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Gen X Soft Club

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This article is part of a series on Y2K

Gen X Soft Club was a popular aesthetic in the late-1990s and early-2000s, branching from the popular Y2K Futurism aesthetic of the time. It is considered a more natural and "down-to-earth" look at the futurist optimism of the time. It's characterized by urban typography, the use of plants/nature, underground metros/train stations, airports, city skylines, and heavy use of minimalism/cool color schemes.

Origins[]

GXSC's popularity was a movement in futurist aesthetics that spawned from the economic recovery and growing technology industry of the mid-late 1990s. Some had criticisms about the overly optimistic, "bubblegum" styles of Y2K Futurism and McBling. A notable shift in the visual mood of these styles happened during the turn of the millennium, mainly among Gen Xers and older Millennials.

GXSC uses a mix of contemporary urban minimalism and lifestyle with Futuristic Y2K elements, along with the heavy use of Lomo effect (an analog cross-processing method creating saturated, high-contrast, "soft" looking photos), bleach bypass and blur technics in photography, and natural and muted colors - especially greens, blues, beiges, tans, greys, and black. There are also elements of 1960s and 1970s nostalgia, which were most common with Generation X.

Comeback[]

Today, the aesthetic is making a comeback as styles like Y2K Futurism and Frutiger Aero return to the public eye in the 2020s. Artists like George Clanton, CFCF, and Doss overlap a lot with GXSC and push forward with the style to this day.

Visuals[]

GXSC uses a mix of contemporary urban minimalism and lifestyle with Y2K Futurism elements, along with the heavy use of Lomo effect (an analog cross-processing method creating saturated, high-contrast, "soft"-looking photos), bleach bypass, and blur technics in photography, and natural and muted colors - especially greens, blues, beiges, tans, greys, and blacks. There are also elements of 1960s and 1970s nostalgia, which were most common with Generation X.

Fashion[]

Following trends with the rest of the visual identity of the aesthetic, GXSC's fashion is inspired by Y2K Futurism's fashion but with a much more muted, softer appearance. Some fashion trends include nude lipstick, middle parts or natural textured hair, natural leathers, knee-high boots, duster jackets, and other alternative and grunge streetwear styles.

Media[]

Movies[]

  • Chungking Express (1994)
  • Fallen Angels (1995)
  • Trainspotting (1996)
  • Gattaca (1997)
  • Happy Together (1997)
  • Nowhere (1997)
  • Sliding Doors (1998)
  • The Truman Show (1998)
  • Wonderland (1999)
  • The Beach (2000)
  • Code Unknown (2000)
  • Requiem for a Dream (2000)
  • Zoolander (2001)
  • Donnie Darko (2001)
  • The Hole (2001)
  • All about Lily Chou-Chou (2001)
  • A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
  • Mudholland Drive (2001)
  • Millennium Mambo (2001)
  • Vanilla Sky (2001)
  • L.I.E. (2001)
  • The Ring (2002)
  • One Hour Photo (2002)
  • Resident Evil (2002)
  • Demon Love (2002)
  • Dark water (2002)
  • Thirteen (2003)
  • Lost in Translation (2003)
  • Garden State (2004)
  • The Butterfly Effect (2004)
  • Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
  • The Host (2006)
  • Ben X (2007)

TV Shows[]

  • MTV Chill Out Zone (90s)
  • MI-5/Spooks (2002)
  • Robotboy (2005-2008)

Anime[]

  • Serial Experiments Lain (1998)
  • Digimon Adventure (the 1999 movie, not the series)
  • FLCL (1999–2001)
  • Samurai Champloo (2004)
  • Eden of the East (2009)

Games[]

  • Sonic Adventure (1998)
  • Racing Lagoon (1999)
  • Grand Theft Auto 2 (1999)
  • Roommania #203 (2000)
  • Deus Ex (2000)
  • Grand Theft Auto III (2001)
  • Fate/stay night (2004)
  • Assassin's Creed (2007)
  • Portal series (2007-2011)
  • Mirror's Edge (2008)

Music[]

Gen X Soft Club, while being mostly a visual aesthetic, is highly associated with music. Many examples of the aesthetic come from album covers and music videos. While Gen X Soft Club is commonly associated with Downtempo and its Trip Hop subgenre, other Electronic and Rock genres can be included in the aesthetic. Here are some examples:

Acid Jazz[]

  • A Man Called Adam
  • The Brand New Heavies
  • Brooklyn Funk Essentials
  • Corduroy
  • D'Influence
  • DJ Krush
  • D*Note
  • Elektel
  • Galliano
  • Greyboy
  • Greyboy Allstars
  • Groove Collective
  • Incognito
  • James Taylor Quartet
  • Jamiroquai
  • Jhelisa
  • Ronny Jordan
  • Beverley Knight
  • Koop
  • Mother Earth
  • The New Jersey Kings
  • Quiet Boys
  • Sandals
  • Snowboy
  • The Solsonics
  • Stereo MC's
  • United Future Organization
  • Young Disciples

