Drinking In L.A. * Steal My Sunshine * In The Meantime * Get What You Give * Novocaine For The Soul

Went with “Drinking in LA” but love “Steal My Sunshine” and “You Get What You Give” almost as much.

What a weird song Drinking In L.A. is for a hit.

I cant even remember the Spacehog song

it's good!

but definitely the first two songs are the nucleus of this vibe. why no more late-90s sunny hip-pop one-hit wonders?

Sunny D music

OMC - How Bizarre probably also belongs here, even though it's shit

nothing more sunny and lighthearted than Eels's "Novocaine for the Soul" imo

i like the lighthearted bit that goes

You'd better give me something
So I don't die

don't giv a shit about lyrics me

How Bizarre is definitely in there. Scooby Snacks?

How Bizarre is perfect because it's definitely 'European people pretending to be American'. Scooby Snacks is 'Americans who made it bigger in Europe'

I think OMC were from New Zealand?

OMC aren't yurpean fyi xp

why do I know this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OMC_(band)

oh shit, no they weren't were they? I had that song on a comp called 'Eurodance 94' when I was a teenager and that's where I got that impression

Sort-of honourable mention but not really: Cake - The Distance

At the time I really liked the New Radicals song and the Len one. Bran Van 3000 and Spacehog are unfamiliar to me (perhaps I would recognise them if I heard them). The Eels one I was indifferent to at the time but it was playing as background music somewhere I went the other day and I thought it was much better than I remembered it.

I think 'Susan's House' is actually more in tune with this vibe than 'Novocaine', lyrical content notwithstanding ofc

No no no no no
'get what you give' is an absolute travesty, should be a Ronan Keating song

'meantime' is a stone cold classic, sound of the summer, idst, \m/ etc etc

also 'drinking in la' is ace

'get what you give' is an absolute travesty, should be a Ronan Keating song

! oh no kinder !

Turn On, Tune In, Cop Out by Freak Power

glad you like 'in the meantime' though :-)

Went with "Steal My Sunshine" as it's literally my #10 favourite song of the 1990s (last time I made such a list), Bran Van coming in at #41. Top tip: these two songs' parent albums are great too, if you like your albums to be genre-busting messy party fun.

for some reason this thread has made me think of alabama 3 - ain't going to goa, and i'm not entirely happy about it tbh

this qualifies and is sadly not by the bleepy techno outfit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1dfEf1qOt4

it is also terrible, sorry everyone

Always got a slight Steely Dan vibe from the New Radicals song (which is why it's so excellent, obv) - the Dan still the gold standard for transplanted-to-LA-malcontent-pop

Just realised 'How Bizarre' and 'Brimful of Asha' are basically the same song - does it count?

Colleague and I have wasted a busy morning trying to nail this aesthetic. This is the longlist, which contains a lot of songs I really hate and I'm going to have to prune: https://open.spotify.com/user/1153731601/playlist/0YGB95CsfnRRPdNqbDECfO?si=gTl8DWNOTYCTY23pMvSRXA

Gonna try to nail this aesthetic as:

- period of roughly '94 - 2000 with some exceptions
- funky/hip-hop influenced pop/rock but not firmly entrenched in any particular camp
- usually a one or two-hit wonder
- more of ten than not contains some lo-pass filter radio chatter or speakover
- could be American, but sounds more like people copying US music and getting it a bit wrong (even if they do turn out to be American)

Given these parameters, I've boiled it down to this shorter playlist (which eschews some of the songs listed above): https://open.spotify.com/user/1153731601/playlist/3xGgyNUisgkVLUj6C0vZqI?si=FG6TLEWaQFaJhW9xsoe2TA

'nail this aesthetic'

(shoots self)

Voted 'Drinking In LA' It has to be in my Top 500, and still gets played a lot. Love the Len song also.

Would 'Groove Is In The Heart' fit the bill? Or maybe WEEN's 'Voodoo Lady' or 'Push Th Lil Daisies?'

