4AD (UNCUT 1998)

19-Track retrospective of the now 30-year strong British independent label 4AD.

1. Debaser - Pixies

Released as the opening track  on Pixies' second album Dolittle, Debaser, whilst never released as a single, became an indie dancefloor classic for the next two decades. On the release of band retrospective Death To The Pixies in 1997, Debaser was chosen for release as a single for the first time and hit #23 in the UK chart.

2. Hypocrite - Lush

In 2001, Manic Street Preachers hit the headlines for releasing two singles on the same day. This was reported as an industry first. It wasn't. In May 1994, Lush also did this for much the same reason as the Manics, showcasing two sides to the band's music (though not the first band to do this...) Desire Lines was a 7 and a half minute atmospheric slab of  noise rock; Hypocrite was the first signs of the band shedding their shoegaze roots and heading into a more indie-rock sound they would perfect on their 1996 album Lovelife. Both singles reached the Top 75, Hypocrite being the most successful hitting #52, and comes from the album Split.

3. Go Lady Go - Mojave 3

Formed from the ashes of early 90s shoegazers, Slowdive, Mojave 3  released five albums between 1995 and 2006,  picking up considerable praise from the music weeklies on their way. This track was taken from their most successful single, Some Kinda Angel, which charted at #101 in 1998.

4. Lantern - Tanya Donnelly

As singer and guitarist in three of the most critically acclaimed American indie bands in the 80s/90s, Throwing Muses, The Breeders (for one album) and Belly, Tanya Donelly's future as a cult solo recording star was assured. On the back of this success, Donnelly's first solo album, Lovesongs For Underdogs, featuring this track, hit #37 in the UK. Though sales slowed down over the next few years, Donelly's status as one of the USA's most respected alternative female singer-songwriters is undiminished.

5. Wish I Had A Wishing Ring - His Name Is Alive

Experimental rock from Michigan held together by Warren Defever. A cult concern, the band have released 10 albums and a host of singles in a 20 year career on 4AD. This is taken from the 5th album Fort Lake. A 13 minute version also appears on their single, Can't Always Be Loved.

6. Mania - Throwing Muses

Throwing Muses were one of the most influential American independent bands of their time and were one of the first to deploy two girls at the forefront of the band, the aforementioned Tanya Donelly and Kristin Hersh. Despite Donelly's departure in 1991, Hersh stayed with the band until their split in 1997 and their subsequent reunion. This is taken from their third album in 1989, Hunkpapa, which hit #59 in the UK.

7. You And Your Sister - This Mortal Coil

This Mortal Coil wasn't a band as such - it was more of a collective of 4AD's finest acts brought together by label boss Ivo Watts-Russell. The project spawned three albums, their most well known moment coming in 1984 with the interpretation of Tim Buckley's Song To The Siren featuring Cocteau Twins' Liz Frazer on ethereal vocal duty. This track was featured on their third and final album Blood, featuring Breeders'/Pixies guitarist and singer Kim Deal and, who else, Tanya Donnelly.

8. Shaolin Satellite - Thievery Corporation

Thievery Corporation's mix of lounge, dub and World music has kept them this duo going for 7 albums in a 16 year career. Shaolin Satellite was their first 12" single and was featured on their debut album, Sounds From The Thiery Hi-Fi, in 1997.

9. Barry (Gi Gi Galaxy Remix Edit) - Gus Gus

Icelandic electronic band with eight albums under their belt. Barry was featured on their eponymous debut album released in 1995 under the name Barry (White Pride) and was re-recorded for their breakthrough international album Polydistortion. The full length version of this remix was released as a 12" in 1997.

10. Urban Light 12am - Cuba

Big beat featuring former Chapterhouse drummer Ashley Bates. This is the 12" version of the band's debut single in 1998 (the single version was called Urban Light 7am) Their debut album, Leap Of Faith, was released in 1999 by which time they had changed their name to Air Cuba. Chapterhouse wasn't their only shoegaze connection; other band member Christopher Andrews was married to Slowdive's Rachel Goswell.

