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90s Alternative Rock!
Alternative, Grunge, Britpop!…and lots of coffee & shame…!
Alternative Music!☕ Origins?
☕ College rock and the rock underground ☕ New Wave, Art Punk, SarcasBc Pop
☕ Hardcore band Hüsker Dü ☕ 1st 80s indie / college band on a major label
☕ An alternaBve to what? ☕ Glam Metal, MTV Pop, Corporate Rock
☕ So what is it? ☕ A disparate collecBon of styles ☕ Underground, anB-‐corporate
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College Rock Roots!☕ R.E.M.
☕ Moody, arBsBc punk-‐folk hybrid ☕ Tracks: “Losing My Religion”, “Man on the Moon” ☕ Albums: Murmur, Automa)c for the People
☕ Sonic Youth ☕ No Wave: noisy, anB-‐pop punk
☕ Tracks: “Teenage Riot”, “Drunken BuYerfly” ☕ Albums: Daydream Na)on, Dirty
☕ The Pixies ☕ SarcasBc, subversive, but pop friendly
☕ Tracks: “Here Comes Your Man”, “GiganBc” ☕ Albums: Dooli8le, Surfer Rosa
Nirvana & Grunge!
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Nirvana!☕ Kurt Cobain’s SeaYle pop-‐punk act
☕ On the indie label Sub Pop ☕ Album: Nevermind (1991)
☕ Key track: “Smells Like Teen Spirit” ☕ Broke the SeaYle scene naBonwide
☕ AlternaBve went “mainstream” ☕ Pop and glam went out of fashion
☕ Established “alt” culture ☕ Flannel, Doc Martens, thrib store chic ☕ Songs about depression, drugs, angst
The Seattle Scene!☕ Grunge: a blend of heavy metal and hardcore
punk with lyrics about angst, social anxiety ☕ Soundgarden
☕ Sludgy, progressive punk ☕ Tracks: “Black Hole Sun”, “Outshined” ☕ Album: Superunknown (1994)
☕ Alice In Chains ☕ Gloomy, drugged out Glam metal
☕ Tracks: “Would”, “Rooster”, “Man In the Box” ☕ Album: Dirt (1992)
☕ Pearl Jam ☕ Moody power ballads, arena rock
☕ Tracks: “Alive”, “Jeremy”, “Daughter” ☕ Album: Ten (1991)
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Want more grunge?!☕ Other big stars
☕ Stone Temple Pilots ☕ “Plush”, “Vaseline”
☕ Smashing Pumpkins ☕ “Cherub Rock”, “Today”
☕ Jane’s AddicBon ☕ “Jane Says”, “Stop”
☕ EssenBal CompilaBons ☕ The Singles soundtrack ☕ Deep Six
☕ Deep cuts ☕ Temple of the Dog
☕ “Say Hello 2 Heaven” ☕ Mother Love Bone
☕ “Stardog Champion”
☕ Screaming Trees ☕ “Nearly Lost You”
☕ Mudhoney ☕ “Overblown”
The End of Grunge!☕ Grunge died with Kurt Cobain
☕ Interest waned aber his 1994 suicide ☕ The bleakness grew Bresome
☕ Interest in “Alt Rock” remained ☕ Britpop & Shoegaze ☕ Pop-‐punk, So-‐cal Punk & Emo ☕ Ska & The Swing Revival ☕ Indie: the catch-‐all for the oddballs
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Britpop!☕ UpdaBng the BriBsh Invasion for the 90s ☕ Oasis: UnapologeBc Beatles / Stones clone
☕ Tracks: “Wonderwall”, “Champagne Supernova” ☕ Album: What’s the Story Morning Glory?
☕ Blur: Smiths-‐like sarcasBc pop ☕ Tracks: “Song No. 2”, “Girls & Boys” ☕ Albums: Parklife, Blur
☕ Pulp: “Kitchen-‐sink” drama over disco-‐pop ☕ Tracks: “Common People”, “Sorted for E’s & Wizz” ☕ Album: Different Class
☕ Radiohead: AnB-‐corporate, techno art-‐rock ☕ Tracks: “Creep”, “Paranoid Android”, “Idioteque” ☕ Albums: OK Computer, In Rainbows
Two Breeds of Punk!☕ Two definiBons of So-‐Cal Punk
☕ “Southern California” Punk ☕ A Cali branch of 80s Hardcore Punk
☕ Dead Kennedys ☕ Social DistorBon ☕ Bad Religion
☕ “So Called” Punk ☕ “Sell Out” Pop Punk of the 90s
☕ Green Day ☕ Blink 182 ☕ The Offspring
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Music at the Indie Fringe!☕ No real scene…only highly original acts ☕ The Red Hot Chili Peppers
☕ L.A. funk / rap / rock hybrid ☕ Tracks: “Under the Bridge”, “CalifornicaBon” ☕ Album: Blood Sugar Sex Magic
☕ Bjork ☕ Eccentric, electro-‐classical dance music
☕ Tracks: “Army of Me”, “Human Behavior” ☕ Albums: Post, Biophilia
☕ The Flaming Lips ☕ Spacey psychedelic folk
☕ Tracks: “Race for the Prize”, “Fight Test” ☕ Album: The SoM Bulle)n
Where is Indie Headed?!☕ Modern technology has led to:
☕ Diverse experimentaBon ☕ More cross-‐pollinaBon of styles
☕ The result? Surprising combinaBons ☕ Indie or Electronic Folk
☕ Animal CollecBve, Suoan Stevens ☕ Progressive Punk
☕ At the Drive-‐In, Circa Survive ☕ AlternaBve Country
☕ Wilco, Mumford & Sons
☕ The future of Indie is bright!