Thursday, March 16, 2017

40 From 40: 1999

The last year of the old millennium, all talk of new ages and old bugs, and we find music trying to work out itself where to go next. Shania Twain spent more weeks atop the album chart than anyone else, Westlife's reign of terror began, and the number one slot was the territory of Eiffel 65, Baz Luhrmann and the Vengaboys. Indie started its drift into becoming a dirty word for a while as Travis took root. While the post-Spice girl group glut burned itself out - 21st Century Girls would become one of the more notorious flop pop acts of the era - outside the pure pop sphere women found an inventive footing more in the wake of Lauryn Hill's success rewarded with five Grammys at the start of the year. Macy Gray appeared and charmed all before a gleeful dive into the deep end, but hadn't others done retro-soul with more staying power in the previous years? Destiny's Child and TLC took the R&B hindmost as Britney and Christina gathered all before them, nobody quite sure what to do with the former's forcefulness in a way that seems quite quaint these days if it didn't seem vaguely disturbing. Eminem was the counterpoint, daring all to do him down and then watching fascinatedly as oppobrium piled up. In a big year for trailer trash, The Offspring had a number one single. THE OFFSPRING. Mind you, so was Flat Beat, which barely qualified as a tune. And The Millennium Prayer, likewise. Woodstock's third go-round was the disaster of the year, though the nu-metal hordes fingered as the cause of its degeneracy would only become bigger from here on in. Trance was at its height and UK garage became the in thing as the herds went down to Ayia Napa. And if the rate of turnover wasn't enough, in June Napster was quietly launched, which would go on to change things completely.

We're still playing with how to present these playlists in text and realising you don't really want reminding what albums they're from as we all have both Google/the ability to click a hyperlink and the ability to listen. So...




Leftfield feat. Roots Manuva - Dusted
Dead Prez - Hip Hop
Add N To (X) - Skills
Aphex Twin - Windowlicker
Blur - Bugman
Appliance - Food Music
Death In Vegas - Flying
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Moya
The Flaming Lips - Race For The Prize
µ-Ziq - The Fear
Lemon Jelly - The Staunton Lick
Day One - I'm Doin' Fine
Lyrics Born - I Changed My Mind (Stereo MCs Rattlesnake Mix)
Ol' Dirty Bastard feat. Kelis - Got Your Money
Cassius - Cassius 1999
Morgan - Miss Parker (Dust Brothers Mix)
Beck - Sexx Laws
Super Furry Animals - Northern Lites
Gorky's Zygotic Mynci - Spanish Dance Troupe
Beulah - Score From Augusta
The Clint Boon Experience - White No Sugar
The Magnetic Fields - I Don't Want To Get Over You
Wheat - Don't I Hold You
Smog - Cold Blooded Old Times
Badly Drawn Boy - It Came From The Ground
Murry The Hump - Thrown Like A Stone
Hefner - The Hymn For The Alcohol
Tom Waits - Get Behind The Mule
Cousteau - The Last Good Day Of The Year
Doves - Sea Song
Plone - On My Bus
Clinic - The Second Line
Ladytron - He Took Her To A Movie
The Chemical Brothers - Music:Response
Le Tigre - Deceptacon
Sebadoh - Flame
dEUS - Put The Freaks Up Front
Sleater-Kinney - Get Up
...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead - Mistakes And Regrets
Sigur Rós - Svefn-g-englar
Blackalicious - Alphabet Aerobics

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