11.  Unofficial World Cup Theme - Colourbox

English electronic group active between 1982 and 1987. This track was released in 1986 as a single on the same day as another Colourbox single, their cover of Augustus Pablo's Baby I Love You So, thus beating Lush and the Manics into the record books. Although the track was considered for consideration for the BBC's World Cup coverage for the 1986 Mexico World Cup, it eventually lost out to Aztec Lightning by Heads. Colourbox dissolved after they achieved international success with their collaboration with AR Kane. The names may not be so familiar but the single will be...it was named Pump Up The Volume under the pseudonym M/A/R/R/S....

12. Saints - The Breeders

Pixies and Throwing Muses singer and guitarists Kim Deal and Tanya Donelly (her again) formed The Breeders in 1998 with Deal's sister Kelley. Donelly left after the release of their  debut album, Pod, to concentrate on her next band Belly and success soon followed with their second album Last Splash which hit the Top 5 in the UK. Along with the classic Cannonball, the album featured this track which was released as a single in the US and parts of Europe.

13. Big Jesus Trash Can - The Birthday Party

Early 80s dark, Gothic post-punk fronted by a young Nick Cave who, despite little commercial success, influenced a generation of post punk acts over the next decade.  This was taken from their album, Junkyard, which hit #73 in the UK in 1982.

14. Tomorrowing - Lisa Germano

Critically acclaimed alternative American singer-songwriter who has released ten albums in a career spanning twenty years.  This was taken from her 1998 album, Slide, her last for 4AD. Germano is also a session musician of some repute and has appeared on albums by Simple Minds, Eels, Iggy Pop and David Bowie.

15. New Jersey - Red House Painters

San Franciscan alternative rock group who confusingly released two eponymous albums in 1993. This was taken from the first, widely known as Rollercoaster due to the album's cover art. The second, for the same reasons, is known as Bridge. After six albums, the band called it a day in 2001.

16. Your Ghost - Kristin Hersh

Although still leader of the reunited Throwing Muses, Hersh has had a successful 8 album solo career. This song started it all and was released as the first single from her first album Hips & Makers in 1994. A combination of her Muses background, a vocal contribution from Michael Stipe and an unexpected topless photo shoot in NME helped this become her most successful single in the UK, though just missing the Top 40 at #45

17. American Dreaming - Dead Can Dance

Ethereal, ambient, neo-classical dream pop, or something like that, from Australia. The band released seven albums between 1984 and 1996, this track featuring on their 1994 live album Toward The Within.

18. Sweet Unknown - The Hope Blister

Much like This Mortal Coil, The Hope Blister were formed by 4AD's own Ivo Watts-Russell though this time with a steady line up and focusing on cover versions. This is from their 1998 album ...smile's OK. Sweet Unknown was originally recorded by Cranes on their 1997 album Population 4.

19. Pearly Dewdrops' Drop - Cocteau Twins

The forefathers of the kind of Gothic dream pop that litters this compilation, Cocteau Twins aka Liz Fraser, Simon Raymonde and Robin Guthrie were together for nearly two decades until their dissolution in 1997. Critically acclaimed and commercially successful, Cocteau Twins scored 8 chart albums and released a number of charting singles and EPs. This is the 7 inch version of Pearly Dewdrops' Drop taken from their Spangle Maker EP which became the band's highest charting single in 1984. Those unfamiliar with the Twins' output may know Fraser's vocals from the single version of  Future Sound Of London's Lifeforms and, most famously, Massive Attack's Teardrop.

MELODY MAKER: STEVE LAMACQ'S BOOTLEG SESSION VOLUME 3 (1999)

1. King Of Snake (Barking Mix) - Underworld

The only Underworld track to share a co-writing credit with Giorgio Moroder, thanks to its interpolation of Donna Summer's I Feel Love, King Of Snake was edited down from its full 9 and a half minute length from the Beaucoup Fish album into two separate single mixes,the Straight (Mate) Mix and this one. The third single from the album, it reached #17 in 1999. The title of the remix, a play on words referencing an insane state of mind and the place in Essex, was resurrected in 2010 for Underworld's most recent album - Barking.


2. Caught By The Fuzz - Supergrass

Exclusive version recorded for Lamacq's Evening Session in April 1999. The fact that this was recorded five years after its original release, whilst in the throws of promoting their third album, was testament to the song's enduring appeal. Caught By The Fuzz was released as Supergrass' first limited edition single on Backbeat Records in 1993 and released as their first single proper a year later. Despite narrowly missing a Top 40 place, the track became a modern day classic and helped turn debut album I Should Coco into a million seller.


