The nineties were dominated by the seemingly unstoppable force of dance music. Constantly changing shape with genres and sub genres born every month. Music was trying to permanently sound like the future and guitars were sneered at by the cool kids. But as the noughties wore on, progress slowed.
Then the cyclical nature of alternative culture reared its bearded heads and ideas that would have been unthinkable ten years previously were now in.
Backward became the new forward. Wood the new chrome and revolvers became the new laser guns. Country was cool. Blame Johnny Cash. In the eighties most people came to associate country with middle-aged stars of the past trying to carve out unfortunate pop music careers and in the nineties, most peoples? idea of country was line dancing, Shania Twain and bloody Garth Brooks.
In the background though, there were bands trying to remind everyone that far from the vacuous greetings card lyrics of Billy Ray Cyrus, country could be a source of authenticity. Not authentic as some kind of dishonest euphemism for a luddite fear of change, but as a byword for convincing and genuine.
Songwriters such as Evan Dando or J Mascis embraced the sounds of Gram Parsons whilst artists like Uncle Tupelo and Will Oldham got saddled with the description of alt country. Still if there was ever a genre to be at ease with saddles. Whilst all of this was only the concern of boys with beards, it took an old master to remind people that lyrics about death and religion were not just some punk-inspired ?alternative? country, they were the roots and true voice of country. Johnny Cash?s Rick Rubin assisted American recordings told a mass audience what pioneers such as Oldham had always known, that country was at the heart of the outsider voice of rock n roll whilst being somehow separate to the vacuum-packed rebellion that we?d been sold for so long.
So America has been plundering the imagery, guitar sounds and lyrics of its past, and in doing so has created music as fertile as the desert is barren.
In 2005 Band of Horses released their debut album Everything All the Time. Ben Bridwell?s beautiful high notes being reminiscent of Kentucky?s My Morning Jacket but if you listened carefully, that relaxed sound was actually straight to the point. Equally informed by indie anthemics as it was by country earnestness, its accessibility was rewarded with success.
2007?s Cease to Begin continued the work begun on the previous album, but there were a few songs where they were happy to meander a bit – act a bit less and contemplate a bit more.
hecklerspray were lucky enough to catch them touring last year?s Infinite Arms album in Manchester. Opening with a new song is normally a conceit too far, but if Bats is an indication of album number four it should undo any slight disappointment that came with Infinite Arms. The problem with that album was its tendency towards a seventies AOR sound, a similar path that Kings of Leon made- a path that made them far less interesting, but far more successful and one which I'm sure they regret every time they get their bank statement.
Tonight, a live context breathed new life into those songs, and they sat confidently in a set drawn from their career to date with a bias towards Cease to Begin.
Bridwell?s voice was as strong as it was sweet and the band were devoid of ego. The Funeral?s tranquil build up and explosion of aural atmosphere is tonight?s highlight, but the admirable feat was that they could have chosen any of their songs and made them sound like greatest hits.
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Thirteen says
Oh, I adore this song… It was used in one of my favorite TV series FlashForward… Then fans of the show made lots of videos of “blacking out” with this song in the background. It’s beautiful, it’s haunting, it’s perfect…
mithaearon says
90’s dominated by dance music? What decade were you in? Grunge, Alt.Rock, Britpop, Nu Metal, Punk pop. Yes there was dance music but dominate? Nope.
Si Sharp says
Well it was a somewhat reductionist view of looking at a whole decade, and a fairly myopic view as well considering it doesn’t apply to the States. Creatively it was the most exciting form though. Rather than a brief fashion or a slight (if exciting) adjustment on previous glories. It changed continuously and seeped into other genres. And from the point of view of social phenomena and cultural impact was far more important that, say, nu-metal and punk pop. As much as I liked grunge, everything interesting because of the nature of what it was, about it was killed immediately by money. To answer your question I was listening to pretty much everything during that period.
See my forthcoming Afghan Whigs article if you are craving some electric guitars from the same decade.
gilbert wham says
Well, yes, there was Britpop, Nu Metal and Punk pop, but the absolute best way to deal with all three of those genres was to eat loads of terrifyingly powerful drugs, and listen to techno in a warehouse until they went far, far away. I barely noticed Oasis’s existence; the 90s were fantastic.
Grunge, I’ll give you. God Bullies, Bastards, Tad, Halo of Flies. Splendid.