An Ear For An Era: 1993

When I was little I was good friends with my next door neighbor Ryan. When we were little we used to brag about arbitrary things. One of these things was how old our siblings were. When I asked how old his older brother was he held up all of his fingers. Ten! That's so old! And then in 1993 I turned ten.

This entry feels like it marks a turning point where it's mostly going to be about memories of music because apparently the music released in 1993 had a lot of influence on pivotal moments in my life over the 10 years or so following.

Technically my first CD was Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell and I really don't know why. I didn't pick it out. I don't have it anymore. I think my parents got it for me but I don't know why they picked it. Not that I was easy. I kept saying I wanted a CD player but all I listened to was Weird Al so they'd ask me what music I would get if I got a CD player and I had no idea. At the time all I wanted was to have the technology. I think part of my now-obsessive relationship with music is to make up for that and prove that I was right, that I really needed that CD player. I think I got it for Christmas 1993? Based on the Meat Loaf release date and the not-sureness of my Alapalooza format (see below) that makes sense that I would have gotten it at the end of the year.

It's a bit fuzzy but I think Alapalooza is the first Weird Al album I got on CD (now I can't remember if I actually had it on tape instead) and it was definitely the first one I got when it was new. It opens up with "Jurassic Park." That movie made me a Michael Crichton fan and I remember going to see it with my mom even though it was PG-13 and I was 10. It was scary!  Let's see, what else about this album? In music class we had an activity where you click PVC pipes together while someone jumps over them to a beat (I'm not sure how to describe it without taking another whole paragraph so deal with it). The teacher said we could bring in music from home to do that to. We brought Alapalooza wanting to do "Jurassic Park" or "Bedrock Anthem" or something but the teacher said they didn't have enough of a beat (or in the latter case, probably too fast of a beat) but said "Traffic Jam" would work. I think we said no deal to that. I liked "Achy Breaky Song" because I agreed that "Achy Breaky Heart" was terrible. I'm going to pretend I think that Pitchfork got its name from this song's line "I'd rather have a pitchfork in my brain." "Bohemian Polka" took some guts but it was pretty fantastic. In addition to the CD, I got a VHS tape called Alapalooza: The Videos and I dug this claymation music video, particularly what happens to Barney:

"Weird Al" Yankovic "Jurassic Park"

A year later was 1994 and I know I got a World Cup '94 soundtrack album. Why am I not talking about this next time? Because all I was going to say was there was a silly song by James called "Goal Goal Goal" that I quite enjoyed at the time. A few years ago I acquired quite a bit of the James catalog and discovered it was a rework of the song "Low, Low, Low" from Laid. "Laid" is a pretty great indie pop rock whatever song too by the way. but "Low, Low, Low" now makes me laugh because I remember "Goal Goal Goal" and its cheesy lines like "He was never ever ever offside." Maybe if I remember (I don't have the World Cup album in my collection anymore so it won't naturally come up here) I'll post the video in the 1994 entry. It's another World Cup year, you know.

I listened to a lot of early 90s ska/punk in the late 90s. My super cool brother got the contemporary popular  albums like Let's Face It by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones so I naturally got the punker back catalog stuff like Don't Know How to Party. I remember thinking the trombonist was super cool (because he was super cool and also because I played trombone). And the hardcore moments they did were (at the time) the hardest music I listened to. But I preferred the ska side of the ska-core. I also had their EP Ska-Core, The Devil, And More which consisted mostly of covers but I still preferred the original song "Someday I Suppose." and the Bob Marley cover "Simmer Down" featuring a vocal turn by said super cool trombonist. The hardcore covers were my unwitting intro to Minor Threat though, which made me appreciate that more when I got it, since I already knew that song.

The other big ska albums that came up were Marbles by King Apparatus (I like King Apparatus because it reminds me of a ska version of Elvis Costello...take that as you will. I think the songwriting style is similar in a way I can't put my finger on) and Big Daddy Multitude by Mustard Plug. Mustard Plug was a band that I grew up with musically, and while Big Daddy Multitude wasn't the one that got me into them, it was the soundtrack to many fun days in high school. Including the song "Mr. Smiley" which we (very loosely) based a movie on back when my friend Bryden and I would make movies on dance nights. It was our tradition as dateless wonders, you see.

