DRASTIC PLASTIC: NME (1985)

1. My Ever Changing Moods (Live) - The Style Council

Exclusive version, recorded live in Liverpool, of Weller and Talbot's fifth single which made #5 in the UK chart in 1984. The track also remains one of Weller's biggest hits of his career, also hitting the Top 30 in the US.

2. Forest Fire (Live) - Lloyd Cole & The Commotions

Another exclusive live track, this one recorded in London, of a current music press favourite. Forest Fire appeared on the band's classic debut album Rattlesnakes which hit #13 in the chart, this track put out as a single just missing the Top 40 at #41. Two more albums and a clutch of hits continued throughout the 80s until Cole pursued a solo career with varying degrees of success. To celebrate twenty years of Rattlesnakes, he teamed up again with the Commotions in 2004 for a one-off tour of the UK.

3. Bad Influence (Live) - The Robert Cray Band

One of the most influental and critically acclaimed blues guitarists and singers of the last four decades, Robert Cray's 1983 Bad Influence album was the one to put him on the map though he had to have wait a further three years until his mainstream breakthrough, Strong Persuader, in 1986. This live take of the title track of his 1983 album was recorded in Chicago.

4. Real Life (Just Around The Corner) - Prefab Sprout

In 1984, Prefab Sprout released their debut album Swoon which drew comparisons with Aztec Camera and Steely Dan. An instant critical favourite, the album hit #22 in the UK and the band quickly followed this up with a new single, When Love Breaks Down, a more commercial, lush affair which stalled at #88 in the chart. However, despite a couple more underachieving singles with Faron Young and Appetite, the band released their second album, Steve McQueen, in 1985 to even greater reviews than the first. The album hit #21 and When Love Breaks Down was granted a re-release. The single this time broke into the Top 40 at still a surprisingly low #25 and remains a radio classic to this day. Real Life... was featured as a bonus track on the 12" re-release. A successful career followed for the next two decades, with Paddy McAloon becoming an in-demand songwriter for artists as diverse as Kylie Minogue, Momus and Jimmy Nail. Ill health has blighted McAloon in recent years but 2009 saw the release of a new Sprout album, Let's Change The World With Music, recorded in 1993.

NME's BIG FOUR (1986)

1. Downtown Train (NME Version) - Tom Waits

Originally released on Waits' 1985 album Rain Dogs, this is an earthier, steelier version of perhaps the troubadour's most well known tune. Never released a single in its original form, Downtown Train has been recorded by many and taken into the US charts by Patty Smyth. Most famously, it was recorded by Rod Stewart who had a Trans-Atlantic Top 3 hit with his rendition in 1989/90. This version is exclusive to this release so an instant collectors item for Waits fanatics.

2. Some Candy Talking (NME Version) -The Jesus And Mary Chain

The first fruits from JAMC's post-Psychocandy sessions emerged right here on this EP. Having just released their classic debut four months ago, the band quickly released this new recording. A rarity in the world of track giveaways, the track proved so popular that it was rerecorded and became the lead single on the band's next full release, the Some Candy Talking EP, which gave them their commercial breakthrough hitting #13 in July 1986 despite hitting a Radio 1 ban for its supposed (denied) lyric about heroin. After years of being exclusive to this release, this first version of Some Candy Talking was re-released on the deluxe edition of JAMC's Darklands opus last year.

3. Ticket To Ride - Husker Du

Yet another exclusive from one of the most influential American indie bands of the decade. Despite making their name with a fast, energetic, hardcore punk, Husker Du found melody and slowed down towards the end of their career churning out the odd classic cover for good measure amongst them the Byrds' Eight Miles High, Donovan's Sunshine Superman and this Beatles track you may have heard. Lead singer and guitarist Bob Mould would take this to the next level with his next band, Sugar.

4. Let's Get Small - Trouble Funk

Only in the 80s could you have a band whose musical style could be described as "go-go funk". Still going today, Washington's Trouble Funk released five albums between 1981 and 1987, two of which Say What! (which included this track) and Trouble Over Here Trouble Over There scratched the Top 75. Five singles reached the Top 100 - the biggest being Woman Of Principle which hit #65. This is an exclusive of Let's Get Small which was originally released a 12" single in 1982 before reappearing in 1986.

NME EXCLUSIVES (2001)

OK not from the FreeEPs era but this one deserves a mention...so here's the pick of the bunch.

Another No One (Live) - Suede

Originally a B side to Suede Mk2's comeback single Trash, this is the only place you'll find this live version, recorded in Los Angeles  in May 1997. The original was also included on Suede's B side compilation Sci Fi Lullabies as well as the recent re-release of the album Coming Up as part of the band's reformation-celebrating reissue extravaganza.

