In my recent KNIT KNIT KNIT blog post, I talked a little about music to knit to, with Moloko’s Things to Make and Do topping my list. Digging through my old CD collection from the late 90’s and early noughties took me on a right nostalgia trip, and reintroduced me to some of my faves that I hadn’t listened to for some years. This got me onto the idea of other slightly dark and twisty retro tunes that got far less attention than (I feel) they rightly deserved at the time.
So, without further ado, here is my pick of three tunes from the late 90’s that you no doubt heard back in the day, and which I think are meriting of more love than they got from the Goth world at the time.
Moloko: Should’ve Been, Could’ve Been
Moloko was a force to be reckoned with back in the late 90’s, and though I hate to sound hipster about it, their earlier and more obscure work is, to me, better than their more mainstream later hits, such as “Sing it Back.” My favourite Moloko album is Do You Like My Tight Sweater, which is weird, trippy and sure to ear-worm you, whether you like it or not.
Check out the last track on the album, Should’ve Been, Could’ve Been, and you’ll see what I mean.
Garbage/ Fun Lovin’ Criminals: You Look So Fine
Garbage was one of those bands that you either loved a lot, or wrote off as very much living up to their name. I fall into the former category, and now own pretty much everything from their back catalogue, including several special edition CD singles with otherwise unreleased tracks on them that I am sitting on in the hopes that they might one day make me a lot of money. Also, because I like them, duh.
My absolute favourite, but one that got very little airtime, is this torch-song remix of You Look So Fine, with the Fun Lovin’ Criminals.
Sleeper: Click, Off, Gone
Sleeper falls into the dubious and wide category of Britpop, which I am still making my mind up about some 20 years after its heyday. While it is more than true to say that they churned out their fair share of insipid tunes, their best known hits such as Sale of the Century were, IMO, excellent, and that particular tune certainly got its fair share of love back in the day, and rightly so.
However, I also like some of their odd and not singly released album tracks, including Shrinkwrapped from “The It Girl,” and particularly, Click, Off, Gone.
What’s your favourite 90’s tune that you feel didn’t get the love it deserved back in the day? Tell me!
