True Alternative: The Top 100 Songs of the ’90s Underground

70. Main Source – “Looking At The Front Door”
from Breaking Atoms (1991; Wild Pitch/EMI)

As the ’90s took off, so did the ever-changing world of hip-hop. Artists were becoming more daring with their tracks, and new, exciting groups were emerging constantly. Newcomers Main Source introduced themselves with their 1991 debut Breaking Atoms, recorded during what’s often hailed as the “golden age” of hip-hop. “Looking At The Front Door” is equally fast and breezy, with rapper Large Professor delivering quick rhymes. With hints of De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest, the sound is funky and just feels good. And that was just the beginning of the story for Large Professor & Co. – VC

69. Dead Can Dance – “Saltarello”
from Aion (1990; 4AD)

Old music went “pop” in the 1990s. It was the decade of The Three Tenors, for example, while Chant put Benedictine monks on the charts. National Public Radio affiliates and the adult album alternative (AAA) format also gave archaically influenced artists like Enya and Loreena McKennitt a wider audience. Dead Can Dance spent the prior decade carrying a lot of water for medieval music and their label 4AD, and 1990 was pivotal for the band. They took their first American tour even without an American release, and Aion marked their first album since the romantic split between principal musicians Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard. Referencing a 15th-century dance, the wordless “Saltarello” is an exceptionally upbeat entry in their catalog and for that particular moment. With its lead wind instrument, array of small percussion and DCD’s choice of time signature, it suggests a joyful, jester-led ensemble winding through some royal feast. – AB

68. Stereolab – “Cybele’s Reverie”
from Emperor Tomato Ketchup (1996; Duophonic/Elektra)

One of the 1990s’ most idiosyncratic treasures, Stereolab released a dizzying number of LPs, EPs, mini-albums and singles throughout the decade, perhaps none more prized than 1996’s Emperor Tomato Ketchup. A heady combination of krautrock motorik loops, trip-hop production techniques, ’60s chanson-style vocal stylings from Laetitia Sadier (on this, as with many of their songs, she sings in her native French) and radical political messages, they were reliable for restlessly playing and experimenting with the limits of what their records could achieve. No long-lost musical obscurity was too weird for them to draw influence from. “Cybele’s Reverie” is as good an entry point as there is, but be prepared to want to dig much deeper. – MP

67. Brad – “Buttercup”
from Shame (1993; Epic)

For those who grew tired of the ’90s grunge aesthetic, it would be easy to hold the fact that Brad guitarist Stone Gossard was in Pearl Jam against them. But singer Shawn Smith sounded more like Prince, dramatically contrasting Eddie Vedder’s grungy, mumbly baritone, and his lyrics held a more tender introspection. Gossard’s playing really fills in the gaps left by Smith’s piano chords, making his Hendrix-like tone just the icing on this cake. “Buttercup” is a perfect soundtrack for watching the sunrise as the drugs wear off. – WL

66. Hieroglyphics – “You Never Knew”
from 3rd Eye Vision (1996; Hieroglyphics Imperium)

Oakland-based collective Hieroglyphics are perhaps best known because of the relative-success of their most prolific member, Del tha Funkee Homosapien. But as posse track “You Never Knew” proves, the whole of this hip-hop super group was much funkier than the sum of its parts. As Del, A-Plus, Pep Love, Phesto, Tajai and Opio furiously trade off verses over A-Plus’ jazzy, Patrice Rushen-sampling beat, they assemble a psychedelic, thought-empowering gathering of the minds. It’s a hell of a groove and a definitive example of conscious-rap in the ’90s.  – ATB