Shotgun - The Charlatans

You can only be that well worn cliche - a 'survivor' - in the music world if you're prepared to move on and try something new but still have a sound you can call your own. This is why the likes of Manic Street Preachers, Primal Scream and indeed The Charlatans are still with us, Northern Uproar are not and why Cast's attempt at Blaxploitation funk failed dismally. Dismissed as Stone Roses copyists at their inception, Tim Burgess et al soon shed the burden of Brown and Baggy and ventured into classic rock territory, something they took a step further by embracing soul and funk sounds, complete with Burgess' new falsetto, on their seventh album Wonderland in 2001 whilst still retaining their indie rock groove. The new sound was most emphasised in this track omitted from the UK version and becoming what British fans loath the most - the Japanese bonus track. The only place to get this without forking out a small fortune was this compilation...until it became a bonus track on their next single A Man Needs To Be Told. The band have moved on since, further albums incorporating reggae, dub and New Order leanings...and they're something of a national indie institution.

Tides Of The Moon (Live) - Mercury Rev

A Mercury Rev Song On Compilation Not From Deserter's Songs Shocker! Mercury Rev took the Deserter's Songs template and took it to new lush, cinematic lengths for their next single All Is Dream. Some found it a bit too sweet but it remains another high watermark for the band. This live version of the album track found its way onto the Dark Is Rising single package. It was recorded live at the 2001 Reading Fesival

Party Hard (Live) - Pulp

Recorded live in Switzerland nearly exactly ten years ago in July 2001, this remains an exclusive 6 minute version of the This Is Hardcore album track and single from 1998. Although a band who refused to stand still musically, no-one could blame Pulp for calling it a day in 2002....huge success followed a torturous 13 year rise to fame, from there followed Jarvis Cocker's meltdown and the dark Hardcore album completely at odds with the more anthemic nature of their breakthrough material. Alienating the kids, their final, hugely undervalued album We Love Life was met with shrugs by the masses and the end was nigh. Nearly ten years later, they're back!  Party Hard reached #29 in 1998.

Fever (Live Acoustic) - Starsailor

This is the only place you'll find this take of Starsailor's top 20 debut single, recorded for Nemone in the Radio 1 Live Lounge. One of the many post-Britpop bands to be hyped and flounder with half a decade, Starsailor are currently on the dreaded "hiatus" after each of their albums has steadily fared worse than the previous one. Despite this, Wigan's second most successful band have had ten Top 40 hits in the UK.

Coming Second (Live) - Elbow

And another live exclusive for Elbow completists, of which there are many after five straight both commercially and critically acclaimed albums. This was featured on their first, Asleep In The Back and was released as the fourth single from the album as a AA side along with the then-new track also called Asleep In The Back which was added to later editions of the parent album. It charted at #19 and remains their joint highest charting single to date along with Fallen Angel and Grounds For Divorce. Oddly, despite being used in every television programme ever made in the last few years and spending 35 weeks in the UK Chart, their most famous record One Day Like This has never made it past #35.

The other tracks on this EP are: Woah! - So Solid Crew, Dreamy Days (Lotek  Bonanza Relick) - Roots Manuva, Rock N Roll Star (Live) - Oasis, Avril 14th - Aphex Twin, New Instrumental (Live) - The Music, Saigin Disco (Live) - ARE Weapons, Ride Wit' Us (Remix) - Kurupt, Shadows Fall - The Coral, Drop The Hate (Laid Remix) - Fatboy Slim, Right Here (Club Mix) - Stanton Warriors

NME: PRICELESS CREATION (1999)

From 4AD to a celebration of Alan McGee's iconic Creation label...

1. Acquiesce - Oasis

The band that saved Creation, Oasis were one of those rare bands that became so huge that their B sides often gained as much attention as their A Sides. This was perhaps their most famous example and the Acquiesce's status is now arguably greater than it's A Side, Some Might Say, which became the band's first #1 n 1995. Acquiesce was released as a promo single in anticipation of Oasis' B-Side compilation, The Masterplan, in 1998, and, confirming its classic status, was put out again as the lead single of the Stop The Clocks EP in 2006, a precursor to the collection of the same name. It seems Acquiesce was never destined to be a hit in its own right though; the length of the EP meant it was ineligible for the UK singles chart denying it a place in the Top 5.

2. Star - Primal Scream

Or not, as we'll see in a moment...

Primal Scream released two singles in a month in May 1997 to promote their masterpiece Vanishing Point. Perversely the first release, the massively uncompromising electro-dub racket Kowalski fared better in the charts, hitting #8, than the more commercial, by the Scream's standards, Star, which stalled at #16 despite extra airplay and performances on TV. Hailed as a return to form after the Stones-aping Give Out But Don't Give Up, Vanishing Point charted, like its predecessor at #2. To this day, Primal Scream are defined by the pioneering Screamadelica, yet it's this album that remains their best and most satisfying release to date.

Some months after Vanishing Point's release came Echo Dek, a dub overhaul of the entire album remixed by Adrian Sherwood. One of the tracks, Revolutionary, was a reworking of Star and it's this version that appears on this Free EP despite the credits suggesting it should be the original version.

