I don’t know if anybody else out there has to go back to work today, but I do. I’ve just had my longest stretch of time off since June of 2008. It was nice, really. But I went a little stir crazy. Apparently I do need human interaction from time to time. Who knew?
Anyway, I’ll probably be finishing up the Being Me stuff the week of the 7th. This week shall be my send-off for 2012.
But for anyone who is also going back to work, I feel today should be a nice journey through YouTube. Specifically, we shall be journeying through the work of kick-ass bands fronted by women from the ‘90s. Hells, yeah.
Let’s begin with some Republica.
I didn’t have cable in the ‘90s. So I saw very few music videos. Looking back, though, most of them are kind of hilariously lo-fi. But Republica takes the cake for their obvious attempts to create epileptic seizures in everyone watching.
See?
From Republica to another English band that ends with an –ica: Elastica.
Okay, Justine Frischman might actually be a robot. Let’s check something else.
Still not convinced.
And I don’t think we can talk about Republica and Elastica without talking about the best-known of the female-fronted electronica acts of the ‘90s: Garbage.
So…on some level I’m conflicted about talking about things like this, because I honestly think that physical appearance is immaterial compared to talent. But holy hell, Shirley Manson was amazing in the ‘90s. Truth is, too, that she’s aged quite well (although a friend of mine pointed out that she’s been wearing pancake makeup for about two decades. Point).
It’s one of those things. I’m not a big fan of judging women only on their physical appearance. It’s one of those problems, too, since as a child of the ‘90s most of the music I listened to wasn’t actually made or performed by women. Right now women are pretty much at the top of the heap of whatever passes for a popular music scene. In the ‘90s there weren’t too many women who got radio play. It was pretty much Alanis Morrisette, Gwen Stefani and No Doubt, Shirley Manson and Garbage, Louise Post and Nina Gordon of Veruca Salt, and a few pop musicians who somehow managed to get play in the alternative scene, like Sarah McLachlan and Jewel. Oh, and Hole, but that was mostly because of the whole thing where Courtney Love was married to Kurt Cobain. At least, I’m hoping that’s what it was, since Courtney Love was a walking disaster and Hole was really, really bad.
I tend to think that women shouldn’t only be allowed to be discussed if they’re attractive. I mean, if Shirley Manson didn’t look like Shirley Manson I’d still enjoy Garbage. That might be one of those places where I have an advantage, since I didn’t have MTV or VH1 in the ‘90s, so I developed my opinions primarily based on the quality of the music I heard on the radio. And I loved me some Garbage.
But, still, Shirley Manson. Damn.[1]
And, hey, obvious ‘90s CGI-ed high concept sci-fi videos are pretty killer, too. Even if it doesn’t make a damn bit of sense. I could basically watch Garbage videos all day, though.
But…let’s move on. Mostly because the non-Shirley Manson-singing-at-the-camera parts of your average Garbage video are pretty much nightmare fuel. But, hey, we can watch Shirley Manson flirt with Craig Ferguson.[2]
So…let’s move right along. How about some Breeders? You’ll like it, trust me.
I have a hard time listening to The Breeders without thinking of Veruca Salt (for reasons that honestly aren’t entirely 100% obvious).
And apparently I never heard “Volcano Girls” or I heard it and forgot about it (which happens a lot and is the most likely explanation). But holy shit, “Volcano Girls.”
That’s kind of one of the problems with Veruca Salt for me. I tend to forget they existed, then I hear something and realize that, oh, yeah, when they were on they were the equal of any band from the ‘90s. They’re certainly a worthy addition to the Chicago rock pantheon (which, of course, contains such greats as Local H, the Lovehammers, and Francois Dillinger).
And just to get this elephant out of the way: Nina Gordon and Louise Post were quite attractive, too. And Louise Post reminds me of someone who isn’t Louise Post, but for the life of me I can’t figure out who. I’m also pretty sure that I could listen to “Volcano Girls” over and over and over again. In fact, I’m kind of doing that right now.
And we can’t do Veruca Salt without bringing up “Seether.” So, here, have some “Seether.”
So YouTube brings us to The Cardigans, who I only knew because of “Lovefool,” which was a bit of a disposable trifle of a song, but memorable, considering that I hadn’t heard it in years but knew exactly what it was as soon as I heard it.
However, “My Favorite Game” is strangely hypnotic.
And there’s “Erase/Rewind,” which has a very Saint Etienne-ish atmospheric electronica vibe. I like it.
And so but anyway, since all journeys must come to an end, let’s end on a high note, with the 1990s’ most tragically underrated band: Letters to Cleo.
Happy 2013, everyone!
-------------------
[1]Also, too, Saffron from Republica. Damn.
