3 ms·

For me, Orbital, Underworld, and a few other acts from that scene were such a compelling background to the new tech aesthetic emerging in the 90s.

threeseed 3y ago
The Hackers movie epitomised albeit in a cheesy way much of that aesthetic. And its soundtrack included the likes of Underworld, Leftfield, Orbital etc.
- bane 3y ago
  It all happened at this incredible cultural flashpoint where you knew there was something major happening, and were sort of riding the wave of it to see where it went. I don't know that anybody has ever put a name to it like "Punk" or "Flapper" or something similar, but there it was, a complete cultural aesthetic you could participate in. Clothing, music, media, ways of talking and interacting, occupations, good guys, bad guys, a mainstream, a counter culture, gathering places, and so on. There was this incredible alignment of creative pursuit that all gave it voice, even if it doesn't really have a name. The Hackers Movie, Techno, Raves, Cyberpunk, Wired Magazine, 2600 Magazine, BBSs, Wipeout and the Playstation Aesthetic, and on and on. There was so much frenetic energy it felt like a movement. It was that bold transition in the stylings of technology where the stilted suits and ties gave in and gave way and the nerds and the democratization of computing created by early PCs and modems over POTs lines finally emboldened individuals to feel that they had a power and voice against big corporations and their giant mainframes and telephone providers. Suddenly billions in stuffy infrastructure turned into a playground if you could pass the barrier to entry and attain the right skills. I think Cyberpunk sort of subsumed it because there's superficial similarities, but Cyberpunk was only the fiction that drove this movement, the Hacker lifestyle was real, you could actually live it.
  - chefandy 3y ago
    The big 2600 conferences of the era were absolutely electric.
- chefandy 3y ago
  I thought the movie was cheesy cute-- a friend always said it was a movie about rollerblading in Manhattan with strong computer themes. It is telling that the soundtrack had two sequels and the movie had none.

threeseed 3y ago

The Hackers movie epitomised albeit in a cheesy way much of that aesthetic. And its soundtrack included the likes of Underworld, Leftfield, Orbital etc.

bane 3y ago
It all happened at this incredible cultural flashpoint where you knew there was something major happening, and were sort of riding the wave of it to see where it went. I don't know that anybody has ever put a name to it like "Punk" or "Flapper" or something similar, but there it was, a complete cultural aesthetic you could participate in. Clothing, music, media, ways of talking and interacting, occupations, good guys, bad guys, a mainstream, a counter culture, gathering places, and so on. There was this incredible alignment of creative pursuit that all gave it voice, even if it doesn't really have a name. The Hackers Movie, Techno, Raves, Cyberpunk, Wired Magazine, 2600 Magazine, BBSs, Wipeout and the Playstation Aesthetic, and on and on. There was so much frenetic energy it felt like a movement. It was that bold transition in the stylings of technology where the stilted suits and ties gave in and gave way and the nerds and the democratization of computing created by early PCs and modems over POTs lines finally emboldened individuals to feel that they had a power and voice against big corporations and their giant mainframes and telephone providers. Suddenly billions in stuffy infrastructure turned into a playground if you could pass the barrier to entry and attain the right skills. I think Cyberpunk sort of subsumed it because there's superficial similarities, but Cyberpunk was only the fiction that drove this movement, the Hacker lifestyle was real, you could actually live it.
- chefandy 3y ago
  The big 2600 conferences of the era were absolutely electric.
chefandy 3y ago
I thought the movie was cheesy cute-- a friend always said it was a movie about rollerblading in Manhattan with strong computer themes. It is telling that the soundtrack had two sequels and the movie had none.