Breakbeat[]

  • The Chemical Brothers
  • Cornelius
  • The Crystal Method
  • E-Z Rollers
  • Fatboy Slim
  • Junkie XL
  • Orbital
  • Photek
  • The Prodigy
  • Propellerheads

Downtempo/Trip-Hop[]

  • AIR
  • Alpha
  • Sophie Barker
  • Björk
  • Bonobo
  • CFCF
  • Dan the Automator
  • Vanessa Daou
  • DJ Shadow
  • DNA
  • Esthero
  • Etro Anime
  • Everything But the Girl
  • Goldfrapp
  • Gorillaz
  • David Holmes
  • I Monster
  • Lovage
  • Martina Topley-Bird
  • Massive Attack
  • Moby
  • Mono
  • Morcheeba
  • Nightmares On Wax
  • Portishead
  • Public Memory
  • Röyksopp
  • Schiller
  • Silent Poets
  • Sneaker Pimps
  • Submarine
  • Terranova
  • Thievery Corporation
  • Tricky
  • UNKLE
  • Hikaru Utada
  • Charles Webster
  • Zero 7

Hip Hop[]

  • Digable Planets
  • DJ Cam
  • fat jon
  • Force of Nature
  • Fugees
  • Handsome Boy Modeling School
  • HIBAHIHI
  • J Dilla
  • MF DOOM
  • m-flo
  • Nujabes
  • Shing02
  • Tsutchie
  • Us3

House/Electronica[]

  • 808 State
  • Alëem
  • Amira
  • Basement Jaxx
  • Crystal Waters
  • Daft Punk
  • Denki Groove
  • Digital
  • DJ Slugo
  • DJ Tonka
  • Groove Armada
  • Illumination
  • Justice
  • Landslide
  • Leftfield
  • Lonyo
  • Stéphane Malca
  • Moloko
  • M People
  • Mr. Oizo
  • Psykosonik
  • Soul II Soul
  • Spirit
  • Pete Tong
  • True Steppers
  • Ultra Naté
  • Johnny Vicious
  • YMC

IDM/Ambient[]

  • Aphex Twin
  • Architect
  • Autechre
  • Bang on a Can
  • Boards of Canada
  • Brian Eno
  • Katie Gately
  • Orphx
  • Mike Paradinas (μ-Ziq)
  • Plaid
  • Ryuichi Sakamoto
  • Squarepusher
  • Supreme Particles
  • Sweet Trip

Pop[]

  • Fiona Apple
  • Melanie B
  • Bernard Butler
  • Erasure
  • Future Bible Heroes
  • Groove Coverage
  • Haco
  • Janet Jackson
  • Donna Lewis
  • Jennifer Lopez
  • Lene Marlin
  • Madonna
  • Pale Saints
  • Robyn
  • Saint Etienne
  • Serani Poji
  • Mr. Twin Sister
  • Vitamin C
  • Brian Wilson

Rock/Alternative[]

  • Barry Adamson
  • Damon Albarn
  • American Football
  • Arctic Monkeys
  • Blur
  • Bush
  • Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine
  • Depeche Mode
  • Echo & the Bunnymen
  • Electronic
  • Filter
  • Garbage
  • Gay Dad
  • Get High
  • Katy Hudson
  • Incubus
  • Interpol
  • Jimmy Eat World
  • Nine Days
  • Nine Inch Nails (Fixed album)
  • Placebo
  • PJ Harvey
  • Radiohead
  • regurgitator*
  • Remy Zero
  • Sálin hans Jóns míns
  • Savage Garden
  • Skunk Anansie
  • Solar
  • Spiritualized
  • Stereolab
  • SURFACE (J-Rock duo)
  • t.A.T.u.
  • Tame Impala
  • Tangerine Dream
  • Tonight Alive
  • U2
  • White Town

Trance[]

  • The Bionaut
  • BT
  • Chicane
  • DJ Sammy
  • Jean-Michel Jarre
  • Paul Oakenfeld
  • OceanLab
  • Ratty
  • Sasha & John Digweed
  • Underworld

Music Videos[]

Resources[]

External links to help get a better understanding of this aesthetic.

Communities[]

Playlists[]

Gallery[]

Videos[]

Navigation[]

Y2K Aesthetics

2K1 • 2K5 • 2K7 • 90s Cool • Bubblegum Dance • Chromecore • Cyber Grunge • Cyber Stylin' • Electropop 08 • FantasY2K • Four Colors • Gen X Soft Club • Low Poly • McBling • Metalheart • Shibuya Punk • Surf Crush • Teenpunk • UrBling • Vectorheart • Webcore • Y2K Futurism

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