So, here we are. 2010. Twenty years from the beginning of the 1990s. Time to dust off my Stüssy jacket and Doc Martens. Okay, so maybe this post is a little bit late. It's September already. Why now? Our friends at Pitchfork Media, barometers of listening acceptability among the picky (too picky?), are doing the 90s. Fresh off of compiling a Top 50 Videos of the 1990s list, all this week Pitchfork is rolling out a list of the top 200 tracks of the decade. It's Pitchfork, so I'd expect three things. Actually, with the list being three days in, I can provide some examples.
1. Several "guilty pleasure" mainstream hits. Ironically, I just read an article about how there really is no such thing as a "guilty" pleasure. On Pitchfork. Pitchfork might really know everything (see rule 2 below).
- Good Example:
- #194: "Motownphilly" by Boyz II Men. Pitchfork had this to say about the excellent video: "Watching the 'Motownphilly' video today is like receiving a transmission from another planet. In what universe did this make sense? Four preppy dudes singing doo-wop harmonies over Dallas Austin-produced New Jack Swing, shouting out cheesesteaks and South Street, doing the dorkiest "sexy" dance moves ever on the Delaware River waterfront. Michael Bivins of Bell Biv DeVoe (and formerly New Edition) makes a cameo, rapping from a toilet seat while reading a newspaper."
2. A good number of very, very obscure songs. That's to make sure that they demonstrate that you couldn't possibly come anywhere close to matching the collective breadth of music knowledge at Pitchfork.
- Good Example:
- #158: "Your Woman" by White Town. "You wouldn't know it from the retro new-wave pop sound of this hit single, but India-born, UK-based Jyoti Mishra was a twee-pop veteran and ex-Marxist who'd grown up identifying with the anorak underground: Slumberland and Summershine were big labels in his world. When he began recording as White Town in 1990 for the Urbana, Illinois twee label Parasol Records, those recordings were a clear influence on his own brand of jangly indie pop." Say no more.
3. Lots of songs from the iconic "alternative" and "indie" artists of the era. In other words, expect to see Radiohead, Nirvana, etc. But to keep us on our toes, they'll pull out a few unexpected tracks from the biggies and mix up the order from what we'd all expect. I mean, if Pitchfork's list was the same as some other list, people might actually suspect that someone out there might know as much about indie music as Pitchfork!
- Good Example:
- #122: "Christiansands" by Tricky. Review begins: "Perhaps you're surprised to see a cut from Pre-Millennium Tension as Tricky's entrant on this list rather than one from his more-acclaimed debut, Maxinquaye, particularly 'Aftermath.'" Exactly!
So what does this have to do with me? I guess the list has me thinking back to that age, and I feel like I should contribute something. Perhaps my own list, although nothing as big as Pitchfork's. For one thing, I'm a good age for that sort of thing. I finished high school in 1989 and did a lot of my musical exploration in the 90s in college, where I joined the radio station staff, started going to see more shows, and shared a lot of ideas with new friends. Also, Rachel and I are in the middle of a string of concerts by some pretty big alt-rock bands that were in their prime back then: Pixies, Pavement (twice, in two different time zones -- don't ask), Guided by Voices, plus we saw My Bloody Valentine not that long ago. But I don't want to harp on the icons here.
Instead, how about some of my own less obvious picks? Not necessarily all obscure, but maybe underappreciated. I can't come up with 200. Not sure I can come up with 10. So, in no particular order, here are a few of Jon's Underlistened Tracks of the 90s.
Out-There Hip-Hop
"2000 BC" - Basehead (1992)
Basehead was basically Michael Ivey, a Howard University student with a creative streak. Ivey, along with some friends, crafted some of the most original, genre-bending hip-hop to come out of a decade of hip-hop boundary-pushing. "2000 B.C.," which debut album Play with Toys launches into after a short intro track, is the perfect introduction into the laid back, bluesy, funky, stoner/lush hip-hop world of Basehead. The title -- the "B.C." stands for brain cells -- should give you a hint. Over little more than a shuffling live small drum kit, soul-jazz bass and soft-strumming guitar with some occasional turntable work, Ivey sounds barely awake enough to sing-rap a commentary about the bad, violent side of life. Basehead put out a second decent album a few years later, then Ivey turned toward religion a bit more on later albums with which I am not familiar.
"Change the Style" - Son of Bazerk (1991)
How do you even describe Son of Bazerk's take on hip-hop? Is it even hip-hop? "Change the Style," a standout track from 1991's Bazerk Bazerk Bazerk, Bomb Squad-produced, is full of abrupt tempo changes and stylistic shifts from funk to dancehall to hard rock. That's just one track. Yet somehow the stew works. Too bad Tony Allen and co. hung it up after one misunderstood album.