Do you have that one album that, for better or worse, takes you back to a very specific person in your past, a very specific location and time? Of course. There are many of those. But the one that hits so hard and so personally that you can't really listen to it? I used to have that with Pablo Honey by Radiohead. Used to? That sounds anti-nostalgia or something. But that one used to hurt and I didn't even rip it onto my computer (that I've had since 2005) until recently when I figured I should put myself through it for the sake of this project. In 2000, the album brought me immense joy to hear. In 2002, it helped me through some lonely times and then became my go-to moping album. Tears were shed over it. In 2004 I couldn't listen to it anymore. And I didn't for about 10 years. Today it turns out I can listen to it pretty objectively as long as I'm occupying myself with something else while it plays. Other than a few songs. Mostly the good songs are the ones that persist. "You." "Stop Whispering." "Thinking About You." "Anyone Can Play Guitar." Etc. About half of the album is pretty forgettable in my opinion and in my experience. But the good-to-great songs are some of the better grungy songs of the day. Still just a small hint of what they would do one day.

It turns out I listened to a good amount of 1993 music in 2003. Another go-to mopey album was Diary by Sunny Day Real Estate. When I got it my other point of reference for emo was Bivouac by Jawbreaker, and I was a little disappointed that Diary wasn't heavier. But now it sounds just perfect to me. I hadn't listened to it in several years but it turns out it stuck with me pretty damn well. Another album I listened to in 2003 when I wasn't moping was Get Fired by The Smoking Popes. I like this one because they hadn't sanded off their rougher edges and it has such a cynical feel throughout. And the original version of this song was empowering to me getting over a breakup and stuff...

The Smoking Popes "Can't Find It"

It was probably around this same time that my future wife was listening to Archers of Loaf. I happened to have "Web in Front" from a random download spree from college and it happened to come on once when she was there and she was very excited because she remembered that song and liked Archers of Loaf quite a bit. Eventually because of this I would get a few Archers of Loaf albums, the first of which was Icky Mettle. I like the whole album for different reasons than "Web in Front," mostly how hard it rocks. But still. This song.

Archers of Loaf "Web in Front"

There was also stuff happening that I don't particularly have memories of. Siamese Dream by The Smashing Pumpkins is a pretty good middle ground between Sunny Day Real Estate and My Bloody Valentine. Not that I need to attempt to describe their sound because everyone knows what they sound like. But I made that correlation the other day listening to this so I thought I'd share. I have some stories about The Smashing Pumpkins but they are more related to Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness so I'll share those in the 1995 entry.

Vs by Pearl Jam was one I got for my birthday one year, which must have been around this time (probably my 1994 birthday though). It was cool because it was the first time I got music from a friend. So I knew it had to be what I should be listening to as a young person growing up. But it turned out I didn't particularly enjoy it. I liked "Daughter." And "Leash" was amusing because it sure didn't sound like he was saying "Get out of my lucky face." But I just couldn't get into it when there was so much Weird Al to listen to, you know?

I was barely aware of the existence of Nirvana in 1993 but I do remember seeing them on Saturday Night Live playing "Heart Shaped Box." I remember distinctly how Krist Novoselic jumped around for the performance. Looking at wikipedia, that was the same episode Charles Barkley was on. That one cracked me up.

Nirvana "Heart Shaped Box"

I remember this cool guy in my class named Chris liked Nirvana. I just wasn't cool enough to like that kind of music yet. But in retrospect, In Utero is a pretty awesomely bold album. It's dirty and messy enough as it turned out, but I really want to hear the "unlistenable" version Steve Albini came up with. But at the moment all I have is the commercial version. After In Utero comes MTV Unplugged in New York, which seems like the perfect cap on the band's short run.