3. Pyromaniax! - Arsonists
Underground hip hop from New York, this is taken from the rap crew's 1999 debut album As The World Burns. One more album, Date Of Birth, followed in 2001.


4. Paint Nothing - Idlewild

Before they found the folk, Idlewild were a pretty mean live proposition. Shambolic and messy live, Roddy Woomble spent half of their live sets crawling along the floor like a man possessed. This chaotic, yet compelling, start was captured in their debut mini-album Captain which gained not considerable support from Steve Lamacq himself to whom the band probably owe their entire career. Idlewild's rough edges were smoothed out more and more as the next 10 years unfolded, the first signs being their debut album Hope Is Important. Whilst not abandoning their edgy and angular sound completely, the album edged more towards a more commercial sound that would reap further rewards in later years. Paint Nothing is from that album.

5. Stuck On Me - Sukpatch

Electronic hip-hop from the Tie Down That Shiny Wave EP from the Beastie Boys' Grand Royale stable. Other Sukpatch releases were released on Sub Pop and Moshi Moshi amongst others.

6. Oi To The World - The Vandals

US pop punk band who formed in 1980 and have undergone various radical line up changes in their 30 year career despite an influence a new wave of 90s punk acts such as Green Day and The Offspring. Oi To The World was originally released in 1996 as part of the band's Christmas album of the same name. An album which contained a ditty entitled Christmas Time For My Penis of which we will say no more and move on - only to say this is an exclusive live session version so, Vandals completists everywhere, take note that man.

7. Bursting Off The Back Beat - Jacknife Lee

Early single from producer Jacknife 'Garret' Lee which reached #153 in the chart and taken from his debut album Muy Rico! Lee had modest success with subsequent albums, but much like his earlier incarnation as guitarist with the heavily hyped indie rockers Compulsion, his career failed to take off. Jacking in the solo albums, however, and concentrating on producing other artists seemed to do the trick though....his credits including recent output by U2, REM, Weezer, Snow Patrol and Kasabian.

8. Generator - Elastica

The build up and release of Elastica's 1995 eponymous album was huge and Justine Frischmann et al were seen as guiding lights in the thriving Britpop scene. Frischmann's relationship with Damon Albarn and the fact she was an ex-girlfriend of Brett Anderson, having once been a member of Suede, kept Elastica in the headlines. Despite accusations of plagiarism from both Wire and The Stranglers, the album reached #1. Then it all fell apart and the band disappeared, only to resurface in 1999 having undergone various line up changes. The result was a low key 6 track EP called, well. '6 Track EP' which acted as a document to what the band had been up to in their lost years prior to the release of their second, and final album, The Menace. The EP contained a Mark E Smith collaboration in How We Wrote Elastica Man and this, Generator. The version here is exclusive to this EP and was recorded  live at Reading in 1999. The track also featured in a re-recorded version on the second album.

9. Going Out - Vyvyan

Short-lived all girl indie group from the West Midlands who only released on single and one mini-album, Teenage Wannabes on the Sympathy  From The Record Industry imprint. They did have to time to record one evening session and this version of the album track is featured here.

10. Such A Rush - Coldplay

Hidden in the depths of this CD then are Coldplay whose Blue Room EP, featuring this track, was released to limited but widespread acclaim in 1999. The release gained support from Lamacq's Evening Session, hence their inclusion here,  and led to a co-headlining tour with Welsh band Terris, a set of dates heavily hyped by NME who proclaimed these two bands as the future of music in the 21st Century. Those who mock NME for making such a noise over Terris, who fell flat on their arse, seem to have forgotten that they had more success with their championing of Coldplay who went on to world domination. An early version of Such A Rush was included on Coldplay's debut Safety EP, currenty fetching a crazy £870.00 on Ebay. A copy of Terris' debut EP, The Time Is Now, described by NME as semi-legendary at the time, recently failed to sell on Ebay....for 49p. Better luck next time, lads.

11. Lamacqnaut 2000 - Frigid Vinegar

Novelty indie rap played to death on the Evening Session in 1999 under the original single release title, Dogmonaut 2000. This adapted version paying tribute to the host was performed on the Session and included here exclusively. Despite record label Rotator's website - still active - suggesting that Frigid Vinegar aka Alex Lusty, could soon be seen performing on CD:UK, it never quite happened...

