where were you in ninety-seven

Ah, the late 1990's, when the swing revival, eletronica, and third-wave ska battled it out in the pop music arena for the title of "The Next Big Thing." Of course, the eventually winner of that dubious honor turned out to be teen dance pop, but it was interesting while it lasted.

My initial exposure to what became known as "electronica" (a catch-all, reductive term for a number of diverse musical styes, but it's easier to use than ambient/goa/trance/big beat/trip hop/etc) came from two places: my wife, who taped episodes of Amp off MTV for me to see because "the music and videos are really interesting, I'm not shitting you", and through the WipeOut series of racing games on the PS1, where the synth-heavy music tracks and Designers Republic-influenced art direction worked in tandem to create a crisp, authentic-feeling futuristic atmosphere.

It was fascinating to behold, as if the neon thread of early 1980's synth-futurism (emasculated and sanitized by the likes of Howard Jones and his co-conspirators in 1984) had been picked up again and brought foward into a new era.