various | current affairs

this is a digital version of a compilation i put together for my own enjoyment in november 1991 of some of my favourite tunes at the time.

this of course was in the days before itunes and therefore the days before the shuffle button and the playlist, when you'd either have to listen to an entire album straight through or waste a lot of battery time fast forwarding on your walkman to your favourites. or you just made your own playlist on a trusty c90 instead.

mostly contemporary and basically fairly predictable for a dedicated nme-reading 17-year-old, listening to it now - almost exactly 20 years later - makes me glow like the ready brek kid. and i still listen to many of these bands and these very records today.

the above image is a scan of the cover i made for the original. i often wonder what happened to the kids in the photo.

::: my bloody valentine - lose my breath
::: simon & garfunkel - homeward bound
::: the wedding present - mothers
::: chapterhouse - then we'll rise
::: neil young & crazy horse - cinnamon girl (live)
::: ride - unfamiliar
::: daisy chainsaw - get real pleasure
::: thousand yard stare - 0-0 a.e.t.
::: tubeway army - are 'friends' electric?
::: ned's atomic dustbin - selfish
::: lush - sweetness and light
::: kingmaker - when lucy's down
::: power of dreams - does it matter
::: ratcat - getting away (from this world)
::: hole - garbadge man
::: bleach - decadance
::: the cure - pictures of you
::: ride - chelsea girl
::: neil young & crazy horse - cortez the killer (live)
::: babes in toyland - the quiet room

get.

various | gigantic 2

i was one of the lucky 50,000 or so who got to see nirvana's second performance at the reading festival in 1992. it was my first visit, just for the day, and i'll never forget bouncing up and down with everyone else to "in bloom" trying to save my reading fest poster from getting crushed while clutching a plastic bag containing this great indie compilation cd.

put together by melody maker, it's a pretty good survey of the early 90s indie scene with a good smattering of bands demonstrating the scene's inherent quirkiness. so i'm glad it didn't get crushed to bits.

::: the breeders - i just want to get along
::: pale saints - a deeper sleep for stephen
::: cocteau twins - the high monkey-monk
::: see see rider - rosey singer
::: mazzy star - ride it on
::: souled american - buck dancer's choice
::: the clean - i wait around
::: galaxie 500 - flowers
::: lush - scarlet
::: the shamen - pro-gen
::: kitchens of distinction - shiver
::: lightning seeds - 15 reasons
::: band of holy joy - right as rain
::: pussy galore - seattle
::: loop - blood
::: the sugarcubes - eat the menu
::: marc almond - my death
::: cranes - untitled
::: birdland - hollow heart

cd released by melody maker/rough trade in 1990.

get.

various | red tape

in the same vein as select 12 comes this compilation, also a select mag covermount. this one was sponsored by 4ad and mute, the labels taking a side each. and i think both halves represent the labels at their peak, one dominated by reverb, the other by the sequencer.

again, my actual copy of this tape is long gone, so this is compiled from album tracks and so on.

released by select magazine in 1990.

1. cocteau twins - pitch the baby
2. pale saints - insubstantial
3. pixies - alison
4. his name is alive - some and i
5. lush - deluxe
6. ultra vivid scene - special one
7. dead can dance - the song of the sibyl
8. crime & the city solution - the last dictator i
9. renegade soundwave - murder music
10. nick cave & the bad seeds - foi na cruz
11. depeche mode - clean
12. fortran 5 - midnight trip (tubby noise mix)

archived.