SHINE: 20 Brilliant Indie Hits

though i was pretty much 100% indie and deeply invested in britpop at this point, I never felt the need to own a shine or an indie top 20, suppose I already had all the tracks i wanted and was familiar with the rest from the radio.

my cousin otoh had a collection of all the shine cds up to 8 i think

Burden in my hand is a tuuune, but it shares a late 60s psychedelic sensibility with some of this stuff.

― chap, Thursday, 10 September 2020 14:34 (twelve minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

An exhilarating vocal turn from the big man and no mistake

Regret was kind of inexorably linked in my mind as the soundtrack to depressing score draws in the then-Endsleigh League division 1 on Sundays on ITV

My indie hell continues:

I did own Shine 2, although tbf to myself, I bought it for a couple of quid in a second hand shop because it had I think 2 songs on it I liked and it was cheaper than buying the singles

truly the pre-Napster era was another country

some of these are brilliant, but none of these are indie

unless, as i strongly suspect, the word "indie" means something different across the pond

it is 2020, let us contemplate the strange case of what Indie means

This is very much what I think of as indie.

1995 UK definition of "indie" was definitely different from 1995 North American definition of "indie" but I feel like the present-day North American definition of "indie" has actually become closer to the British one. I don't expect lo-fi production and noisy guitars when someone refers to a contemporary band as "indie".

the word "indie" means "signed to a subsidiary of warner music group"

These compilations didn't even exist in the country I was living at the time, so the only choice was to buy albums (singles tended to only be available on import - and buying an import CD single could be as expensive as buying a cassette anyway; it was only something you'd do for a band you *really* loved).

I'm still kind of o_0 at how much disposable income I spent on music during this period (and that's even with a staff discount, when they weren't outright promos) - the thought of spending this much money on music just feels alien to me now, in fact I feel kind of outraged at the price bubble around these small pieces of plastic in the early 90s. Like, if I overspent on albums, I would end up living on ramen noodles the last week of the month - and yet I did do it routinely. Yikes.

yeah the term hasn't had any logical or factual meaning behind it anywhere since around 1990... it's just a vibe maaaaan

the word Indie, since at least the release of these CDs and actually long before, refers to this kind of music as played by Indie DJs at Indie discos and of course you can sit like King Canute trying to hold back the tide of 30 plus years of usage but, well, i wouldn't bother

so for non UK-ers, the competing compilation brand was The Best... Album In The World... Ever! series which ran from 95-98... volume 1 is

Supergrass – "Alright"
Blur – "Girls and Boys"
Elastica – "Waking Up"
Ash – "Girl From Mars"
Oasis – "Whatever"
Edwyn Collins – "A Girl Like You"
The Charlatans – "The Only One I Know"
Pulp – "Do You Remember the First Time?"
McAlmont & Butler – "Yes"
Morrissey – "Everyday Is Like Sunday"
Radiohead – "High and Dry"
The Cranberries – "Zombie"
The Smashing Pumpkins – "Today"
Manic Street Preachers – "La Tristesse Durera (Scream to a Sigh)"
James – "Sit Down"
The Boo Radleys – "Wake Up Boo!"
Suede – "Animal Nitrate"
The Verve – "This is Music"
Inspiral Carpets – "I Want You"
Therapy? – "Screamager"

The Smiths – "This Charming Man"
The Jesus & Mary Chain – "April Skies"
Oasis – "Supersonic"
The Stone Roses – "Fools Gold" (Original version)
Stereo MC's – "Connected"
The Prodigy – "Out of Space"
The Shamen – "Destination Eschaton" (Beatmasters 7" remix)
New Order – "True Faith '94"
The Chemical Brothers – "Leave Home"
Fluke – "Bullet"
Primal Scream – "Loaded"
EMF – "Unbelievable"
Jesus Jones – "Real, Real, Real"
Depeche Mode – "Personal Jesus" (7" version)
Blur – "Chemical World"
The Levellers – "15 Years"
The Auteurs – "Lenny Valentino"
Skunk Anansie – "I Can Dream"
Dreadzone – "Captain Dread"
The Future Sound of London – "Lifeforms"

some of these songs were released on indie labels fwiw (at least in the UK) so it's not "none"

but yeah, welcome to 1990!

weird how much overlap there is actually... that pumpkins/manics bit RULEZ

ah yeah I had that one too. some nice indie-dance crossover selections too

A lot more good tunes on that one.

my god following the majesty of McAlmont & Butler with moz... the humanity...

Would actually have paid money for that The Best... Album In The World... Ever! one - but we've already established I have a pavlovian response to all that indie-dance crossover stuff - hahaha I mean it has EMF's Unbelievable, but the Shamen track is ridiculous.

the word "indie" means "signed to a subsidiary of warner music group"

Tbf, it never referred strictly to the status of labels on either side of the pond. I don't think a bluegrass artist on an independent label (itself a vague concept) would have been what I'd expect if someone told me about an indie band in 1995. I wouldn't even expect a progressive metal band on an independent label if someone told me about a new indie rock band.

Stuff like Dreadzone makes me quite fondly nostalgic, even though I was indifferent at best at the time.

If there is only one vote for Jesus Jones, it me.

Although not the most anachronistic inclusion, I'm more than a little baffled at the inclusion of a track from Doubt on a compilation from 1995. Jesus Jones felt like they'd happened eight million years ago at that point, IIRC.

