NME C96 CD

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Dug this out when researching the Broadcast poll.
It's an understandable but ultimately misguided attempt to create a new scene ten years after C86. I sent away for this at the time and listened to it quite a bit.

Tiger - The Rose = Earlier version of "On The Rose" - not their best but still a great single
Dweeb - Retard = unfortunate title, I think I still own a rew Dweeb singles, no desire to play again though
Urusei Yatsura - Skull In Action = weak track from their best period
Broadcast - Lights Out = obviously this is the best thing here
Magoo - Struck A Chord = boring
Backwater - Hot Rhythm = not bad as such, just forgettable
Mogwai - A-70 = this is a funny one, the NME used the wrong track, this is some improv noodling never intended for release
Comet Gain - Dreams Of A Working Girl = bit too sincere for the mid-90s, stands up well today though
The Delgados - Fourth Channel = should have been their breakthrough single, not sure why they didn't put it out as one
Baby Bird - Bad Shave (II) = from his low-fi era, if you've only heard the hits this may be surprising
Spare Snare - Aftertaste = always appreciated the idea of Spare Snare more than the reality, however sounds pretty good now
Ligament - STSLAJ = raaaaaaaaa
Tunic - Manhattan Skyline = a cover of an a-ha single, I discovered many years later
Quickspace Supersport - Song For NME = AKA "Song For Someone" with the lyric changed, still good.

I made a youtube playlist but it's missing Magoo, Backwater, Mogwai, Ligament and Tunic, also some of the tracks are alternative versions, feel like this stuff is completely forgotten now.

Poll Results

OptionVotes
Broadcast - Lights Out 13
Ligament - STSLAJ 2
Tiger - The Rose 1
Dweeb - Retard 1
Urusei Yatsura - Skull In Action 1
Spare Snare - Aftertaste 1
Baby Bird - Bad Shave (II) 1
The Delgados - Fourth Channel 1
Tunic - Manhattan Skyline 0
Comet Gain - Dreams Of A Working Girl 0
Mogwai - A-70 0
Backwater - Hot Rhythm 0
Magoo - Struck A Chord 0
Quickspace Supersport - Song For NME 0


link.exposing.politically (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Friday, 21 October 2022 14:10 (one year ago) link

I still like Tiger's herky jerky style.

Gerald McBoing-Boing, Friday, 21 October 2022 17:40 (one year ago) link

Probably not fair for me to vote given I’m in one of those bands.

hamicle, Friday, 21 October 2022 21:57 (one year ago) link

Probably not fair for me to vote given I’m in one of those bands.

hamicle, Friday, 21 October 2022 21:57 (one year ago) link

Which one? Hope i haven't just slagged you off.

link.exposing.politically (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Friday, 21 October 2022 22:00 (one year ago) link

You didn’t slag us off, and I don’t play on the recording on the CD as I joined much more recently.

hamicle, Friday, 21 October 2022 23:30 (one year ago) link

Mogwai had barely existed (this was pre-Young Team), but they still had so many better songs out there that would’ve fit much better. “Tuner” and “Summer” both immediately come to mind.

Mr. Snrub, Saturday, 22 October 2022 01:00 (one year ago) link

I haven't heard this CD in a number of years so I'll bring out out again in the next few days. The reserved brother of MM's Fiddling While Romo Burns.

you can see me from westbury white horse, Saturday, 22 October 2022 06:37 (one year ago) link

I dug the Comet Gain and Quickspace at the time but I'm not at all surprised to find I agree with the OP on the best track here. (At least at first glance -- I shall peruse the playlist...)

Nag! Nag! Nag!, Saturday, 22 October 2022 07:39 (one year ago) link

86 was more diverse than it was remembered for. Had a few shambling bands pursuing a more beefheart inspired or whatever direction and a few other things but I think became shorthand for janglepop. So described more than one scene possibly or maybe the scene wasn't as siloed as it became.
Looks like James Brown the fanzine/NME writer has a book out or forthcoming so he's being interviewed on a few podcasts this week. Heard him on the Hanley bros one saying he and other fanzine writers had been covering a lot of the same bands a couple of years earlier. & I'm more interested in the ones that were tied into the same network as the Membranes were.
I don't remember there being as much hype of a scene created by the C96 set but I was already living abroad. Not sure when NME turned bad and then folded either is that a few years later? Didn't it become really glossy and a different layout
I think there was a C81 too wasn't there

Stevolende, Sunday, 23 October 2022 06:05 (one year ago) link

how come I don't know any of this music? is it because it's not very good or does it just sort of fall in between what for whatever reasons turned out to be more memorable/marketable phases of indie?

was there a C06? that would be around the time I started noticing the nme as where bands I didn't like kept coming from. which was several years after the strokes who I understand changed everything. I wonder if the shift from whatever this was to whatever that was felt gradual or sudden at the time?

your original display name is still visible (Left), Sunday, 23 October 2022 08:56 (one year ago) link

The thing is that this was not a scene, and the bands don't sound anything like one-another, it's a moreorless random selection of UK indie acts that were new (or new-ish) in 1996. I would say lots of the music is good / very good, not that it's very well-represented here. I have a box of ~200 singles I bought at the time, still think many are superb.

Should note that almost none of these bands would have the support of the NME in '96-'98, in particular Tiger were one of a few groups who were continually slagged off, one of the reasons I stopped buying the paper.

Mr Snrub - Yes, imagine Mogwai had meant for Summer or Helicon to be on here, at this point I already had their Tuner/Lower 7" (bought due to the Eska connection, wonder if anyone has ever mentioned Eska on ILM) - certain that this track was never meant for release.

link.exposing.politically (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Sunday, 23 October 2022 09:39 (one year ago) link

I assume cd was still the prevalent medium in 06 , streaming a bit later. Probabaly easier to organise a streamed unit, though presumably still has similar rights to be cleared etc for an organised thing for mass release?
& when did the paper go mainly online? is that early 00ies? Am I remembering right that it became a free giveaway from news stands around cities for a while after that?

Stevolende, Sunday, 23 October 2022 09:41 (one year ago) link

it became a free magazine in 2015, and they stopped printing the magazine in 2018, so quite a bit later than early 2000s, don't blame you if you blocked out the Conor McNicholas era though.

link.exposing.politically (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Sunday, 23 October 2022 11:39 (one year ago) link

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

System, Friday, 28 October 2022 00:01 (one year ago) link

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

System, Saturday, 29 October 2022 00:01 (one year ago) link

And here’s why..

Mark G, Saturday, 29 October 2022 15:06 (one year ago) link


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