I've never knowingly heard Ween but I've always assumed fuck 'em

save tonight by eagle eye cherry is somewhere on this spectrum too

The Eels song that fits musically but obvs ironically is 'Beautiful Day'

The clown with the frown
Drivin' down to the sidewalk fair
Finger on the trigger
Let me tell you it is quite a scare

etc.

something v post-Beck about this aesthetic

you get what you give >>>>

not sure i understand the parameters of this aesthetic

Gonna try to nail this aesthetic as:

- period of roughly '94 - 2000 with some exceptions
- funky/hip-hop influenced pop/rock but not firmly entrenched in any particular camp
- usually a one or two-hit wonder
- more of ten than not contains some lo-pass filter radio chatter or speakover
- could be American, but sounds more like people copying US music and getting it a bit wrong (even if they do turn out to be American)

how does this account for the two power pop songs in the poll

we should honestly do a full 90s one-hit wonder poll

if we could ever finish arguing about who/what qualifies

For some reason the inclusion of "In The Meantime" made me think of Letters to Cleo's "Here & Now". So I went to youtube to watch the latter song, and what was the suggested next clip? "In The Meantime". So then I loaded that and what was the next suggested clip? "You Get What You Give".

Of course Spacehog also makes me think of Boss Hog's "Whiteout" which in turn makes me think of Ruby's "Tiny Meat". So basically I am bad at this game.

God I hate these songs. 'Steal My Sunshine' is probably the only one I could stand to listen to without hitting something, so that one.

if it was played regularly on radio 2 in the daytime then it doesn't belong here. see: New Radicals

(This may partially explain my hatred of it)

Cake, How Bizarre and Scooby Snacks def fit though

we should honestly do a full 90s one-hit wonder poll

Heaven is a Halfpipe belongs so clearly here I had to check it was a different song from Steal my Sunshine

how does this account for the two power pop songs in the poll

― flamenco blorf (BradNelson), Thursday, June 28, 2018 1:10 PM (thirty-three minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I backtracked a bit on a previous post about the initial selection, which was picked before I really thought about it. I definitely think these are part of a wider constellation but Drinking, Steal, Bizarre, Susan's House, Loser, Scooby Snacks all seem to be quintessential. Dunno, this is really a bit of nostalgic fun for the '98 4 lyf crew

kind of weird selection. doesn't seem like a genre unless "came out in the 90s" in a genre.

i dont place "In the Meantime" next to "Steal My Sunshine". the former felt like a 90s indie rock take on Bowie glam, the latter like classic bubblegum pop. i loved "Meantime" so much when that came out but nowadays probably prefer "Sunshine". that loop is so fun to listen to.

i never understood the critical pants wetting over New Radicals. that band/song is entirely forgettable.

i have no idea where Spacehog are from. It seems to be the kind of song you either know and love or have never ever heard of

Heaven Is A Halfpipe otm

or opm, whatever

From Wiki:

Spacehog is an English rock band formed in 1994 in New York City.

so perfect

they're from LEEDS ffs

spagehog are originally from leeds.
and the opening of that track was used in a phone advert for years in the uk, hence the inbuilt animosity for many people.

xpost !

(one of my mates had moved from Leeds and I think this was partly responsible for us playing it for like the entire year)

what about White Town, 'Your Woman'? It's a bit English, and not the sunniest of songs but it has that phone-crackle '98 hip-poppy vibe going.

one of spacehog married Liv Tyler
#spacehogfacts

that lfo one posted above for sure. am I imagining it oe did it stand for Lyte Funky Ones

that Bloodhound Gang one too. God that was awful

drinking in la is a great song

re space hog : lead singers brother then tried to cash in on the family z-list celeb status by forming kidsymphony.
got a 5 track promo ep, not sure the full album was ever released.

#spacehogfacts

weren't both brothers in Spacehog? or was there another one

I backtracked a bit on a previous post about the initial selection

that’ll teach me to read the whole thread

In 2010, Spacehog guitarist Antony Langdon gained notoriety for his role in the controversial mockumentary starring Joaquin Phoenix I'm Still Here. Langdon, who was one of Phoenix's assistants as well as a musical partner, staged a falling-out with the actor during the documentary's filming and is shown defecating on the troubled actor in retaliation for an earlier argument.

weren't both brothers in Spacehog? or was there another one

another one - Christian Langdon

and checked, other then the 5 track promo ep, the album was never released.

that’ll teach me to read the whole thread

― flamenco blorf (BradNelson), Thursday, June 28, 2018 2:12 PM (three minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

that's cool - we're all busy :-)
(evidently)

None of these songs have anything in common. Anyway, “Steal My Sunshine” rules.

