turns out the 90s IS the future!

maybe it's time to resurrect this blog, considering a number of things;

1. i saw mudhoney play this summer in malmö, and the audience was full of young people with 90s band t-shirts and sonic youth tattoos.

2. every other 90s band is re-releasing their greatest albums (on vinyl), or even recording new ones! also, they are on tour. lush, belly, L7, the jesus and mary chain...

3. well, that was about it. also, it would be nice.

4. i just bought tickets to see dinosaur jr in november.

just some videos

i'm a bad blogger. here's something to improve your sunday afternoon..

In the right mood for mud: English Festivals

"September is here again", sang eternal David Sylvian in 1987.
Glastonbury Festival set June to fire, and Reading (and Leeds) Festival unplugged its plugs last Sunday night.
Therefore even this year I've not gone to any of the two most suggestive and symbolic festival ever (to me).
I still go to concerts and I'm happy to necessarily take planes to reach the venue; I went to festivals, got soaked with rain, beer and sweat (mine and others'), longed for a real toilet, yet enjoyed the experience thoroughly.
But, I feel there's a kind of... void anyway.
I've been planning to squeeze myself into the crowd of one of the two UK festivals since I first handled a precious copy of New Musical Express and read epic reviews of epic concerts, some 20 years ago.
Postponing after postponing I'm here, 36 and counting, and progressively less eager to share an ocean of mud with 50.000 people. Especially when you get Beyoncè (Glasto) or My Chemical Romance (Reading) as headliners (I mean, I've nothing against them, I even like them, but it's definitely not my cup of tea).
Anyway,
since this blog is meant to talk about 90s, here's something from the poster above:

Manic Street Preachers* - Revol (1994)

*: when they were still cool

Suede** - Metal Mickey (1992)

**: everlastingly cool

The Cardigans*** - Sick and tired (1994)

***: jewel of a song, jewel of an album.

August, 1991

As everyone knows, "Nevermind" was released in August 1991.
Exactly 20 years ago.
Is there still something to add about this album?
Yes, I do think so. And I'm sure you're pining to know what it meant and still means to me, its role in my... musical education, and... and sooner or later your curiosity will be fulfilled. I'll write a post about it someday.
(omg, 1991... I was 16, my hair was longer than Eddie Vedder's, I weighed almost 20 kilos less than now, and... man, the 90s had just begun!)
Anyway...
in that very same month other milestones of (indie / pop / alt) music saw the light of day.
From my beloved brit bishops Blur and their first album "Leisure", to riot grrrl goddesses Hole ("Pretty on the inside"), from trip-hop fathers Massive Attack (monumental "Blue lines") to seminal "Ten" by Pearl Jam, not forgetting Metallica's "Black album", Cypress Hill, and... er... Spin Doctors.
Talking about singles that colored record shop shelves in that fiery August 1991, here are some.
Even some multi-million selling artists, for once.
Enjoy.

Smashing Pumpkins - Siva* (August 1991)

*: those colors, those blurred images, Billy Corgan's not bald head...
I think my heart stopped for some seconds

PJ Harvey - Dress** (August 1991)

**: Polly's first ever single.

Metallica - Enter sandman (August 1991)


R.E.M. - Near wild heaven*** (August 1991)

***: admit it, you do love "Out of time", as everbody else.
Pop at its best.

Hole - Teenage whore (August 1991)

Crumbs - Crumb #3

Crumb #3: "Fake fur" by Urusei Yatsura

Uuhh.. that's what I call a "crumb" (for the correct definition of "crumb", see this post)!
I've totally forgotten (about) both song and band.

Premise is needed:
if you own a Facebook profile or, in general, are used to hang out at forums, you've most likely noticed that lots of italian (males as well as females) users' avatars are japanese (TV) cartoon characters, the most part coming from the late 70s and 80s.
All of us Italians, 30-heading-for-40 something, were raised up with, no... thanks to japanese TV cartoons.
Even my 67 y.o. father still remembers characters, themes song / opening themes from lots of them.
Try to google "cartoni animati giapponesi": a new world will open itself before your eyes.

A few days ago, while taking advantage of my fake FB profile to take a peek at other people's life, I noticed that a (male) friend of mine chose an image of Lamù as his avatar.
Among utterly forgettable comments I happened to read the original japanese name (I somehow forgot) of the series: Urusei Yatsura.
And suddenly... poof! my mind went immediately back to this scottish combo, and the only one song of theirs I knew.
And so.. here it goes:

Urusei Yatsura - Fake fur (1997)


and... er... this is the italian version's opening theme

Songs by numbers

It's all in the title of the post.
Songs, numbers.
Songs with a number, nothing else, in their titles.


Massive Attack - Three (1994)



Jimmy Eat World - Ten (1999)

Fan made video: don't know whether it captured the spirit of the song or not, but... I liked it.
(and "Clarity" is a great album indeed)

Cranberries - Twenty-one (1994)

I proudly admit it: I loved "No need to argue". Period. And songs like this or "Empty" still give me the shivers.
(I know, I know... this video basically is "Dreams" re-edited. But to me is new, because I've always thought this version was the only one existing. And, anyway, the 4AD atmosphere suits the song like a glove)

The Smashing Pumpkins - Thirty-three (1996)

The view from stage

As I wrote somewhere in this blog already, I was in a band, in the 90s, and we existed from 1994 to 2001. Actually, we kept on rehearsing and putting sketches of songs on tape (and on audio file) until 2004, but we basically ceased to be everyone's favourite active indie pop band (only in my dreams, of course) in 2001, when we played live for the last time.
It was the 21st of July. So it's exactly 10 years now.
I remember it was so windy, just like today (in Sardinia).
Ten years... aargh!!
I definitely need something carelessly happy, and pop, and live, to cheer me up a bit.
Here it goes:

Pulp - Disco 2000 (1995)