After the break-up of the Pixies, we got Frank Black's debut solo album Frank Black. I like Frank Black solo stuff for what seems like a completely different reason than why I love the Pixies. It's good in its own way. Let's just say that. But it ain't the Pixies. And their recent reunion album sounds more like Frank Black than the Pixies. Whatever similarities people draw between this and the last Pixies album seem trivial. What they did is over. Last Splash by The Breeders, on the other hand, feels a little bit more magic to me (but still for different reasons than the Pixies). It's the instrumental aspect, I'm more interested in clever sounds than lyrics. The Breeders have more clever sounds than Frank Black I think. Fair enough?

Math rock, the natural progression of crazy instrumentation and hardcore, was coming along nicely, as I have a few Don Caballero singles that rock me very hard and happily, and Polvo's album Today's Active Lifestyles. That one's pure math rock perfection right there. But when it comes to screwing around with the formula for hardcore, Brainiac got it just right in my mind. They would go on to go even crazier, but Smack Bunny Baby is a great jumping off point.

Brainiac "Draag"

Was hip hop the best music being made in the early 90s? It's hard for me to say because I'm a rock kid at my core and these albums listed above are pretty great. But the hip hop continues to just be phenomenal from these days. Obviously De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest continued to kill it. But No Need For Alarm was my original exposure to Del the Funky Homosapien (not counting "Clint Eastwood" of course, when I didn't know who he was) and one of the first hip hop albums I ever bought. I was highly impressed by the lyrical gymnastics and bouncy sound of his vocals. I still am, particularly on this album. He's a good early MC to listen to when getting into hip hop for the first time with how playful/ridiculous the whole thing sounds and it holds up now that I've been exposed to much more hip hop.

The fantastic fusion of hip hop and jazz on Guru's Jazzmatazz, (featuring live jazz musicians!) as well as Digable Planets' Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space). I first heard Digable Planets when I asked my then-girlfriend to tell me what hip hop to listen to as I tried to open my mind to it. I enjoyed and then got sick of "Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)" and kind of stopped thinking about them until Shabazz Palaces came along a couple years ago and blew my mind. That's when I knew I had to give Butterfly's earlier project another go. I can dig the Digable now, although the amount of positivity is almost too much for me sometimes.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, KRS-One was going hard and solo on Return of the Boom Bap, and of course Wu-Tang Clan's debut album Enter The Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers remains one of the most raw, energized, solid-from-front-to-back albums of all time. I tried to have it come on during my 10k the other day but my ipod messed up and it didn't happen. I kind of feel like I would have done better if I had Wu-Tang soundtracking the thing.

Wu-Tang Clan "Da Mystery of Chessboxin'"

I think that's the best place to end things.

Other Stuff:

• The first track to come up was "Shoop" by Salt-n-Pepa. Is there a better way to say "Are you ready for 1993?" than that song? I doubt it.
• Those early Rivers Cuomo recordings from that Alone album are pretty sweet previews of the Weezer to come. Including an early, slower version of "Buddy Holly!"
• The Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack! Very enjoyable. My friend in high school was obsessed with Tim Burton (I know he didn't direct this but still) and we very un-ironically loved this movie. But now that makes us seem like Hot Topic kids or something because don't they still love this movie? I assure you, this was before Hot Topic was a thing.
• Another Saturday Night Live performance I kind of remember is Billy Joel playing "River of Dreams."
• Liz Phair's Exile In Guyville is great btw
• Flaming Lips' Transmissions From The Satellite Heart has that big hit song about doing stuff your own unique way "She Don't Use Jelly."
• Mercury Rev is still pretty Flaming Lips like in 1993, maybe with a smattering of Yo La Tengo...but not quite as great as those two bands. Good thing I know how much better they get!
• Fugazi's In On The Kill Taker is another great one from the band that really didn't make anything non-great.
• Mekons' I Love Mekons includes one of my favorite Mekons songs, "I Love Apple." It's a good album that has a few songs with that great 70s punk energy.
• The morning of the evening I wrote this, I listened to some Simpsons stuff from 1993 including the "Monorail" song. And the day of the evening I wrote this was the anniversary of the day that Phil Hartman passed away. That made me sad.
• People born the same year as all this music can now legally drink. Let that one sink in, grandpa/grandma!

Next Time...

You thought I had a lot to say about 1993? There were only 551 tracks for 1993. 1994 has 803. I'm going to have to start editing better! Lots of stuff turns 20 this year.

