THE NINETIES-IST
Welcome to another edition of Brook Pridemore’s The Nineties-ist. This edition discusses 1992, Pavement sticking their heads out of the sand for the first time, Sinead O’Connor tearing up a picture of the pope, and John Frusciante’s love of herion. For earlier installments, go here.

All eyes on Seattle in 1992, right? Warrant lead singer Jani Lane commented (after the dust had settled) that in August 1991, Warrant had stepped into the offices of Columbia Records to their hit, “Cherry Pie,” blasting from every speaker in the house, giant posters of the iconic album cover all over the place. By the time Lane and Co. made their way back into the Columbia office in Spring 1992, they were practically persona non grata: their posters had been eschewed for an equally large, but bleak poster for the new Alice in Chains album, and that band’s specific, dour sounds were pouring out of the stereo, in place of Warrant’s party rock. Times had changed, and fun dumb stuff was out. Intellectual (or at least faux-intellectual, in the case of Alice in Chains) sounds, ushered in by the release of Nirvana’s Nevermind in September 1991, were in. American pop culture had changed for the good, and things would never be the same.

It couldn’t last, though. Within just a couple of years, all of the avenues that had been opened to forward-thinking, eclectic rock groups were closed again. Prefab music came back into vogue. The watershed of rock bands who had benefited from the early 90s boom mostly failed to capitalize on their initial momentum (Sonic Youth being particularly notorious for making a slew of bad albums in the 90s), sinking back into relative obscurity. But many still remained firmly enough planted in the public consciousness to make it impossible for any new upstart scenes to come up.
More on #9: 1992

Nu-Metal Pioneers (Man, That Seems Like an Oxymoron) Faith No More Confirm That They Are Planning US Dates on Their Reunion Tour…Get Ready to Get Hyperviolent [Brooklyn Vegan]

Brooklyn Psych Rockers Yeasayer Announce New Album Odd Blood; Released February 8 (Check Out the Tracklist Here) [NME]

Watch Video For Philly New-Wave Act Cold Cave’s Single “Love Comes Close;” More Importantly, Listen to the Song…It’s Good and Stuff; Love Comes Close Reissued November 13 [Stereogum]

Andrew Bird Plans Entire Tour of Playing Churches; Given Andrew Bird’s Usual Songwriting Themes, This Could Be An Attempt to Bridge Gap Between Church and Science (But Mostly I Just Made That Up) [Pitchfork]

Watch New Video From Really Heavy Japanese Metal Band Boris For “H.M.A.”…Which Just Consists of Boris Dressed Up As Twisted Sister And Smashing Stuff [Southern Lord]

Stream Antony Hegarty (From Antony and the Johnsons) Singing Puccini, All In the Good Name of Quality Coffee – The Result is Beautiful; The Concept, Ridiculous…But I Do Really Want a Cup of Coffee Right Now [Pitchfork]

Watch Video For Brooklyn Twee-Garage Band Darlings’ Single “Teenage Girl;” Continually Exclaim “Oh Man, I’ve Seen That Before! Oh, Is That Bedford?! Cool!” [The Tripwire]

I Really Feel Like My Kids Need To Listen to Guns N’ Roses, But I Feel Like Axl Rose Is Best Absorbed Subliminally; Well, Here’s An Album of Guns N’ Roses Singles Rearranged As Lullabies; Stream Samples of Rockabye Baby! [Idolator]

Really Solid Punk Band Against Me! Announce New Album White Crosses; Released Sometime in 2010…Expect It to Be Really Solid! Let’s Here a Hoorah for Consistency! [Spin]

compiled by Max Sebela

THE NINETIES-IST
Welcome again to another edition of Brook Pridemore’s The Nineties-ist. This edition discusses 1988, death-by-metal, the parallels between Steve Albini and Ric Ocasek, Beavis and Butthead and the importance of good ol’ common sense. For earlier installments, go here.

Before we start, I have to admit to a clerical error in the last installment of The Nineties-ist. Initial sessions for Def Leppard’s 1987 album Hysteria saw Jim Steinman at the helm, but production ultimately fell into the hands of Mutt Lange. The mistake is embarrassing, but totally excusable: for their respective bombastic recording flavors and 80s ubiquity, Lange and Steinman may as well be one person.

On Feelin’ Kinda Patton, his 2004 debut album, comic Patton Oswalt intimated that the old MTV cliché of heavy metal bands changing the physical properties of objects with the power of their rock music – specifically the ability to dodge bullets – was long overdue for a comeback. That cartoon-y pastiche showed real stress fractures for the first time (of note) in February of 1988, when a twelve-year old Mötley Crüe fan sustained major burns attempting to re-create stunts from the band’s “Live Wire” music video. In the event’s aftermath, members of Mötley Crüe publicly stated that their stunts were not intended to be re-created at home.

Duh. Probably not the first time someone at home confused TV with reality; and, considering the fires that cartoon idjits Beavis and Butthead inadvertently caused a few years later, not the last. But that’s children. As novices, children get a pass. I’ve been amazed since the Beavis and Butthead controversy that any parent who tacitly instills trust in television to teach a child the difference between fantasy and reality would dare point a finger at the television when the child had an accident. It’s like yelling at an unwatched pot of noodles that boils over and makes a mess.
More on #5: 1988

DAILY NEWS PICKS

Performance Rights Act to Face House Vote [Tiny Mix Tapes]

Muggabears, Now Known as Grooms, Release New Material [The Tripwire]

Pearl Jam Bassist Ament Attacked Back in April [SPIN]

Camel Indicted for Illegal Cartoon Ad [Pitchfork]

New Sharon Van Etten Video [Prefix]

Guns N’ Roses Bass Player Contributes to The Village Voice [The Tripwire]

Paste Magazine Needs Donations [Prefix]

50 Cent to Star in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde [NME]…and Collaborate with Bette Midler [NME]…?

compiled by Elana Jacobs

In the habit of sharing music on your website? Be careful. You could be arrested.

27 year old Kevin Cogill was arrested at his home on Wednesday for posting nine unreleased tracks from the long awaited, decade-in-the-making Guns N’ Roses album, Chinese Democracy (pictured) on his blog, Antiquiet. For this violation of federal copyright laws, Cogill’s bail is set at $10,000.

Prosecutors believe Cogill’s actions could mean a “significant” financial loss for GN’R; Antiquiet received so much traffic after the songs were posted that it actually crashed.

Although the pre-release streaming of Viva la Vida didn’t bother Coldplay, Guns N’ Roses and hard-rock peers Metallica are having a hard time adapting to the modern age. Seems that the cobwebs are blurring their vision.