The song that represents the END of the 90s

Miss Kittin - "Frank Sinatra" (came out in 2000 too!)

The tone of this was just such a big 'fuck you' to 90s utopian inclusiveness in club music. Really marked a change. Also because of the overt lack of any funk/US influence and the first time I remember an italo-tinged record being a club hit (except maybe for "Space Invaders are Smoking Grass".

OR

Kelis - 'Caught out there'

At the time it seemed like a novelty hit, we weren't to know that everything would sound a bit like it in a few years time...

Dance music was kind of like novelty/comedy records in the minds of most American teenagers at that time, though.

Huh?

'Dance' music (ie C&C, etc.) was pop - you couldn't escape it on Top 40 radio at the time.

NSYNC - "Bye Bye Bye"

I guess the song that represents the start of the 00s then would be The Strokes' "The Modern Age" (specifically, the EP version that was named an NME Single of the Week in January of 2001 and started the whole "garage rock revival" thing)

The start of the 00s was either Aaliyah's "We Need a Resolution" or that NERD song about politicians sounding like strippers etc

The last song of the 90s was Len, "Steal My Sunshine." Sung almost as a challenge as to what would follow...

The end to an innocent, self-indulgent, relatively happy decade - the sunshine got stolen, and how

You know, to get something to represent the 00s, you should really get something really obscure that only a small circle of net fans have heard of, as that is indeed the most archetypical trend of the 00s.

Everything in between (Eminem, talking about you) '99-'01 was transitional like someone else said. Strokes/"return of rawk!" was hyped up bullshit that died off by what, 2003? and was no real "shift" at all. That White Stripes 01 record was the only good to come out of all that

The 2003 Lil Jon single signals "the start of the end of the beginning" of the decade hahaha - we're in mid-decade by then with crunk. The Neptunes/Timbaland sound is so ubiquitous its completely dominant in pop. Eminem's popularity dips by his '04 attempt at a comeback, there are a ton of boring as fuck artsy-psych folk-rock bands with animalistic names everywhere, and the transitional period is completely over

But the 90's proper ended 3-4 years earlier with "Steal My Sunshine," believe me

>>You know, to get something to represent the 00s, you should really get something really obscure that only a small circle of net fans have heard of, as that is indeed the most archetypical trend of the 00s.

-- Geir Hongro, Thursday, August 7, 2008 2:08 AM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Link<<

Maybe to a small circle of net fans (that is the most whatever-trend). But I don't know if you're just being sardonic Geir. Most music fans still don't go home everyday and read all the exciting obscure music blogs on teh internets, come on now. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was not exactly "obscure," yet most would agree it signified the beginning of the decade and to discuss obvious large cultural markers you should talk about what resonated with...the larger culture

I'd like to just pretend Limp Bizkit/Korn just never happened though, who am I to talk

"No Distance Left To Run" - Blur.

Right Here Right Now - Fatboy Slim

Maybe to a small circle of net fans (that is the most whatever-trend).

It is net trends that I am speaking of. The stuff that sells in "mainstream" amounts usually does so either to 11 year old kids or to 50 year old housewives. Those who are actually interested in music are to an increasing degree checking out stuff within genres that they know they already like, stuff that is unlikely to get a mainstream audience, but which is still very much available on the Net, for downloading or for purchase on CD from independent net shops.

Song that sounds like the 90's being thrillingly sucked into a grinder and contemptuously spat out: Earl Brutus - Male Wife

Song that sounds like the final 90's firework into the sun: Grandaddy - He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's The Pilot

Song that takes the whole house down and fucking enjoys itself: The Monsoon Bassoon - Commando

Song that kisses the 90's goodnight: Boards Of Canada - Happy Cycling

Song that quietly mourns: The Beta Band - The Cow's Wrong

I like a lot of the ideas bouncing around here now - particularly the "transitional period" reading of the turn-of-the-millenium, which yeah, doesn't sound much at all like the stereotypical 90s or the stereotypical 2000s - although I think you could argue that while Backstreet and Bizkit were both short-lived eras, there are certain things that have continued on in the tapestry of the 2000s - mainly Sum-41-esque pop-punk singing, whether in that genre or in emo-based things. So I dunno.