Ill Communication. Beck. Blur. Built to Spill. An album called Dookie. Jawbox. Jeff Buckley. Big Johnny Cash comeback. Two classic Magnetic Fields records. Wu-Tang solo stuff begins. Lots more skapunk. Nas debuts. The Downward Spiral. A pretty darn good NOFX album. The Notorious B.I.G. Oasis. Outkast. Rodan. Rancid. Weezer. And a classic non-album track by "Weird Al" Yankovic.

And a ton more that I didn't bother typing. This will take a while.

An Ear For An Era: 1991

I remember for 1991 in my class we made calendars. I don't remember what we did for the images, if we drew stuff or glued pictures or what, but I remember that the cover had the year written like this:

19

91

I liked that. It was a palindrome but the specific thing I liked was that it read the same reading left to right as top down. I believe this was an original thought on my part, noticing that numeric pattern. Which is something I'm still very obsessed with.

What, music? What music?

Before I talk about the important developments in the musical landscape (there were some very important developments in 1991!) I am going to start with an album I actually listened to when it was new as an 8 year old in 1991. I think this is the first instance of this. Most of the Weird Al stuff for me was catching up on a back catalog (until next year's Off The Deep End) so this is the first actual stuff from its specific time that I listened to at that specific time.

At my parents' house in 1991 the only room we could get Fox in (because we didn't have cable) was my parents' room upstairs. That wasn't relevant to us in any way until 1990 when my family became obsessed with The Simpsons. It was our thing. We'd go upstairs and watch The Simpsons. I think it was on Tuesday or Thursday maybe back then? But our whole family would gather on their bed and watch this hilarious show that we all loved. My earliest memory of watching the show was the episode where they went to the family psychiatrist and had that exercise where they were all shocking each other. I remember how hard I laughed at that!

But Brandon, this is a music project! And 1991! Why are you talking about a show you started watching in 1990? Because, didn't you see, before that I said this was the first album I listened to contemporarily? I remember the episode of The Simpsons where it was all exciting because they were going to have a music video (or several?) at the end of the episode. This turned out to be part of The Simpsons Sing The Blues. My brother actually had this tape, not me. But we sure listened to it a lot. And I memorized all the songs. Especially the raps. "Do The Bartman" and this one, with this music video. "I go, 'WHOA!' Homer goes, 'D'oh! Now you can't go to the boat show!"

The Simpsons "Deep Deep Trouble"

I also had a couple Simpsons songs from the show thanks to the Songs in the Key of Springfield collection. One of them has been in my head a lot since listening, "Happy Birthday, Lisa," featuring an uncredited Michael Jackson. Silly as it is. Dangerous is also the last Michael Jackson album I own, so we will say goodbye to the king of pop here. I'm not a huge fan of this album but there are some memorable jams. And I have a memory of my friend playing the intro to "Black or White" for me because he found it amusing. But anyway, Dangerous doesn't seem to have aged as well as Thriller or Off the Wall because two separate people I subjected to it were not enjoying it. Sad.

As Dangerous played on, my brother-in-law-to-be had been all obsessed with Wu-Tang Clan and asked me my favorite hip hop albums, so I brought up Black Star. All this to say that he wanted my thesis on 1991 to be that nothing in 1991 was as good as Black Star. I'm not going to agree with that necessarily, because 1991 was a hell of a year for hip hop in particular. As I still don't have the confidence to fully explain what's so great about all of these releases, I am going to write frustratingly short summaries about what I think of all of these knowing that others have it covered.

Del Tha Funkee Homosapien's debut album I Wish My Brother George Was Here was an early favorite of mine, as Del was an early favorite of mine when I first got into hip hop (Bartman notwithstanding) in the late 90s/early 2000s. Del's delivery is just spot on and catchy and "Mistadobalina" is one of my favorite tracks of 1991. Some songs are very silly lyrically, but that's why we love Del, right? I might have more to say about him in regards to his next album which was better.