[2]My four favorite Scots: Craig Ferguson, Shirley Manson, Karen Gillan, Roddy Woomble. Probably not in that order, though.
Anyway, I’ll probably be finishing up the Being Me stuff the week of the 7th. This week shall be my send-off for 2012.
But for anyone who is also going back to work, I feel today should be a nice journey through YouTube. Specifically, we shall be journeying through the work of kick-ass bands fronted by women from the ‘90s. Hells, yeah.
Let’s begin with some Republica.
I didn’t have cable in the ‘90s. So I saw very few music videos. Looking back, though, most of them are kind of hilariously lo-fi. But Republica takes the cake for their obvious attempts to create epileptic seizures in everyone watching.
See?
From Republica to another English band that ends with an –ica: Elastica.
Okay, Justine Frischman might actually be a robot. Let’s check something else.
Still not convinced.
And I don’t think we can talk about Republica and Elastica without talking about the best-known of the female-fronted electronica acts of the ‘90s: Garbage.
So…on some level I’m conflicted about talking about things like this, because I honestly think that physical appearance is immaterial compared to talent. But holy hell, Shirley Manson was amazing in the ‘90s. Truth is, too, that she’s aged quite well (although a friend of mine pointed out that she’s been wearing pancake makeup for about two decades. Point).
It’s one of those things. I’m not a big fan of judging women only on their physical appearance. It’s one of those problems, too, since as a child of the ‘90s most of the music I listened to wasn’t actually made or performed by women. Right now women are pretty much at the top of the heap of whatever passes for a popular music scene. In the ‘90s there weren’t too many women who got radio play. It was pretty much Alanis Morrisette, Gwen Stefani and No Doubt, Shirley Manson and Garbage, Louise Post and Nina Gordon of Veruca Salt, and a few pop musicians who somehow managed to get play in the alternative scene, like Sarah McLachlan and Jewel. Oh, and Hole, but that was mostly because of the whole thing where Courtney Love was married to Kurt Cobain. At least, I’m hoping that’s what it was, since Courtney Love was a walking disaster and Hole was really, really bad.
I tend to think that women shouldn’t only be allowed to be discussed if they’re attractive. I mean, if Shirley Manson didn’t look like Shirley Manson I’d still enjoy Garbage. That might be one of those places where I have an advantage, since I didn’t have MTV or VH1 in the ‘90s, so I developed my opinions primarily based on the quality of the music I heard on the radio. And I loved me some Garbage.
But, still, Shirley Manson. Damn.[1]
And, hey, obvious ‘90s CGI-ed high concept sci-fi videos are pretty killer, too. Even if it doesn’t make a damn bit of sense. I could basically watch Garbage videos all day, though.
But…let’s move on. Mostly because the non-Shirley Manson-singing-at-the-camera parts of your average Garbage video are pretty much nightmare fuel. But, hey, we can watch Shirley Manson flirt with Craig Ferguson.[2]
So…let’s move right along. How about some Breeders? You’ll like it, trust me.
I have a hard time listening to The Breeders without thinking of Veruca Salt (for reasons that honestly aren’t entirely 100% obvious).
And apparently I never heard “Volcano Girls” or I heard it and forgot about it (which happens a lot and is the most likely explanation). But holy shit, “Volcano Girls.”
That’s kind of one of the problems with Veruca Salt for me. I tend to forget they existed, then I hear something and realize that, oh, yeah, when they were on they were the equal of any band from the ‘90s. They’re certainly a worthy addition to the Chicago rock pantheon (which, of course, contains such greats as Local H, the Lovehammers, and Francois Dillinger).
And just to get this elephant out of the way: Nina Gordon and Louise Post were quite attractive, too. And Louise Post reminds me of someone who isn’t Louise Post, but for the life of me I can’t figure out who. I’m also pretty sure that I could listen to “Volcano Girls” over and over and over again. In fact, I’m kind of doing that right now.
And we can’t do Veruca Salt without bringing up “Seether.” So, here, have some “Seether.”
So YouTube brings us to The Cardigans, who I only knew because of “Lovefool,” which was a bit of a disposable trifle of a song, but memorable, considering that I hadn’t heard it in years but knew exactly what it was as soon as I heard it.
However, “My Favorite Game” is strangely hypnotic.
And there’s “Erase/Rewind,” which has a very Saint Etienne-ish atmospheric electronica vibe. I like it.
And so but anyway, since all journeys must come to an end, let’s end on a high note, with the 1990s’ most tragically underrated band: Letters to Cleo.
Happy 2013, everyone!
-------------------
[1]Also, too, Saffron from Republica. Damn.
[2]My four favorite Scots: Craig Ferguson, Shirley Manson, Karen Gillan, Roddy Woomble. Probably not in that order, though.
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