Top 10 Bands/Artists Of The 90s.

A lot of people look back at the 90s and think of the grunge era of the early 90s with Nirvana and Pearl Jam. Others think back on the late 90s and the teen pop of N Sync, Britney Spears, and the Backstreet Boys. This is definitly not the case for me.

My favorite 10 bands/artists that were arguably at their "peak" during the 90s (no particular order):

The Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin is one of my very favorite albums of the decade and the rest of their 90s output is almost as great. In fact I think every single album they released in the 90s is a great album from A Priest Driven Ambulance to The Soft Bulletin. One of the best things about these albums is how different they are from each other. As different as all of their albums are they all share the same spark of creativity. The same sense of true psychedelia. They were pushing themselves forward into new territory throughout the decade. They never allowed themselves to get into a rut.

For someone who has yet to hear the Lips I would recommend starting out with The Soft Bulletin and 2002's Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots and then work your way back through gems like Clouds Taste Metallic. If you are more of a noisy rock guitar kind of guy or gal then you might want to start with A Priest Driven Ambulance and make your way towards the newer stuff.

Radiohead - I don't really like their debut album Pablo Honey much at all. To me it sounds too much like all the other bands in tired the "alternative" genre of the time. But The Bends is great and OK Computer is legendary. These two albums I consider to be so good that if I were ranking instead of listing my top 10 they would likely be #1. But choosing 10 is hard enough without putting them in order. My only reservation about placing them on this list is that I'm not really sure I consider the 90s to be the peak of Radiohead because I love their output from this decade so much.

Oasis - While this is an extremely unpopular choice among the type of indie snobs that this blog is aimed at (and I'm sure the other contributers on this site will be turning up their noses at this selection) I don't really care. I think they are an excellent band that writes insanely catchy tunes and certainly they were at their peak with 1994's Definitely Maybe and it's more poppy follow up 1995 (What's The Story) Morning Glory? I also like Be Here Now as much of a mess as it is. It's over the top nature I now find to be quite endearing. Especially in this era of emo nonsense.

Along with Noel Gallagher's perfect songwriting in the 90s his brother Liam brought the perfect rock voice to the band. To me Liam Gallagher is arguably the best rock singer of the decade. In fact I suppose I'm arguing it right now. His delivery can make the most insipid lyrics (and no doubt most of Oasis' lyrics are very insipid) and the most tired tune and turn them into something that grand. When he sings "Tonight I'm A Rock N Roll Star" I believe that he really means that. He's not being ironic, he really means it. To me this sort of attitude is what's missing from so much of the music of the past, I don't know, 30 years.

The Olivia Tremor Control - I didn't start listening to the Olivia Tremor Control until a few years ago but I now consider them to be near the very top of my list of great 90s bands. They've only released two albums and they came out in 1996 and 1999 so clearly they fit the criteria of their peak being in the 90s. While they only released two albums they were both so great and so epic in scope that I consider them to be one of my absolute favorite bands.

Their music is some of the most psychedelic pop rock music I've ever heard. There are seemingly infinite layers of sound going on in their tunes. The arrangements and instrumentation are always surprising. Certainly they take their cues from The Beach Boys and The Beatles and they often called retro but I never feel like I'm hearing any attempt to recreate the magic of an earlier time when I listen to them. I hear something far greater than just some recreation. I hear music that is timeless, from some place where time is just an idea.

If you are new to the Olivia Tremor Control I would start off with their first album 1996's Dusk At Cubist Castle and once that has been thoroughly digested move on to 1999's Black Foliage. I suggest this because if you get both of them at once I think you may be overwhelmed. Both of their albums deserves it's own gestation period so to speak. I think they are equally great with Dusk At Cubist Castle probably being easier to get into at first but Black Foliage being even more layered and intricate.

Beck - Beck was undoubtedly one of the most innovative and important artists of the 90s. 1994's Mellow Gold is widely known mostly for it's hit single "Loser" but it's actually filled with great inventive tracks that have a delicious DIY type weirdness to them. If you want to get really weird and really DIY with Beck then you should check out his lesser known album Stereopathetic Soulmanure which is brimful with insanity.

Of course Beck became known as more than a one hit wonder with 1996's Odelay which was more polished than his earlier work and won much wide acclaim. While my friend Mozart Breath doesn't care for it much I think it's quite a wonderful album and it holds up quite well with time.