12. Radio Beatbox - Hedrock Valley Beats

AKA D Declan McLaughlin who released several singles and 12"s under the Hedrock Valley Beats moniker at the start of the millenium. The sleeve notes here claim that it's taken from "the first release on Bright Star Records" in 1999. Was it also the last??

13. Sunburn (Session) - Muse

Another huge band making an early appearance. At the time of this evening session, August 1999, Muse had released 2 limited EPs one major single, Uno, which had scraped the Top 75 and their second, Cave, was just around the corner. Initially dismissed as the next set of Radiohead copyists to come and bite the dust, support for Muse grew and grew beyond their initial fanbase and, despite a slow start, their debut album Showbiz knocked up strong sales and produced three Top 40 hits including Sunburn, their first major hit when it hit #22 in early 2000. As Muse shed the Radiohead-lite sound of their debut and became louder, more progressive and more bombastic, they became one of the UK's biggest bands. This is the only place you'll legitimately find this version so it's essential for all Muse completists.

14. I Love Only You - Hefner

Perhaps the most indie of all late 90s indie bands, Hefner were active from 1997 -2002 and produced a raft of singles and EPs, four albums and a number of radio sessions, most notably for John Peel. Never destined for commercial success at any point, this is taken from their second album The Fidelity Wars which hit the Top 200 for a week at #165.

VOX: THE BIG MUSIC: THE CHRYSALIS BUTTERFLY BALL (1994)

A rag bag of tunes from the Chrsyalis archive made up this FreeEP to coincide with that month's Vox Chrysalis retrospective. Here's the track listing:

1. The Big Music - The Waterboys

1984 single from Mike Scott's Waterboys, The track failed to chart but grew in influence throughout the 80s and spawned a mini-genre of the same name mainly associated with loud, bombastic, emotional Celtic bands e.g. The Alarm, Hothouse Flowers. The track was originally included on the band's second album A Pagan Place.

2. Sunday Girl (French Version) - Blondie

Blondie's second #1 from the classic Parallel Lines LP. This version, sung all in French, was included on the original UK 12" and was featured as the primary B-side in France. It's now widely available on the Parallel Lines collector's edition CD set. Interestingly, Blondie's 2002 Greatest Hits compilation features a bilingual version - the original version with one French verse. 

3. Bold As Brass - Split Enz

Huge In their native Australia, Split Enz only had one major hit single in the UK - I Got You - which hit #12 in 1980. Although the band split in 1984, singer Neil Finn and newly placed drummer, the late Paul Hester, formed Crowded House and went on to huge international success, at various times with former Split Enz member, Neil's brother Tim Finn. Bold As Brass was a 1977 Australian single and was featured on their album Dizrythmia.

4. The Light - The Proclaimers

Despite having an awkward, and sometimes comedic, image with the British public, The Proclaimers aka twins Craig and Charlie Reid have had enduring success over the last two decades and are something of a national institution, their last album Notes & Rhymes hitting the Top 30 in 2009.  The Light is taken from their 1994 To 10 album Hit The Highway.

5. Mama's Always On Stage - Arrested Development
This alternative hip hop group seemingly came from nowhere when their take on Sly & The Family Stone's Everyday People, renamed as People Everyday, hit #2 in the UK chart in 1992. In fact,  they were hardly overnight sensations - it tool them 3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days from their inception to getting a record deal, a length of time which gave them the name of their debut album which contained this track. Their 1994 album, Zingalamaduni, fared less well and the band have continued to this day as an underground concern.

6. Thoughts Of You - Shara Nelson
Nelson's vocals on Massive Attack's seminal Blue Lines, including the all-time classic Unfinished Sympathy, forced her into the limelight at the turn of the 90s. Despite her success with the band, Nelson broke away and released her debut album What Silence Knows in 1993, including this track, which hit the Top 10 and spawned 4 Top 40 singles. Only one album followed, 1995's Friendly Fire.

7. King Rocker - Generation X

A punk classic  which just missed out on the Top 10 in 1978 hitting #11 for these London pop-punks. Despite that, two members of the band went on to enjoy Top 10 hits after the group's 1981 split. Tony James formed Sigue Sigue Sputnik whose ultra hyped rockabilly synth punk rocker Love Missile F1-11 hit the Top 3 in 1986. More successfully was lead singer William Broad who enjoyed a hugely successful solo career in the US and the UK under his stage name of Billy Idol.

