I need music for my Mage game

May 21, 2008 6:40 PM

Help me find appropriate music for my Mage: The Ascension game set in 1997.

Alright, so i'm running a game of Mage: The Ascension (OWOD) set in 1997. The characters are all recent high-school grads who, once friends, have reunited after their first year out of school. I want to play this game to appropriate background music for the time period and, also, for the characters (meaning late teenagers).

I was there myself, and I remember a lot of music that fits this style; however, I came into the greater portion of my music-fu after the turn of the millennium and thus only remember a fraction of what was there. What I do remember was the stuff that got blasted over the radio. I'm looking for the music that was between the cracks, the kind you would have heard while you were getting high in your friends basement or while romancing that amazingly hot girl in her bedroom while she played riffs you'd never heard of before. Non-mainstream, but awesome, that kind of thing. Early grunge bands, under-the-radar goth rock, decent techno, sweet hold-over bands from the 80's, etc.

Also, anything that has to do with that quiet, impending apocalypse that all teenagers were told to expect in the 90s works. And, of course, anything Mage-appropriate would be helpful if you know what that is.

posted by mr_book to media & arts (18 comments total)

Ok. As a fellow white wolf afficianado I feel it is my duty to help with this. Here is my thoughts:

Metallica
Nirvana
The Verve - in particular Bittersweet Symphony
Pearl Jam
Tupac
Notorious B.I.G.
Madonna for club scenes

Oh there are a ton more too. If you need anything else feel free to message me. I'd love to hear how your game goes.
posted by skewedoracle at 6:56 PM on May 21, 2008

the kind you would have heard while you were getting high in your friends basement

Ween's Chocolate and Cheese. The Butthole Surfers. Gravediggaz. Tool.
posted by Bookhouse at 6:57 PM on May 21, 2008

1997 is a bit late for Slint, but the album Spiderland seems to fit your description. It was released in 1991, but I was a complete role-playing dork who loves that album in 1997. Godspeed, You Black Emperor released F♯A♯∞ in 1997 and would fit impending apocalypse.
posted by rabbitsnake at 7:01 PM on May 21, 2008

Portishead was HUGE in my mid-teen pseudo-wannabe-goth circle in '97. I also remember listening to a lot of Radiohead, the prodigy, sneaker pimps, the verve... not exactly _underground_ but it's an accurate list of what captured t his moderately loser-ish teenager's heart back then. I didn't become a record geek until I was 20.
posted by rhinny at 8:53 PM on May 21, 2008

Monster Magnet's Dopes to Infinity album fits the bill.
posted by baho at 9:15 PM on May 21, 2008

Here's what I'd do (and I am, sadly, pretty much from this era):

Sisters of Mercy (huge in WW circles at that time: try _Vision Thing_)
Ministry (The album with "Stigmata" on--good hate music)
Concrete Blonde: _Recollection_ is good
Nine Inch Nails: the early stuff like _Pretty Hate Machine_ for clubs, the later ultra-emo for 'OMG I must CUT the ANGST OUT'
The Pogues if you've got a punkyOirish feel

And yes, definitely Portishead.
posted by LucretiusJones at 9:24 PM on May 21, 2008

In 1997, I was a college junior. I'd had a few record-store jobs, and I was using a lot of drugs in people's basement apartments.

I'm not familiar with Mage-appropriateness, but many of my drug buddies were fans of heavy and/or dark music (and, for that matter, role-playing games), and I think I might have an idea of the kinds of characters you might have in mind (skinny white boys?). The big genre, I think, might be the trip-hop, especially in the places that it overlapped with IDM, industrial music, etc. I'll throw out a couple names (and I could second a bunch of others), though I have no idea whether this is what you have in mind: Massive Attack, DJ Spooky, Third Eye Foundation, Nurse With Wound, Swans related projects. Besides that, anything with Mike Patton in it.