Local Treasures
Rachel and I spent the first half of the 90s living in the Boston area, starting out at Tufts University. I tried to soak up a healthy amount of the local scene, from the bands on campus to city and regional acts. Here's one Tufts band that had a little bit of indie success, and a Boston song that was somewhat iconic on local radio during our time there.
"Hey, Hey You Say" - Papas Fritas (1997)
Once in a long while, Tufts artists broke out -- Tracy Chapman and Guster are probably the biggest two. Papas Fritas didn't really break, but they did carve out some measure of critical acclaim during their brief recording career.
First off, the name. It was probably around junior or senior year, maybe 1992, which is when the band formed, when I remember my friend Jeremy Rosenberg mentioning the name of a campus band he liked. "Papas Fritas" he would say with a grin and a very slight Spanish accent (Jeremy and I were in more than one Spanish class together). The name stuck in my head. Papas Fritas -- Spanish for fried taters, and phoenetically "pop has freed us" -- was a sunny minimalist pop trio featuring three Tufts students: Tony Goddess (guitar, vocals), Shivika Asthana (drums, vocals), and Keith Gendel (bass, vocals). They played some small gigs, but mostly just for fun. Still, they were talented enough for a very small label to put out a 7 inch, which then got heard by the right person at a slightly larger label. Minty Fresh Records signed the band, and they stuck it out for four records. They toured several continents, playing with The Flaming Lips, The Cardigans and The Eels, among others. Although the critics were kind, the band never really broke out, and finally went on hiatus in 2000 or so.
I say: "Come back soon."
Here's 60s-inspired "Hey, Hey You Say" from 1997's Helioself.
"Hire a Bird" - Think Tree (1992)
I first heard "Hire a Bird" on Boston's commercial alternative radio station WFNX. They used to have a local show, Boston After Dark, that I would listen to pretty regularly. Electronic music was pretty young at the time. Even Kraftwerk was only 15 years or so earlier. For a couple of guys with a limited budget, Boston's Think Tree managed to come up with something deeply layered, totally original, and even a bit funky with "Hire a Bird" (the last 45 seconds or so always makes me think of Prince). Whatever it was, it was catchy, and FNX started playing it more and more, even on its regular shows. College stations bought in as well, and for a while, it was one of the biggest local songs. I recall doing my radio show one day and running out of music to play with a few minutes left in my slot -- I used to grab a bunch of CDs and vinyl before the show and usually made sure I had too much, if anything. The guy who was coming on after me, who was getting his music stash together himself, thought for a second, then suggested to me, "You could hire a bird." And so I did.
Bonus Trivia: What movie is sampled at the very end of the song?
Hint: From the 70s.
Genres that Faded
Do you remember acid jazz? Trip-hop, ska-punk or rap-metal? Yeah, we do too. I was over in London during the first half of 1992, and acid jazz was still a thing. The Brand New Heavies were the shit. Incognito, Groove Collective, James Taylor Quartet, Galliano, and Mother Earth were some of the other names. I still have a bunch of those acid jazz collections, so if it DOES come back in, I'm the man!
"Get to Grips" - Ronny Jordan (1992)
I hadn't heard of Ronny Jordan until I was in London. He was/is a talented jazz guitarist who came at acid jazz from the jazz-side more than the acid. "Get to Grips" was the first song I heard, and it was the perfect soundtrack to the mellow, hazy, late nights we had that semester "studying" overseas. I looked forward to telling friends back home about the new musical discovery, but when I arrived at college for my senior year, one of the first music-related things my friend Pete told me about was this cool new guitarist named Ronny Jordan.
"B-Line" - Lamb (1999)
Trip-hop is another genre that peaked in the 1990s, albeit a bit later than acid jazz. Most of the bands faded away after brief lives, although some kept on going (Thievery Corporation) and others had later revivals (Portishead). Lamb was a bit more obscure, but somehow I got a hold of a copy of their second album Fear of Fours. Sure, they borrowed a lot from their trip-hop contemporaries, but Lamb still did their own thing. Maybe it doesn't all age well, but I always thought "B-Line" was catchy, in a creepy sort of way.
One That Got Away
"Way Down Now" - World Party (1990)
This is one of those songs that should have been a hit. World Party was former Waterboys member Karl Wallinger's attempt at fronting a more mainstream rock band. He assembled a good group of musicians, wrote some really poppy songs, and played basically what amounted to good, classic rock-n-roll. But, of course, in 1990, that sort of thing qualified as "alternative music." So despite the catchy hooks, tight playing, witty lyrics and the best "woo-woo" since Sympathy for the Devil, "Way Down Now" got spun a few times on 120 Minutes, then disappeared. Poof!
Like this post. I have more ideas, but we'll have to cover those in another installment. I'll check back in after Pitchfork has revealed its entire list.