3. Soft As Snow (But Warm Inside) - My Bloody Valentine

Although the early 90s shoegazing movement took inspiration from early to mid 80s bands such as Cocteau Twins, Jesus & Mary Chain and This Mortal Coil, it's My Bloody Valentine, led by Kevin Shields, and their first album Isn't Anything, who are credited with kickstarting the movement. The album, kicking off with this track, with its droning, psychedelic trance-like take on indie rock, spent 17 weeks on top of the indie chart and spawned a myriad of copycat bands. Ironically, it was the band's second album, Loveless, that helped kill shoegaze. It was so good that it made the work of every other shoegaze band seem very old hat very quickly and the music press soon moved on to pastures new. Always destined to be a critical rather than a commercial success, the crazy amount of money spent on producing Loveless typifies the madness surrounding Creation at the time and, never mind shoegazing, the album nearly killed off the label.

4. Mellow Doubt - Teenage Fanclub

Despite nearly going to the wall, 1991 was a good year for Creation Records Product. As well as Screamadelica and Loveless, there was Bandwagonesque, Teenage Fanclub's third album, a massive crirtical and modest commercial success. After the relative of failure of the follow up Thirteen came Grand Prix in 1995 which became the band's biggest success to date hitting the Top 10. Although little to do with "Britpop", their chiming Big Star and Byrds-esque guitars and melodies sat well in the climate and the album spawned two Top 40 hits, Sparky's Dream and this, which hit #34. Despite achieving their greatest successes in this era, and referenced by many as influences, Teenage Fanclub were one of the era's great underachievers and despite further minor hits, never properly broke through unlike those they had influenced - see Travis.

In a late twist, in 2004 an episode of The Bill aired on ITV and featured four characters - Norman Blake, Raymond McGinley, Paul Quinn and Gerard Love. Teenage Fanclub may not have sold a million in the UK, but several million probably watched this. Sadly, only about 7 people realised the scriptwriter's little in-joke...

5. Free Huey - The Boo Radleys

Never has a band, with the possible exception of Cornershop, been so misunderstood by the mainstream media and general public than the Boo Radleys, forever associated with one piece of music. You know the one. Sadly, that track, despite hitting the Top 10, earning songwriter Martin Carr enough money to retire on and spawning a #1 album was a pyrrhic victory. By the time the band released the noisy, experimental and frankly brilliant follow up, C'Mon Kids a year later, the older fans who had been captivated by 1993's magnum opus Giant Steps and earlier feedback drenched noise rock classics had ungraciously moved on after their commercial success and the new fans just didn't get it expecting Wake Up Boo Mk2. The result was the biggest shame in 90s music as, despite three Top 40 hits, the album stalled at #20 and disappeared after only a couple of weeks in the chart. Knocked for six, the band recorded their sixth album Kingsize featuring less experimentation and more structure and melody. Told by Creation to record two commercial singles before the album could be released, Carr came up with the stellar title track and this, Free Huey, which was released as the album's lead single. A risky single incorporating big beats and a shouty chorus, which accounted for two thirds of the song, it bombed and charted at a lowly #54. After the album disastrously peaked at #62 a couple of weeks later, the band called it a day leaving the second single, the title track unreleased. A soaring, anthemic track, if this had been the lead single, it could have saved them. A lost classic indeed. A rare 5 track promo of what would have been the tracks spread across 2 CD singles does exist and this counts as the final Boo Radleys release in the band's lifetime.

6. This Is My Hollywood - 3 Colours Red

3CR were much derided, mostly thanks to Alan McGee's over the top hyperbole when he announced that they were the most exciting band since the Sex Pistols. What he failed to mention was that 3CR were a pretty perfunctory punk rock band. Still, McGee's hype helped them achieve 4 Top 40 hits from their debut album Pure. This Is My Hollywood was the band's first release on the Fierce Panda label in 1996 and was re-released as the fifth single from the debut album in 1997 where it stalled at #48.

7. Love Is Blue - Edward Ball

Former Television Personalities frontman Ed Ball must have been a good friend of Alan McGee who let him release a bunch of albums as Love Corporation on the imprint throughout the 90s. When it was finally decided that Ball should trade on his own name, all the stops were pulled to make sure he finally achieved the success McGee felt he deserved. Despite much promotion including saturation on the ITV Chart Show  with videos featuring the likes of Anna Friel and Noel Gallagher, the campaign failed. Four singles were released from the album Catholic Guilt, only two of which reached the Top 100 including Love Is Blue which hit #59. The album failed to scrape the Top 200 and Ed stopped trying to be famous.

8. JC Auto - Sugar

Following the break up of the hugely influential Husker Du, frontman Bob Mould formed Sugar and had immediate success with their classic debut Copper Blue which hit the UK Top 10. Not all the tracks recorded for the Copper Blue sessions were included on the album, the heavier material held back for an EP release the following year. The EP, Beaster, did even better reaching #3 in 1993. The album being loosely based on religious imagery, JC Auto is short for Jesus Christ Autobiography. Sugar recorded one more album, File Under Easy Listening before Mould went solo.

