Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Still Favorite Music from 1999

Everyone else is doing best-of-the-decade lists, but I'm going to try something different. Instead, I went back and gave a listen to some music from 1999 to see what I still like after a decade. Note: I think some of these songs might really be 1998 or 2000, but iTunes thought they were 1999, so I'm going with that.

10. "My Own Worst Enemy" by Lit
This song is just so fun. I don't have anything deep to say about it, which seems fitting for this song. Wait, is that deep?


I don't think I ever heard anything else by this band, but this song was on the radio here in Austin all the time for a while, and I still love it.


I'm a sap for Tori Amos songs, especially the ones that sound really depressing. "1000 Oceans" fits that bill.


This one is cheating a bit. I don't know whether I ever heard this song until this year, but I fell in love with it. It just makes me so happy.


Looking back, I kinda wish the prequels had just consisted of some trailers and this song/video. We could have been spared all trace of Jar-Jar.


I like Fiona's version of this song (from the Pleasantville soundtrack) better than the Beatles version. Is that wrong? The video is pretty sweet, too.


4. "Rainbow Connection" by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes
Kermit was clearly punk at heart.


3. "Lucky Denver Mint" by Jimmy Eat World
I've loved Jimmy Eat World since I first heard them. Then I heard them live on SNL, and they were absolutely terrible. Their studio stuff is still pretty good, though, as long as I block out all memories of that performance.


2. "Babylon" by David Gray
This is the song that makes me really happy for having done this trek back to 1999. I'd forgotten all about this song, but I really love it.


1. "Porcelain" by Moby
If you'd asked me in 1999 or 2000 what I'd like best from 1999 when 2009 rolled around, I'd probably have to ask you to repeat that sentence a couple times so I could figure out what you're asking. But even if I made it through that sentence, I don't think I would have ever guessed this song. I wouldn't have even guessed it when I dug out my music from 1999 to compile this list. I honestly didn't like it very much at all when it came out, but it has really grown on me.


I'm sure I've forgotten something that I would love if I heard it again, perhaps something I never bought or otherwise acquired (and thus didn't have in my collection for my "Year=1999" search). Let me know what you think I missed in the comments.

3 comments:

Nate Harrison said...

Looking at this page, I'm not seeing anything really outstanding from that year. The only thing that stands out is "White Blood Cells" by the White Stripes.

Jon Harmon said...

I wish I remembered and loved something from Bury the Hatchet by the Cranberries, but that's the album where they had a falling out with their label or something, and I don't think I ever heard anything from it.

I can't believe the White Stripes debuted that long ago. They're one of those bands that I've never *really* gotten into, but I always like their stuff. I don't know if any of their stuff is quite 5 stars for me, though.

However, looking at that list... holy crap, "Save Me" by Aimee Mann is from 1999! iTunes thought it was from 1994 somehow! Bump all my songs back 1, that's my #1 from 1999. That probably should have processed when I read The Awkward Movie Challenge about Magnolia earlier today.

Die Anyway said...

I'm surprised you found anything at all Jon. It seems to me that they stopped making music (real music) around 1984. ;-)

Seriously, maybe I'll try listening to some of these when I'm not at work (can't get streaming anything on the company network). Who knows, maybe I've been missing something.