What’s the Alternative? IV – Part 4

In the summer of 1994, I travelled through Italy and France with my Dinosaur Jr. and Ween cassette tapes; then, in early 1998, through India and Nepal with nothing but Jawbreaker’s 24 Hour Revenge Therapy and the Verve’s Urban Hymns to serve as the soundtrack to my journey. Once edgy, visceral, and challenging, by the late ‘90s indie/alternative music was becoming less desperate, more accessible, and a bit too sweet and cuddly for my taste by morphing into something called indie pop; or, if it wasn’t the fun, good-natured stuff like Belle and Sebastian then it was the serious, impenetrable stuff like Radiohead whose music at times was so abstract and inhuman as to become meaningless. 

Thom Yorke (Radiohead) and Michael Stipe (R.E.M.)

Throughout the ‘00s and ‘10s, when it seemed like many of my friends and fellow returned Peace Corps Volunteers in the DC area were listening to whatever latest music NPR said was hip, I listened politely and took what little sounded good: mostly indie/alternative stuff that didn’t insult my decades of knowledge and experience in this area (including my respect for older alternative music and “crate digging”). To this day, I find myself trying to catch up on any good indie/alternative music I may have missed over the past 20 years (or more) and, as it turns out, there are always new gems to discover without the aid of NPR. Here are some more of my favorite indie/alternative songs. Enjoy!

Belle and Sebastian

01. Guided by Voices – “The Best of Jill Hives” (2003)

02. Ween feat. David Sanborn – “Your Party” (2007)

03. Lee Hazlewood – “No Train to Stockholm” (1970)

04. Ben Folds – “In Between Days” (2006)

05. Belle and Sebastian – “Take Your Carriage Clock and Shove It” (2001)

06. Crooked Fingers – “Sleep All Summer” (2005)

07. Camera Obscura – “Lloyd, I’m Ready to Be Heartbroken” (2006)

08. Wussy – “Airborne” (2005)

09. Spacemen 3 – “Come Down Easy (Demo Version)” (1987)

10. Lee Hazlewood – “Your Sweet Love” (1966)

11. Jawbreaker – “Accident Prone” (1995)

12. The Lemonheads – “The Outdoor Type” (1996)

13. R.E.M. – “Electrolite” (1996)

14. Radiohead – “Thinking About You” (1993)

15. Lee Hazlewood feat. Nina Lizell – “Hey Cowboy” (1970)

16. Daniel Johnston – “Life in Vain” (1994)

17. Coldplay – “Yellow” (2000)

18. Belle and Sebastian – “The Model” (2000)

19. Moby feat. Mimi Goese – “When It’s Cold I’d Like to Die” (1995)

20. Beirut – “Scenic World” (2006)

Listen to the playlist on Spotify...

Recommended Links:

The Devil and Daniel Johnston (Trailer)

‘Don’t Break Down: A Film About Jawbreaker’

Julien Baker - Accident Prone (Jawbreaker cover)

Moby - What's In My Bag?

Nirvana no documentário "Don’t Break Down - A Film About Jawbreaker"

R.E.M. – "Imitation of Life"

R.E.M. – “Shiny Happy People”