Smash Mouth - All Star

i mean now I'm just listing the worst songs ever recorded

there's only so far you can go with this vibe before it evolves into nu-metal/ Blink 182 landfill

that lfo one posted above for sure. am I imagining it oe did it stand for Lyte Funky Ones

― kinder, Thursday, June 28, 2018 1:02 PM (eleven minutes ago) Bookmark

oh god I think you might be right

here's another stinker

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FEDrU85FLE

something v post-Beck about this aesthetic

My two nostalgic favourite post-Beck-type minor alternative hits from this era: Naked Eye by Luscious Jackson and Hand in Your Head by Money Mark.

Post-Beck is a pretty otm name. Commercial, vaguely ironic music that signals it's aware of hip hop.

i probably meant Walking on the Sun by smash mouth, not All Star.

haven't heard that Money Mark track in years! Going down a nostalgia hole right now.

Marcy playground etc

These are all songs about being young and unsure of what to make of life.

The two first songs feel like pivotal moments in my teenage years. Have too many good memories attached to both and the nostalgia goggles wont let me hear them separate from those memories. Maybe they actually suck for someone hearing them for the first time, trying my best to hear them with fresh ears I can only gather all of the nominees are some weird one hit wonders even for the late 90’s.

I think I have to go with Len, I love the sample and the delivery.

would like to refer everyone itt to this excellent blog http://pre-durst-blog.tumblr.com/

Another post-beck hit I remember

butthole surfers - pepper

There should be separate thread for these, I feel like there’s plenty of examples out there.

I h-a-t-e-d the Young Radicals song – and I worked at VH1 at the time, so it played on a TV over my head 4-5 times a day.

My two nostalgic favourite post-Beck-type minor alternative hits from this era: Naked Eye by Luscious Jackson and Hand in Your Head by Money Mark.

<3 Money Mark. that song was on both his first and second albums but in different iterations

None of these songs have anything in common. Anyway, “Steal My Sunshine” rules.

― i’m still stanning (morrisp)

Theme-wise they’re all about procrastination and depression.

Sadly I can't find Money Mark on spotty

these songs are all a lot of fun, except Novocaine which I fucking despise, but "You Get What You Give" is the runaway winner here. Pure euphoria, would've been a hit in any decade, not sure if I could say that about the rest.

Also briefly considered Steal My Sunshine and In The Meantime, but the vocals and songwriting don't compare.

Happily Surprised at how many people here like Hand in Your Head, I never hear it mentioned anywhere.

Apparently Royston Langdon is a bigwig at Spotify now

“You get what you give” feels like the best written song out of all of these and the only one you can modernize and rearrange without losing what makes it special but I still prefer “steal my sunshine”

El Scorcho definitely fits in this weird category, doesn't it?

Scorcho predates these. All of these are from 1998/1999 I think.

also not much of a hit iirc

"Butterfly" is definitely a post-"Loser" track.

how about "Butter of 69"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WweOg2krMPE

I like the len song the best, im allergic to new radicals one, and i secretly liked spacehog one.

also not much of a hit iirc

― Simon H., Thursday, June 28, 2018 9:56 AM (one minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i guess not. it has the most plays of any pinkerton track, whatever that's worth

in the meantime came out in 1995

Whale - Hobo Humping Slobo Babe isn't quite in this but I feel like it needs an honourable mention for being bonkers

wow I should not have checked to see what Weezer's current Top 10 tracks are on Spotify

xp actually I'm listening to it now and despite the proto-nu-metalness, it's absolutely this

That whole Whale album rules imo.

Theme-wise they’re all about procrastination and depression.

