Lee Dale

"After a decade of 2000s, it’s finally time to face the music and admit it: The 90s sucked."

Reading this quote brings to mind how music in the 90s compared to the 2000s. And to consider how I followed a similar path as that of music from the 90s through the naughties. Of course, it’s probably more my taste in music which followed this pattern, but let’s ignore that for a moment.

Beginning with grunge and the adoption of hip hop by the white money majority, through to the ascension, implosion and resurrection of the underground rave culture as club candy, the 90s was home to all sorts of genre splicing. And this search for identity led to branches of music that have largely gone nowhere (drum & bass, hello!) or fallen back to their roots (grunge goes acoustic, or gets gospel (Thanks for nothing, Creed)). Really, an almost complete and utter lack of identity, trying to forge your own path with seemingly little interest in considering who went before you and the challenges they had already overcome. Getting angry about nothing really, but having to say it loud anyway (I guess we’re stuck with emo now. Lord help us). Really, pushing against what should be a natural evolution in this blind search for self expression. A great parallel to the early days of the Web, where web practitioners fought to reinvent graphic design, typography, industrial design and product development practices, instead of borrowing from these disciplines. But I digress.

Finally, in the naughties we seemed to turn a corner. The fringe movements in dance culture which were bridging rock instrumentation and structure with dance beats and synthesizers turned into the mainstream success of the likes of Radiohead until, mid-decade, we reached our stride, comfortable in our identity as citizens of the world, and not afraid to embrace all influences to move between cliques and break down barriers. Self aware. Creative. No more need to rock the boat because we were now steering it. Moving in new directions but steady, confident, not erratic or forced.

And we end up with this proliferation of melting pot groups that sound so comfortable in their smorgasbord skin. Not afraid to dip into periphery passions which stretch their identities, while not feeling the need to put on a pitch perfect persona to help them blend in to their new passion play. Oh, the freedom of embracing a naughties wide-eyed and optimistic musical worldview, without the 90s worry that you could get stuck on a path that wasn’t for you.

Of course, the enlightened had this down long before because, really, nothing’s changed, it’s all just a lot easier to find now. But at least we can now see the wave of genre-bending, rather than genre defining artists building.

And so we meet 2010. The decade where you know who you are and you can be a glutton for all facets of life without having to be “that guy” to be recognized. To culture. To growth. To self expression. To the freedom to be. This has to be the best decade in music because we’re on a steady pace now. And that’s precisely how I see this decade for me.

Peace.
Lee