'90s Indie Rock: UK

Bands from the North dominated the indie scene of the '90s, and provided the impetus for a nationwide, world-conquering movement – Britpop – that would ultimately burn out . . . but here we celebrate the glory days of Madchester heavyweights the Stone Roses ("Fools Gold") and the Happy Mondays ("Step On"), Northwich's the Charlatans ("North Country Boy"), and Sheffield's Pulp ("Common People"). Leading the charge from the South were Blur ("There's No Other Way") and Suede ("Trash"). Look for "Peaches," Pixies, Moz, Mansun, and more . . . in Next Steps.

Indie invaders from the U.S. who made a huge impression in the '90s included the Lemonheads, led by Evan Dando in a spiky cover of Simon & Garfunkel's "Mrs. Robinson," the Presidents of the United States of America, whose "Peaches" appeared to do exactly what it said on the tin — i.e. convey a love of tinned fruit — and the Pixies ("Planet of Sound"). Morrissey ("Alma Matters") continued to thrive post-Smiths, Catatonia's Cerys Matthews brandished her Welsh accent like a weapon on "Road Rage," and Elastica revived the post-punk spirit with "Connection." Indie super-women crank it up, in Deep Cuts.

The trailblazing women of '90s indie included Miki Berenyi from Lush ("Single Girl"), who worked in magazine publishing after the band split in '96, Saint Etienne's Sarah Cracknell, who played the '60's ingenue to perfection on "You're In a Bad Way" and has since gone on to vocal glory with a bunch of clubland icons, and PJ Harvey, one of the most powerful and unique indie artists of them all — she had a way of grabbing her audience by the throat and never letting go until each song was done, as you'll hear on "50ft Queenie."

Let's be honest, indie music was in a bit of a pickle in the '90s. During the post-punk years, the indie movement, in all its D.I.Y. glory, had established a presence that was the antithesis of the major label system — the scruffy enthusiasts had taken on the suits and emerged victorious — but by the '90s, a lot of the fat cats had set up their own "indie" labels to milk the cachet that independent status guarantees. Still, the resulting hodge-podge of artists under the "indie" banner makes for one superb playlist: the anarchic techno of the Prodigy ("Out of Space"), the sublime jangling of the La's ("There She Goes"), the post-modern collages of Beck ("Devils Haircut") . . . it's all here, and then some.