One thing I think is really fabulous is how diverse the readings of the 90s are - in one post it's a happy, innocent time that was brought to a crashing end with Woodstock 99 (or whatever) - for others it's a vacuous, self-obsessed decade of Clintonian compromise and/or inane, baseless earnestness. (I could speculate that this has a lot to do with what age you were when all this went down, but I suspect it'd break down quickly.)

So to follow up on my first paragraph there, I'm starting to think it's that first Linkin Park hit, at least in terms of "beginning of the 2000s" in a history-tracing, "Rocket 88" sense - but in terms of a bomb going off and people going "my god, we're in a new era," it just didn't have the impact.

lou got it quick.

for others it's a vacuous, self-obsessed decade of Clintonian compromise and/or inane, baseless earnestness.

wtf does this even mean??

the awkward transitional period that started in late-98 and ended around 9/11/01.

I know I've said this countless times on ILM but ^ this period of music was the worst thing ever

Song that sounds like the final 90's firework into the sun: Grandaddy - He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's The Pilot

You mean, "Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots" and "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" never happened?

they happened after the 90's had ceased to be

plus HSHDHTP is actually millennial in lyrical bent and concept

plus it is grander and more "statement"-y than anything on those records

"Bittersweet Symphony" is a good call. It feels like the end of something. Or maybe Green Day's "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)".

Yeah, if we're going to go for anything that feels like mourning the end of things I vote for the Grandaddy song. Great track.

>> for others it's a vacuous, self-obsessed decade of Clintonian
>> compromise and/or inane, baseless earnestness.

>wtf does this even mean??

I thought it was kinda clear, oh well. If you remember the 90s badly, one reason might be that the decade seemed politically cynical, soulless, the era of ass-covering, equivocation, post-Atwater spin-in-advance, hairsplitting, and the dead-ending of identity politics. I'm not sure what, if anything, I saw in this thread that reminded me of that and I'm too lazy to go look for it.

On the flipside, a lot of people seem to remember the 90s as too-positive or too-earnest - despite all the chatter about GenX and the Age of Irony, you had a lot of can-do spirit mixed in, perhaps personified in someone like Eddie Vedder, who never sang as if he didn't mean it. That was the notional discursive purpose of grunge, right - "real" over "fake," except the "real" was also linked (sometimes?) with irony and distance. Reality bites, I guess.

(Was "Reality Bites" supposed to be a reference to "sound bites" or did it mean, like, this really bites? I always assumed the latter but the former just occurred to me as a possibility.)

I love this thread!

Would it be wrong to say that the 90's was obsessed with the idea of experimentation and innovation? It seems like the constant melding of genres (rap-rock and various forms of electronic/hip-hop/pop combinations) and the emphasis on creating original sounds (Rage Against The Machine guitar solos, record scratching, bizarre sampling, down-tuning to the point where your guitar sounded like a muffled growl) were part of a constant effort to break new ground sonically. Hard rock acts were obviously a big part of this, but it can even be heard in the production on N'sync's "pop" or any Barenaked Ladies single, which was always caked in gaudy production choices and silly samples. As someone who grew up on guitar magazines in the 90's, it seemed like every other week someone was inventing a new effects pedal or guitar tuning or bizarre production trick.

In stark contrast, I'd say the 00's have clamped down hard on the idea aimless of experimentation and replaced it with an emphasis on appropriating classic ideas from "timeless bands". A premium is placed on picking the right reference points and arranging them in tasteful ways. Where a 90's rock critic might have praised a band for seeming wholly "original", a rock critic in the 00's praises a band for sounding like a combination of bands from the traditional rock cannon.

Strokes/"return of rawk!" was hyped up bullshit that died off by what, 2003?

In the US maybe, in the UK it felt like a total paradigm shift. Any guitar sound from the 90s suddenly became totally unfashionable and most ubiquitous haircut indie springs from the Strokes.

(Actually, maybe until a year or so ago)

(nu rave feels like an extension of this to me)

"the awkward transitional period that started in late-98 and ended around 9/11/01."

I know I've said this countless times on ILM but ^ this period of music was the worst thing ever -- Curt1s Stephens,

the very first post - I'll go with 'Goo Goo Dolls' - Iris which first came out in the latter half of '98. That was sort of the first post-90s-like sound to me. - seems to me the hit song that started the transitional period... and it doesn't suck.

It'll be interesting to see whether The Verve's comeback is big enough to cause a shift away from post-Strokes guitar sounds.

