NME: INDEPENDENT AND ALL STILL TAKING LIBERTIES (1998)

1. Dumb - Garbage

Garbage were founded by legendary Nirvana producer Butch Vig and had flame-haired ex Goodbye Mr Mackenzie siren Shirley Manson up front so they were never doomed to failure. This is taken from the band's second #album Version 2.0 which produced 5 top 20 hits.


2. Suffocate - Feeder


Starting off life as an acoustic ballad on Feeder's debut album, Polythene, Suffocate was re-recorded and given the full epic strings and all treatment for a stand alone single release in 1998. Despite the heavily commercial sound, the single only crept into the Top 40 at  #37, though had this been released a few years later would  have been in no doubt a Top 10 hit. The single version is included here and was also featured on their Singles compilation.


3. A.M. 180 - Grandaddy


The most well known track on media darlings' Grandaddy's Under The Western Freeway album. One of four singles released from the album, this peaked at #104 in the UK chart. Although they always remained a cult concern, their following album, The Sophtware Slump, would see them attain a degree of commercial success. AM 180 can also be heard in the film 28 Days Later.


4. Red Right Hand - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds


Of all Cave's many tracks spanning the last four decades, this is probably the one everyone knows having been used in a variety of films and television programmes - usually those involving bloody deaths and murder. The track was originally released on Cave's 1994 Top 10 album Let Love In and hit #68 on UK single release the same year.

5. The Dancer - Naomi

Despite supporting Saint Etienne, Beth Orton and, er, Hurricane #1 and coverage in the music weeklies, success wasn't to be for Naomi, who now performs under the name Naomi Phoenix. This was taken from her only album, Liquid.

6. Buddy - Snapper

Indie rock from New Zealand taken from the soundtrack of the film 'Topless Women Talk About Their Lives'. Snapper themselves released two albums in 1992 and 1996.

7. Tonite It Shows - Mercury Rev

Another appearance from Deserter's Songs - V2 rinsed the album dry with 4 single releases in the UK alone and sold on every other magazine covermount. Good job the album is a timeless classic...

8. Derwent River Star - The Paradise Motel

Experimental pop from Australia, this was taken from their second album Flight Paths. Despite disbanding at the turn of the millennium, the band recently reformed

9. Take Me Back - Babybird

Much misunderstood, on release of the ubiquitous You're Gorgeous in 1996, not many people knew that Stephen Jones had released five albums in the year leading up to their  breakthrough containing lo-fi, experimental alternative music. Jones' commercial reign continued for the next couple of years culminating in his 1998 release, There's Something Going On. However, Jones killed off the album by releasing the fiercely uncommercial Bad Old Man as its lead single; by the time two more radio friendly singles had been released, despite them both charting higher, momentum had been lost and Babybird never regained their mainstream popularity. Take Me Back is from that album which peaked at #28 in 1998.  Babybird continue and with royalty cheques pouring in from THAT single and for The F Word, now theme tune to the TV show of the same name, Jones won't care much about not selling many records anymore.

10. Hexagon Eye - Cable

Cable's 1997 single Freeze The Atlantic should have provided them with a big hit after its heavy usage on a Sprite commercial. Instead, the single stalled at #44 and the band eventually split after the release of their second album Sub-Lingual containing this track.

11. The Underdogs- Rialto

Formed from the ashes of Kinky Machine, Rialto were a poor man's Pulp who received considerable promotion and press attention around their eponymous album. On the verge of big things after the Top 40 success of singles Untouchable and Monday Morning 5:19, the record company politics delayed  the album and it stalled at #21 with no further single successes. More albums followed but it was a case of Sales, 519.

12. Search's End - The Wiseguys

Forever ingrained in the public's consciouness thanks to Ooh La La and Start The Commotion from various commercials and movies, Wiseguys also released an album, The Antidote, containing this piece of work.

13. Heavy Transit - Sound 5

Sound 5 were formed from two members of early 90s acid rave pop group Candy Flip who were most famous for their trippy version of Strawberry Fields Forever. Despite tremendous radio play for Sound 5's debut single, the Lightning Seeds-esque Ala Kaboo, the band never caught on and their album No Illicit Dancing sank without trace.

14. Attack - Jon Spencer Blues Explosion

Closing track from the punk blues' stalwarts sixth album Acme, released at the height of their mid to late 90s commercial success.

15. The Rhyme - The Strike Boys

The Strike Boys are a German electronic duo who have released four albums, a bunch of 12"s and created a score of remixes over the last 15 years. This is from their debut album Selected Funks. Released a single on Wall Of Sound, The Rhyme reached #179 in the UK chart.

16. Number Cruncher (The Porridge Gun Mix) - The Egg

The one exclusive on this CD is this remix of a track originally available on The Egg's album Travelator. Always an underground electronic band, The Egg scored a surprise Top 3 hit in 2006 when the Tocadisco remix of their track Walking Away was mashed up with David Guetta's Love Don't Let Me Go.

