It's not even worth dwelling on how far back 1996 was. We hate to break it to you, but the twelve happy months which gave us the first-ever flip phone (the Motorola StarTAC), the first Pokémon game and the birth of Dolly the Sheep were 30 whole years ago.
Instead, distract yourself from time's relentless march forwards by looking defiantly back in the opposite direction. 1996 was one heck of a year for music – an era which served up a mix of acid house ravers, Britpop swaggerers and post-grunge sleeve-chewers, all smashed together to craft the intoxicating cocktail of those hopeful pre-Millennium days.