So were most other songs in the ‘90s, lol

how has nobody brought up this classic?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H5uWRjFsGc

Not sure about this one cos it straddles Sunny-D and acid jazz/new jack, but it's definitely in that Michel Gondry hip hop vibe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwBjhBL9G6U

speaking of which

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sY5zaDZq0sc

i hate all of these songs. drinking in la is the only one i hear with any regularity anymore (probably because it's CanCon)

also i think it's the least objectionable of all of these so I'm voting for it. the spacehog song actually makes me want to kill

Len is also Canadian

oh yeah i guess i hear that a bit too. haven't heard the latter two in a decade

i hate all of these songs

you steal our sunshine

this thread is now just dog latin going "hey, remember the '90s?"

(and being racist)

I made a playlist a while ago that was very much stuff in the vibe of a few of these songs. Mostly stuff the came out in 96 or the surrounding years:
https://open.spotify.com/user/hairysquishmas/playlist/29OSMeThq1N86C0P7cBSxi

In the 90s I knew a girl in the 90s who liked to play the Sims; the stereo in her simworld rotated between the following songs: Get What You Give, Bittersweet Symphony, and Kids in America. Just those songs in rotation. 30 seconds of each. For hours.

dog latin did you not include 1979 because you knew it would win

this was easy though, 'Steal My Sunshine'

I made a playlist a while ago that was very much stuff in the vibe of a few of these songs. Mostly stuff the came out in 96 or the surrounding years:
https://open.spotify.com/user/hairysquishmas/playlist/29OSMeThq1N86C0P7cBSxi

― MarkoP

Ah yes! These has other songs I was thinking about earlier like scooby snacks and geggy tah.

Gah at my "In the 90s I knew a girl in the 90s."

also it was between the years 1989 and 2000, in case you were wondering

The Sims was released on February 4, 2000.

owned

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk9-28HgxfE

I would have voted for 'Get What You Give' but 'Drinking In LA' has personal resonance for me so that.

Post-Beck is a pretty otm name.

Odelayter

I liked the Spacehog single enough that I bought the CD, then immediately sold it back after hearing the other songs.

Might as well link to this thread:

50 Memorable Songs Of The Late 1990s That Apparently Only You Remember, Even Though They Were Totally On The Radio And Stuff

Correct link:

50 Memorable Songs Of The Late 1990s That Apparently Only You Remember, Even Though They Were Totally On The Radio And Stuff

And this one:

Show me a 90's hit that is somewhere in my head but I just don't know it.

Another one which sort of classifies as summer post-beck hit:

Cornershop - brimful of asha

and I like this one better from the same album even better but it wasn’t a hit:

Cornershop - candyman

And others that sort of fit according to me:

Lightning Seeds - you showed me
Moloko - fun for me
Babylon zoo - spaceman

It would be interesting to make a list of *pre*-Beck hits (or "MTV hits," if they didn't chart) that were rap/rock/pop hybrids. For example --

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4Dw6q-5iaA&list=RDK4Dw6q-5iaA

Just realized most if not all of these were on MTV’s Daria soundtrack at some point so if you want more of these, that’s a good place to search for.

No idea if it’s complete but here’s one in spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/user/otro_daniel/playlist/2PeNJybKOg0KnuDCrVBYuk?si=HZPWhRrbRS62YKips79L3g

spagehog are originally from leeds.
and the opening of that track was used in a phone advert for years in the uk, hence the inbuilt animosity for many people.

was it spacehog in the advert or the original penguin cafe orchestra track that they shamelessly ripped off?

ha that's my fave part of the song and now that i'm aware of the source fuck spacehog.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWZ4pve5Mkc

well I never .. had no idea.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Meantime_(Spacehog_song)

People were mad that it used a cool sample?

gosh no … not at all, just had no idea re the source.
I unashamedly love the song as I do a lot of Spacehog.
even tracked down their albums that never got a full uk release.

my point was that the advert/sample was all over the place for a very very long time.
became the sonic signature for a mobile operator in the uk.
hence the very possible annoyance factor that happens with over exposure.

Ah, that's interesting...

