1990s. Rock and Indie

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1 1990s Rock and Indie Grunge Defining characteristics are the use of heavily distorted, fuzzy guitars, strong anti- muso stance, rare use of guitar solos, and emphasis upon heavy riffs. Grunge was a reaction against the sulky image of the LA rock scene. Nirvana and Mudhoney took the basics of metal, punk attitude and aggression to make a perceived cool image. Fusions and revivals Red Hot Chilli Peppers experimented with fusions of rock, rap and funk, esp. Give it away which featured slower, funky tempo and guitars coupled with powerful rock drums, guitar (partly recorded backwards) and quasi-rap lead vocals. Other artists grouped dance-like drum patterns with tempos akin to rap (rather than conventional rock), thereby displaying more technical musicianship. The sound was more intensified, detuning of basses and guitars for a heavier sound, increased amounts of hip-hop, often with a DJ in the band s line-up. In time, the fusion of rap and rock formed the basis for the nu-metal scene (late 1990s, thought of as being more formulaic). Korn combined grunge with other influences to produce rather brutal music and angst-ridden lyrics and contrasting vocal delivery styles. Slipknot placed less emphasis upon hip-hop, more on metal and employed a nine-piece band. Limp Bizkit raised the volumes and enjoyed offending adults. Punk enjoyed a semi-revival with bands like Green Day, Blink 182, and the Offspring, with their use of fast tempos, simple guitar chords, catchy tunes, tongue-in-cheek humour, however, without political messages and defiant styles. UK rock and Indie From the 1980s, UK Indie became more retrospective, showing influences of sensitive sounds (The Smiths), nostalgic (wistful 1960s, rather Monkees ),experimentation with jangly guitars and soft execution of vocal lines. Followers of Indie bands would mosh (frenetic style of group dancing by audiences at gigs, rather like the punk pogo ) Madchester Loose assortment of Manchester-based bands, often associated with use of Ecstacy and baggy clothing. The musical features were vague-sounding vocals, funky drum patterns, 1960s sounding guitars, building music upon past models (c.f. Oasis ). Typical group were the Charlatans and the Stone Roses. Other artists extended these styles with sonic experimentation, and vicious guitar feedback. Britpop The 1990s saw a revival of the popularity of lush sounds of artists like Andy Williams, Frank Sinatra and Tom Jones. Arranged enjoyed the manipulation of punchy chordal brass and singing (lyrical) string parts. At the same time, there emerged new audiences for the 1960s groups like The kinks ; young artists/groups would cover these 60s groups.)the Beatles and Rolling Stones influence led to the formation and consequent popularity of bands like Blur and, Oasis. Such groups were characterised by their employment of clear, uncomplicated harmonies and rhythms, tuneful melodies and catchy choruses.

2 Musical characteristics by now well practised amongst bands of the 80s and 90s include:- Lick: short embellishing phrase adding an extra touch to a melodic line or ornamenting a solo Bridge passage: linking two sections within a pop piece, possible static approach to momentum, harmonic progression. Major and minor pentatonic scales as important contributors to the construction of pop music. Functional harmony: conventional chord progressions e.g. II V I Use of sevenths in chords Riffs Oasis Oasis have often been closely linked with the Beatles, to the extent that critiques assert numerous pieces of Oasis are imitations or pastiches of former Beatles numbers. Oasis, however, possess a hard edge that goes beyond the Beatles. They were guitar-driven and attempted to fuse punk with the melodic song writing of the Beatles. Their songs favour repetition (exact of otherwise) of one or two-bar phrases (c.f. punk styles of 1970s) and display sneering tones in the vocal deliveries (c.f. Johnny Rotten, Mick Jagger) The parallel with Beatles compositions can be identified in Don t look back in anger. The piano introduces the piece, and then is replaced by organ and strings for the sustained harmonies without any clear melodic interest. Each bar employs two harmonies, except before chorus where the change is limited to one harmony per bar. The tonality of C is stated, with three alien chords: E (major version of III, serving as secondary dominant to VI c.f. All you need is love Beatles; also favoured amongst Motown composers Fm after IV (bar 13) (favourite device of Lennon/McCartney) Diminished 7 th on G# (similar function as #III substitute secondary dominant chord) Intro. akin to Imagine (Lennon). The use of strings could be compared to the employment of string figures in the Beatles, Eleanor Rigby. Another comparison with the writing of Lennon/McCartney is Noel Gallagher s utilisation of modal melodies (Aeolian mode E-E with F#)(c.f Wonderwall, Roll with It) Blur Loosely associated with the Madchester scene, they developed a more English sound and outlook (e.g. Parklife a celebration of everyday life in southern England). Blur were more experimental than Oasis, their styles ranging from 1980s synthpop/disco combination (e.g. Girls and boys ) to grungeinfluenced music (e.g. Song2 ). Cool Britannic became a fashionable expression used to describe the British visual arts, fashion and music. Even Tony Blair was keen to associate with pop artists like Oasis, Blur and Pulp at Downing Street.

