THFNS # 2: The Inevitable 90's Post

Happy Easter, to those of you who celebrate Easter, and Happy Sunday, to those of you who do not. Good evening (to those of you who celebrate the evening) and welcome to the second post in THFNS! I know that this post was supposed to be published in the middle of last week, but when I took a step back and actually reviewed the 90's, as a decade of music and film, in my mind, I realized it was far to vast to finish in an hour or so after school. Alas, now it is Sunday eve' though, and I am fully prepared to take on this enormous task. Enjoy it.

The 90's:

What do I think of when my restless mind flashes over the 90's!? Despite being born right in the middle of the decade, being too late to actually enjoy the luxuries of the 90's, the decade that I'm currently absorbed in is teeming with 90's nostalgia. So, let's take a peak at what exactly made the 90s become so nostalgic so quickly.

As well as being a fantastic (which really just depends on how you look at it) decade for music, the 90's also marked the beginning/ending of a whole slew of ... shit. Confused? Yeah, well, I made a little list.

An Unreasonably Lengthy List Of Things That "Went Down" In The 90s:

• The wonderful poison that is the Internet became widespread, and the unholy blessing that is personal computers became common (I'm willing to bet that the pornography business skyrocketed).
• The U.S, Canada, Europe and Asia became filthy fucking rich. Look to the previous post for one of the many reasons why.
  
• The Soviet Union FINALLY fell.
• Berlin Wall fell in Germany, leading to a reuniting of the country.
• The enactment of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on January 1, 1994, creating a North American free trade zone consisting of Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
• The Rwandan Genocide which began on April 6, 1994 until mid-July 1994 results in serious criticism of the United Nations and major countries for failing to stop the genocide.
• Human Genome Project began.
• Discovery of dark matter, dark energy, brown dwarfs, and first confirmation of black holes.
• Apple introduces the iMac computer, initiating a trend in computer design towards translucent plastics and multicolor case design, discontinuing many legacy technologies like serial ports, and beginning a resurgence in the company's fortunes that continues unabated to this day.
• The console wars, primarily between Sega (Sega Mega Drive (marketed as the Sega Genesis in North America, introduced in 1988) and Nintendo (Super NES, introduced in 1990), sees the entrance of Sony with the PlayStation in 1994, which becomes the first successful CD-based console (as opposed to cartridges). By the end of the decade, Sega's hold on the market becomes tenuous after the end of the Saturn in 1998 and the Dreamcast in 2001.
• Pokémon entered the world scene with the release of the original Game Boy Pokémon Red and Pokémon Green games in Japan in 1996, later changed to Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue for worldwide release in 1998. It soon becomes popular in the U.S. and is adapted into a popular children's anime series and trading card game, among other media forms. Its popularity remains well into the 2000s with several new games and spin-offs.
• In 1990, the World Health Organization removed homosexuality from its list of diseases. Increasing acceptance of homosexuality occurs in the western world throughout the 1990s.
• Development of the free Linux kernel is started by Linus Torvalds in Finland.
• The U.S. animated television comedy series The Simpsons becomes a huge domestic and international success in the 1990s as well as the longest-running American animated series.
• US president Bill Clinton was caught in a media-frenzied sex scandal over his intern Monica Lewinsky, first announced on January 21, 1998. After the U.S. House of Representatives impeached Clinton on December 19, 1998 for perjury under oath, following an investigation by federal prosecutor Kenneth Starr, the Senate acquitted Clinton of the charges on February 12, 1999 and he finished his second term.
• The Columbine High School massacre occurred on April 20, 1999, in Littleton, Colorado when two student gunmen killed 12 students, a teacher and then committed suicide, making it the deadliest high school shooting in United States history.
• Freddie Mercury, Kurt Cobain, Tupac Shakur, and Notorious B.I.G. are the most publicized music-related deaths of the decade, in 1991, 1994, 1996, and 1997 respectively.
• Seinfeld becomes highly popular.

The 90s in Music!:

When one thinks of the music of the 90s, one genre may come to mind quicker than others. That genre, of course, is grunge. Have you just slipped out of your mothers womb, or do you have another valid reason for not knowing what grunge is? We're here to help.

