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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!