It would be interesting to make a list of *pre*-Beck hits (or "MTV hits," if they didn't chart) that were rap/rock/pop hybrids.

This fits in nicely from 92:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lt6r-k9Bk6o

and even this from 87:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwrYMWoqg5w

surprising myself i voted 'drinking in LA' over 'you get what you give' and 'steal my sunshine' maybe just bc the former was so underexposed for me.

the bottom two songs id never heard & i dont really get the connection

love omc 'how bizarre' though

this thread had a lot of discussion

xpost

Thanks, Dan -- btw, the one I tried to post above (it didn't seem to work) was Urban Dance Squad's "Deeper Shade of Soul," from 1990.

"Tom's Diner" by Suzanne Vega (DNA remix) -- also 1990 -- may also qualify.

Trying to think of others... Beastie Boys' "Sabotage" seems too "hard" to really fit the mold (...plus, the Beasties are their own thing); Deee-Lite and Neneh Cherry maybe too club/dance-oriented...

this thread had a lot of discussion

ilm folks are old.

If I asked all of my friends, I would guess most of them are familiar with the 4 that aren't "Drinking In LA." It was not really played on the radio at all in my area.

The bass line in "In The Meantime" is one of my favorite things in any song.

yeah it's a great bassline

"Drinking In LA" never actually charted in the States, though I guess it was in the Buzz Bin maybe?

I knew it from 120 Minutes and it was def on the college stations in my area and my own mixtapes, but it feels like an outsider in this group. Def closer to "Brimful Of Asha" imo.

When I said "it was not on the radio" I meant like Alt-rock stations.

was big in uk, top 10 hit

Bran Van was big on MTV and/or VH1, as with the Len, Eels, and New Radicals singles (don't know how those did at radio).

Spacehog was huge at radio. I still don't get how that one relates to these others, tho

(...for purposes of this thread -- it's from a few years earlier, and is pretty much a straight-up rawk song)

EMF/Jesus Jones etc. have to be part of lineage here

Numb by U2 would be considered Pre-Beck, right?

the Len, Eels, and New Radicals singles (don't know how those did at radio).

Len: #9 Pop, #5 Mod. Rock
Eels: #39 Pop (!), #1 Mod. Rock
New Radicals: #36 Pop, #8 Mod. Rock

Surprised New Radicals wasn't bigger.

xpost
Yeah -- good pull on "Numb"

I'm surprised Eels charted that high at Modern Rock!

It's really hard not to vote for Drinking in L.A. That track is really all time.

Huh thought new radicals was a top 10 at least. It got a lot of airplay on mtv.

New Radicals is one of those tracks that was perfect for MTV/VH1 at that time, but didn't quite fit the mold of either Pop or Modern Rock radio (at least in the U.S.)

I will also mention again that it fuckin' sucks!!!

got a lot of radio play too and found its way to one of the NOWs. it's a song that everyone knows even if they don't necessarily know its name.

Beck reported that "I was in a grocery store and he (Alexander) came running up to me, so apologetic, and saying, 'I hope you weren't offended. It wasn't supposed to be personal.' I was kind of pleased, because he's a big guy."

Following the mass media's excitement about the celebrity insults, Alexander explained that the verse, along with the lines directly preceding it ("Health insurance rip off lying / FDA big bankers buying / Fake computer crashes dining / Cloning while they're multiplying") were an experiment to see if the media would focus on the real issues, or on the celebrity ridicule.

LOL

I will also mention again that it fuckin' sucks!!!

― i’m still stanning (morrisp), Thursday, June 28, 2018 1:22 PM (eight minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

did you need to

-_-

imagine thinking new radicals suck lol

otm

yeah that whole album is pretty good

I'm so bourgeois, not radical enuff!!

Apparently the guy co-wrote "The Game of Love" by Michelle Branch & Santana, which was a pretty good song.

