thread giving me weird flashbacks to a forgotten prior version of myself
― dc, Tuesday, 12 April 2016 17:20 (eight years ago) link
A few Bran Van 3000 songs would likely fit in this category. And this one was on the soundtrack to Practical Magic:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxEV7us8Hfc
― MarkoP, Tuesday, 12 April 2016 17:26 (eight years ago) link
from the buffy soundtrack:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNgwj1psdk8
― a self-reinforcing downward spiral of male-centric indie (katherine), Tuesday, 12 April 2016 17:45 (eight years ago) link
ahh .. i have the furslide cd hidden deep in the archive somewhere. good call.had production from nelle hooper i think - hence why i was interested.
― mark e, Tuesday, 12 April 2016 17:50 (eight years ago) link
xpost I love that Bran Van 3000 song
― boxedjoy, Tuesday, 12 April 2016 18:33 (eight years ago) link
Was coming on to post Sneaker Pimps, though 6 Underground rather than Spin Spin Sugar.
― the joke should be over once the kid is eaten. (chap), Tuesday, 12 April 2016 18:37 (eight years ago) link
i think 'hold me thrill me kiss me kill me' probably counts here, to some extent.
― nomar, Tuesday, 12 April 2016 18:37 (eight years ago) link
These bands were sort of the post-grunge, post-rave, post-hip hop alternative to britpop. Maybe you could view them as some sort of aberrant uncool heirs to the original firstwave post-rock generation of pram, laika, moonshake etc - rock subverted with digital technology usurping the role of the guitar?
― real orgone kid (NickB), Tuesday, 12 April 2016 19:43 (eight years ago) link
The other trend that was connected to this was pop-rock that wanted to sound like it had listened to Beck e.g. Shawn Mullins' "Rockabye" through The Eels' "Novocaine for the Soul".
― Tim F, Tuesday, 12 April 2016 20:29 (eight years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCZaMUTP3MM
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 12 April 2016 20:35 (eight years ago) link
One Dove are too early for this trend I think? They're kinda credible?
― Tim F, Tuesday, 12 April 2016 20:48 (eight years ago) link
Yeah, I was thinking they were more like godmothers of this sound.
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 12 April 2016 20:49 (eight years ago) link
Imogen Heap's first single, produced by Guy Sigsworth. Oversized motorbike goggles? Check.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwq8Y5z6ckE
― Tim F, Tuesday, 12 April 2016 20:49 (eight years ago) link
esthero? hooverphonic?
― Allen (etaeoe), Friday, 15 April 2016 22:42 (eight years ago) link
man I cannot listen to esthero anymore knowing that they spawned the weeknd
― a self-reinforcing downward spiral of male-centric indie (katherine), Saturday, 16 April 2016 16:11 (eight years ago) link
Awesome thread, Katherine. The music and the concept.
No Lack of Credibility = No Credibility!
That Buffy The Vampire Slayer Album got so much play in our house in 1999. Up to December 31st, at least. Plenty of examples appropriate for this thread, as well:
http://www.allmusic.com/album/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-the-album-mw0000081694
It deserves a reunion concert, really. Preferably with a revolving stage. (So there's no pauses between songs.)
― sbahnhof, Friday, 22 April 2016 22:55 (eight years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSLqeZzTU8I
― Allen (etaeoe), Monday, 2 May 2016 17:11 (eight years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S_R13jV11Q
― Allen (etaeoe), Monday, 2 May 2016 17:12 (eight years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_06W2zTh9ds
https://youtu.be/Lkr_27YYHrA
― Allen (etaeoe), Monday, 2 May 2016 17:14 (eight years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOXlJfJ-OgA
Róisín Murphy's face in that still is cracking me up.
― Allen (etaeoe), Monday, 2 May 2016 17:15 (eight years ago) link
I think this phenomenon is best understood as major labels seeking to come to grips with "electronica" as a possible means by which to keep alive the crossover success of alternative rock, hence its survival is sharply circumscribed by the fortunes of the sounds that it supplemented and those that ultimately rendered it redundant. Its history is best traced by soundtracks.
As a starting premise we can establish that this phenomenon did not yet exist in 1994 based on the simple observation that there is not a single qualifying song on the Reality Bites soundtrack (an almost perfect example of big money attempts to emulate the hip new sound of youth, importantly including the young's penchant for retro nostalgia).
The jumping off point is Tank Girl in March 1995: slotting Bjork's "Army of Me" and Portishead's "Roads" alongside L7, Hole and Belly like it ain't no thang, girl power means we can rock with or without guitars. This was in fact my own first exposure to Portishead at the age of 12/13. That this soundtrack feels more genuinely "alt" than those which follow simple confirms that at this point the proposition ("these disparate things are in fact the same") was not yet fully absorbed by mainstream culture.
1996 through 1998 is the golden age, an obvious example being the Stealing Beauty soundtrack: so desperate for those Portishead vibes that it includes Hooverphonic's "2Wicky" alongside "Glory Box" (but also, crucially, "Rocket Boy" by Liz Phair - is this dialectics or bet hedging?).
