Every day, we give thanks for the bounty the internet bestows on us. And today, we’re especially grateful to the generous soul who is in the process of scanning the contents of Select, a British music magazine that ran from 1990-2000, and archiving it online. While the project is hardly finished, there are already tons of fantastic features up. (We especially love this 1993 spread on rock couples.) After the jump, we indulge our nostalgia with a pictorial journey through the alternative music of ’90s, from L7 and Spiritualized to Björk and Placebo, seen through the lens of Select.
PiL, December 1990
Yeah, sure? Why not lead off with a photo of Johnny Rotten kissing seaweed?
Primal Scream, August 1991
Nevermind came out the next month.
Spiritualized, August 1992
Wonder if Jason Pierce still has that shirt…
September 1992
Okay, okay — we’ll buy it!
R.E.M., November 1992
It’s that hat, right?
Courtney Love, December 1992
What does her chest say?
February 1993
“Ouch” is right.
Shane MacGowan & Victoria Clarke; Björk & Dom Thrupp, August 1993
’90s indie rock boyfriends: Where are they now?
April 1993
“We don’t want plaid. We want crimplene, glamour, wit and irony.” Jeez, good thing you guys found Oasis.
Erasure, June 1994
Pretty sure this wasn’t retro in 1994…
January 1997
This look is really working for Keith Flint.
Morrissey, March 1997
And this was before he started saying all those crazy things about immigrants.
Kenickie, September 1997
We had almost forgotten about Kenickie!
Air, January 1998
Little-known fact: This photo spread provided the inspiration for Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s The Gates.
Placebo, March 1999
Did you know Placebo had their own nail polish back in 1999? In your face, Bieber.
Marilyn Manson, March 1999
Meh, not the worst we’ve seen Manson look.
January 2000
And it was all downhill from there…