Believe it or not I'm one of the few Beck fans who doesn't love 1998's Mutations. For some mysterious reason I've just never been able to get into that album.

Primal Scream - To me Primal Scream is one of the most underrated bands in the world. It doesn't seem like many people here in the US listen to them or even know who they are. Admittedly their last couple of albums haven't been mind blowing but Screamadelica and Vanishing Point are two of my very favorite albums of the 1990s. 2000's XTRMNTR is awesome too, but I'll keep this focused on the 90s, alright?

As you may gather from my list I'm quite the "psychedelic" music fan. Not psychedelic as if it's some specific genre of music from the 60s but in the sense that I enjoy music that tickles the brain a bit. Using this wide open to interpretation definition of psychedelic I'm not sure there are many albums that are more psychedelic than Screamadelica and Vanishing Point. Primal Scream's music is often a trip, even if you're not tripping. Although that may help your appreciation.

Spiritualized - Ladies & Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space is an album of pure Godliness. It's one of my top 10 albums of all time and it's the main reason I am including them on this list. Like Primal Scream I feel that they have lost the edge that made them great with their recent albums but back in 1997 not too many could touch them.

Their earlier albums are fantastic too and I know they are preferred by some hardcore Spiritualized fans but to me Ladies & Gents is some sort of perfect culmination. Spiritualized is another British band that is too often overlooked here in the US.

Blur - Yes I've got both Oasis AND Blur on my list. Got a bit of a hard on for the "Brit Pop" do I? Aye. Blur is a bit hit and miss for me but I really like a lot of their stuff and I find myself enjoying them more and more as time goes by. I prefer their late 90s albums Blur and 13.

Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea is just a tremendous album. There's something about it that's magical and timeless. While I'll always choose Olivia Tremor Control over Neutral Milk Hotel when it comes to a clash of the Elephant 6 titans (which I'm sure will be an event at the next Wrestlemania.) I really love both of them for different reasons. I'm not usually someone who cares much about lyrics but Jeff Mangum has a way with words that really draws me in. It's actually a lyric from On Avery Island that may be my all time favorite lyric. It's "How Strange Is It To Be Anything At All." Somehow that sums it all up for me.

Ween - An extremely underrated band. Too many people think they are merely a "joke" band. While some of their songs are funny, they are far more bizarre than hilarious. Bizarre being much more interesting to me. They are the combination of extreme musical talent with even more extreme imagination. This combines to create masterpiece albums like 1997's The Mollusk. If you've never given Ween a real shot before I suggest you really listen to their music with an open mind starting with the aforementioned The Mollusk.

You may have noticed I've named quite a few albums from 1997 on this list and for some reason quite a few albums from that year really stand out for me above all others. Definitely my favorite year of the 90s as far as music goes with albums like Radiohead's OK Computer, Spiritualized's Ladies & Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space, Primal Scream's Vanishing Point, Ween's The Mollusk, The Flaming Lips' Zaireeka, Bob Dylan's Time Out Of Mind, and Cornershop's When I Was Born For The 7th Time.

Transparent Dreams: The Brain-Melting Animation Music of the Olivia Tremor Control

The Olivia Tremor Control is/was a wonderfully unique (and criminally under-recognized) musical entity consisting of five or six men, all of whom have two nostrils, but only one forehead. A member of the colorful Elephant Six Recording Company (along with friends Neutral Milk Hotel, Outback Steakhouse associates Of Montreal, and infinity-billion other like-minded mid-90s groups), the Olivia Tremor Control remained active throughout the better part of the nineties, recording the type of groovy psych-rock that noise-cancelling headphones were created for. Ignore those who claim that the music requires any illegal mind-altering substances; rather, the music is the mind-altering substance.

The band released their debut album in 1996, "Dusk at Cubist Castle", a brilliant and surreal concept album, supposedly soundtracking a non-existent film. Like their idols, The Beatles and the Beach Boys, the band never sacrifices fantastic popcraft in the name of avant-garde experimentalism. The melodies stick like a gopher smothered in glue. My personal favorite track would have to be "Green Typewriters X", a wonderful come-down after 9.5 minutes of ambient tension. I dare you not to be moved as the swirling harmonies, layered guitar and crackly lo-fi production lead to a stunning musical orgasm. Yet, who can argue with the gorgeous, Beatles-esque melodic genius (and bike horns!) of "No Growing (Exergesis)", or the carnival-like celebration of "Spring Succeeds"? The type of music that never gets old, this album is a rare accomplishment, in which 73 minutes and 53 seconds are truly worth it.

