Microgenre Moment: Baggy

Ever wanted to throw down some obscure music knowledge to impress friends and strangers alike?  In Microgenre Moment I try my best pass along some basic Wikipedia overviews and links to relevant videos to get you up to speed on a specific sub-sub-genre of music.  I guarantee these posts will grant you the intellectual high ground in your next music-centered conversation.

"Baggy was a British dance-oriented music genre popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The scene was heavily influenced by Madchester, although it was not geographically confined to Manchester. Many Madchester bands could also be described as Baggy, and vice versa. Baggy was characterised by psychedelia- and acid house-influenced guitar music, often with a funky drummer beat, similar to the work of the Happy Mondays, Northside and The Stone Roses. The scene was named after the loose-fitting clothing worn by the bands and fans."

"Bands in the indie-dance era of pop music can be divided into two camps; the acts who could be described as baggy (usually the Madchester acts and a few others such as Flowered Up from London) — and those who can be described as indie-dance (i.e. Jesus Jones, who were more techno inspired). Some baggy bands disappeared after the scene was no longer popular, and others evolved into indie rock or Britpop bands who remained popular throughout the 1990s. The Charlatans are a good examples of an ex-baggy band who retained their popularity, although little trace of the baggy sound and look remained. The baggy style became eclipsed by the grunge and Britpop genres, with many of the lesser bands forgotten."