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

VOX: CLASS OF 95

Vox's Best of '95 cassette:

1. This Is A Call - Foo Fighters

A year after Kurt Cobain's - and ultimately Nirvana's - demise, drummer Dave Grohl announced Foo Fighters to the world. This was their debut single proper and immediately hit the Top 5 in the UK as did their debut eponymous album. Give them a few years and they'd be one of the biggest stadium rock bands in the world...

2. He Thought Of Cars - Blur

Blur may have won the Blur-Oasis singles chart battle with Country House but Oasis won the war with the era-defining ...Morning Glory. Blur's The Great Escape reached #1 but was not nearly as loved as Parklife previously. Ultimately, it marked the end of Blur Mk1 before they shed the Britpop sound that made them famous. This relatively downbeat track is one of The Great Escape's highlights.

3. Sitting Up Straight (Live) - Supergrass

One of the few bands to be born during the so-called Britpop years to last the distance, something they did until last year when they became one of the era's final casualties. Sitting Up Straight was one of the first 'Grass songs appearing as B-side to the original 7" release of Mansize Rooster in its initial incarnation. The track was re-recorded and appeared on the re-released Rooster single and subsequently on their classic debut I Should Coco. This live version is only available on this cassette and was recorded at 1995's T In The Park Festival.

4. In The Name Of The Father (Choppers Mix)- Black Grape

1995's most unexpected, and celebrated, comeback. After Happy Mondays' messy split, Shaun Ryder's future looked bleak. He returned, alongside Bez and Kermit from Ruthless Rap Assassins amongst others, with Black Grape and massive album It's Great When You're Straight...Yeah. In The Name Of The Father preceded the album as their second single and hit #8. The Choppers Mix, mislabelled here as the Chopper Mix, was remixed by Danny Saber. Shaun Ryder was last seen on This Morning.

5. Down By The Water - PJ Harvey

Second outing for this To Bring You My Love in a week on TheFreeEPs. Harvey's new album Let England Shake is out on February 14th.

6. History - The Verve

The third single from The Verve's second album A Northern Soul was to be their final single. Posthumously released, it became their biggest hit reaching #24. Needless to say, the History books had to be rewritten two years later......

7. Sorted For Es & Wizz (Live) - Pulp

Recorded live at their triumphant Glastonbury performance in 1995. Pulp were only invited to perform Glasto after illness forced a dying Stone Roses to pull out. On the back of the release of the anthem Common People, this couldn't have come at a better time and the band went on to become one of the era's defining bands.

8. Yes - McAlmont & Butler

David McAlmont's career was going precisely nowhere until he hooked up with Bernard Butler, fresh from leaving Suede behind. Combined, the results were magic and Yes became an immediate Top 10 and one of 1995's most uplifting singles. The two released one more single, You Do, and one album - which wasn't much more than a compilation of their singles - before splitting acrimoniously. They did patch things up for one more album, Bring It Back, in 2002. Since then, McAlmont has kept himself busy on the jazz circuit. Butler has not only worked with Brett Anderson again with the one-off Tears project but also become a producer of note, producing amongst others Duffy's huge Rockferry.

9. (Nice Dream) - Radiohead

Radiohead had little to do with their contemporaries but almost certainly benefitted from the Britpop movement and the resurgence of indie/alternative rock with huge sales for their album The Bends which included this track. The album's huge, epic sound was light years from their grunge-inflected debut Pablo Honey. The band would travel several more light years over the next decade...

10. Screamager (Live) - Therapy?

The original version of Screamager was taken from NI's biggest alternative metal band Therapy?'s highest charting single, the Shortsharpshock EP which hit the Top 10 in 1993. The band scored several more hits throughout 1993 and 1994 before releasing the dark, ballad-laden album Infernal Love in 1995, which still hit the Top 10 and spawned three Top 40 singles. It proved to be the band's last major stab at success, their next album Semi Detached proving less successful before they retreated into cultdom.

11. Hyperballad - Bjork

Even though this was the 4th single from Bjork's second album Post, and released after given away free on this very cassette, it still managed to hit #8. This was no doubt in part to being released straight off the back of Bjork's big pop single, It's Oh So Quiet. Although it was probably given a leg-up by a lot of casual buyers who weren't expecting this wonderful slice of electronica, justice was done as this is one of Bjork's finest moments and deserved to be a Top 10 hit.

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.