9. Cracking Up - The Jesus & Mary Chain

JAMC were among the first signings to Creation and in 1984 released their infamous debut single Upside Down. The sound of this, and their debut album Psychocandy, set a new template for a new generation of indie bands where feedback and noise were of equal importance to the tune - this manifested itself in the shoegaze movement kickstarted by My Bloody Valentine. Despite not charting, Upside Down sold consistently and was a major success story for Creation. On the back of this, the band were signed to blanco y negro where the band stayed for the next decade. Always on the brink of implosion, the band had one more album left in them before they would self destruct and who better to pick it up than Creation where it all started. The writing was on the wall though. Cracking Up was the comeback and the album's lead single and hit #35. The poppier I Love Rock N Roll similarly only scraped the Top 40 and the album Munki only scraped the chart at #47. A decade later, they'd be back....

10. Gathering Moss - Super Furry Animals

The last great band to sign to Creation, SFA released their debut album Fuzzy Logic in 1996 featuring this track. Never a band to be categorised, SFA started life as a techno band - roots which have never gone away -  before picking up their guitars and releasing two effervescent EPs on the Ankst label before releasing their debut single Hometown Unicorn on Creation. Although this just missed the Top 40, they'd have no trouble with their next 19 proper single releases which all charted in the 40. Trouble is, they also set themselves an unwanted record; SFA became the band to have the most Top 40 singles - twenty - without ever reaching the Top 10. The closest they got was their 1999 single Northern Lites which reached #11 and they've also hit #s 12, 13, 14, 16 and 18.

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 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.

NME: BRATPACK '98

In what must have been one of the final cassette giveaways ever, this contained 10 tracks from 1997.

1. Deadweight - Beck

Taken from the soundtrack to Danny Boyle's A Life Less Ordinary, Beck released this as a single which acted as a neat stopgap between the release of Odelay and Mutations. The track, which hit #23 on the UK chart, can now be found on the re-issued deluxe edition of Odelay.

2. Meeting In The Aisle - Radiohead

Haunting instrumental taken from the Karma Police single in the UK and No Surprises in the USA. Now available on the OK Computer deluxe edition.

3. Smack My Bitch Up (Edit) - The Prodigy

Probably the most controversial single of the decade, Kool Keith's infamous sample lead to various accusations of misogyny towards Liam Howlett. The X-rated video didn't help the cause despite it's ending being anything but misogynistic. Most level-headed people didn't read anything sinister into the actual words; it was just a brutal sample. The single, which included this edit of the Fat Of The Land original, hit #8.

4. A Thousand Trees - Stereophonics

It's no wonder Stereophonics' debut Word Gets Around became so huge the amount of times they're featured on these FreeEPs. This was one of that album's defining tracks hitting #20 0n single release.

5. Dirt (New Radio Edit) - Death In Vegas

Two edits exist of this Dead Elvis track. A 4:11 edit featured on the original 1996 single release and the 1997 Slayer Edit, slightly shorter at 3:53 and featured here, featured on the reissue. This fared 27 places better than the original but still only managed to hit #61. This version is also available on DIV's Milk It compilation.

6. I'm Just A Killer For Your Love - Blur

From Blur's eponymous fifth album, this one defined the band's new lo-fi sound.

7. The World's Still Open - Mansun

Epic moment from Mansun's stand-alone seventh EP, Closed For Business. Now available again on the 3CD deluxe reissue of Attack Of The Grey Lantern, Paul Draper reveals, in the sleevenotes, that this should have been the EP's lead single instead of Closed For Business itself. It didn't stop the EP hitting #10 becoming Mansun's second Top 10 hit.

8. Why Is A Frog Too? - Bentley Rhythm Ace

Another act heavily featured on late 90s FreeEPs, this is from BRA's (ho-ho) eponymous debut.

9. 20 - Travis

Early B-side from the band's second Independiente single, All I Want To Do Is Rock, which reached #39 on release. Ironically, Travis only hit it big when Travis stopped rocking...

10. Round The Universe - The Seahorses

Total coincidence of course that The Seahorses is an anagram of 'He Hates Roses'. This is from the one and only album released by John Squire's post-Stone Roses group. Only one more stand-alone was released after this in 1998 and the end was nigh.

NME: THE GLASTONBURY BROADCASTS (1999)

Note: As is pretty obvious, all these tracks were all performed live at Glastonbury. The year of the performance is shown for each track.

1. Caught By The Fuzz - Supergrass (1995)

This captures Supergrass in their initial punk pop pomp on the verge of big things. Already regarded as one of the country's brightest new bands, debut album I Should Coco had recently charted at #3 and spawned three hits, including this, Gaz's account of being arrested for marijuana possession as teenager, which peaked just outside the Top 40. Fresh from this performance, Supergrass decided to release the album's fourth single proper, a AA side pairing two album tracks together, the laid back, bluesy Time and some song you may have heard called Alright. The single got to #2 and pushed the album to #1 and half a million sales in the UK.

2. Rock N Roll Star - Oasis (1995)

The fastest selling debut single of all time, 6 classic singles including one #1, Glastonbury headliners and critical idolisation. It couldn't get any bigger than this....could it?

