This month I asked ’90s, “What’s your favorite album that was recorded after we graduated in 1990—or who’s your favorite musical artist whom you discovered after we graduated in 1990?” I think I received more responses to this question than any other question I have posed, so it may take a few columns to get through them all. Here is Part 1. Kelin (Pickard) Colberg writes: “We, especially Stig Colberg, have become big fans of Slightly Stoopid. Other family favorites include G. Love & Special Sauce (they do some good stuff with Jack Johnson), The Cat Empire, Macklemore, Dispatch, Lumineers, Beyonce, Ali Farka Toure, Stick Figure, OAR, Doja Cat, and Alabama Shakes. Also, here’s a quick family update: Our eldest, a senior at the University of Vermont, is hoping to attend medical school; our middlest will be a freshman at Dartmouth; and I just took our youngest on her college trip. The nest is clearing out, and I’m not quite sure how I feel about that.” Rennolds Ostrom writes: “The Dave Matthews Band. This is literally the only music I listen to (much to the chagrin of my wife, I might add).” Jennifer (Huska) Merriman writes: “An album by Cowboy Junkies, 200 More Miles: Live Performances 1985-1994. I saw them live in graduate school and have loved them and that album ever since. My top-five favorite artists since 1990 would be Black Eyed Peas, Lady Gaga (who was on a Southwest flight with me from Oakland to L.A. before she became famous), Dave Matthews Band, Snow Patrol, and Imagine Dragons.” Chris McCabe writes: “Definitely Beck, perhaps because he works some Jagger chicken dance elements into his live performances.” Ramzi Nemo writes: “I can’t think of a band I like better than the too-conveniently-named Ivy, which released six albums from 1995 to 2011. The band’s founder, Adam Schlesinger, who was a year ahead of us at Williams, also played in Fountains of Wayne. With Ivy co-founder Andy Chase, he created the iconic theme song for the movie That Thing You Do. Very sadly, in April 2020 Covid-19 cut short his remarkably prolific career in pop, theater, and motion pictures.” Laura (Van Wie) McGrory writes: “I credit my kids for ensuring that my musical tastes didn’t stay stuck in the 1980s. Two of my favorite newer groups—which I like well enough to have seen them in concert multiple times—are Milky Chance and Cage the Elephant.” Mark Sternman writes: “As a lover of most things Canadian, I discovered The Tragically Hip long after graduation. Tight musically and interesting lyrically, the Hip, among its many other accomplishments, spotlighted the unimaginable horrors suffered by Indigenous populations in Canada, a history that sadly resonates for those of us who have lived our entire lives south of the 49th parallel.” Julie Urda writes: “Ben Folds.” Eric Hageman writes: “With apologies to great albums by Lauryn Hill, Nirvana, and Wilco, for my money, Frank Ocean’s Channel Orange is the best album since 1990.” Kerstin (Stanley) Clark writes: “Hi from Calgary (we moved here in 2017). I discovered Spearhead (Michael Franti) post-Dartmouth and make my kids listen to it on drives around the Canadian west.”

—Rob Crawford, 22 Black Oak Road, Weston, MA 02493; crawdaddy37@gmail.com