But by 1998 something else is happening: big beat, once seen as extension of these moody alt vibes, is now redefining electronica from moody alt vibes into good times beersoaked frat party music, like an instrumental version of Smashmouth. Simultaneously rock itself is also going in this direction : younger, dumber, brasher. The first clear articulation of this is the Can't Hardly Wait soundtrack: Third Eye Blind and Blink-182 in the first three tracks sandwiching Smashmouth, some hip hop and R&B to round out the party and no electronica whatsoever. Romance is signified by the pretty, very acoustic "Kiss Me", confirming the prescience of Natalie Imbruglia's "Torn" the year before (emerging in the middle of the golden age, Imbruglia had dutifully burnished the rest of her debut album with electronic touches to appear contemporary).
That Can't Hardly Wait was clearly onto something is demonstrated by how in 1999 the (more successful) American Pie soundtrack so carefully repeated many of its key moves, right down to including Third Eye Blind and Blink-182 in the first few tracks ("Kiss Me" was upgraded to Bic Runga's smaller, more lovely "Sway"). There's a new music of the (white) youth in town, and it's never heard an Isaac Hayes album in its life.
That same year, She's All That (which couldn't resist pulling out "Kiss Me" again) placed a full stop on the phenomenon: electronica finally gets in-film recognition but it's via a jokey prom dance routine to "The Rockafeller Skank" - nothing "alt" about it. The implausible scene where two of the characters simultaneously declare their independently-derived love for Goldie's "Believe" is the movement's very last asthmatic gasp.
― Tim F, Monday, 2 May 2016 21:44 (eight years ago) link
also important to this sort of thing is Things I Hate About You, specifically its major-label interpretation of "angry girl music of the indie rock persuasion"
I always think of the endpoint somewhere around 2004, which was Mean Girls and Regina mocking Cady for not knowing Katy Rose's "Overdove"
― a self-reinforcing downward spiral of male-centric indie (katherine), Tuesday, 3 May 2016 03:01 (eight years ago) link
*Overdrive, also
― a self-reinforcing downward spiral of male-centric indie (katherine), Tuesday, 3 May 2016 03:03 (eight years ago) link
The first thing that came to mind was Hooverphonic's "2Wicky" on the I Know What You Did Last Summer soundtrack.
And Mono's "Life in Mono" on Great Expectations.
― LimbsKing, Tuesday, 3 May 2016 03:13 (eight years ago) link
i am trying to think of the best Ivy track to put here
― sexy dander (Stevie D(eux)), Tuesday, 3 May 2016 03:26 (eight years ago) link
also omg this is my new favorite thread THANK YOU KATHERINE
is this electronic enough?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQxgRt1vJgQ
― sexy dander (Stevie D(eux)), Tuesday, 3 May 2016 03:29 (eight years ago) link
wait i meant this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7Gz2WDJibk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-D61Sje2Ts4
― sexy dander (Stevie D(eux)), Tuesday, 3 May 2016 03:30 (eight years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sa6HVMwTl5U
― sexy dander (Stevie D(eux)), Tuesday, 3 May 2016 03:34 (eight years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydjzF6mJ-9I
― sexy dander (Stevie D(eux)), Tuesday, 3 May 2016 03:51 (eight years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOyAsgalu3I
― sexy dander (Stevie D(eux)), Tuesday, 3 May 2016 03:57 (eight years ago) link
the frontwoman of this group went on to make "i'm still hot," of covered-by-betty-white-in-a-meme fame
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQZhyVAJFNg
― a self-reinforcing downward spiral of male-centric indie (katherine), Tuesday, 3 May 2016 04:02 (eight years ago) link
I think even before Garbage and/or Republica, this was probably the genesis of the trend (though the lack of guitars being mixed with the electronics might dq it)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4MPPOTarDM
― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Tuesday, 3 May 2016 04:19 (eight years ago) link
^ nah, now that I've skimmed the rest of the thread, I see that's not really what you're going for.
― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Tuesday, 3 May 2016 04:27 (eight years ago) link
Where does Is This Desire? fit into this thread?
― jaymc, Tuesday, 3 May 2016 06:13 (eight years ago) link
Too arty.
― Tim F, Tuesday, 3 May 2016 06:14 (eight years ago) link
The Great Expectations soundtrack has Tori Amos' "Siren" which is the perfect example of established artists reacting to this trend.
― Tim F, Tuesday, 3 May 2016 06:15 (eight years ago) link
I'd probably circumscribe the time period quite strictly because I do feel like by the end of the 90s the coalition-qualities of the major label notion of "alternative" - music that, regardless of specific genre or sonic affectations, sounded like it was angling for a Spin cover - had totally splintered.
By the time the third Garbage album came out in late 2001 it felt very outmoded.