3. The Day We Caught The Train - Ocean Colour Scene (1997)

After a shaky start with their baggy flavoured debut in 1992, OCS' second album, the R&B/soul tinged Moseley Shoals helped soundtracked the mid 90s, this being their biggest hit peaking at #4 in 1996. This performance sees them gearing up for the release of their third album Marchin' Already in September '97.

4. Allotment - Reef (1996)

The inclusion of Naked on a high profile MiniDisc advert helped boost Reef's profile in 94/95 resulting in first album Replenish hitting the Top 20. Not many expected much more, but Reef re-emerged in 1996 with Place Your Hands, an old fashioned hands-in-the-air rock anthem which hit #6 paving their way to a #1 album with Glow. This performance paves the way for their resurgence, which came a few months later, this track missing out on the album and finding its way as a B Side to their single Consideration.

5. Alright - Cast (1997)

For a band who were never quite taken seriously by anybody they sold a lot of records - debut album All Change became Polydor's fastest selling debut album ever. 1997 saw the release of second album Mother Nature Calls, the title of which pretty much sums up Cast - an attempt to sound cosmic and at one with the universe, it just sounds like John Power needs a wee.

6. Eternal Life - Jeff Buckley (1995)

An epic and dramatic performance from the late Jeff Buckley, and one which not only raised the profile of Buckley but also switched more people on to his debut album Grace which was fast becoming a modern classic. Buckley's death in 1997 raised both performer and album to iconic status.

7. Just Like Heaven - The Cure (1990)

Already a classic in 1990, this was taken from their Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me album in 1987. Step forward please the comedian in the CD writing department. Add this track to your iTunes and you'll find the composer is listed as......."A pantomime dame and some other wankers". Lol Tolhurst was that you?

8. Sorted For Es & Wizz - Pulp (1998)

After a triumphant performance in 1995 when they became last minute replacements for The Stone Roses, Pulp returned in 1998 in a much darker place. Not only was just-released album This Is Hardcore a dark and challenging work but Jarvis Cocker's exclamation of "put me in a field...I'm gonna need some drugs" at the end of this track proves it wasn't much fun to be in Pulp in 1998.

9. Gravity Grave - The Verve (1993)

Pre 'The' and pre-Urban Hymns ubiquity, Verve were more indebted to shoegazing and space rock than Oasis. This is Verve and Mad Richard's most defining 9 minutes, the climax of Aschroft screaming wildly to the stage control staff "WE GOT ONE MORE MINUTE!" ONE MORE MINUTE" over a sea of bass and psychedelia is mesmeric. You can also get this version on their 1994 B Sides compilation No Come Down.

10. Chime - Orbital (1994)

Orbital's visually and sonically stunning performances helped a new breed of electronic bands - Underworld, Leftfield, The Prodigy amogst others - to be taken seriously as live acts. Their Glasto 94 performance has gone into legend as one of the best ever dance/techno - call it what you want - gigs. Chime was first released in 1990 and hit #17.

NME: SPRING OFFENSIVE (1999)

1. Popstar - Suede

One of many B-sides from Electricity, lead single from Suede's 4th, Head Music. The single hit #5 and was the band's last Top 10 hit.

2. Dreamer - Cast

Also on the commercial slide from their Britpop heyday, this was featured on their third album Magic Hour.

3. The Hexx - Pavement

One of the most influential indie bands of their time, this one's from their final album Terror Twilight. Like Suede and Cast, they have recently reformed.

4. Same Old Show - Basement Jaxx

From the first album Remedy, this samples Selecter's On My Radio and, more obscurely, Veda Simpson's Oooh Baby.

5. Dream Lottery - Regular Fries

"We hate the charts and the charts hate us" claimed Regular Fries when they split just 2 years after releasing their debut album Accept The Signal. A damn shame, but they were just too out there for the mainstream. They were right though, the album, which contained this track, peaked at #81.

6. Moaner - Underworld

A rare example of a track edited down for inclusion an album. In a case of the track being far better than the movie from which it came, this started off life as a 10 minute beast on the Batman & Robin soundtrack. It was cut by 3 minutes when it appeared on the album Beaucoup Fish and it's this version that appears here. The full length version can be found on their 1992-2002 compilation.

7. Small Children In The Background - Mogwai

There had to be a Mogwai track on here somewhere...this one's from the No Education=No Future (Fuck The Curfew) EP.

8. Robot New York - Add N To (X)

From Mute avant-garde techno band's album Avant Hard.

9. Bring A Man Down - Mishka

Actually, ignore what I said earlier about 3 Colours Red in a previous post. This dude signalled that the end for Creation was nigh. A vanity signing, Mishka was a Bermudan reggae singer and professional windsurfer. He managed one Top 40 hit on the back of Alan McGee's hype, delivered one album for Creation before the ship sank and vanished. He's still putting out albums..on Matthew McConaughey's label. All very odd.

