Vibe Nostalgia

We miss the ‘00s. But do we remember them?

Much has been made about how the ‘00s revival is back. And it is bigger than the ‘90s. even if I like to look at both decades as part of the turn of the century, with Y2K as the silvery shiny nucleus.

Despite all that nostalgia though Dave Holmes pretty much nailed the problem with ‘00s nostalgia: too many songs were disposable and forgettable. His reason: iPods being replaced by iPhones and no one having the energy to transfer the songs. True, but I would add that music blogs, most of them either now defunct or having scrambled, hard-to-search archives, recommended songs that mainly mattered in the sunken Atlantis of the blogosphere.

The short of it is that, while there is nostalgia for ‘00s music, it’s not for any particular artists. It’s for the aesthetic; the vibe. Many of the indie sleaze revival gang in NYC are revered less as actual artists themselves, more like impressionists.

It’s not so much an issue with the ‘90s, but I would say it was a similar issue in the ‘10s, different more in degree than kind. Much of the ‘90s revival in the ‘10s was less about any actual reunions or life-changing needledrops in TV shows. Instead, many pop songs were infused with ‘90s electronica/house flourishes. This would also make sense, since of course most electronica and house artist rarely became huge, memorable celebrities.

For this reason, ‘80s nostalgia reigns supreme. Not just with actual sales of Kate Bush songs. Yung Gravy does his take on Rick Astley. Britney Spears and Dua Lipa both did the Elton John medleys last year, with many of the elements coming from the less celebrated ‘80s Elton.

Even here though, the nostalgia, based on trusted IP as it is, seems to be giving way to ‘80s vibe nostalgia. This seems to be how we will look at the past: less through its greatest artists and artworks, more through an Instagram filter.