Other key moments:
1. The Romeo & Juliet soundtrack from the beginning of 2007, with the truly archetypal trip hop remix of Garbage's "#1 Crush";2. The Cruel Intentions soundtrack from March 2001, with the Elizabeth Frazer / Craig Armstrong collabo.
― Tim F, Tuesday, 3 May 2016 06:29 (eight years ago) link
Those dates should be early 1997 and March 1999 obv.
― Tim F, Tuesday, 3 May 2016 06:30 (eight years ago) link
i was scrolling through this thread for the first time and was like whoa, serendipity when "2wicky" was mentioned, before i noticed the date and remembered that we don't control beyoncé, she controls us
― cher guevara (lex pretend), Tuesday, 3 May 2016 10:30 (eight years ago) link
(isn't trip-hop the elephant in the room here? my memories are indistinct but i recall a lot of "american rock acts trying to recreate trip-hop from a long distance" vibes)
(i'd love to know whether there were any equipment/technology changes that spurred on the electronic experimentation! i've tried to get tori amos to talk about her siren/datura/iieee phase on at least two occasions now but she can be extremely non-specific when she wants)
― cher guevara (lex pretend), Tuesday, 3 May 2016 10:32 (eight years ago) link
great expectations and romeo + juliet soundtracks both feel v key to this - the former is the only place i ever heard poe - but actually returning to the track listings doesn't seem to bear this out? actually both seem kind of grim?
― cher guevara (lex pretend), Tuesday, 3 May 2016 10:34 (eight years ago) link
been a long time since i listened, but i seem to recall suzanne vega adding some electronica/noise/beats to her thing for the "99.9F" album.suspect some of that album would be suitable for this thread ?
― mark e, Tuesday, 3 May 2016 10:49 (eight years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xD5O4gdSPro
I big this record up every five years but nobody cares, so here I go again.
Also the Furslide album is brilliant, Jennifer Turner just vanished into the ether after that, which is a huge shame. I own more than two thirds of the records whose YouTubes are in this thread, predictably.
― oh, boy, .GIF! That's where I'm a Viking! (edwardo), Tuesday, 3 May 2016 10:59 (eight years ago) link
OMG OMG OMG i remembered the song that is the absolute pinnacle of this aesthetic and also the worst song posted in this thread so far:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEHKVaASeOg
― Tim F, Tuesday, 3 May 2016 13:32 (eight years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0O2-xV5XEA
― Allen (etaeoe), Tuesday, 3 May 2016 14:08 (eight years ago) link
Another soundtrack touchstone of this sound was the one for Spawn from '97, which had a Judgement Night-style pairing of Rock & Electronic artists.
http://www.allmusic.com/album/spawn-the-album-mw0000030260
― Now I Know How Joan of Arcadia Felt (C. Grisso/McCain), Tuesday, 3 May 2016 14:56 (eight years ago) link
three guesses what reminded me of this today
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AT8PLB-zsV0
― a self-reinforcing downward spiral of male-centric indie (katherine), Monday, 9 May 2016 13:36 (eight years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pURJDToKA0k
― afriendlypioneer, Monday, 9 May 2016 13:56 (eight years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QORg0kMaqRg
― kornrulez6969, Monday, 9 May 2016 15:59 (eight years ago) link
Not quite sure if this fits this thread, but I've always liked this song:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeDs-jZBh5s
― MarkoP, Monday, 9 May 2016 16:02 (eight years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4mcHfZOX5k
cannot believe it has taken me this long to get to ARCHIVE.
their second album (now disowned by the band) epitomizes this sub-genre.
― mark e, Monday, 9 May 2016 16:51 (eight years ago) link
there must be something in the air bc i decided to finally try n get into garbage a couple mo. back & was really digging the overarching vibe
weirdly i completely love this aesthetic but the actual execution of it feels extremely spotty to me. IDK if it's just that I wish there was someone to distill the general sensation into something more pop or what but yeah
except for ivy's album which is pretty perfect.
― Listen to my homeboy Fantano (D-40), Thursday, 7 July 2016 05:06 (seven years ago) link
Of course i was familiar w/ Garbage from high school but i never owned their CDs or anything
― Listen to my homeboy Fantano (D-40), Thursday, 7 July 2016 05:07 (seven years ago) link
Did we already talk about Curve's "Chinese Burn" and specifically that time Buffy and Faith danced to it at some awesome underground club in a factory (the kind that only exists in video clips, The Matrix and, seemingly, Buffy The Vampire Slayer) in the middle of the day?
― Tim F, Thursday, 7 July 2016 10:30 (seven years ago) link
they exist for real in Berlin! Maybe all these ppl are secretly going to Berlin real quick to dance?
― sexy dander (Stevie D(eux)), Thursday, 7 July 2016 13:06 (seven years ago) link
this is the stuff:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oM_hkAKujXU
― a self-reinforcing downward spiral of male-centric indie (katherine), Saturday, 14 January 2017 06:52 (seven years ago) link