17. Disco Dolly - Space

For a couple of years, Liverpool's Space were one of the UK's biggest bands. Their album Spiders had produced 4 big hits and their second album Tin Planet started off well with two more Top 10 singles and a spot in the Top 3. Then it all suddenly went very pear shaped; the album's popularity was very short lived and guitarist Jamie Murphy soon suffered a very public meltdown. A new single, Diary Of A Wimp,  in 2000, unexpectedly bombed when it only hit #48 and Gut Records refused to release what would have been their third album. Perhaps one of the biggest riches to rags stories in 90s indie, Space never recovered and one neglected album later in 2004, Space were no more. Still, their hits were big enough to warrant sufficient incoming royalties for a while yet...Disco Dolly was featured on the Tin Planet album and actually should have been released as the third single.

NME: MIGHT CLUB (1999)

1. Don 't Give Up - Basement Jaxx


Track taken from Brixton house duo's acclaimed Top 5 debut album Remedy.


2. Remote Control - Beastie Boys


Single taken from the Beasties' 1999 comeback album Hello Nasty. This was released as a single as a AA side with 3 MCs &1 DJ and hit #21 in the UK chart.


3. So Many Soldiers - Ian Brown


Taken from King Monkey's second set Golden Greats. The lyrics and themes featured in this song were explored again in Brown's 2007 anti-war tirade Illegal Attacks.


4. My Ritual - Folk Implosion


Folk Implosion were supposed to be a low key side project for Sebadoh's Lou Barlow. The usage of Natural One on the soundtrack to the movie Kids changed that and for a time Folk Implosion eclipsed the profile of Barlow's main band. 1999 saw an album for each group - The Sebadoh and One Part Lullaby.

5. Swimming In Someone Else's Pool - Regular Fries

From the Fries' debut album Accept The Signal. As was perhaps to be expected from a seven pieced psych-rock band who used a birdcage as percussion, the band were doomed to failure. On their split in 2001, band member and rock hack Paul Moody declared "We hate the charts and the charts hate us. We're off into the cosmos!"

6. Indian Strings - Suede

Back in 1999 Suede began the hype for their fourth album by revealing a letter a week to the music press. They got as far as about H and E when they probably realised they couldn't keep it up for another seven weeks and announced the album would be called Head Music. Despite not hitting the heights of their previous albums, the album, containing this track hit #1 and spawned four Top 30 hits.

7. Held - Smog

Smog aka American singer-songwriter Bill Callahan released 10 albums between 1990 and 2005 before releasing music under his own name. Held was released on the album Knock Knock and as a single in its own right.


8. Race For The Prize - The Flaming Lips


More famous for the Beavis & Butthead adopted 1993 track She Don't Use Jelly, star-shaped CD singles for the release of This Here Giraffe and crazy experimental albums - see Zaireeka, 4 CDs to be played simultaneously for one, it was the Flaming Lips' music that finally got them the attention in 1999 when their classic The Soft Bulletin became one of the decade's most acclaimed albums. Despite the lavish praise, both the single of Race For The Prize and album only reached #39 but has sold steadily over the years.


9. Ghost Ship In A Storm - Jim O' Rourke


Experimental US singer-songwriter who has worked with and produced Sonic Youth, Wilco and the aforementioned Smog amongst others. This is taken from his 1999 album Eureka.


10. Calm Like A Bomb - Rage Against The Machine


Released on RATM's final studio album (to date) with Zack De La Rocha, The Battle Of Los Angeles, Calm Like A Bomb was never a single but became a fan favourite and was exposed to millions when featured in the credits of The Matrix Reloaded in 2003.


11. Flying - Death In Vegas


Making use of a variety of guests including Jim Reid, Bobby Gillespie, Iggy Pop and Dot Allison, this is one of The Contino Sessions' instrumental excursions proving Richard Fearless didn't always need back up from the big names.


12. Major Leagues - Pavement


Indie royalty, this was taken from the band's final album Terror Twilight and has the distinction of being the band's final UK single release as the non-chart eligible Major Leagues EP which contains cover versions of Echo & The Bunnymen's 'The Killing Moon' and The Fall's 'The Classical'.


13. Only Answers Delay Our Time - Campag Velocet


The last few copies of the decade, NME heavily hyped the Clockwork Orange obsessed Campag Velocet. Their album Bon Chic Bon Genre only hit #140 whilst their so-called rivals and tour mates Coldplay went on to slightly bigger things.


14. Death To Everyone - Bonnie 'Prince' Billy


Ending on a high note, this was taken from US singer-songwriter Will Oldham's sixth album. The lavish praise heaped on this dark, uncompromising record helped the record into the Top 200 providing a platform for future Top 75 albums whilst still maintaining his cult status. This album is still cited as one of the 1990s' best.

NME ANNUAL PROBE VOLUME 2 (1999)

1. Endlessly - Mercury Rev

Tracks and remixes from Deserter's Songs were scattered all over magazine covermounts in 1998/9. It didn't need such hype - Mercury Rev's switch from experimental rock to these lush soundscapes caught the imagination of the public all by itself.