Beck reported that "I was in a grocery store and he (Alexander) came running up to me

I wonder if it was the (former) Ralphs in Silver Lake, now a Whole Foods 365

Apparently the guy co-wrote "The Game of Love" by Michelle Branch & Santana, which was a pretty good song.

didn't know that, but this totally checks out.

you can even hear the 'new radicals' version of it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bJrHl4TeN0

i still cant understand why this didn't make the album

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq9jzRWoMGY

xp
Actually both songs were written by the same two guys -- Gregg Alexander and songwriting partner Rick Nowels (...Nowels is huge -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Nowels)

All these songs got used on the soundtrack to late 90s football computer games.

new radicals fucking suck.

ban

wow, i really like "a love like that," reminds me of "advice for the young at heart."

I'm surprised Eels charted that high at Modern Rock!

Autumn '96 was a weird time maaaaaan...

Len ftw

"Drinking In L.A" is a song that benefits from not being heard on the radio constantly. My parents bought the album it came from (!) and I remember it being very diffuse and actually good in some places?

"Steal My Sunshine" would be a million times better if it was just a chorus and isntrumental verses.

"Get What You Give" is a great melody but the smugness of the lyrics and performance put me off, "Life Is A Rollercoaster" is probably a better song written by Alexander.

"In The Meantime" makes me think of the advert from the 90s that used only the good part of the song, and now discovering that the good part is a sample it feels a bit pointless. Good bassline but another terrible vocal.

I really liked that Eels album at the time but I dread to think how I would feel returning to it. Everything after "Electro-Shock Blues" has been disappointing and that's tainted my opinion.

I feel like in a parallel universe there would be room for the single mix of "Mmmbop" here and probably something from Garbage Version 2.0 album.

the scratchy voice verses on 'steal my sunshine' are essential to its appeal

'get what you give' is earnest not smug

len ftw x2

daisies of the galaxy was good tho, boxed. kinda feel like E has been writing the same song forever tho

Fun Fact: For a few months when it was new I thought the guy on "Steal My Sunshine" was Perry Farrell (didn't see the vid until way later).

kinder at 11:03 28 Jun 18

No no no no no
'get what you give' is an absolute travesty, should be a Ronan Keating song

"Get What You Give" is a great melody but the smugness of the lyrics and performance put me off, "Life Is A Rollercoaster" is probably a better song written by Alexander.

now I have no idea if i already knew that or not

One song that I feel kinda fits in this group, but is pretty much unknown outside of Canada is BTK's Peppyrock, though it did show up on some random soundtracks and compilations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2qEwePLQgI

If this is a genre, it's one I'd lost interest in by the time of Len and New Radicals, but I was very much there for Spacehog and Eels. The Spacehog guy wearing a skirt on Letterman was very cool to me as a kid. Mr. Narrator, this is David Bowie to me, and whatnot. Also The Chinese Album was a big deal for me and I still find it a good listen, esp. the Michael Stipe feature:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asDJVXtb5ZA

That said, I have a friend "Alan" who seems to think Spacehog are the most soulless and opportunistic band of all time, he probably knows some stuff I don't know.

Come on now, where is 1000 Clowns? There's your post-Beck semi-ironic white boy hiphop.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtoR-LXChIk

ha that's my fave part of the song and now that i'm aware of the source fuck spacehog.

― Hunt3r, Thursday, June 28, 2018 2:58 PM (four hours ago)

That's exactly how I felt about Len the first time I heard the instrumental break in "More, More, More".
Except in Len's case, the sample is basically the whole song.

At least Spacehog wrote that epic bassline... "In The Meantime" would have made a great Blur single. The rest of that album was terrible though.

^Re: Len -- uh, that's what makes it brilliant. It's best deployment of a sample in a pop song I can think of.

this earlyish Black Eyed Peas track definitely shares that same floaty, melty, telephone tone vibe as a lot of songs ITT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH8FctYMM80

Len is the definite winner out of a strong group here.
Better Days (And the Bottom Drops Out) by Citizen King deserves a mention also.

Something else great about "Steal My Sunshine" is how the verse w/the female vox sort of taps into that '90s lo-fi indie-pop vein -- K Records, Dub Narcotic, Land of the Loops, etc., etc. ...all of which has gone unmentioned in all the above talk about "pop songs w/beats" -- for good reason, as these were not hits! -- though Beck recorded One Foot in the Grave w/Calvin Johnson prior to Mellow Gold (so it all ties back together)!

