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December 04, 2006

C86 Revisited, Improved

The NME's C86 cassette, capturing Britain's mid-eighties low fi pop scene, is possibly the most famous, non-hip hop mixtape of all time. But, more people these days are likely to have heard of it, than actually have heard it, and piecing together some of the tracks that have fallen into obscurity using a file sharing service is likely to be a tricky and time consuming process. Sanctuary records has done there part to further the fey pop legacy with a new compilation called, fittingly, CD86. It doesn't replicate the tracklist of the original scene document, but splashes around in all the same pools, and is much more inclusive. Who doesn't think they can put together a better compilation than the NME?

Highlights:

Primal Scream - "Velocity Girl"

Before they were noiseniks, or shaggy, Stones-y dance merchants, Primal Scream were ironically named and twee as fuck. This track is perhaps the best bite size distillation of the C86 ethos. Saccharine, vulnerable vocals, with chiming but spiky guitar behind. It stands out for its brevity in a collection of short songs, achieving its purpose in only 1 minute and 24 seconds, and splitting before attention has a chance to wane.

Another Sunny Day - "Anorak City"

I like! The drums almost sound tough, the guitar is proto-Strokes-tinny, but has an appealing fuzz to offset. The puny vocal is so distant and distorted through odd recording that it doesn't feel overly intimate or cloying. Handclaps, sha la las, a nimble guitar freakout, a little feedback flare up at the end; they just keep making all the right moves.

the Jesus & Mary Chain - "Upside Down"

I can't imagine the ripple of fear that must have gripped the scene on the release of this, J & MC's first single. Competent tunesmithing and a some ba ba bas will get you by, but they can't compete with the shock of the new. There's no almost in the toughness here, with screeching white noise perfectly married to reverbed sweetness. The simple way the vowel sounds are stretched, turning an "ah" into an "Ah-ah-ah", is so effortlessly lovely, but all the stabbing noise guaranteed that they would easily evade any "wuss" taunts. Basically rendering their scene irrelevant while still remaining an intrinsic part of it, which is not a bad trick.

BMX Bandits - "E102"

This is weird. The vocalist sounds a bit like a Eastern European virgin with a deviated septum, but it has a nice, ragged, stop/start, push/pull dynamic. The shouted intrusions from hidden background singers keep the song's first half lively, and it becomes all shouts later on, when the kazoo breakdown kicks in. Oh, that's right. Kazoo breakdown. KAZOO BREAKDOWN!!!

Shop Assistants - "Safety Net"

Although women are represented sporadically throughout the collection, I think this sort of music is best suited to female vocalists. It cuts down on the sexless sad sack factor. There are sexless sad sack ladies out there, sure, but with the super cool Ramones-y pace and feminine guile at their bidding here, I doubt the Shop Assistants were members of that misbegotten lot.

the Pooh Sticks - "On Tape"

The atrociously named Pooh Sticks come across like a non-ironic, non-dance LCD Soundsystem here, extolling the extensive nature of their cassette collection, and name dropping a host of indie acts of the day, like Orange Juice and the Pastels. It's odd when you think about it that more bands don't find themselves directly talking about the music they love in their songs, when music appreciation is such a big part of the lives of kids who end up making indie-pop. It's just too nerdy, I guess, and alot of being a popstar has to do with at least the appearance of cool. Thus, in the cynical 2000's, you can't get away with this sort of thing without a little mocking distance. The naivete here is refreshing, unless it's faux naivete, and then it's wry and subtle and ahead of its time? We win either way, I suppose

This is only a small taste, as the compilation in full is eight times bigger, and offers many more gems to be sifted from the twee mines. With that kind of breadth, there are bound to be some missteps, but on balance there's definitely more good than bad, and a smattering of the genuinely awesome. You should buy it. Honest.

// CD86 - Buy

Posted by Jeff Klingman at December 4, 2006 09:20 AM

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Posted by: Jon at December 4, 2006 04:15 PM

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