2. Pictures Of Me - Elliott Smith

Smith's perfomance at the 1998 Oscars ceremony catapulted this tortured soul into the public domain giving his 1997 album Either/Or, featuring this track, a new lease of life. Smith was soon signed to Dreamworks and he became one of the biggest cult singer-songwriters in the world. His mysterious death/murder in 2003 has only added to his cult status.

3. Piglet - Arab Strap

Signed to Chemikal Underground, Arab Strap (aka Malcolm Middelton and Aiden Moffatt) were the masters of lo-fi post rock miserabilism at the arse end of the 90s until their split in 2006. Despite threatening to sour the Top 40 singles chart in 1998 with their double A side single Here We Go/Trippy, the single fell short by 8 places. The album, Philophobia, containing Piglet, just made it - at #37 - but they soon descended back into cultdom.

4. Somethin' Hot - The Afghan Whigs

Greg Dulli's soul-rock band Afghan Whigs had been plugging away for ten years when their 1998 album, named 1965, was on target to be 'the big one' after their previous album Black Love had won over the critics and new fans. Despite that album hitting The Top 40, 1965 barely scraped the Top 100 and the singles, of which this was one, disappeared without trace. The fall out of the disappointment of 1965's failure led Dulli to split the band up. Dulli has been active since, with Mark Lanegan in The Gutter Twins and his own The Twilight Singers.

5. Stevie (For Steven S) - Royal Trux

Americsan noise rock band active for 14 years between 1987 and 2001. This was featured on their 1998 album Accelerator.

6. I Never Want To See You Again - Quasi

More American alt-rock. Quasi have released 8 albums since 1996, this being from their fourth, Birds.

7. Won't You Be My Baby, Baby - Leila

Primed for big things at the end of the 90s but still an underground concern, Leila Arab has worked with Bjork and recorded for Rephlex, XL and Warp Records. This was taken from her debut 'Like Weather'.

8. A Galaxy Of Scars - Third Eye Foundation

A vehicle for dark folk musician Matt Elliott, several albums and remix albums were released under the Third Eye Foundation name until his first album under his own name in 2003. This is from the 1998 album 'You Guys Kill Me'.

9. Roygbiv - Boards Of Canada

The downtempo electronica of BoC's Music Has The Right To Children saw it become one of the huge critical successes of 1998. Acclaimed for their warm, atmospheric, analog soundscapes, the Scottish duo have only released three albums proper on Warp despite releasing a clutch of EPs, an impressive pre-Warp back catalogue and a number of remixes to their name.

10. Concrete Schoolyard - Jurassic 5

Critically acclaimed hip hop group J5 releaseds their eponymous album in 1998 containing this UK Top 40 hit. The group released three more albums before splitting in 2007.

11. Acid Rave (All The Girls Love An) - MDK

MDK's - or Murder Death Kill - Open Transport released in 1998 is an eclectic and heavy electronica album running for 72 minutes and containing 31 tracks. Not easy listening, other tracks include Die, Urgggh and Do You Want To Be Murdered?

12. The Dead Flag Blues (Edit) - Godspeed You Black Emperor!

Massively lauded Canadian experimentalists  actually called Godspeed You! Black Emperor - the exclamation mark used to be in the wrong place. F#A#∞ (or F Sharp A Sharp, Infinity) was originally released in 1997 as a limited edition vinyl only abum. This was then expanded and re-released to worldwide acclaim in 1998. More EPs and two more albums followed before the band split in 2003. They are now back together and are touring in 2011.

NME'S HAT-TRICK (1987)

1. The Motorcade Sped On - Steinski & Mass Media featuring D.J.E.T.

Steinski, along with Double Dee, was a hugely influential hip-hop artist specialising in collages and samples providing a template for the likes of DJ Shadow and Coldcut. The Motorcade Sped On was released as a promotional 12" in 1986  and featured snippets of newscasts about the assassination of JFK over the beats from The Rolling Stones' Honky Tonk Women. The clanging first chord is also a direct steal from The Beatles' A Hard Day's Night. It's steals like this that has meant Double Dee & Steinski's work rarely gets a re-release making this EP a huge rarity.

2. White Kross (Live In Tallahassee, Florida) - Sonic Youth

Billed as an unreleased track, this is a live version of what was to become one of Sonic Youth's most well known tracks which first appeared proper on their classic 1987 album, 'Sister', their fourth, which saw them make their first inroads into mainstream - at a push. This is the song's first appearance and the only place you'll find this short, sharp live version.

3. When You're Hot You're Hot (NME Version) - Sly & Robbie - The Taxi Connection

Recorded live in London, this completes a trilogy of exclusive tracks on this 7" EP from one of dub reggae's most pioneering, prolific and influential musicians and producers. This track originally  featured on The Taxi Connection, an Island-released live album featuring turns by Sly & Robbie, Yellowman, Half Pint and Ini Kamoze at London's Town & Country Club. Most likely an edit of the version featured on that album, this NME Version is still unique to this release.