Now I want a playlist titled Indulging in My Self-Defeat: Twee Vox & Breakbeats, 1994-1999

What the hell am I doing / Drinking an IPA in a kitchen in L.A. / At (almost) 42

Yeah i can't keep hating on 'in the meantime' i was trying to get my appreciation back to secret. fail. i still like it.

Speaking of Bran Van:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lm622tnjmjM

Except in Len's case, the sample is basically the whole song

Uh no it’s not... it’s the bridge

Speaking of Bran Van:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lm622tnjmjM

― pomenitul, viernes 29 de junio de 2018 4:15 (three hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I do not understand, what does this has to do with Bran van?

Len ftw

As close to this as dEUS came

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

I do not understand, what does this has to do with Bran van?

Going through mid-year best of features, Caroline Rose's "Soul No. 5" is the spiritual descendant of this aesthetic, rock anthem + cautious embrace of hip hop. Though I don't think I'd have made the connection without seeing this thread 'cause I kinda repress memories of this era in 90s music

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

At first I thought the difference was that Rose has a layer of sarcasm. But a lot of these songs felt like they had a layer of sarcasm at the time, but the sarcasm has burned off and it feels earnest in retrospect.

I do not understand, what does this has to do with Bran van?

James Di Salvio is featured in it.

Absolute Radio on in the office today - we've had Len and the New Radicals so far (NR sounding GREAT)

At first I thought the difference was that Rose has a layer of sarcasm. But a lot of these songs felt like they had a layer of sarcasm at the time, but the sarcasm has burned off and it feels earnest in retrospect.

― Mungolian Jerryset (bendy), Friday, June 29, 2018 12:27 PM (forty-four minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah I'm not getting a whole lot of sarcasm from these, more naivety, jejeune

Fan of the first two (Canadian), tired of the third, don't know the other two. If "How Bizarre" were listed, that'd get my vote; as is, "Steal My Sunshine." (I don't think I'd include "Loser" here, probably not "1979" either.)

Except in Len's case, the sample is basically the whole song

Uh no it’s not... it’s the bridge

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nntd2fgMUYw

thinkfaceemoji

i really dislike that song as it edges things really closely to Toploader territory but there's no denying it's a Sunny D

https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/34324828_10160551886875385_3571852312689246208_n.jpg?_nc_cat=0&oh=0f1b7925563ba9c1e7b5017f393c3699&oe=5BB1E4F7

I feel like a good example of a modern take on this sound would be Only Real, which also mixes it with a bit of King Krule and Mac Demarco:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q5nFR-EW7U

But it definitely has strong touches of Bran Van, Len and some New Radicals in there.

i was singing the ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooeooh bit from in the meantime in the shower this morning

i just youtubed drinking in la because i didn't remember it. i'm pretty sure i've never heard it before, and fuuuuuk, no way.

I revisited it again this morning as well. I'm mainly indifferent, but the way it interpolates "Gin & Juice" pushes it into the No column -- that's some Dynamite Hack shit, avant la lettre.

It's almost more akin to something like "Lazy Sunday" (an SNL Digital Short™) than it is a pop song.

I don't think I had ever seen the music video for it before. Want to try and identify all the records shown? 1:35 and 2:17

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

There's:

David Bowie - Heroes
Connie Francis - Sing Along with Connie Francis
Commodores - self titled
Toronto - Get It On Credit

What are Gregg Alexander's other good songs? I tried getting into the New Radicals album recently and I thought it was kind of annoying but I know he's written a handful of songs that I like.

Rivers Cuomo covered one of them on a demo collection
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYNA-SKrYiY

Some other albums from the Bran Van clip

ELO: Discovery
Loverboy: S/T
Bruce Springsteen: Greetings From Asbury Park...

also had never heard Drinking in LA, and I was a freshman in college at the time who wore raver/skater pants but listened to some hiphop so it should've def been on my radar.

