the Cranberries hit #1 in the UK but not the US)
I jumped with joy (or whatever the equivalent is from on the couch) seeing "Loud Bark" here. My fave song on 'I Got Heaven' and maybe my fave Mannequin Pussy song ever! Hole is for sure an apt comparison, "Violet" is basically sacred music for me.
I also appreciate the light Oasis shade and, of course, the feeble little horse inclusion
i know MP really got their time in the sun last year, but i couldn't resist another mention
Love the pairing of Garbage and Dream Wife, and Pixies and C Turtle.
How would you classify bands like Counting Crows and Gin Blossoms? They feel quintessentially 90s to me.
they do to me too. i actually thought about that for a long time when I was writing and kind of gave up. are they just generic alternative? whatever that means? retroactively they have been named "minivan rock" by some but I don't think it had a name back then
Well, you know me, I just lump everything into indie and alternative 🤷♀️ Minivan rock definitely fits, even if it is retroactive.
Sounds like a new book is in order: Songs that DIDN'T hit number one! Although I have to admit to not knowing many of these artists so it's not surprising that they didn't hit the more mass appeal focused Hot 100.
this actually makes me happy because I was worried that I was picking artists that too many people would have heard of or would have fought me on! hope you enjoy the playlist
The nineties were my era. I turned 18 the week Nevermind was released. Last year I read Mark Yarm's oral history of Grunge 'Everybody Loves Our Town', which opens with members of the U-Men grappling with the logistics of setting fire to a moat. After the U-Men imploded, a couple of them went on to play in Cat Butt, whose tour with L7 is legendary in a 'I can't believe nobody died' kind of way. I recommend Cat Butt's first and only album - the unpolished gem 'Journey to the Centre of...'
Reading the Yarm's book made me realise what a stranglehold the weekly music press in the UK held over who got publicity. There are bands mentioned in the book who played a key role in Grunge who I had never heard of.
One of the biggest what ifs in popular music, as far as I am concerned, is 'What if Andrew Wood hadn't OD'd? Mother Love Bone were geared up to be the first breakout band from Seattle, but their album 'Apple' and the Shine EP are stadium rock records. 'Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns' rules but it's nothing that you wouldn't have heard growing up in LA in the late 1980s. It makes me wonder, had Mother Love Bone not come to an abrupt end, would the other Seattle bands have changed their sound to fit their template, in the same way that a load of UK bands in the early 90s dramatically changed their image to fit in with Britpop?
The albums from the 90s that I still listen to regularly are surprising to me: Sharkboy's debut 'Matinee' still gets a lot of love, as does Delicatessen's second album 'Hustle Into Bed' (I still listen to 'Buy a Chance to Breathe' a lot). Gene's first album 'Olympian', Suede's debut and its successor 'Dog Man Star', and the first two Saint Etienne LPs - 'Fox Base Alpha' and 'So Tough' - all get regular airings. Then there are outliers like 'New Wave' and 'After Murder Park' by The Auteurs, the first two Tindersticks albums (both titled 'Tindersticks'), 'Pastoral Hide & Seek by The Gun Club, 'Mexican Moon' by Concrete Blonde, and 'Setting the Woods on Fire' by The Walkabouts.
The most obscure 90s release I still play is 'Firebombs' by Chicane who seemed poised for greater things but imploded before they could record their debut LP. The album compiles their EPs in one place. A few years later another artist began using Chicane as a moniker which effectively erased them from history.
The nineties were great decade for music - the last great decade in my opinion, though I am certain that we won't see eye to eye on that.
we don't see eye to eye on that, but of course I think it's one of the greatest
Neutral Milk Hotel (and Elephant 6 bands, Olivia tremor control), and Bikini Kill/le Tigre could use a mention
a ton of other stuff could use a mention! this article could go on for miles and miles! I left out some of my absolute favorite bands like sleater kinney. in other words keep em coming
Oh all the no depression bands - alt country of the 90’s was so good
So many sub genres inside electric music - like Detroit techno or squarepusher or aphex twin or Autechre
Faith No More! Their post-Real Thing albums' avante garde metal-and-more style has a number of imitators these days.
Also post-rock, which started in the 90s and sees a lot of releases these days, although how many of those new releases are good is debatable.
let me know what 90s artist or genres you would have wanted to share with Chris in this weird little time capsule!
I didn't focus on 90s hip hop only because Chris told me he was already very familiar. there's always something obvious I forget to mention!
Hey @Gabbie, any chance you could include Qobuz in the future? This is admittedly a selfish request, but it also has some community value since they pay artists much better than Spotify and place a lot more value on curation and community to help people find music.
I would love to but I can't afford to maintain accounts on that many platforms.
Fun list. Was glad to see Feeble Little Horse.
I thought it was crazy I hadn't actually formally recommended them in the newsletter before
Good timing then! Their music sounds like a machine that's going to break apart any second.
The 90s were such a feast of music that inevitably you'll have to leave some out, but I feel like alt-country (Uncle Tupelo, Old 97s, Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle) is a noticeable snub here considering the recent revival of the style (Waxahatchee, Wednesday & MJ Lenderman, Florry, Ryan Davis).
i "snubbed" some of my own personal favorite genres so I categorically reject this analysis since I really was not into alt country at all and have no business writing about it (though I do like the revival well enough, especially Wednesday)
I guess I meant they feel like washed out versions rather than evolved versions. I do think that changes in sampling and changes in drug culture has really affected both these genres though.
so they ARE homeopathic then, right?
i would really encourage you to listen to an artist like FKA twigs before calling her washed out. she might not be very close to what 90s trip hop was, but she is very much influenced by it, and frankly i think in many ways her music is far more evolved. i know that's a really tough sell for anyone who places that much importance on a specific genre of a specific time, but I don't know how one can listen to an album like Magdalene and think it's lesser than.
I’ll give it another go. I’m not being stuck in my time either, i’d love nothing more than a massive wave of bands who grew up listening to trip hop and giving it a go from a new perspective.
Definitely no Big Beat, I would also argue that none of the modern Trip Hop bands are even close to being homeopathic versions of Trip Hop. Maybe Chase and Status are the only thing that makes me feel like listening to Chemical Brothers in the 90s.
that's kind of funny. i would have assumed homeopathic in this context would mean diluted, not similar. anyway.
i think i did a good job with my trip hop pick, but yes, modern trip hop is typically a spin on the original rather than a direct 1:1 take. i don't see that as a negative, though? people often want me to give exact replicas (though others get mad at me for doing exactly that, so nobody is ever happy in the end, really) but isn't the nice thing that music, and all art, ultimately evolves?