The 90s Canon

luka

Well-known member
whats our equivelent of mojo going to be writing about

nirvana
aphex twin
wu tang
premier's beats
illmatic lp
jungle
speed garage/2step
tupac and biggie
 

martin

----
I doubt Mojo will mention jungle - it'll be more nostalgic vomit about the recording of Oasis's "difficult" 3rd LP, PJ Harvey retrospectives and the decade that Green Day rescued punk or suchlike.

Did you see Pitchfork's top 100 albums of the 1990s? Managed to avoid the inclusion of one single dancehall or ragga album
 

3underscore

Well-known member
A lot will be about Creation, some about the Spice Girls - women take control of pop, a Radiohead "the band that changed a decade" piece, Spiritualized "Ladies and Gentlemen...", The Verve.

Every reason you wouldn't want to read a magazine, really.
 

Rambler

Awanturnik
Hold on - "our equivalent of Mojo", so not the one on the shelves. That one will be Verve, Radiohead, Nirvana, Massive Attack.

Ours: techno techno techno techno, plus everything Luka said.
 

Grievous Angel

Beast of Burden
moving shadow were shit WAY too much of the time -- how many boring wanky records can one label release?

"our" 90s music is all the stuff Simon really likes in energy flash, plus Missy Elliott, Dre, Timbaland etc, plus u2 (ducks), coldcut (geese), MAW (heron) etc.

And the really good stuff is dancehall.
 

john eden

male pale and stale
Honorable mentions to mid 90s Disciples/Iration Steppas/Rootsman etc on the UK digi dub front. Subsequently followed by a load of imitative rubbish.

See also Basic Channel, etc.
 

john eden

male pale and stale
In fact let's just stuff Kevin Martin's compilations for Virgin in there (Macro Dub Infection, Isolationism, etc) and have done with it.
 

dominic

Beast of Burden
can't tell if this is supposed to be:

(1) what the mainstream media says is best of 90s

(2) what dissensus "consensus" says is best

(3) what each of us says is best -- consensus or not

EDIT: suppose (3) is eliminated as this thread is labeled "90s canon"!
 
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dominic

Beast of Burden
going w/ option # 3 . . . .

RAVE LABELS
91/94 suburban base
91/93 production house
92/93 ibiza/limited e/kemet
91/92 SUAD/ruff quality
early rising high
late 91/92-era XL

RAVE ACTS
omni trio
4hero
psychotropic
genaside ii
liquid

OTHER STUFF
congo natty/rebel mc
massive attack/tricky
disco inferno
early aphex twin
my bloody valentine


then i suppose the whole 2-step thing, of which i'm none too knowledgeable but on occasion rate

as for hip hop -- hardly an aficionado -- but to name the obvious canon = mystikal, outkast, jay z, nas, wu tang, mobb deep, de la soul, jungle bros, public enemy

and, ahem, dancehall
 
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dominic

Beast of Burden
as for tireless non-canonical labor . . . .

there'll be people doing "nuggets" retrospectives of all the boring 90s genres

e.g., rare gems of mid-90s house

and then probably people focusing every more intently on the sounds of various cities and regions before such places won their 15 minutes of fame
 

gumdrops

Well-known member
it will be:

beck
nirvana/grunge also-rans
oasis
blur
pulp
britpop-also rans
radiohead
coldplay
keane
kylie
pete waterman (they will get tha aplogist treatment - "his songs were arguably as good as becks or gallaghers")
suede
the roots ("they played instruments!")
smashing pumpkins
lauryn hill


this is assuming mojo's rockcentricity doesnt wane. if they get a whole new ethos and canon, well who knows.
 

Ness Rowlah

Norwegian Wood
personal favs not mentioned (Biosphere and Harris the only probable ones to go in
a magazine canon, Rip&Burn did 100 "Essential electronic tracks" or so
without listing "Popcorn"):

Biosphere (who the hell is Aphex Twin?)
Bob Mould
Morphine
Tindersticks
"Wrecking Ball"/Emmylou Harris

----
And eff it: Omar and Des'ree for when some light goodness was needed:
I still enjoy "There's nothing like this" and parts of "Mind Adventures". Which means I
might as well include Terence Trent D'Arby (now not known as Sananda Maitreya)
first while I am in the mood.
---

Any recommendations for an early 90s dance music sampler?
I know hardly enough about it as "artists" - I've got some
tapes bought around 90-92 but that's all.

There must be some good CD samplers out now - type "Trans Europe Express"-samplers
for electronica; but for dance/club music.
 
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owen

Well-known member
if Mojo ever has marc arcadipane on the cover then it will be after the revolution, no?

failing that i fear gumdrops is right

WE CAN'T LET THIS HAPPEN, PEOPLE!
 

michael

Bring out the vacuum
How about that Portishead remix of Paul Weller then? :D

Oh wait, I actually quite like that tune. :eek:


Disappointed no one's mentioned the guy who embodies US rave culture, who really saved dance music in a sense, Moby!
 

dominic

Beast of Burden
rather than jest, what would people seriously propose for a 90s canon

(who cares what the hypothetical mojo would include?-- and what's the upshot if this mojo would or wouldn't include a label or act? should i write off 4hero or mbv b/c they'd more likely than not be included?)

or as someone suggested above, has blissblogger already covered what interests "us" -- our canon -- in the rave book (i.e., 90s hip hop and rock n roll being mere sideline interests)

even so, given the extensive discography in energy flash, it's perhaps too unwieldly for canonical purposes

plus the joy of making canons is excluding work that so many others think meritorious
 
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