65. MF Doom – “Doomsday”
from Operation: Doomsday (1999; Fondle ‘Em)

In the current rap universe, glorious weirdos like Young Thug and Danny Brown can have considerable success. But in 1999, when MF DOOM (aka Madvillain aka Viktor Vaughn aka King Geedorah aka…you get the idea) dropped Operation Doomsday, no one who heard that cult classic record knew quite what to make of it, or him—this dude wearing a mask in all public situations, including live shows, generally just rapping about booze, weed and mic skills but in a free-associative fashion interwoven with bizarro pop culture references by the dozen. “Doomsday,” like most of the album it’s on, is basically great, sample- and scratch-based party rap, much easier to appreciate in retrospect than it probably was at the time. It also functions well as a primer for DOOM’s catalog—he would do his best work later as Madvillain, but established a singular personality right out of the gate. – LG

64. At the Drive-In – “Metronome Arthritis”
from Vaya EP (1999; Fearless)

Most critics would pick Relationship of Command as the signature release from At the Drive-In, but Vaya—the brilliant seven-song EP that preceded ATDI’s last hurrah—gets my vote. Vaya bursts with the vibe of a band coming into its own, both instrumentally and lyrically; “Metronome Arthritis” is great harmony. This emotional cut has the right amount of menace, and a great fade-out ending that is nothing but uplifting. Cedric Bixler-Zavala always seemed to put all of himself into his vocal performances, and he goes to the max here; his wail alongside Omar Rodriguez-Lopez’s gleaming guitar harmonics make them two peas in a pod. What’s more, there are hand drums, keyboard bleeps, hard snare hits, and an ultra clear recording of a guitar pick scratching the strings ever so slightly. Bixler-Zavala tells someone to light the oven and turn up the volume. Just do what the man says. – JJM

63. Neurosis – “Through Silver in Blood”
from Through Silver In Blood (1996; Relapse)

There’s about a million metal bands that sound like Neurosis now but, in 1996, there was just the one. And before that, they might have well been a different band, still growing something soon to be—a menacing, dark, heavy-hardcore sound. “Through Silver In Blood” wasn’t wholly unexpected, perhaps, but its 12-minute trudge through a hellish and dank dystopian, subterranean colony up toward a mighty, lava-spewing summit still comes across as nothing less than a masterpiece nearly 20 years later. The full scope of the apocalyptic horrors that Neurosis harbored can be understood within the first five minutes or so, but it’s that extra seven that take it somewhere special, somewhere even more chilling. After so many years in which speed defined metal, Neurosis committed a pioneering act by taking the tempo down dramatically, and letting every single chord land like it was a deathblow. They didn’t invent that exactly (send all thank-you cards to Swans and Godflesh), but it’s hard to imagine anyone making music sound any heavier. – JT

62. Organized Konfusion – “Releasing Hypnotical Gases”
from Organized Konfusion (1991; Hollywood BASIC/Elektra)

Influencing artists in their time and ours alike, Organized Konfusion were perhaps one of the most forward-thinking hip-hop duos of the decade. “Releasing Hypnotical Gases” constructs a noisy, industrial-tinted soundscape out of funk, soul and jazz-fusion samples, creating the perfect platform for its political-leaning lyrics about mind control, modern warfare and just about  anything else these two highly skilled emcees can fit into its six-minute mark. Organized Konfusion were never able to secure mainstream financial success, but songs like this one will keep the duo in “legend” status for years to come. – ATB

61. Shudder To Think – “Hot One”
from Velvet Goldmine soundtrack (1998; Fontana)

Written for Todd Haynes’ 1998 film Velvet Goldmine, “Hot One” is a chromatically enticing, Bowie-inspired track outlining the aesthetic of the fictionalized glam-rock storyline therein. The chorus feels like a daring musical ballad, and the verses feel like a stormy night, channeling a sneaky piano ballad. Besides “Hot One,” the band also gained a second appearance on the soundtrack, with “Ballad of Maxwell Demon.” Honing in on the essence of glam rock made the Washington, D.C. based group work nicely outside their post-hardcore homebase; just four years after their major-label debut Pony Express Record, which earned Shudder to Think a cult following, their appearance on Velvet Goldmine earned them a little more “alt” cred. – VC