8. The Music That Nobody Likes - Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine

Or, for Smash Hits readers, Carter USM. The irony in the title of this track wouldn't have escaped Jimbob and Fruitbat who enjoyed a loyal fanbase but were hated by others. It was taken from their 1993 Top 5 album Post Historic Monsters.

9. Ship Of Fools - World Party

Taking us back to the beginning of this compilation, World Party was really a vehicle for one man, Karl Wallinger, who left The Waterboys in 1986 to concentrate on his own brand of Big Music. Ship Of Fools was featured on World Party's debut album Private Revolution and was pulled as the band's first single hitting #42 in 1987.

10. All The Way From Memphis (Live) - Ian Hunter/Mick Ronson

Originally a classic glam rock Top 10 hit in 1972 for Mott The Hoople, this is a live version from two of the band's most famous members.

11. La Bien, Le Mal - Guru

Featuring MC Solaar, this is a cut from Guru's classic 1993 jazz rap opus Jazzmatazz, an album which featured amongst others, D.C, Lee, N'dea Davenport and Carleen Anderson. Guru was originally one half of rap duo Gangstarr before creating 4 installments of Jazzmatazz throughout the next decade until his untimely death in April 2010.

12. April In Kings Cross - Tyrell Corporation

Named after a fictional company in Blade Runner, this dance band had a couple of Top 75 entries in 1994. This was taken from their album Play For Today.

13.  The Witch's Promise - Jethro Tull

Initially a blues rock group, Jethro Tull morphed into of the most progressive and folky of all progressive folk groups. The Witch's Promise was an early career highlight and one of their biggest hits reaching #4 in 1971.

14. Have You Ever Seen The Rain? - The Ramones

Legendary US punk rockers, The Ramones released Acid Eaters in 1993, their penultimate album and their only covers album which contained this Creedence Clearwater Revival tracks well as a host of other 60s hits from the likes of The Who, The Stones, Bob Dylan and Love.

15. Nothing Compares 2 U (Video Version) - Sinead O Connor

Written by Prince and originally recorded by Prince offshoot The Family for their 1985 eponymous album, Sinead O Connor's version, with its classic headshot video, stormed to #1 all over the world including the US and the UK.  You can also find a live version by Prince himself on his 1993 compilation Hits 1.

16. Ugly - Mutha's Day Out

Rap rock troupe from Arkansas whose one and only album My Soul Is Wet was released in 1993. Despite the band splitting in 1994, they were coaked into the limelight for one final act in 1995 after appearing in the movie adaptation of Mortal Kombat.

17. Never Too High To Fall - Kingmaker

Kingmaker were one of the many indie also-rans killed stone dead by the rise of Britpop. Despite having a couple of Top 20 singles in 1992/3 and a successful album, Sleepwalking, by the time their thir album proper in 1995 the band had fallen out of favour and they subsequently split. This track is taken from their 1993 odds n sods album To Hell With Humdrum.

18. I Know These Things  About You- Neil Arthur

Arthur was, and now is again, one half of synthpop band Blancmange who scored 5 Top 40 hits between '82 and '85.  This is taken from his only solo album, Suitcase, released in 1994. Blancmange released their comeback album, Blanc Burn, last year.

19. 19 - Paul Hardcastle

Aptly placed in 19th position, this anti-war track was based on the claim that the average age of a combat soldier in Vietnam was 19. Startlingly unique, the song containing dialogue from television narrator Peter Thomas, went to #1 all over the world including the UK. The song has been given a new lease of life in 2011 by Manchester United fans celebrating their team's 19th title victory. In keeping with the song's message, Hardcastle has forfeited all royalties to sales of the track to a charity -  Scotty's Little Soldiers, a Norwich-based charity which supports the children of men and women killed while serving with the British armed forces. At time of writing, the song was back in the UK chart at #40.