Grunge, which stemmed from "alternative" rock, emerged in the mid-80s around the D.C area, especially in Seattle. The basic themes and influence of grunge were the DIY ethics of the punk scene, metal scene and indie scene. The grunge scene formed itself around the independent Seattle label Sub Pop (for Subterranean Pop), but later became commercially successful with the release of Nirvana's Nevermind and Pearl Jam's Ten. In case you're wondering, the word grunge means "dirty" or "filthy". This term stemmed from the sound of the music, and from the unkempt hair, flannel shirts, and generally unwashed appearance of the scenesters. Grunge's most prominent bands were Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, and Pearl Jam.

Another genre of music that rose to popularity in this decade was Gangsta Rap and Hip hop. One of the main differences between Hip hop and Grunge is the fact that Hip hop has managed to stay relevant and incredibly popular today. At the beginning of the 90s, MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice make hip hop popular to the pop audience, and mark the beginning of hip hop's so far permanent place in pop music. Cliques start to form within the Hip hop industry, with feuds starting, and ending, between artists such as Notorious B.I.G and Tupac Shakur.

The last prominent genre of music that rose to popularity in the 90s was Indie Rock and it's many subgenres. One of the most prominent subgenre of indie (which stands for independent) music was the lo-fi genre. This included artists such as Elliott Smith, Guided By Voices, Pavement, and Neutral Milk Hotel, who recorded low fidelity music.

What was that? Do you vaguely recall a genre of music from the 90's that I haven't mentioned?
Well, it's called Boy Bands/Girl Bands, and I think it's closer to bat shit than music.

An Official Looks Like Coffee, Tastes Like Juice Mixtape: The 90s, or How I Learned To Stop Worrying & Love The Internet

01 American Music - Violent Femmes
02 Lucifer Rising - The Flaming Lips
03 Gold Star for Robot Boy - Guided By Voices
04 Tundra/Desert - Modest Mouse
05 Box Elder - Pavement
06 Life Goes On - 2Pac
07 Without a Face - Rage Against The Machine
08 Between The Bars - Elliott Smith
09 Common People - Pulp
10 N.Y State of Mind - NAS
11 El Scorcho - Weezer
12 The Long Cut - Uncle Tupelo
13 Holland, 1945 - Neutral Milk Hotel
14 Bleach - Nirvana (Reissued in 1992)

Enjoy!

Too shocking to see, Too shocking to see

Hello everyone, and welcome to a rather stormy Wednesday evening, here on Looks Like Coffee, Tastes Like Juice. Today's post is going to be historically short (I know I say this often, but the power may go out at any moment, so I mean it this time), and I'll only be posting one song. The song I'll be posting today makes up for the lack of songs/ lack of post though, as it will completely blow you away. That's a promise, so let's get on with it.

Elliott Smith - Trouble (Cat Stevens Cover)

Cat Stevens - Trouble (YouTube Video)

Does ANYBODY have a copy of Harold & Maude? The more I read about it (I've read A LOT about it) the more I feel I have a moral obligation to watch it.

Til' Tomorrow

You ought to be proud that I'm getting good marks

Hello everyone, and welcome to another beautiful, and quite warm, I should add, Sunday morning here on Looks Like Coffee, Tastes Like Juice. The reason I'm posting in the morning, and not in the evening as I usually do, is because I had such a busy night last night, that I couldn't find the time to post. So, you can think of this post as yesterday's post, and I will post again tonight, to cover today. Alright, so, as you may recall (a quick glance at the schedule will do), Saturday's are Album of the Week days. Seeing as it is unofficially Saturday today, I thought that for the Album of the Week post, I would post a couple tracks from one of my favorite albums.

First, a bit about the band. Now, I could go on and on about the various childhood turmoils, previous bands, and personal troubles of Mr.Elliott Smith (Born Steve Smith), but I'll try to stick to his musical career. Steve Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised in Texas, and spent a significant portion of his life in Portland, Oregon. After leaving the rock group Heatmiser, he began to concentrate on his solo effort. He was proficient on many instruments, but is mostly known for his delicate, complicated finger-picking arrangements. After releasing a slew of brilliant albums, he died at age 34 from 2 stab wounds to the chest. Judging by a majority of his lyrics, I personally do not doubt that these wounds were self-inflicted, but th autopsy was inconclusive.

Now, some information about the album. Elliott Smith, Elliott Smith's second album, and was released in 1995, on the Kill Rock Stars label. The album received mostly positive reviews, and found Mr.Smith diving deeper into, darker song lyrics and meanings. There are a good number of songs on the album that have to do with dependency, drugs, alcohol, and suicide. This makes for a fascinating and thought provoking listen every time you play the album.