Here’s another Gregg Alexander classique

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z6HP7fvbkI

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

I quite liked Drinking in LA because I first heard it when I was LA, drinking. It was my first time in the US and it was all very exciting. This was in 1999 so I think it had been out for ages by then. Tbh I have a reasonable tolerance for this kind of vibe even though I don't really *like* any of these songs I don't hate them either. Apart from that Eagle Eye Cherry one maybe.

I haven't thought about that Spacehog song in 20 years, but it was all over the radio when it came out.

Only one of these songs spells out the word l-a-t-e-r though so...

Spacehog probably the archetypal British-band-bigger-in-US, even more than Bush, it's probably a cliche to even mention it tbh, although I actually do remember hearing that song in the UK at the time, so it wasn't a complete flop.

The bowie aping in it is groany but also sorta in the spirit of the day. “lol well heart in the right place for these times.”

that sample
that bass line
that ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooeooh part

this is Spacehog in a walk

len ftw

(and i LOVE EELS)

Think this fits in here somewhere
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eBZqmL8ehg

p sure we already have 900 trip-hop landfill threads

xp shiit yea that Hanson song is sick

did anyone mention citizen king? that one always gets lost in the mix.

having a bad week, sic?

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Len ftw!

The new radicals album is all time for me
Still sounds dope

there are a bunch of songs I've never heard before that totally fit that I enjoyed hearing for the first time too! thraed just moved on by the time I saw them

Missed this poll, but would have argued that “Natural One” should have been included.

Gonna try to nail this aesthetic as:

- period of roughly '94 - 2000 with some exceptions
- funky/hip-hop influenced pop/rock but not firmly entrenched in any particular camp
- usually a one or two-hit wonder

“Natural One” should have been included.

agreed

I remember getting a haircut in college when “Natural One” came on the radio; the woman cutting my hair was scoffing at the song with another stylist – “Who writes this stuff?” I sat there thinking, Uh, it’s John Davis and Lou Barlow... I could talk for 10 minutes about these guys!

Len won. Justice is done. Y’all

The performance of the Eels song in this poll – and the fact that barely anyone even reminisced about on it in the thread – reinforces the mystery around the fact that it was an Alternative hit.

It was, but--like a lot of big tracks from that period--it didn't have legs past it's point of max. impact.

Novocaine for the Soul didn't really cross over into the main Billboard charts. It peaked at 39 on the Airplay charts, which is just barely making it.

Drinking in L.A. didn't either, and in fact didn't even make it on the US Modern Rock charts, but that song had greater international success.

I like the eels song. Also eels were big in the UK.
Alternate versions of the song are better. It’s no last stop this town

The first three did get heavy airplay in Mexico don’t know about the US. Spacehog and Eels didn’t get any at all and I only knew about them by watching MTV’s 120 minutes (don’t know if you had that in the US but it was 2 hours of alt music including electronica and hip hop that didn’t get usual airplay from them)

I don’t remember watching the novocaine video though, I remember one with a singing carrot... “last stop this town”?

Yeah! You got it Moka

Not many singles from electro shock. Last stop and cancer for the cure was in American beauty but the industrial noise intro pretty much guaranteed it was a non single.

I was just in a shop where the Cardigans’ “Lovefool” staeted playing, and it seemed to fit the vibe of these selections in a certain way.

I could see that

i actually listened to the one citizen king album they put out. it's like beck except not good. anyways one of the members went on to mix j dilla records and the lead dude became an electroclash guy (mount sims)

just want to drop this useless knowledge

this lesser-known Swedish pop-rap hit is definitely part of this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lf8MR-EnSho

classic UK examples

Mint Royale - Don't Falter
Five - Keep on Movin'
Ronan Keating - Life Is a Rollercoaster
Terrorvision - Tequila

the first of those is on many of my playlists, the others never will be.

"Life is a rollercoaster" does not belong

cept it does

explain

well why not? Strong summery feel + upbeat but bittersweet (the latter an angle ever-accelerated by nostalgia) + somewhat ethereal production (Gregg Alexander). Fits this sort of thing to a tee I'd say.

I getcha but needs at least a modicum of funky 'tude as well which Ronan doesn't have

well, that's patently untrue:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mok8NznlEEE

okay i take it back