20. Free Nelson Mandela - The Special AKA

The Special AKA was an alternative moniker for The Specials used sporadically throughout their career. The name was used for the band's third album, In The Studio, released with a new line up after Neville Staple, Lynval Golding and Terry Hall departed to form Fun Boy Three. The album's relative failure led leader Jerry Dammers to dissolve the band. Despite this, the album spawned one of the Specials' most well known tracks, Free Nelson Mandela, a protest song aimed at freeing Mandela who at that point had been incarcerated for 22 years. It took another 6 years for Mandela to be released and another 25 years before The Specials' classic line up reformed, albeit without Jerry Dammers.

MELODY MAKER: VINYL CONFLICT 2 (1986)

1. Lucifer Over Lancashire (Alternative Version) - The Fall

First appearance on TheFreeEPs for the mighty Fall. Lucifer Over Lancashire was released as the B side to Mr Pharmacist - a single which marked The Fall's first bona fide hit in the national singles chart - just - at #75. This exclusive alternative version is still a rarity though it was officially released on the Cog Sinister release Backdrop. Like the original version it was recorded as part of  the sessions for the Bend Sinister album.

2. High Priest Of Love (Demo)- Zodiac Mindwarp & The Love Reaction

As editor of Flexipop magazine, Mark Manning had all the industry nous and contacts to make an instant splash in the music press with his debauched alter ego Zodiac Mindwarp. The instant music press coverage saw his first EP hit #9 in the indie chart. The follow-up EP, the title track being High Priest Of Love, went straight to the top.  A year later, Prime Mover became his first national Top 40 hit. However, the biker rock shtick soon wore off with the public and Mindwarp's debut album failed to sell well barely scraping the Top 20. The band continue to this day as a cult concern, Mark Manning also finding notoriety as an author. This demo is exclusive to this 7".

3. South Africa - Hollywood Beyond

What's The Colour Of Money? asked Mark Rogers in 1986 taking the song of that name to the Top 10 in the process. Rogers never really got to find out the answer to his question as a second single and album, If, despite co-production by Bernard Edwards, fell short. South Africa is an exclusive song to this release.

4. Orange Appled - Cocteau Twins

A then-exclusive track for the UK, Orange Appled appeared on the US edition of the Love's Easy Tears EP but was omitted from the UK release. Orange Appled has since become a fan favourite and has appeared on an array of compilations including 4AD's best of Cocteau collection Stars & Topsoil.

THE HIT: RED HOT EP (1985)

A rare EP from the shortlived magazine 'The Hit'

1. Kick Over The Statues (The Ramsey McKinnock Mix) - The Redskins

Left-wing rockabilly indie pop from York from a band who released a clutch of critically acclaimed singles and one album, Neither Washington Nor Moscow, in 1986. Signed to Decca, the band soon cracked the national singles chart with Keep On Keepin' On which hit #43; the follow up Bring It Down (This Insane Thing) hit the Top 40. Kick Over The Statues was released as a limited edition 7" single on Abstract Records in 1985 and was featured on the album which hit #31. Not long after, the band split. This remix is exclusive to this EP release.

2. Every Bit Of Me - Simply Red

There was a time when Simply Red were considered somewhat alternative. Mick Hucknall's first punk band The Frantic Elevators released a number of singles between 1979 and 1982. Hucknall re-emerged in 1985 with his new blue-eyed soul band and immediately hit the Top 20 with their take on the Valentine Brothers' Money's Too Tight To Mention. Hucknall, or Red as the sleevenotes declare the vocalist to be called, received support from the weekly inkies as is evident from their appearance here but the more sappy Simply Red became, the more the band became less NME and rather more Take A Break. The rest is history....This track is an exclusive studio take of a track which appeared on the Money's Too Tight 12"

3. Walls Come Tumbling Down (Live) - The Style Council

Released prior to their second album Our Favourite Shop, Walls Come Tumbling Down's opening war cry 'You don't have to take this crap' was an immediate signpost to the return of Paul Weller the angry young man, though  still embracing the jazz and funk tendencies explored on Cafe Bleu. The single hit #6 at the beginning of 1985 becoming one of Weller Mk2's biggest hits. This version, recorded live at the Manchester Apollo, is exclusive to this release.

4. Taste Of Cindy  - The Jesus & Mary Chain

A taster for JAMC's debut album Psychocandy, this a one and a half minute feedback drenched racket gave little indication that the album would sound like anything else. And indeed it didn't; the album became an instant classic. This, of course, features Bobby Gillespie on drums.

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.