10. Fame Thing - Ultrasound

Hyped to death post-Britpop, Ultrasound were the next big thing to end all next best things. Fronted by portly yet oddly glamorous lead singer Tiny (it was a joke), their huge and epic sound and outsider image meant their first singles and gigs were met with rapturous applause. Such early acclaim however was destroyed when they released their debut album, Everything Picture, a sprawling double album which both disappointed the critics and undersold. The band never recovered, and that was that. A decade later, they're making a comeback....watch this space?

11. Flame (Exclusive Acoustic Version) - Sebadoh

The first exclusive on this CD and it's exactly what it says on the tin, an acoustic version of Sebadoh's only brush with the mainstream, Flame, which reached #30 in 1999.

12. Download (Remix) - Super Furry Animals

SFA exclusively released the Llwybr Llaethog remix of Download on the Melody Maker Reading '98 CD which you can read about on this site. Bizarrely, the following year, yet another exclusive remix of the same track appeared on this CD. A nice surprise as it isn't billed as a remix on the sleeve itself apart from the credits which state the the track to be remixed by Kevin Ford and John Griffiths, who just so happen to be.....Llwybr Llaethog. It's a slightly dubbier version of the '98 mix. A great lesson in reading the small print and the credits. A massive hidden gem, and a must for all SFA fans.

13. The Spark That Bled - The Flaming Lips

A trailer for what was to become THE critics' favourite of 1999 The Soft Bulletin. This track was for a short while exclusive to this CD.

14. She's So Strange - Travis

When Travis' laddish rock n roll gave way to melancholy, with added Nigel Godrich on production duty, their second album The Man Who became unstoppable and sold over a million. This is taken from that very album.

NME: CLEAN SWEEP - LIVE AT THE LONDON ASTORIA (1998)

Note: All these tracks were, as the title suggests, recorded Live At The London Astoria between the 18th and 25th January 1998 on the NME/Miller Genuine Draft London Shows. These versions are all exclusive to this release.

1. Bad Behaviour - Super Furry Animals

SFA once said that they deliberately didn't release certain tracks as singles because they'd become too big a hit and overshadow the group. This stomper, from their 1996 debut album Fuzzy Logic, would surely have been one of those they had in mind... This version speeds up the song even further - it's a riot.

2. Traffic - Stereophonics

Stereophonics' first Top 20 hit - and from their debut 'Word Gets Around'.

3. Good Feeling - Travis

Title track from Travis' more upbeat Top 10 debut album.

4. Down Down Down - Warm Jets

Short-lived indie band whose lead singer Louis Jones became a brief tabloid fixture due to his dalliance with Zoe Ball. Their one and only album Future Signs hit #40 and contained two Top 40 hits. This was featured on their Move Away EP.

5. Radars - Dawn Of The Replicants

What were East West thinking signing Dawn Of The Replicants? Whatever they were on, I'll have some, please. One of the most inventive bands of their time, DOTR's wonky psych-rock was laden with hooks and a complete joy to behold. They were never going to hit the heights East West predicted and they retreated to indies after album number two. This was from their debut album One Head Two Arms Two Legs and originally the lead track on the Rhino Rays EP. In a parallel universe, they're probably huge.

6. You Just Have To Be Who You Are - Idlewild

Before Idlewild made it big with expansive and melodic rock inspired by REM amongst others, they were loud and fast with Roddy Woomble prone to screaming and rolling about on the stage in a rather worrying manner. This is clearly one of those moments. The track appeared on their debut mini-album Captain.

7. Ex Cowboy - Mogwai

Then unreleased track from post rock legends Mogwai, so this was a real incentive for fans to get a copy of this CD. The studio version didn't appear until a year later, on their album Come On Die Young.

8. One Man's Fear - Lo Fidelity Allstars

It's full title is actually One Man's Fear Another Man's High and appeared on their debut single Kool Rok Bass. Lumped in with the Big Beat crowd, Lo Fidelity Allstars were a much more complex beast taking in influences from funk, Northern Soul, electronica and early 90s indie. Their second single Disco Machine Gun famously got them into trouble after The Breeders complained that a sample from their Cannonball hadn't been cleared...all copies of the single had to be withdrawn with immediate effect and the sample was taken out, and the song renamed, for inclusion on their album. The original studio cut of One Man's Fear also included a sample that isn't present on this live version....of Jack and Vera Duckworth!

9. Come Taste My Mind - Earl Brutus

Knowingly chaotic indie rock band consisting of ex-World of Twist members Gordon King and the late Nick Sanderson and also Jamie (Martin's brother) Fry. This appeared on their album Tonight You Are The Special One, and, at about the same time as the release of this free CD, as a single in its own right where it became their biggest hit - charting at #88.

1o. My Own Summer (Shove It) - The Deftones

It wasn't just about British Indie music...the Deftones' US allternative metal also made an appearance on this NME tour. This was featured on their breakthrough album Around The Fur and appeared as a single in March 1998 hitting #29.

11. Assassin - Asian Dub Foundation

ADF's potent and politically charged mix of punk rock, ragga, dub and dancehall won many admirers and they became an incendiary live unit. This was featured on their Top 20 album Rafi's Revenge.

