The song that represents the END of the 90s

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.)

the decade of Matador, K, Kill Rock Stars, etc.

This is true, but in the 00's bands on independent labels actually charted... a rare occurrence in the 80's and 90's. R.E.M. and Nirvana helped to spread word of these "underground" bands long ago, but today technology makes it far easier to discover new music. Also today, there's far more music on indie-labels used to help sell products & in movies. I imagine that once upon a time it was difficult to find a Guided By Voices or Liz Phair CD at a store like Sam Goody. It feels several times more popular than it did 10-20 years ago.

the '90s didn't die properly until "hey ya."

This is true, but in the 00's bands on independent labels actually charted

They charted because more mainstream music followers stopped buying records before indie music followers stopped buying records.

I just wrote a short article arguing that Soulwax's ""Many Djs" mix was the album that kicked off and defined the noughties.

Wow, great thread!

2ManyDJs is a decent enough call for the start of the noughties (came out in 2001) - that's answering the wrong question though isn't it (and it's not a song)?

End of the '90s for me meant the Cornelius remix of Coldcut's 'Atomic Moog 2000', Aimee Mann's cover of Harry Nilsson's 'One', Lou Bega's 'Mambo No.5' and TLC's 'No Scrubs'.

Party round my house, back then!

Don't really like it, but J-Lo's "Waiting For Tonight"?

Somehow I see J-Lo's entire US pop career as part of the 'transitional period' - I mean the whole genre of "Female Singing Over Ja Rule's Growls" feels neither of the 90s nor of anything going on right now...to me anyway.

Hey, how about "Back That Ass Up"?

The end of the fucking 90s was whatever song Fred sang when surfing on that piece of plywood at Woodstock 99. End thread.

― Whiney G. Weingarten, Monday, February 18, 2008 5:11 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Yellow by Coldplay. Seriously. Sadly.

For indie, this probably happened somewhere in between "A Spoonful Weighs a Ton," "Kill All Hippies" & probably The Strokes or something.

Yellow by Coldplay. Seriously. Sadly.

I suggested Travis for roughly the same reason. That style started with "The Man Who", not with Coldplay's debut.

And it was not sadly. :)

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/g24nvXj1Emc&hl=en&fs=1";></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/g24nvXj1Emc&hl=en&fs=1"; type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

oh great. sorry guys, not sure what happened there...

Here I was coming to say "Feeling Yourself Disintegrate" by the Flaming Lips...only to find I already posted it a year ago.

Not too long ago I read about what a game changer the Nick Drake VW Ad was for television advertising (the "Pink Moon" Drivers Wanted ad from 2000). They make a pretty compelling case that that ad, perhaps more than any radio hit I can think of from the era, represents the death of the 90s and the beginning of the 00s. Obviously the song isn't from either decade but the tone of the ad and the use and selection of the music prefigures a dozen trends from the 00s.

Kind of like how the '97 VW commercial with "Da Da Da I Don't Love You You Don't Love Me Aha Aha Aha" exemplified the 90s even though the song was from '82

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

― Scik Mouthy, Monday, August 18, 2008 5:12 PM (1 year ago)

Laugh out loud.

I still stand by my OP Goo Goo Dolls - Iris (hard to explain why.. something about the feel of the song and the lyrics). Come 2000 the transition to 00's is complete with Coldplay's Yellow.

Both the 90's and 00's have a lot of melancholic stuff now that I think about it. 90's dudes are more like "yeah, I'm broken, I'm a wreck of a human being, buzz off or whatever".. 00's dudes are more like "I promise you I'll learn from my mistakes" (Coldplay - Fix You)

Coldplay's "Yellow" might as well be Travis' "Writing To Reach You", which was actually from 1999.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRCkAumK5b4

(OK, it's from 1996, but making dance melodical enough to appeal to people like me probably killed dance for the dance-diehards)

Coldplay's "Yellow" might as well be Travis' "Writing To Reach You", which was actually from 1999.
― Tied Up In Geir (Geir Hongro), Saturday, March 20, 2010 6:31 PM (28 minutes ago) Bookmark

heh, well according to me the 90's ended with Iris in mid '98 anyways :/
I'm not gonna strain my brain on this

Please be aware that by confirming this action, you are registering your wish to see Geir Hongro removed from the site. Once Geir Hongro has 51 such votes from individual users, he will automatically be banned from the site.

btw "Children" is part of the autogoon canon via

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UygocrMJAto

XD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HF7UnkMhPwI

Once "Play" had saturated the ears of every radio listener, supermarket shopper, dinner party diner or anyone not hiding in a bunker in outer Azerbaijan, I don't think anyone wanted to hear stuff that sounded like that ever again. Enter electroclash.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGXYAJoDWCk

I agree with windowlicker. Not true for everyone but it was the first 'pop' song I heard with such an insane format. I was 13 or 12 at the time and I had a difficult time trying to understand what were those sounds supposed to mean but only at the surface, the song was catchy enough to hold attention even if I had no idea what I had just heard.

"Complicated" is actually a quite good call. Pink also had a similar hit with "Don't Let Me Get Me" around the same time, and that kind of manufactured "powerpop" sounded like nothing that had been on the hitlists in the 90s.

K, here's some singles from 1999 that kind of felt 'important' from my perspective that year:

Aphex Twin - Windowlicker
Bjork - All is Full of Love
Blondie - Maria
Blur - Coffee + TV
Chemical Brothers - Hey Boy Hey Girl
The Cardigans - Erase / Rewind
The Flaming Lips - Waitin' for a Superman
Goo Goo Dolls - Iris
Jamiroquai - Canned Heat
Len - Steal my Sunshine
Placebo - Every You Every Me
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Scar Tissue
Madonna - Beautiful Stranger
Moby - Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?
Moloko - Sing it Back
New Radicals - You Get What You Give
OutKast - Rosa Parks
Ricardo Villalobos - 808 the Bassqueen
System of a Down - Spiders

Oh forgot a few... it seems 1999 was a bigger year for me than what I remember... all of this bring memories of high school:

Backstreet Boys - I Want it That Way
Cher - Believe
Christina Aguilera - Genie in a Bottle
Eminem - My Name Is
Fatboy Slim - Praise You
Santana - Smooth
Smashmouth - All Star
Robbie Williams
Ricky Martin - Livin La Vida Loca
TLC - No Scrubs

Got Your Money?

Mogwai's "Come on die young" and/or GYBE "Slow riot for new zero kanada" for being post-rock's death rattle

The Bloodhound Gang - The Bad Touch
Since it was one of the first new songs I remember hearing that sounded more like it was out of the 80s.

Also, while not actually a song, I also tend to associate the end of the 90s with the closure of Grand Royal Records in late 2001.

That's probably the best answer so far.

Yeah, closing of Grand Royal definitely counts for something, symbolically.