De La Soul's second album De La Soul Is Dead is new to me. This was the first time I ever listened to it. Fantastic album but I can't say much about it. The Low End Theory by A Tribe Called Quest has this effortlessness about it, effortlessly perfect with so much talent and jams upon jams upon jams. Organized Konfusion is brilliant too. DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince's Homebase is kind of novelty-ish comparatively but it was fun that my wife knew the songs and rapped along (she is the one I got the album from). Public Enemy was getting extra hardcore and bombastic in the face of most hip hop artists taking laid back approaches and it really made me pay attention to what they were saying.

And finally, I got the Main Source album Breaking Atoms because it features Nas on a track and it's his first feature. He does kind of kill it in his debut, but I was quite impressed with the lyricism on the whole album. So that's a quick run down of all the amazing hip hop I listened to from 1991. Wow.

Main Source "Just Hangin' Out"

Another contemporary track of 1991 that I remember because my sister dug it was "To Be With You" by Mr. Big. I just remember for her birthday or something that was what she wanted. And this was a hit song. I can't deny this song and its catchiness. Who can?

I also remember when "Tears in Heaven" by Eric Clapton was popular because I remember listening to Casey Kasem (probably trying to record "Bohemian Rhapsody" because of its resurgence thanks to Wayne's World...which means the song was still popular in 1992) and he read some touching dedication on the air. Funny the things we remember. Also funny? Somehow I accidentally put "Tears In Heaven" on my list of jogging songs for 1991 so I had to run to this song.

Let's talk about ska and punk now. Third wave ska and skapunk were really ramping up in 1991, developing something I'd become obsessed with in 1997. Skankin' Pickle's debut Skafunkrastapunk was one of my favorite albums for a good portion of high school. I was absolutely obsessed with this band and this album was my introduction to them. The goofiest songs about Hulk Hogan, shaved heads, and not judging a man by the hair on his butt. Dancing around at my friend's house to "Ska," including knowing the one part where they yell "Skankin' Pickle!" and man, those trombone solos Gerry pulled off! How did he play so high? Also: two trombones in one ska band, what more do you need?? It's also interesting to listen to because super seriously anti-racism activist Mike Park's first official word on the subject is this line from "It's Not Too Late"

What's the deal with the deal with racism?

I don't know, I don't know

I don't know...

I don't know.

Okay!

Of course he had some better lines following that up, but that is amusing to me. And then he says the line "Why can't all the bands sound like Fishbone today?" So I'll talk about Fishbone now. I personally don't quite enjoy The Reality of My Surroundings as much as other Fishbone albums (seems over produced or something on some tracks) but it still has a lot of passion and creativity going into it. I also know I've seen their performance from Saturday Night Live and it was songs from this album, so they must have been pretty popular then. Before skapunk even got popular!

Speaking of popular punk, pop punk giants The Mr. T Experience put out one of my favorite songs by them so here it is:

The Mr. T Experience "Love American Style"

Now to kind of try to segue to the other side of the underground. My Bloody Valentine. Loveless. Perfection is noise. Noise is love. What are they singing? What is happening? How is it so catchy? It's pop music, isn't it? Buried under distortion? I cannot get enough of it. Even if I can't put coherent thoughts about it on this blog.

Another one that's pretty impossible to overstate its beauty despite not knowing how exactly to state its beauty is Spiderland by Slint. This means we can have math rock in the near future! It's actually pretty subdued, which was kind of a problem when I first listened to this band (on a recommendation after someone found out I liked math rock by Don Caballero and others), because I was hoping for intense dynamics and Slint mostly keeps their cards close to the chest. But when they come out to play...watch out.

The Pixies followed up their still-pretty-good Bossanova with their still-even-better-but-still-nothing-on-Doolittle-Etc Trompe Le Monde. While the nutso guitar creativity kind of started to subside, the passion and energy on this album is infectious. I was going to play "U-Mass" by default because it's one of my favorite Pixies songs showcasing Black Francis' amazing yowl and illustrates that energy perfectly, but instead I'm going to play this other song that has a different kind of infectiousness. A Jesus And Mary Chain cover but the energy and excitement of the delivery of it is awesome. And the video's pretty neat too.

Pixies "Head On"

So long, Pixies. You did many great things in a short period of time. You changed rock & roll for the better. For the way better.