By the way, their 1999 sophomore release, "Black Foliage: Animation Music" is even better. No, seriously. On this extraordinary record, the group turned the tape loops, repeating themes, and genius melodies up to ten, building up to a indescribable cacophony of sonic bliss. Excuse me if I overuse the word genius, as this album is easily one of my top 15 favorites of all time. Of course, I use the word 'album' loosely, since it's really more of an experience, for those who can handle it.

As the liner notes describe:

"The idea as black foliage began was to take a section of the guitar line from black foliage (now called itself) and make a set of animated departures stemming from that bass guitar melody, twisting it to many variations. As time moved on and the animation sections became intermingled with out daily lives, we added new hunks of sound. Everyday, the animation sections began to include pieces of each other. Example: the vocals from 1 were reshaped and sampled into 2. That reworking would be used again, reshaped for 3, etc. As the other songs began to take shape, we began extracting elements from them. Example: horns from "Hideaway" and string part from "A Sleepy Company." As each song became integrated as a whole into the new songs, edits became edits withing edits.. Which birthed "Combinations"- pieces of songs. Melodies, vocal parts, drum fills etc. became electronic interludes that are derived from the songs themselves, all of which are in various states of becoming or drifting back from animation. Including dreams along the way from our "send us your dream" appeal. Careful thought was also considered as to making the music pulse with rhythm of modern life. At times things seem quiet, or multiple sounds merge... Let your environment in..."

The band's schizophrenic musical contrast is also taken to an extreme, as 10+ minutes of avant-garde noise somehow manage to coexist alongside the simple 2-3 minute pop songs. Like a party inside your mind, and the most unusual instruments and wonderful harmonies are invited, floating through your subconscious. And yes, 'float' seems to be the apt word to use - the voices 'float' in and out, the samples 'float' around, popping up at the right moment. Not to mention one of the best tracks, "I Have Been Floated": A chaotic beast with a melody hiding underneath. And then, the flip is switched at 36 seconds. Everything expands in an acid-drenched frenzy, leading to a violin solo, a second verse, a brilliant acoustic break-down. It's a whole `nother dimension, my brothers. More psychedelic than a weasel sandwich on Mars. And, no, your stereo/ipod isn't broken; it's supposed to sound like that. "Hideaway" could've been a top 40 hit in a parallel universe, "California Demise" builds up to a blissful climax, emphasized by fuzzy guitars and horns. Another favorite is "Grass Canons" - I distinctly remember listening to the last fifteen seconds of this song on headphones in a quiet library - no joke, I honestly thought for a second that those drums in the background were being played somewhere in the library.

And then there's "The Sylvan Screen". It begins with just an acoustic guitar and echoey-voice: "everyday I sit and I look at my window/the cars go back and forth and they seem to never stop/no one seems me looking at them from my window/and I can be any one of them I want to be." The gigantic chorus, the explosion around 3 minutes, the completely random transition into Beach Boys harmonies. Just ask me to define "musical orgasm", and I'll hand you this song in a chewable tablet.

The album ends with "Hilltop Procession (Momentum Gained)", a gorgeous acoustic number, in a musical universe somewhere between Elliott Smith and Syd Barret. The layered vocals lead us into an addictive chorus of "don't look to me to validate your dreams!", as the bizarre production warps in and out. And the album ends on a blissful refrain of "da da da da...da da da" slowly fading out.

Then it's over.

"...Black Foliage is their SMiLE — it's an imploding masterpiece, a work teetering on the cliff's edge between genius and madness. Torn at the seams between pop transcendence and noise radicalism, the group attempts to have it both ways...Ultimately, Black Foliage just might be an end-of-the-millennium appeal that speaks directly and solely to the unconscious."

-Allmusic.com

"The first thing you'll need is a box of Q-tips. In order for your ears to have a chance at capturing the 32,486,978 distinct sounds that collectively make up Black Foliage, you'll want those canals to be whistle clean... the outlandish production that makes Phil Spector's "Wall of Sound" look like a cubicle divider. "

-Pitchforkmedia.com

How much longer...can I wait?

Take a trip to the surreal kingdom of the Olivia Tremor Control today - order "Black Foliage" on Amazon.com, or visit your local independent music supplier today. Please....do it for the children.

Oh, and for all you hip kids these days doing the Youtube thang, here's a terrible sound-quality performance of "The Sylvan Screen"!