Show Notes
On the very first episode of 120 MONTHS, we’re kicking off a decade of amazing music by surveying the cultural landscape as the 80s ended and a new era began. Musically speaking, the 90s came screaming out of the gates, with albums released in January 1990 that offered a weird prophecy of what was to come, from the lo-fi production of Daniel Johnston’s 1990, to the bodily-obsessed humor of Ween’s GodWeenSatan: The Oneness, to the hyper-literate nerd rock of They Might Be Giants’ Flood, to the poetic acoustic tones of bands like Toad the Wet Sprocket and The Sundays. In the very first month of the 1990s, you could already hear some of the trends that would take over the mainstream in the months and years to come. Listen to the January 1990 playlist:
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More from 120 Months Podcast
A storm of classic rock albums dropped in September 1992: Alice in Chains with their bracing, nightmarish grunge masterpiece Dirt; Stone Temple Pilots with their hit machine debut, Core; Blind Melon's sunny, Southern rock-infused self-titled debut; and Nine Inch Nails introducing their scary, deeply influential new sound on the EP Broken.
The 1992 movie Singles, written and directed by Cameron Crowe, helped spread awareness of the Seattle grunge scene to a mainstream American audience, and includes cameos from figures in bands like Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden (even Tad makes an appearance!). The soundtrack, featuring songs from Seattle's rising stars, probably had a bigger impact than the movie itself. This week we talk Singles and explore the role Hollywood plays in promoting, defining (and ruining?) regional music scenes.
Here’s video of this week’s episode, in which we discuss album releases from August 1992: Gin Blossoms’ New Miserable Experience, Uncle Tupelo’s March 16-20, 1992, Lucinda Williams’ Sweet Old World, The Wallflowers’ self-titled debut, INXS’ Welcome to Wherever You Are, and The Flaming Lips’ Hit to Death in the Future Head.
The legacy of Bob Dylan hangs heavily over the essential album releases from August 1992: Gin Blossoms with a brilliant, nostalgic collection of songs on New Miserable Experience; Uncle Tupelo's ode to ragged politically-charged folk music, March 16-20, 1992; Lucinda Williams showing off incredible songwriting chops on Sweet Old World; The Wallflowers with an impressive self-titled debut; INXS attempting to bridge their sound into the '90s on Welcome to Wherever You Are; The Flaming Lips gearing up for massive tonal changes on Hit to Death in the Future Head.
July 1992 is a month packed with new album releases. On this episode we talk about Sonic Youth's monumental Dirty; Megadeth's crossover classic Countdown to Extinction; Morrissey's harder sound on Your Arsenal; and Gordon, the debut album from Canada's hardest rocking nerds, Barenaked Ladies.