3 Manic Street Preachers, a Welsh group that did not come under the umbrella of Britpop, rather, blended their own style of punk swagger and stadium glam, with energetic performances, politicised lyrics and attention-grabbing declarations, occasional guitar solo, possibly a cross between the Sex Pistols and Guns N Roses. Radiohead began life as a typical Indie band, fronted by vulnerable-sounding and expressive vocal techniques. Sonic experimentation, tripartite (three distinct sections) or free-form structures, unfathomable lyrics and music complexity became features of their songs Dance In the 1990s, Europe adopted the foundations of electronic dance music from the USA and established itself as the world leader in dance music, generating many new styles, often with short life spans and quick evolutions. Dance music singles were not designed to promote albums, rather exist as an individual entity. Some producers assumed pseudonyms in order to work on several concurrent projects, and dance music became associated with facelessness façade. Rave Promoters organised large-scale all-night parties ( raves ) in empty warehouses or fields as outlets for the acid-house music, Ecstacy and LSD sales and obvious avoidance of the police. Such gatherings became attractive to successful American DJs. Vocal fragments replaced conventional vocal sounds, lack of narrative, with vocal input being a few, intense, sampled phrases. The brevity of sampled phrases was originally due to limited sampler memory. Short, catchy phrases sounded great under the effects of Ecstacy. In contrast, small London clubs changed the jarring mix sound of acid house with Italian house music (thumping piano sounds, screaming divas, typified by Black Box, Ride on time ) Hardcore Hardcore evolved fro the musical developments of UK Rave. Drum machine rhythms of techno and house were given more emphasis and even replaced by sampled hip-hop break beats, speeded up to faster, more urgent tempos. Jerky synth rhythms of earlier acid house interspersed these fast rhythmic figures. Vocal samples were given a frenetic, pitched-raised ( helium ) effect. An example of hardcore is Firestarter (1996) by Prodigy. Other groups like the Shamen combined electronic sounds, loops and drum machines within traditional song-based forms. Happy core, a rather frenzied and corny version of hardcore, followed, with its undanceable tempos, and quite quickly disinterested hardcore followers. Hardcore seemed to fade out after several novelty records based upon 1970s children s television theme tunes (e.g. Roobarb and Custard ). Hardcore s speeded-up drum loops and disjointed sound prepared the way for Jungle music. Jungle, drum n bass Jungle absorbed elements of dub, especially with its bass lines. It was a complex rhythmic transformation of hardcore. Jungle later assumed the title Drum n bass featured a combination of drum loops and bass lines played at a very fast tempo (classically 170 bpm), but without the cartoonlike vocals and frantic synthesisers of hardcore. Drum rolls, reggae-like bass figures and ragga-style vocals (c.f. early jungle music) had more appeal. Once jungle has assumed the label drum n bass, several sub-genres developed, the more popular varieties being Fusion of jazz and hip-hop (e.g. Roni Size) Intelligent drum n bass, a more experimental, electronically-driven (e.g. LTJ Bukem) Darker, heavy, haunting, often intangible sounds (e.g. Goldie) Jump up style: funky, hip-hop feel, often with sections of music played at half-speed