And thanks to the Pixies, we have Nirvana. I'd be lying if I said I didn't get a rush when "Smells Like Teen Spirit" came on. I could hear the sound of the overhyped revolution that they kicked off when they kicked off Michael Jackson from the album charts. I don't like calling them grunge because that's what Pearl Jam and their offspring did. This was harder yet catchier than any of that. Everything about Nevermind is stacked for changing the musical landscape. Energy, tons of great catchy songs, substantial lyrics. No one else could have pulled this off. I want to write off this album as overrated but it really is full of fantastic songs. Good job, guys!

And thanks to Nirvana, we have Pearl Jam (and thanks to Pearl Jam, we have lots of terrible music to look forward to in the 90s!). But Ten was a pretty good album. I try not to hold Creed et al against Pearl Jam. How were they to know?

And Also...

• It started with my first Jim O'Rourke! Whoa!
• I don't have much new to say about Fugazi but Steady Diet of Nothing is a very solid and great album. "Long Division" is one of my favorites.
• I think Why Do Birds Sing? is one of the better Violent Femmes albums..."Girl Trouble" sounds like a classic Femmes track that could have been on their debut and "American Music" is one of my favorite Femmes tracks as well.
• The debut Magnetic Fields album!! We are really getting into the indie thing now. Distant Plastic Trees isn't anywhere near what they would go on to achieve and I don't feel that the vocalist conveys Merritt's lyrics quite right, but "100,000 Fireflies" is still a beautiful song.
• Elvis Costello's Mighty Like A Rose is one of the last ones I got in my back catalog procurement project and I therefore haven't listened to it as much as others. Still, I quite like the dripping cynicism of "The Other Side of Summer" quite a bit.
• If Bart Simpson rapping isn't enough to tell you that rap was getting super popular in a very novelty version, how about this? "Ninja Rap" by Vanilla Ice. I loved the Ninja Turtles! Go Ninja Go Ninja Go!
• Goat by The Jesus Lizard kind of blows away all the other "hard edged" music I heard from 1991 with an intensity that makes everything else look silly.
• Drive Like Jehu was great though.
• Nation of Ulysses! Anarchy! Punk! Insanity!
• First Smoking Popes tracks...they were pretty immature in the early days weren't they?
• R.E.M. were now the R.E.M. I knew and didn't care about in the 90s. The pop rock band that did "Shiny Happy People" and "Losing My Religion." The sound of VH1!

Next Time...

Where were you in '92?

Hip Hop's renaissance continues: Beastie Boys Check Your Head, Eric B & Rakim are back on my radar, Gang Starr has an album, Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth, The Pharcyde

Punk Etc: Bikini Kill! Fifteen, Green Day exists now, Another Nation of Ulysses album, NOFX, Skankin' Pickle Fever, 

Indie Or Whatever It Is At This Point: Early Don Caballero!!! And Flaming Lips! The Jawbreaker album that changed my world, Magnetic Fields become a force, Pavement enter the scene, Pulp has an album, Where do I put Rage Against The Machine? Them already? Another Sonic Youth favorite, 

Old People: Neil Young is back, and so is Tom Waits (in a big way! love this album!)

And another classic by: Weird Al.

more bests

del the funky homosapien is nice.  he must like me.  he's giving me a present on my birthday!

actually he's giving it to everybody.  a free album to download!  it is called Funk Man (The Stimulus Package).  

go to delthefunkyhomosapien.bandcamp.com and say what version you want (i went with vbr high myself) (hey! also there are two other "leak pack" eps worth of other free stuff!) and you have to put in your email address.  then you get sent a link back to the site but the download starts.  

and um...the download starts.  even though it says available april 7th 2009.  so ummmm...hmm, you get it now.  

so get it now!!

(still waiting on that new deltron album...but this is very much appreciated.)

via pitchfork (so i hope i can trust that they're not lying this time!)

OTHER NEWS:

*new danger mouse project coming this summer.  mysterious! (stereogum)

*booker t is teaming up with the drive by truckers for a new album.  on anti-.  it seems like it should be surprising but it sounds about perfect to me.  (billboard)

*that's all the recent music related newsworthy news.  ta.