Forget what I said though, you should probably judge this fantastic record yourself. So, here are a couple songs; I hope you enjoy.

Needle In The Hay - Elliott Smith

Southern Belle - Elliott Smith

Til' Tomorrow (well, tonight)

That's a circle that turns 'round upon itself.

It's Saturday and here on Looks Like Coffee, Tastes Like Juice that means it's time for the weekly B-Sides & Rarities post. Today we'll feature some Johnny Cash & Elliott Smith, whom we all know is my go-to man for B-sides and Rarities.

Figure 8 - Elliott Smith

I don't know about anybody else, but I grew up watching Schoolhouse Rock. Actually, they forced that on us in early grade school and I'm not going to lie, I ate it up. Elliott Smith makes this delicate, twinkly Schoolhouse Rock song, which I must say is one of their eeriest, into ... well... a delicate, twinkly, eerie song. It's enjoyable, none the less.

Miss Misery (Early Piano Version) - Elliott Smith

The song Miss Misery basically brought Elliott Smith to the attention of a magnitude of people. It was featured on the soundtrack to Gus Van Sant's (A fellow Portland-er) film Good Will Hunting. Good Will Hunting, along with being one of my favorite movies has a rather...kick ass soundtrack;

1. "Between the Bars" (Orchestral) - by Elliott Smith
2. "As the Rain" - by Jeb Loy Nichols
3. "Angeles" - by Elliott Smith
4. "No Name #3" - by Elliott Smith
5. "Fisherman's Blues" - by The Waterboys
6. "Why Do I Lie?" - by Luscious Jackson
7. "Will Hunting (Main Titles)" - by Danny Elfman & Steve Bartek
8. "Between the Bars" - by Elliott Smith
9. "Say Yes" - by Elliott Smith
10. "Baker Street" - by Gerry Rafferty
11. "Somebody's Baby" - by Andru Donalds
12. "Boys Better" - by The Dandy Warhols
13. "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" - by Al Green
14. "Miss Misery" - by Elliott Smith
15. "Weepy Donuts" - by Danny Elfman & Steve Bartek

Here I offer you an early piano version of that song.

Down There By The Train - Johnny Cash

This Tom Waits song was written specifically for Mr.Cash, but was later recorded by Tom Waits on his Orphans, Brawlers & Bastards rarities collection. I have a copy of that three disc set, but I have NO idea where that is, so I'll just post the Johnny Cash version for now.

By the way, tomorrow is my sister Natasha's birthday; and my best friend Tessa's birthday was on Friday. Therefore, I figured I'd have a joint birthday post for them tomorrow.

Enjoy

BONUS TRACK: My brother gave me this CD quite a while ago and I really just disregarded it until the other night. After giving it a listen, I liked what I heard but I wasn't really impressed. The tracks were too long and after a minute or two became unappealing. Then I stumbled upon this track near the middle of the album. It is short and sweet; repetitive yet each time you hear the one line of the song, it feels as fresh as the first time.

China Doll - Goldenboy

Remind you of anybody?

Besides, they're only b-sides

Hello again!
Today's post is going to be rather short, as I'm strapped for time.

The first song I'm going to post today will be the song Mykel & Carli. It's a song written for the creators of the Weezer fan club, Mykel and Carli Allan. Unfortunately, they died four years after the song was written, in a car crash with their sister. The irony is in the fact that they were driving back from a Weezer concert. I found this b-side on the Deluxe Edition of the Blue Album, which just happens to be my favorite album.

Mykel & Carli - Weezer

I really enjoyed this Big Star song when I first heard it, some two years ago. For some reason, I had the idea in my head that Elliott Smith could do an awesome cover of this song, if it weren't for his death. Then, a year later, I stumbled across this version by accident and found it ludicrously hilarious. I know, it's not that funny. It's a good cover, none the less.

Thirteen (Big Star Cover) - Elliott Smith

My sister received a Who's Greatest Hits for Christmas last year (coincidentally, I gave it to her) and has been in love with the Who ever since. I had sort of forgotten about this track, as it has been a while since I've heard Tommy, and when she purchased the album, I fell in love with it all over again. It's short and sweet and reminds me why I love Pete Townshend.

It's A Boy - The Who

Enjoy