Okay, let's do this thing. Remember there will not be a mix next week, but instead I'll be putting up all the older mixes, 1991-2004 if I can do it.

But 1990 is this week, and let me tell you: there is some great, great music in here. Okay, maybe it isn't 1994. In fact, maybe it doesn't come close. But 1990 was a year for singles, when one-hit wonders and unabashed pop was de riguer, and mainstream rock was basically a wasteland. C+C Music Factory is a total joke now, but there was a time when they were the future of dance music. Coming out of the house music scene in england, they became a brief fad in America and ended an almost comeback of dance music, a comeback that was already in full swing in England, as demonstrated by the rock dance combo of Primal Scream.

Some fabulous singles to be had here, from "Poison" to "Tom's Diner," which was originally done illegally by taking a Suzanne Vega spoken word piece and laying it down over music; Vega liked it so much when she heard she allowed them to release it officially. I can still remember the Fly Girls dancing to it on In Living Color. "Nothing Compares 2 U," Sinead's cover of a Prince original, is also not to missed.

I don't have the ability to copy and paste my playlist from this computer, and I don't feel like typing it out, so the list is going to have to be a surprise this time. I'll put it up when I get home.

Download the mix here.

EDIT: Here you go.

1. Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now) - C+C Music Factory - 4:06
2. Tom's Diner - DNA feat. Susan Vega - 3:49
3. Everybody Everybody - Black Box - 4:04
4. Poison - Bell Biv Devoe - 4:20
5. Nothing Compares 2 U - Sinead O'Connor - 5:07
6. Vogue - Madonna - 5:17
7. Kool Thing - Sonic Youth - 4:05
8. Kinky Afro - Happy Mondays - 3:56
9. The Humpty Dance - Digital Underground - 5:42
10. Ice Ice Baby - Vanilla Ice - 4:26
11. You Can't Touch This - MC Hammer - 4:17
12. Been Caught Stealing - Jane's Addiction - 3:32
13. Hold On - En Vogue - 5:03
14. Can I Kick It? - A Tribe Called Quest - 4:04
15. Welcome To The Terrordome - Public Enemy - 5:25
16. Enjoy the Silence - Depeche Mode - 4:21
17. Loaded - Primal Scream - 7:02

Things are heating up around here, so it's been a little difficult to put together an intro this week. Just so you know what's going on, I'm going to be in Boston and New York next week. I will be updating the site next monday, but the monday after that I will be on a plane home, so you'll have to wait for the 80s a little bit longer. That week, the first week of the new year, I will be putting up old mixes that some of you latecomers may have missed. Hopefully, I'll be able to put them all up, but if there is a specific one you have missed that you would like (and please don't say 1992-2004, pick one) please request them below either this week or next week.

Okay, 1991. Three of the most important albums of all time in their respective genres: Loveless, Smells Like Teen Spirit, and Blue Lines, and that's without mentioning Tribe's The Low End Theory and The Orb's Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is, of course, the 800 Pound Gorilla here (I saw Kong yesterday). But there are some other notable rock hits on the mix: the commercial peak and slow artistic decline of Metallica, awkward hand movements from Anthony Kleidis of Red Hot Chili Peppers in the "Under the Bridge" video, and Guns 'N' Roses' pompous epic.

1991 was my first conscious music year. I still remember when Nirvana hit, when Slash stood on the piano at the Mtv Music awards and wailed his way through the "November Rain" solo, and when Michael Stipe hopped around on Saturday Night Live (probably one of the first episodes I ever saw of that at its regular time). I was too young to notice Negativland, too American to notice Massive Attack or The Orb, and too white to notice Geto Boys or Black Sheep (though everyone knew Naughty By Nature's "O.P.P." - even nine year olds). But what evolved out of 1991 was the music that defined the nineties, and the music that would shape my taste. I do often wonder what nine year olds are exposed to these days, what music they have to look up to (or more importantly, look forward to), and maybe I'm not as pessimistic as would be expected. As evidenced by the year end lists that come around about this time, and my own arranging of my 2005 mix, I can see how much music has changed, but how much artists have remained the same. They are still pushing boundaries, exploring new sonic territory, and creating new genres and subgenres for future generations to discover.

Sorry for the ramblings. Carry on.

Download the mix.

1. Only Shallow - My Bloody Valentine - 4:17
2. Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana - 5:01
3. Enter Sandman - Metallica - 5:31
4. Mind Playing Tricks On Me - Geto Boys - 5:05
5. O.P.P - Naughty By Nature - 4:30
6. The Choice Is Yours - Black Sheep - 3:23
7. Finally - Cece Peniston - 4:40
8. Losing My Religion - REM - 4:28
9. She Moves In Mysterious Ways - U2 - 4:03
10. U2 (special edit radio mix) - Negativland - 5:48
11. Summertime - Will Smith - 4:30
12. Scenario - A Tribe Called Quest - 4:09
13. Unfinished Sympathy - Massive Attack - 5:08
14. Little Fluffy Clouds - The Orb - 4:26
15. Under The Bridge - Red Hot Chile Peppers - 4:24
16. November Rain - Guns n' Roses - 8:55

Download the mix here.

