This short era was stuck between my high school years and the next era. It was similar to the previous one, and despite its shortness there's relatively much text here. It was still filled with happy-go-lucky music, and also still filled with home taping. One difference: there was (primitive) internet now.   ✱   This was the cover art of a tape recorded spring 2000. And this is the sound compilation of that tape, with the transitions and jingles.   ✱   Besides home taping (compilation) cds were still borrowed/bought. Spring 1999 I bought this much played 538 Dance Smash Hits one.   ✱   The most listened radio stations were nearly the same: Radio 538, Radio 3 FM (if 538 was hard to receive), local pirate stations playing dance, and in the latter half of 1998 still the local (mainly) dance station Radio Atlantis/Channel X. Sadly they pulled the plug after New Year's Eve. Spring/summer 2000 I also listened to Power 105.4, a young and danceable format presented by the local Dutch radio organisation Avulo FM.   ✱   When it comes to Radio 538, I frequently taped their 'maak het of kraak het' ('make it or break it') item, broadcast twice a day and presenting new music. It started in 1998, and often it was dance.   ✱   And I frequently taped songs from the chart 'Hit 50' at Studio Brussel. Often it was typical Belgian mainstream dance, although it isn't in the fragment (it's found at YT, not made by me).   ✱   I was interested in typical Belgian dance in general, played at stations like C-Dance (and before 1999 also at Channel X). I couldn't receive the station, I wasn't listening to internet radio yet. But compilation cds could compensate that.   ✱   TMF, the main Dutch music video station (1999), was still important.   ✱   I still read a lot of teen magazines (like Fancy and Yes - no Hitkrant anymore), partly about music.   ✱   In 1999/2000 Basement Jaxx - Remedy was a much played artist album, besides all those compilations. In hindsight it feels like a preview of the next era.   ✱   In the latter part of high school I got internet. The dial-up version, with the famous modem bleeps, provided by WorldOnline. I was checking the home pages of radio stations and TMF now, at the most 1 hour a day. And I was searching for pics and fonts to use on my first 'pc made' cassette tape artwork, early in this era.   ✱   This scan, filled with music/media related home page urls, was printed somewhere in 2000.

Old versus recent music: the same, very focused on recent releases. Now I was also reading things like the 'high rotation' playlist on the TMF site, and don't forget that 'maak het of kraak het' thing mentioned before. And from time to time I played older danceable music, mostly released since +/- 1987.

➔ The sound/video files in the text above: Radio 3 FM (commmercial, mid/late 90s), Tape compilation (March/April 2000), 538's 'maak het of kraak het', and the 'Hit 50' at Studio Brussel (spring 1999).

Tastewise this era was the same as the previous one (hence the '5a' and '5b'), but the way of handling music was more 'active'.   ✱   Besides recent music lots of old(er) tracks were discovered, like in the previous era; still containing a lot more guitars than the recent ones played. The popular 'indie voice' I didn't like was still there.   ✱   Radionomy was still important; home of lots of hobbyist stations. Especially the semi-hobbyist station Laid Back Radio was (still) much listened. There was also an interesting late 80s/early 90s one, Double XX, still existing nowadays.   ✱   At Radionomy I also operated stations by myself, with selfmade jingles; you can listen to some hours here.   ✱   Important radio stations outside of Radionomy: Nova, FIP, Studio Brussel, some 'Addicted To Radio' stations, Only1 Revival (late 80s/early 90s dance) and Paris1Reverse (minimal, techno and deephouse).   ✱   Another source used a lot: 22Tracks. I often saved those tracks with Total Recorder. Spotify already existed but wasn't dominant yet.   ✱   These were some of my personal music sites in 2011. There were many of them in that era, with constantly changing designs. This was a later 2011 one, relatively long online.

Old versus recent music: This was another blurry era, when it comes to enjoying recent versus old tracks. Many recent ones still were found by accident (although less extremely than around 2009). Older tracks - I still discovered lots of them - could be months, years or decades old. The cds under the link were quite late ones. Buying cds faded because of an increasing lack of fresh blood. Basically I still like the cd format a lot.

➔ The sound files in the text above: fragments of Laid Back Radio (+/- 2013), some hours of my own radio (early/mid 10s), and 42 minutes of Only1 Revival (2011 or 2012).