12. Running On The Spot - Bentley Rhythm Ace

Mistitled - this is Run On The Spot from BRA's eponymous debut album.

13. I Never Have Been Done - Theaudience

Every year, a band always emerged who were touted as the New Smiths. In '97 it was the turn of Theaudience. Only this time, this was the Smiths with a female at the front....none other than 18 year old Sophie Ellis Bextor. Whereas Theaudience called it a day after poor sales of their debut album, SEB fared slightly better.... To all fans of SEB expecting this to be a completely unreleased track - beware! Although this live version is exclusive, the track itself appeared on their album as 'You Get What You Deserve'.

14. Tightrope Walker - Therapy?

A track from Therapy?'s final major label album Semi-Detached. Soon after this, Therapy? retreated from the mainstream and have spent the last decade as a much rawer, exclusive concern.

15. Rocket USA - Spiritualized with Suicide

Saving the best till last, Spiritualized, fresh from the across-the-board acclaim given to their masterpiece Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space were joined on stage by hugely influential electronic punk band Suicide - Alan Vega and Martin Rev. This 10 minute live reworking of a track from Suicide's eponymous debut helped seal both band's status as past and present musical mavericks. Essential.

NME: RADIO 1 SOUND CITY (1998)

1. Carrot Cake & Wine (Live) - Stereophonics

The only place to find the official audio of this, a live version of the track which originally appeared on the A Thousand Trees single. You can view the performance on the video/DVD Cwmaman Feel The Noize.

2. Kalifornia (Simon's Edit) - Fatboy Slim

Simon being presumably engineer and mixer Simon Thornton, this is an exclusive edit of the 'You've Come A Long Way Baby' album track, chopping off about a minute and a half.

3. Lipstick - Rocket From The Crypt

RFTC went from cult concern to Top 20 chart stars with the infectious On A Rope. Despite releasing the follow up When In Rome (Do The Jerk) as a limited edition picture disc to prove they hadn't fully sold out, they attempted the big time yet again with this pop punk blast. However, the single stalled at #64 and they became cult figures once again. This is an exclusive BBC session recorded for Radio 1's Evening Session on 16th August 1998.

4. Get A Real Tattoo - Six By Seven

Typically sprawling but magnificent 7 minute opus from Nottingham's criminally under-rated space rock group Six By Seven. The fact that this was merely a B side to their For You single shows how good their debut The Things We Make was, and is.

5. Root Cage - Tiger

Tiger's mullets and fuzzy indie sound were strange sight in 1996 but they secured an early following with John Peel and the music press with their debut single Shining In The Wood. Such was the love for them, their second EP Race even made the Top 40. But as soon as they came, they went, their album We Are Puppets thought by the majority as a disappointment. This was taken from their much delayed second album Rosaria which was finally released long after this compilation in May 1999. The band folded soon after.

6. Pull Yourself Together (Didjeridu Mix) - Hefner

A far cry from the Playboy Mansion, Hefner were a indie folk band from East London championed by John Peel. Never a friend of the charts, Pull Yourself Together was one of the band's more well known singles. This remix did the rounds on free CDs - this and another in Germany - and was finally released on Hefner product on their Best Of in 2006.

7. Hush The Warmth - Gorky's Zygotic Mynci

Where fellow countrymen Super Furry Animals became arguably, not just Wales', but the UK's most successful cult band of the 90s and beyond, Gorky's could never escape the trappings of cultdom. But, my God they tried. Seemingly, all their singles hovered around the 41-75 mark without breaking the magic #40 barrier. This is from their album Gorky 5, a #67 smash.

8. Kimberly - Clinic

This was taken from Clinic's single Cement Mixer and later appeared on their self titled rarities compilation before they signed to Mercury and sold about 58 more records...

9. Guacamole - Super Furry Animals

This uptempo blast of a tune was featured on SFA's B side compilation Out Spaced having appeared as an extra track on the If You Don't Want Me To Destroy You single. Not only is it ridiculous that songs of such quality festered as B sides but this was a last minute replacement for The Man Don't Give A Fuck when the infamous Steely Dan sample initilly failed clearance. Madness.

10. Spanner In The Works - Terrorvision

From the album Shaving Peaches which was a huge disappointment sales-wise for the Bradford rockers. They were down and out but were given a temporary and unexpected reprieve by the Mint Royale remix madness that was Tequila. When such an unstoppable juggernaut of a hit couldn't save the album, the writing was on the wall....

11. Harsh Shark - Campag Velocet

We heard from this lot earlier...this was recorded Live At Reading in 98. I actually saw this performance live - which isn't very interesting but probably the most interesting thing about it. The original turned up on the Bon Chic Bon Genre album a year later.

