This week, my community in the Chapel Hill, North Carolina area is mourning a major loss as the iconic Schoolkids Records (website at schoolkidsrecords.com/ ), which has operated in the area for decades, announced the closure of its Franklin Street location in downtown Chapel Hill by the end of the year. A liquidation sale has already begun. The other remaining location, in Raleigh, will continue to operate, and remaining resources will be dedicated to improving that branch of the store. The owner Stephen Judge cited economic challenges as well as the personal challenge of a serious illness in the family. Since there are additional costs associated with the store closure and the renewed focus on the Raleigh location, Stephen has set up a GoFundMe fundraiser to aid in the effort. More details, including Stephen's reflections on this sad event, can be found at www.gofundme.com/f/schoolkids-records-support
This record store, both the Chapel Hill and Raleigh locations, have been a great source for me to find the wonderful, obscure music on CD I'm privileged to share on this channel. While perhaps the majority of my uploads come from thrift store finds (I am in a great area for thrift stores), record stores like Schoolkids also play a major role. And while thrift stores have their own worthy missions, record stores are an irreplaceable part of the true musical lifeblood of the communities they serve.
This is why I hope you'll consider joining me in donating to the fundraiser, even just a bit, or supporting the store in other ways, which Stephen outlines on the GoFundMe page, like making a purchase from the website or, if you're local, in-person at one of the store locations. Apart from this, you can also help by sharing this info on your social pages, and with other music lovers you know. You will be indirectly helping me continue to find great material for this channel, but more importantly, you will be supporting a beloved store run by amazing people, and ensuring that local, independent, and alternative music continues to thrive. Some announcements from local news outlets with more details about the background of the closure are at the links below:
indyweek.com/music/schoolkids-records-a-college-to…
chapelboro.com/news/business/chapel-hills-schoolki…
This is also an important reminder not to take your own local record stores for granted. For those able to, I encourage you to show them some love too. You won't regret it.
With gratitude,
Dream of the 90s
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Announcing new Best of Dream of the 90s playlists! They span dozens of genres and include a few separate playlists for personal favorite artists and my former and current home states (Florida and North Carolina). I have spent hours listening and re-listening to much of the music on the channel, and compiling and categorizing my favorites. Every band uploaded is represented on these lists! (Unless they appear only on a compilation, and many of those are still represented as well.) Now you can more easily navigate over 16,000 (and counting) total tracks uploaded over these past few years to find what you love the most.
Genres are always a somewhat subjective and arbitrary thing, but I still believe they serve the purpose of revealing influences, similarities, differences, and musical and artistic approaches. A lot of these artists play music that could fit in several disparate genres, or be hard to classify, but I have tried my best to give a sense of the style to which they belong. I’d love to hear what you think as you explore these new playlists! Feel free to write a comment on your favorite track, I check them often.
Current playlists include:
1. Acetone (one of my favorite bands) - www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
2. Alternative and Grunge - www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
3. Dance, Electronic, and Ambient - www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
4. Florida artists (my home state) - www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
5. Folk, Country, Blues, and Classic Rock (might split this one up at some point, it's getting very large) - www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
6. Funk, Soul, Jazz, and Ska - www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
7. Heavy Metal, Hard Rock, and Arena Rock - www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
8. Indie Rock - www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
9. Industrial and Gothic - www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
10. Metal, Nu-metal, Hardcore, and Noise - www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
11. New Wave, Glam, and Synthpop - www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
12. North Carolina artists (my state of residence since late 2017) - www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
13. Oddballs on the Wavelength (an assortment of eccentric, bizarre, and difficult to classify music) - www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
14. Pop Punk, Indie Pop, and Twee - www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
15. Post-rock, Instrumental, Classical, and Prog - www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
16. Power Pop - www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
17. Punk, Garage, Surf, and Rockabilly - www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
18. Rap and Hip-hop - www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
19. Rich Hopkins (an Arizona musician who is the guitarist for Sand Rubies / Sidewinders, singer and guitarist for Rich Hopkins and Luminarios, and guitarist and producer for many other projects) - www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
20. Shoegaze, Dreampop, and Space Rock - www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
21. Snowmen and Cole Marquis (a great 90s space rock band, along with the solo albums of its singer and guitarist Cole Marquis) - www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
22. Trip-hop, Darkwave, and Downtempo - www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
23. Women of Folk - www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
24. Women of Rock (a personal favorite) - www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
I'm hoping later to go back and fill in some missing background information for a lot of the artists and albums, but that will take time. I might also do some other things with the channel which I haven't figured out yet. For now, thank you for listening and subscribing and much love to you all! (Playlists last partially updated on 7/26/2025.)
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I upload obscure 90s music, often found on CD at thrift stores, record stores, and elsewhere, from overlooked bands. My focus is on rock but I also explore many other genres. I may sometimes include albums from 1989, 2000, or even 2001.
In April 2021 I added about 20 best-of genre playlists (updated periodically when new music is uploaded) to help you find what you love. A rotating selection of them is displayed on the channel homepage, but to see them all, check out my community post from when I announced their debut, which includes a list of playlist links and more about them. I hope to incorporate this into a blog or website one day, stay tuned! (I do not own any of the music uploaded, copyright-wise. If you are the musician or the label I encourage you to monetize these videos.)
Please note I am currently NOT taking upload requests. I may later try to develop a request system.
Below are some links to great like-minded websites. Drop me a line, I'd love to hear from you!