Gen X Soft Club

Gen X Soft Club was a popular aesthetic in the Late-1990s to Late-2000s, branching from the popular Cybercore movement of the time. It is considered a more natural and "down-to-earth" look at futurist optimism of the time. It's characterized by urban typography, a use of plants/nature, underground metros/train stations, airports, city skylines, and a 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 Cybercore 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 Cybercore 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 Cybercore and Frutiger Aero returning 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 Cybercore 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, the fashion of GXSC is inspired by Cybercore's fashion 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/grunge streetwear styles.
== Media==
===Movies===
*Chungking Express (1994)
*Fallen Angels (1995)
*Trainspotting (1996)
*Gattaca (1997)
*Happy Together (1997)
*Nowhere (1997)
*Sliding Doors (1998)
*Wonderland (1999)
*The Beach (2000)
*Code Unknown (2000)
*Requiem for a Dream (2000)
*A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
*Millennium Mambo (2001)
*Vanilla Sky (2001)
*L.I.E. (2001)
*One Hour Photo (2002)
*Resident Evil (2002)
*
===TV Shows===
*MTV Chill Out Zone (90s)
*MI-5 (2002)
=== Anime ===
*FLCL
*Eden of the East
*Serial Experiments Lain
===Webfiction===
*Orion's Arm (2000-)
=== Games ===
* Racing Lagoon (1999)
* Roommania #203 (2000)
* 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 ===
* Jamiroquai
* Koop
=== Breakbeat ===
* The Chemical Brothers
* Cornelius
* Fatboy Slim
* The Prodigy
=== Downtempo/Trip-Hop ===
* Air
* Sophie Barker
* Björk
* CFCF
* Dan the Automator
* DJ Shadow
* DNA
* Everything But the Girl
* Goldfrapp
* I Monster
* Lovage
* Madonna
* Martina Topley-Bird
* Massive Attack
* Moby
* Mono
* Morcheeba
* Nightmares On Wax
* Portishead
* Public Memory
* Röyksopp
* Thievery Corporation
* Tricky
* Sneaker Pimps
* Unkle
* Hikaru Utada
* Charles Webster
* Zero 7
=== Hip Hop ===
* DJ Cam
* Handsome Boy Modeling School
=== House ===
* Basement Jaxx
* Crystal Waters
* Groove Armada
* Leftfield
* Moloko
=== IDM ===
* Aphex Twin
* Architect
* Autechre
* Boards of Canada
* Kate Gately
* Mike Paradinas (μ-Ziq)
* Plaid
* Squarepusher
=== Pop ===
* Fiona Apple
* Mr Twin Sister
=== Rock/Alternative ===
* Barry Adamson
* American Football
* Blur
* Bush
* Garbage
* Nine Days
* PJ Harvey
* Radiohead
* Savage Garden
* Spiritualized
* Stereo MC's
* U2 
* White Town
=== Trance ===
* BT
* DJ Sammy
* Ratty
* Underworld
=== Music Videos ===
* "Aerosol" by Jens Buchert
* "6 Undergound" by Sneaker Pimps
* "100% Pure Love" by Crystal Waters
* "Angel" by Massive Attack
* "The Power of Goodbye" by Madonna
* "Virtual Insanity" by Jamiroquai
==Resources==
External links to help get a better understanding of this aesthetic.
=== Communities ===
*Facebook
===Playlists===
*Gen-X Soft Club by cartervon*
*gxsc/y2k chill playlist by djdomm2015
*huge gen x/soft club masterpost! by totallycooldad
== Gallery ==
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Category:1990s
Category:Visual
Category:Needs work
Category:Fashion
Category:Architecture
Category:Y2K