The Memory Mixes, Pt 3: Advanced Studies
Fall 1996 to Spring 1997
Ah, the innocence of youth:
It is a pure thing.
Or, at least 80 proof.
Anyway, 10th grade was when my exposure to underground music went into overdrive.
Between my friends and my aging punk brother-in-law, I was getting a nonstop flood of recommendations. Just a constant discovery of some killer music.
It was like the scene in The Matrix when Neo gets a whole lifetime of knowledge dumped into his brain.
Or maybe, since this all took place before the movie came out, that scene was trying to be like me?
Poseurs.
Look for the first royalty check around the 15th of the month.
Anyway, this mix represents that info dump of classic and contemporary punk and indie.
It’s therefore pretty terrible as a snapshot of 1996 or 97 music. It’s also fairly abrasive for people who aren’t into underground sounds. But I did try to mix it up and pace it for a fun and exciting listen.
Here’s the YouTube playlist. Track list below.
Hope you like it!
And, because the new music really kicked into overdrive at this point, here’s a bonus mix! I made the bonus mixes after the first round of playlists per year. These are not as creatively curated assemblages as the originals, but hold their own as solid mixes of solid tunes.
- “Democracy Spawns Bad Taste” — The Crucif*cks
- “N.W.O.” — Ministry
- “Sri Lanka Sex Hotel” — The Dead Milkmen
- “Concrete Animals” — Shonen Knife
- “Anger Battery” — Verbal Assault
- “Cybele’s Reverie” — Stereogum
- “Candle” — Skinny Puppy
- “Orgy” — The Glove
- “Beat On the Brat” — The Ramones
- “Concerto of the Desperado” — The Roots
- “Suck My Left One” — Bikini Kill
- “Next Stop Rehab” — The Queers
- “Ultra” — KMFDM
- “Thirtsy European”— Rollerskate Skinny
- “Diet Punk” — The Rickets
- “(I Am Taking Out My Eurotrash) I Still Get Rocks Off” — Blonde Redhead
- “Bikeage” — The Descendents
- “Bodies” — Sex Pistols
- “Tourniquet” — Marilyn Manson
- “Summertime Rolls” — Jane’s Addiction
- “Five String Serenade” — Mazzy Star
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{Editor’s notes:}
A: Apologies to friend Phylum for today’s delay and production problems.
B: Shoutout to friend Phylum for the amazing original art.
-mt
“Whoah” –Keanu Reeves upon seeing today’s post
(Shoutout to mt for the excellent visual theme)
. 🙏
I’m pretty sure “Cybele’s Revenge” is by Stereolab, not Stereogum, but I totally get it. The lure of the mothership is strong.
Great list, and right up my punk alley. I have heard a few in the addendum so I’ll be digging in today. Thanks, Phylum!
I was going to point that out. I love that song, but wasn’t sure if it was a Chris song, a Tom song or a Scott song… Presumably Danielle since there are female lead vocals.
Ha! I had gum on the brain. Maybe Scott can give me commission for such subliminal advertising.
I hated the Matrix–could barely sit through it. I called it “Loud, Long, and Boring.”
I never got round to watching any of them. I appreciate the validation of my decision that your review provides.
But at least it wasn’t its sequels.
Wow, you really did plunge into the underground in an era where even the teens that would present as being into punk didn’t tend to get into the older OG stuff, at least not the ones I knew. I was a teenager around the time many of those songs were released and I’m not sure I even heard one thing from your list. About as cutting edge as I got was Whip It by Devo.
I am only familiar with a few of these, but some of those are favorites. So I’ll be digging into these later today.
I was aware of some of these in my mid-teens but you were well ahead of me.
There’s some great song and band names. Sri Lanka Sex Hotel by The Dead Milkmen is particularly evocative.
Great, very deep lyrics there.
A whole lot of excellent bangers, many right in my wheelhouse! (Buzzcocks! Descendents! Stereo
gumLab! Sonic Youth! And of course X-Ray Spex!!!!)Gotta keep the readers sharp with my
typos“brain teasers!” I’m sure I’ll have many more as we go along.I definitely recognize some of these groups, but I recognize exactly zero song titles, though “Days of Swine and Roses” is particularly intriguing.
I probably need to go back and read rollerboogie’s elevator music article. (sigh)
Yeah, I would anti-recommend you listen to Thrill Kill Kult. 😀
Or their nemesis The Electric Hellfire Club
I was laughing picturing you white-knuckling your way into that playlist when I saw it, Link. Glad my elevator music article can be of assistance. We definitely have all 31 flavors here, so there’s something for everyone.
Oh, Cybele is a Roman goddess. The song is in French. That doesn’t help me figure out what Stereolab was referencing
I found a translation for “Cybele’s Reverie”. It’s written from the perspective of a young girl. There’s enough to suggest that Laetitia Sadler was inspired by the 1962 film Serge Bourguignon’s Sundays and Cybele. Bourguignon is alive. He’s 92. Sundays and Cybele won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film. And then he retired.
Doctor Sleep slyly references Sundays and Cybele, in the scene where Danny Torrance and his new friend meet.
I’m not familiar with The Cruci*****, The Rickets, and Verbal Assault.
The Dead Milkmen were punk rock’s They Might Be Giants. On Soul Rotation, they made concessions to the mainstream alternative crowd, which wasn’t well-received by their old fans. It’s aged well. Arguably, moreso than their more popular works.
I guess that makes sense. Goofy yet musically adventurous. Though the Milkmen’s sound was not as eclectic as TMBGs. As for lyrics, it’s getting harder and harder to play Dead Milkmen songs at parties! Satire is so easy to misinterpret these days, especially when it’s so blunt and bratty.
I actually recently tweaked the bonus mix. I wanted to fit in more songs!
Here’s the update:
The name Rollerskate Skinny intrigues me.
Great band! Like Skinny Puppy, the name doesn’t quite match the sound.
Thank you for the tweak, finally one song that I can identify on sight (the one by Adam Ant). I do recognize more than 50% of the artists though (between your main playlist and this one), so as a confirmed pophead that gives me some satisfaction. 🙂
Even at this point, there are some tracks that might surprise you with their melodic appeal, despite some rougher edges. But I would make my peace with poppier sounds soon enough.
There’s some great bands/songs in there, but my favorites are those from the Industrial side of the tracks.
My Life with the Thrill Kill Cult, KMFDM, Ministry, all bring back some amazing memories.
One final note: The Dead Milkmen “first” last show was in October of 1994 at the Troc. I went there on a date, but had bought tickets for the wrong show (it was a two-night event). My date was big into that scene, and managed to talk our way into the gig, God bless her…
“The banker never wears a mac,” but maybe he eats some for dinner, courtesy of Kraft.
Ha, I meant to reply to rollerboogie’s comment on JJ’s piece. Not sure how this got here.
Where am I?
This is not my house! This is not my wife!