(Also, it might be good to have some stoner metal, or even Norwegian black metal or screamo or something. I don't know anything about that stuff, though. But if you want to include free jazz and underground hip-hop, just say the word.)
posted by box at 9:29 PM on May 21, 2008

I seem to remember listening to Type O Negative from time to time; 'Bloody Kisses' and 'Slow Deep and Hard' are right for the time frame. Other remembrances include (in far from any particular order) the Future Sound of London, piles of Joy Division (of course), Machines of Loving Grace, Orbital, the Crystal Method, Dead Can Dance, the Legendary Pink Dots, KMFDM, and Rage Against the Machine.

I recently realized, though, that my Neutron Star collection has disappeared, so I won't be able to help you with that one.

-mr. hand
posted by kaibutsu at 9:39 PM on May 21, 2008

For me, 1997 was all about Trainspotting soundtrack and Richard D James by Aphex Twin. For my roommate, it was all about "Barely Breathing" by Duncan Shiek.

Also revisit the following:
Lollapalooza 1997
Reading and Leeds 1997 and 1998
Ozzfest 1997 and 1998
Family Values 1998
MTV's 120 Minutes playlists
posted by billtron at 2:03 AM on May 22, 2008

It's not 1997 without some Jamiroquai.

Sorry.
posted by paperzach at 4:05 AM on May 22, 2008

Grunge was over by this point. This was when Pearl Jam had that 'Last Kiss' cover song out, if I recall.

Romeo and Juliet Soundtrack, and the Kids soundtrack. Those were more 1995, but they had lasting power until at least 1997.

The song "Pepper" by the Butthole Surfers was mainstream at this point. The rest of the album, though, fits your profile.

There was alot of Jungle at this time... I remember listening to night time DJ sets on the radio, and there'd be flutes and snare drums for hours on end.

kinda the start of mainstreaming the DJ crowd into your local HMVs. And with that, Goldie, Crystal Method, Daft Punk (with that awesome Homework CD). At this time, Techno was going to be the next grunge that would save the record labels.

Also, early Trip Hop as previously mentioned. Tricky is absent for some reason. What else... Alec Empire was in the middle of his career in 97.

That Subliminal Sandwich album by Meat Beat Manifesto was a few months old at this point.

Look into whomever was remixing Bjork's stuff for some leads in the techno direction.

The kids these days sure like that 'Perfect Drug' song by NIN. I was more partial to the Quake soundtrack (and not the game, but the soundtrack with the annoying 10 minutes of static for track 1) at this point, but I believe it was released in 1996.

And, like most well-bred Canadians who weren't Americans, I liked U2's Pop. Unashamedly.
posted by sleslie at 4:06 AM on May 22, 2008

Oh, yeah, Brit pop. Pulp. Everything but "Song 2" on that Blur album.
posted by sleslie at 4:09 AM on May 22, 2008

'97 was also when the Prodigy (and all those other UK big beat acts) got big. Underworld's 'second toughest in the infants' is from 96, and there were still singles coming out from it in 97.

The first two Hackers soundtracks have plenty of recognizable stuff, similar to the Transpotting soundtrack (which also had a sequel). Roni Size and Reprazent's "New Forms" also.
posted by mkb at 6:51 AM on May 22, 2008

1997 + impending apocalypse + high in your friends basement + hot girls riffs put me in mind of Lamb

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Lamb
http://www.last.fm/music/Lamb

Think Portishead but with more teeth and nails
posted by Ness at 8:49 AM on May 22, 2008

Tri Repetae++ came out toward the end of '95. If you were into weird electronic sounds, it was pretty earth-shatteringly iconic.
posted by juv3nal at 9:37 AM on May 22, 2008

Here is a link to Triple J's Hottest 100 from 1997 - it's a massive yearly poll by an alternative Australian radio station. There are a few Australian bands in there, but most of it is American/English stuff - maybe it will give you some ideas/spark some memories.
posted by sleep_walker at 2:55 PM on May 22, 2008

I recently realized, though, that my Neutron Star collection has disappeared, so I won't be able to help you with that one.

-mr. hand

That's a shame. NS would be perfect. And don't you mean mr. sleep?
posted by mr_book at 5:19 PM on May 22, 2008

Ah, yes; mr. sleep indeed. The memory gets hazy after so many years.
posted by kaibutsu at 8:25 PM on May 22, 2008