1992 was kind of the beginning of the Nineties. Sure, Nirvana had already hit, but Pearl Jam, Blind Melon, and Stone Temple Pilots came along to cash in on the grunge explosion. There were still back in the day hip hop tracks like "Jump," "It Was a Good Day," and the classic among classics, "T.R.O.Y." but 2Pac was coming up, and more importantly, what is still maybe the most important record in hip hop history came along: The Chronic.

This is where rap rock begins, basically, with one of the few decent bands and the only great band of the genre, and it's also R&B strong, with Mary J., En Vogue (who are waaay more talented than you remember), and Boyz II Men (you know you love it). There were also two strong women who broke through in '92. Tori Amos had a minor hit with "Crucify," and PJ Harvey was put on the commercial map with "Sheela Na Gig," both promting the way for commercial successes like Alanis Morisette and Sheryl Crow, as well as artistic successes like Fiona Apple and Ani Difranco, the latter of whom was around by this point, but didn't really explode until '94 or '95.

I didn't have too much difficulty with '92, but the last adjustment I made was to eliminate my only Aphex Twin track, "Digeridoo." It was a difficult choice, but ultimately I know my audience, and it is a dance track, not something to listen to at home.

Enjoy, and don't hesitate to comment below.

1. Killing In The Name Of - Rage Against the Machine - 5:14
2. Nuthin' But A "G" Thang Feat. Snoop Dogg - Dr. Dre - 3:58
3. Real Love - Mary J Blige - 4:32
4. My Lovin' You're Never Gonna - En Vogue - 4:41
5. Jump - Kriss Kross - 3:17
6. It Was a Good Day - Ice Cube - 4:21
7. Tennessee - Arrested Development - 4:32
8. Trigger Cut - Pavement - 3:16
9. Sheela Na Gig - PJ Harvey - 3:10
10. Plush - Stone Temple Pilots - 5:13
11. Jeremy - Pearl Jam - 5:19
12. No Rain - Blind Melon - 3:39
13. Creep - Radiohead - 3:55
14. They Reminisce Over You - Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth - 4:45
15. Crucify - Tori Amos - 4:58
16. Brenda's Got A Baby - 2 Pac - 3:53
17. End of the Road - Boyz II Men - 5:50
18. Friday I'm in Love - The Cure - 3:38

1993

Download the mix here.

First an announcement. You can now email me. There's a link on the side of the blog, so if you want to ask me something or make a comment that you don't want everyone else to know about, don't be shy. Okay, on to the mix:

Punk disappears one year back from ‘94, and hip hop takes a step back to what was basically the state of the art in the early nineties. Digable Planets, Pharcyde, and Souls of Mischief give us some great singles that crossed over big with white audiences, but of course the biggest crossover was Snoop’s Doggystyle, which had spillover success from Dre’s Chronic.

Beck had what is still his biggest hit, the Pumpkins jumped on the grunge bandwagon (though they hardly belonged in the category), and Nirvana put out their best – and last – studio record. Kurt would be dead the next year, but at this point it really seemed like the trend still had legs on it. Pearl Jam broke Soundscan records with Vs. and had a few huge hits, including the stellar “Daughter,” and The Breeders showed grrl power on the larger scale that a better, but more radical, band like Bikini Kill couldn’t ever get to.

Still, there are signs of the future on this mix. Bjork appears on the scene to infuse vocal pop with beat-centric electronic flourishes, and The Flaming Lips get playful (though they wouldn’t truly break through for nearly another decade). But then there’s probably the most important song on here, “C.R.E.A.M.” which signals the emergence of the Wu Tang, who would completely change the face of hip hop in so many ways it deserves its own book.

Some songs I left off the mix: Stereo Mcs: “Connected”; 4 Non Blondes: “What’s Going On?”; Belly: “Feed the Trees”; Naughty By Nature: “Hip Hop Hooray”; Porno For Pyros: “Pets”; Sheryl Crow: “All I Wanna Do”; Snow: “Informer”; Tag Team: “Whoomp! There it is “; Us3: “Cantaloop”; Morphine: “Cure For Pain”; and anything from Black Moon: Enta Da Stage.

1. Today - Smashing Pumpkins - 3:19
2. Heart Shaped Box - Nirvana - 4:41
3. Sober - Tool - 5:03
4. Rebel Girl - Bikini Kill - 2:37
5. Loser - Beck - 3:55
6. Insane In The Brain - Cypress Hill - 3:32
7. Gin And Juice - Snoop Dogg - 3:31
8. Shoop - Salt N Pepa - 4:08
9. Mesmerizing - Liz Phair - 3:55
10. Cannonball - Breeders - 3:36
11. Passing Me By - Pharcyde - 5:03
12. '93 'Til Infinity - Souls Of Mischief - 4:46
13. C.R.E.A.M. - Wu-Tang Clan - 4:12
14. Halftime - Nas - 4:20
15. Rebirth Of Slick (Cool Like Dat) - Digable Planets - 4:21
16. Daughter - Pearl Jam - 3:50
17. She Don't Use Jelly - The Flaming Lips - 3:43
18. Venus as a Boy - Bjork - 4:42
19. Fade Into You - Mazzy Star - 4:55