4 Techno drum Typical features of this style are chattering drums and angular, rather robotic synth riffs with a hard edge. This was taken further through pounding bass drum figures, analogue squelches of sound and filtering monotone synthesiser riffs (this last idiom gave rise to acid techno ). Germany in particular had a great interest for this genre and promoted it through the record label Tresor. European techno revolved more around the consumption of drugs and tended to feature more psychedelic sounds and long drum-free breakdown sections of music (originating from trance music)(designed to create a sense of expectation, supported by lively effervescent synth parts) that would build up to an (orgasmic) climax (screaming, electronic, wildly filtering sounds - a la acid - by the synth) before the drums (loops) returned to the music. The mixture of acid and techno became know as acid techno (e.g. DJ Misjah, DJ Tim). Acid techno soon became the music for free part scenes in Europe (catering for clubbers, ex-hippies, travellers, crusties unkempt, often unemployed, squatters), until countries like Britain legally clamped down. Trance Trance was an offshoot of techno with a softer, more melodic sound, popular in the late 90s. The funkier sounds of Detroit techno were take n out, thereby producing a more white sound. Hypnoticlike grooves (rhythmic/melodic phrases) would be used in experimental, yet less threatening ways, like offbeat bass figures and spinning chord sequences (hence more harmonically complex), occasionally contrasted by melodies on the piano or reworkings of classical genre pieces. More focus was placed upon melody and harmony rather than timbre and rhythms. Super clubs with elaborate interior layouts employed trance music presented by notorious DJs in an attempt to recreate the former rave scenes, however admission costs often saw such clubs flop. House, R n B and Garage The public wanted a more funky and syncopated sound rather than rather formulaic offbeat bass lines, cheesy melodies and therefore moved readily on to new styles like Garage. Artists also saw potential for the marketing of their music in CD-based media games soundtracks. House was still created through up tempo pieces that employed vocal fragments, however, accompanied by funk-based bass lines and impacting drum loops. R n B was a redefined musical term in the 1990s. Soul has been combined with the tougher sounds of hip-hop to create a new genre, R n B. (sometimes known as urban ). Musical features were soul influenced, virtuoso vocals (often with close harmonies), tight, syncopated drum programming. (e.g. Janet Jackson, What have you done for me lately, 1986 Destiny s Child, Bootylicious, 2001) Garage also enjoyed a metamorphosis in the 1990s. Deep bass sounds of jungle were combined with drum loops and ragga-style vocals to create Speed Garage (or simply Garage ). Examples included tape stop sound effects, squelchy analogue bass and time-stretched vocals (e.g. Double 99, Rip Groove ) Other examples featured the soulful vocals and syncopated rhythms of R n B in the final mix (e.g. Mis-teeq, Why? ) Garage has also crossed over into more mainstream pop genres (e.g. Craig David, 7 Days ) Rap in the 90s New genres evolved in the 90s with female artists bringing more mellow, non-aggressive daisy age rapping. Examples include Missy Elliott and the ageing Salt n Pepa, prepared to rap about issues like safe sex, subjects that male rappers would avoid. Rap was also combined with R n B idioms (e.g. The Fugees, cover song Killing me softly. Puff Daddy, cover song Every breath you take ) Ambient, Chillout and Trip-hop

5 The genre ambient (also known as Chillout ) was practically invented by Brian Eno (e.g. Discreet Music, 1975). He designed music more for background appreciation, creating collages of gentle (piano) phrases and slowly evolving landscapes. Chillout music was used for clubbers who needed to take time out of dancing, relaxing on soft cushions etc. the cyclic and non-dramatic sounds of classical minimalist composers like Glass and Reich helped the development of Chillout music, in addition to the Orb (Little Fluffy Clouds, 1990) and KLF ( Chillout ; an album almost beat-free) Trip-hop was a combination of dark and slower-tempo hip-hop drum loops, dubbed bass lines and mournful vocals, typical hip-hop techniques like scratching, still within a more traditional song-based structure. Examples are Portishead (album, Dummy 1994) and Massive Attack with their use of a less austere, but more bleak and soulful sound ( Unfinished symphony, 1991) Industrial This expression was applied to more dance-based groups of the late 1980s who worked in the MIDI field, including synthesisers, sampled sounds such as scraping metal, non-complex but heavy drum figures and guitars. Artists include Skinny Puppy, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, with the latter group experimenting in melodic, song-orientated styles within the aggressive, distorted sounds akin to this genre. Pure Pop in the 90s. All-girl and all-boy bands enjoyed great popularity in the 90s. These manufactured groups moved between up-tempo songs with choreographed routines and the sweet ballad songs, particularly targeting pre-adolescent girls as well older girls and gay men. Image was an important ingredient to support the presentation of the formulaic songs (melodic and hook-laden). Other artists worked in retro styles, reworking older hits or remoulded their image like Kylie Minogue, who adopted a more sensual approach. Some promoters tried to give individual images to band members (e.g. Spice girls) to counteract the formulaic methodology, advocating instead of fun loving, slightly anarchic mentality. Such outfits often broke up with the individual members pursuing solo careers, sometimes milking the sexual imagery or targeting a MOR audience. New genres The growth of the south Asian community in Britain has seen the popularity of genres that fuse traditional Pakistani and Indian music with western pop sounds. Example is Asian Dub Foundation who combine south Asian melodies, rhythms and sounds with hip-hop, dub and traditional western pop instruments. Bhangra is a term sued to describe the combination of Punjabi string and drum instruments and singing with other elements such as Hindi film music and western music. The idioms of the dance revolution, hip-hop, reggae and drum n bass were absorbed into the music (e.g. Panjabi MC, Mudian to bach ke, 2003)