"Would it be wrong to say that the 90's was obsessed with the idea of experimentation and innovation?"

Yeah, especially since most of what I remember as the dominant sounds of the '90s are really retro-oriented and pretty staid (Grunge, indie). Hell, even the "experimental" stuff like rap rock and electronica was really more about diluting the vanguard edge with rock sensibilities.

Answer is super easy in all ways.

Semisonic - "Closing Time"

I associate "Closing Time" with
* the death of earnest AOR 90s bar ballad rock
* the death of the dot com
* the beginning of the death of denim white dudes on the top of the charts (definitely those above the age of 23)
* the death of Cheers (and I liked the show, but Cheers-orabilia then was really really annoying)
* the death of Zima
* the death of the death of grunge

the awkward transitional period that started in late-98 and ended around 9/11/01.

I know I've said this countless times on ILM but ^ this period of music was the worst thing ever

I only partially agree. I started listening to top 40 radio a lot during the summer of '99 and I remember that there was an abundance of fantastic singles. Nu-metal was only beginning its Satanic dominance on the market and I can't imagine myself falling in love with the possibilities of pop music had my first experience come a year later listening to Creed, bizkit, etc. instead of the relatively diverse pop songs that came out of the year before in the summer of 1999.

A transition period? Yes, but it wasn't all bad.

In stark contrast, I'd say the 00's have clamped down hard on the idea aimless of experimentation and replaced it with an emphasis on appropriating classic ideas from "timeless bands". A premium is placed on picking the right reference points and arranging them in tasteful ways. Where a 90's rock critic might have praised a band for seeming wholly "original", a rock critic in the 00's praises a band for sounding like a combination of bands from the traditional rock cannon.

I feel like the '00s are way more interesting sonically than the '90s, especially the past few years. But I'm 10 years younger than most of the people on this thread so that's probably why I think that.

I guess mostly I feel like there are fewer rules in pop music now - musical technology is more accessible & you can have a bunch of teenagers making beats on FruityLoops and it can go #1 (e.g. Soulja Boy)

(I love Soulja Boy btw)

"Feeling Yourself Disintegrate" by the Flaming Lips

Prince - "1999"

ok, if we are being technical (but outside the spirit of this thread), someone should mention that phish song on the new years show where they do "power outage" lyrics or something like that... (I remember my friend hoping they would do that song and then him telling me that they did)

In stark contrast, I'd say the 00's have clamped down hard on the idea aimless of experimentation and replaced it with an emphasis on appropriating classic ideas from "timeless bands"....

I feel like the '00s are way more interesting sonically than the '90s, especially the past few years.

I think that comment was suggesting that the 90's had more experimentation within the mainstream. The 00's have lots of indie-rock experimentation, but there was no indie-rock explosion in the 90's, so back then it had to be done in a certain way so that it could be considered a profitable commodity or whatever.. So yeah, I agree with that comment, although I also agree that most of the experimentation was merely combining sub-genre X with rock elements so the singles could receive airplay on alt-rock stations (xpost)... And I usually like that concept, so I don't see how that's such a bad thing. I like modern indie experimentation as well, but I do miss the concept of brilliant straight up rock music, which is difficult to find with new bands these days.

Bittersweet Symphony sounds so much more epic than Closing Time..

spice girls- "wannabe"

I heard it and I said "this is the end"

then I got my gun

I know I said it months ago, but it's the song with Fred Durst performing on the roof of the World Trade Center.

what's that phish song called? (I tried looking up the setlist once, and the lyrics for the song at midnight, but I didn't think the song fit)

there was no indie-rock explosion in the 90's

Huh? I agree that there's something vibrant and exciting to 2000s indie - not that I'm listening to hardly any of it, mind, I feel a bit old and Dylan's-Mr.-Jones-like - but if you asked me what decade the indie rock explosion took place in, it would have to be the 90s, the decade of Matador, K, Kill Rock Stars, etc. Or are you just saying that the sonic diversity of that stuff was lower?

there was no indie-rock romance explosion in the 90's

stacy's mom

things that happened to indie rock in the 00's:

* a few more indie rockers realized it was ok to admit liking mainstream pop music and disco
* recording costs and ease of overdubs and correction tools became far far cheaper and prevalant thanks to digital recording technology

That's primarily it. The musical influences are pretty much the same as they ever were (except there are now more 90's indie rock influenced 00's indie rock.)