12. I Don't Know What To Say - Mogwai

Completely then-exclusive studio track from post rock masters Mogwai, a big deal at the time. This eventually reappeared on the 2008 reissue of their Young Team album

13. Are Friends Electrik (NME Edit) - Plastikman

Originally a twelve and a half minute techno track on the album Artefakts, and with no edit already existing, NME saw fit to edit it themselves to 7 and a half minutes. Odd, but exclusive and now rare. Nothing to do with Gary Numan, by the way.

14. Circles, Squares And Lines - Symposium

Everybody was on Symposium's side when they appeared in 1996 with a succession of pop punk indie hits. When they beefed up their sound and started to get serious, no-one seemed to care anymore. This is taken from their first album proper On The Outside. Funnily enough, it's their opening mini album One Day At A Time that contains the hits.

15. Be Myself - 3 Colours Red

Alan McGee said that 3 Colours Red were the most exciting band since the Sex Pistols. Anyone who might want to trace the downfall of Creation Records might want to start right there. This was an exclusive trailer for a track which ended up on their 1999 album Revolt.

16. Olympian - Gene

Forever compared to The Smiths, Gene's lush sound wasn't typical of the Britpop crowd of the mid to late 90s. They eventually burnt out and this, the title track of their debut album, remained their signature tune as its appearance here 3 years after its initial release testifies. This is an exclusive version recorded live at the Royal Albert Hall.

NME: Annual Probe Volume 1 (1999)

1. This Is Yesterday (Live) - Manic Street Preachers

Completely exclusive live version of this 'Holy Bible' track recorded at the Cardiff International Arena on December 20th 1998. This CD is the only place you'll find this recording legitimately making this freebie an immediate collector's item. It's interesting to note that, especually as this CD was a round-up of 1998, that the compilers went with this track instead of one from their massive 'This Is My Truth...' album. Perhaps it was to boost sales of the Manics back catalogue, which is no bad thing...

2. Mezzannine - Massive Attack

Title track from Massive Attack's third album, and masterpiece.

3. Burger Queen - Placebo

Closing track from their second album 'Without You I'm Nothing'. This was released a single in France complete with the lyrics sung in full in French and titled Burger Queen Francais.

4. T Shirt Suntan (Live) - Sterephonics

This proved to be one of the first tasters of Stereophonics' soon to be evrywhere album 'Performance And Cocktails'. Recorded live at Cardiff Castle, this version predated the album release and studio version by a couple of months. It's still exclusive to this release.

5. Special/Blown It (Delete As Appropriate) - Mansun

Excerpt from Mansun's immense and ball-tripping second album 'Six'.

6. 78 Stone Wobble (Live) - Gomez

Another exclusive live track. The studio version had already been released as Gomez' debut single, just missing the Top 40, when this CD was given away. However, it predated the release of their debut album 'Brng It On' which eventually won the Mercury Music Prize in 1999. Although this is still remains an exclusive audio track, the performance at Temple Bar Music Centre in Dublin can be found on their compilation DVD 'Five Men In A Hut'.

7. Celestial Annihilation - UNKLE

UNKLE's first album ' Psyence Fiction' saw James Lavelle hook up with pioneer DJ Shadow. Although the album featured Mike D, Thom Yorke, Richard Ashcroft, Kool G Rap and Badly Drawn Boy, this is a Shadow instrumental.

8. Simultaneous - Chef

South Park's Chef remains one of the UK's most bizarre one hit wonders with 'Chocolate Salty Balls', nobody seeing fit to release any of his other contributions to the 'Chef Aid' album as singles, including this one. Chef of course, was voiced by the late, great Isaac Hayes.

9. Kelly Watch The Stars (Edit) - Air

This was included on the French Duo's album 'Moon Safari' and soundtracking just about every apartment with a stylish coffee table in 1998. This particular edit was available on the single which reached the Top 20 in the same year.

10. All My Time Is Gone - Fun Lovin' Criminals

Before Huey Morgan presented programmes about comedy dogs with Jimmy Tarbuck's daughter, FLC's blend of rock, hip hop, jazz, blues and funk was taken quite seriously. This is taken from their second album '100% Colombian'. Check out Youtube for Huey's interview with Jamie Theakston on the O Zone where he lies through his nose on kids TV about where that album title came from...

11. Numbskull - Ash

From Ash's second album proper 'Nu-Clear Sounds'. This track was released as non-chart eligible EP shortly after inclusion here, presumably to avoid a poor chart placing after a massive decline in sales. The track's video was also one of the most sexually explicit videos ever released by a mainstream band.

12. The Good Will Out (Live) - Embrace

Exclusive Radio 1 Evening Session version of the the title track to Embrace's No 1 debut album - again, you'll only find it on this CD. The original version was released as the final single from the album as a 12" only.

13. Soul Surfing - Fatboy Slim

From Norman Cook's ubiquitous second album as Fatboy Slim, 'You've Come A Long Way Baby'

NME READERS POLL WINNERS PARTY '84 (1985)

EXCLUSIVE

Hard Rain - Bronski Beat

EXCLUSIVE

Ivo (New Version) - Cocteau Twins

EXCLUSIVE
What She Said (Live) - The Smiths
 

REMIX
Wire (Dub Mix)- U2