Unless the hits from that album had just kept on a-rollin' in the UK? They most certainly did not in the US.

unfortunately there were only 8 Brilliant Indie Hits in 1995 so the numbers had to be made up

From worst to best

The Cranberries - "Zombie"
Shed Seven - "Speakeasy"
The Wonder Stuff - "The Size of a Cow"
Electronic - "Getting Away with It"
James - "Sit Down"
Green Day - "Welcome to Paradise"
Jesus Jones - "International Bright Young Thing"
The Farm - "All Together Now"
Dodgy - "So Let Me Go Far"
The House of Love - "Shine On"
Inspiral Carpets - "Dragging Me Down"
Oasis - "Cigarettes & Alcohol"
The Charlatans - "Weirdo"
Blur - "Parklife"
Dinosaur Jr. - "Feel the Pain"
Suede - "Animal Nitrate"
New Order - "Regret"
The Smiths - "How Soon Is Now?"
Elastica - "Connection"
Pulp - "Do You Remember the First Time?"

this kind of music as played by Indie DJs at Indie discos

is this a thing that happened in the u.s.? probably accounts for the different usage of the word on either side of the ocean

maybe it would help if you think of it like indie (UK) = alternative (US)?

ah yeah I had that one too. some nice indie-dance crossover selections too

Oh god, you've just reminded me I owned this one

https://img.discogs.com/QalHdwQrg9jhgMsf5S1VRGghFag=/fit-in/504x492/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-895370-1185321628.jpeg.jpg

https://img.discogs.com/VuCoc9kUWLZ0pHePTpfm-lEbo8g=/fit-in/564x439/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-895370-1185321658.jpeg.jpg

I had Happy Daze vol 2. tbh there are some classics on that one fuiud

to give it it's strictest definition, if you can tippex the band name on a pencil case AND find it in camden market on a badge BUT NOT A WOVEN PATCH then it is indie, anything else is pop or metal and not for you.

i hear some College Rock wasn't made by Colleges either

i think "getting away with it" just edges out "regret"

Same

Same

Same

since my brain worked out the melody lift from Love My Way, i can't listen to Getting Away With It any more :-(
always thought Disappointed was superior actually!

Connection

"Getting Away with It."

green day feels very out of place here

Getting Away With It or Animal Nitrate.

On a compilation that features The Cranberries, Shed Seven and Dodgy it's something to say that Parklife is the most annoying thing here.

if you google "getting away with it", guess what you get? a song by james! which is quite good, actually.

btw i also voted for it.

Tbf, it never referred strictly to the status of labels on either side of the pond. 

iirc the NME's weekly Indie chart referred strictly to distribution, so if Food Records didn't go through EMI's in-house distributor, Jesus Jones and Blur would have counted, but if a fanzine cassette got into shops bc a mate worked at Warners and helped them out, it was disqualified

this definitely meant that Kylie Minogue records frequently topped the Indie chart, being on the sole-ownership concern Pete Waterman Limited

although ironically, "Indie" Kylie's records never troubled that chart

Ha, yeah, I thought of stating that chart as an exception. "Indie" DID always have that economic meaning but it was also used as a shorthand for a style of rock music on both sides of the Atlantic.

Back in the early 90s people used to tell me 'alternative' was just the American name for 'indie'.

But I think of like, Faith No More and I dunno Primus being 'alternative'.

this is almost the same tracklist as the naked chef compilation which is real

This was the first compilation I ever bought! on tape. don't think I'd heard Suede before that point and Animal Nitrate just blew most of the rest away, but I have overwhelming fondness for nearly all other tracks on here purely for nostalgic reasons. except Cigarettes and Alcohol.

and Sit Down, which I hate obviously, but probably didn't mind the first 3 or 4 times i heard it

hang on, when was Now 26? that had Laid on it, maybe that was my first comp.

*cough* for some reason *cough*

Was the dividing line the moment that him out of Kula Shaker did a track with The Prodigy? Was that the moment people decided they had to pick a side?

― Grebo Jones (Branwell with an N),

Dividing lines are really blurry. There may be more of a split along provincial/cosmopolitan lines than indie/dance. OTOH by 1996 or so John Barry's influence was a key marker of "Britishness" across multiple styles. The Texas and Robbie Williams territory mentioned above, but also the Manic Street Preachers, Massive Attack and Space etc. Everything on the radio had a fucking orchestra, Even Ash did a song called Goldfinger.

Think for a lot of indie kids those big beat hits prominently featuring guitars/Oasis/Crispian Mills might have been the moment they realized they didn't want to pick a side. The dance ppl who might have said 'we told you so' said "big beat sucks" iirc.

At the end of the 90's the fashion was to mix it up though wasn't it?

dont think so, there was lots of mixing it up in the early 90s but it felt very tribal by late 90s, despite many crossovers

probably due in part to the fact Tim Burgess just was t born to sing on a dance tune

like that whole "let's get this Britpop singer on a big beat track" craze felt forced, a bit "if we must" rather than "this is our artistic calling". late 90s attempts to fuse rock and dance often made a hash job of mashing the weakest elements of both into each other

these last posts are both true, but also Life Is Sweet is a tune.

you'd often get distorted power riffs forced over these lolloping groove break loops and they just didn't work together. also:
Ash recruited a full time turntablist to scratch awkwardly over their songs.
The Prodigy earnestly tried to reinvent themselves as edgy punk rockers, but they came off more clownish and infantile than they ever had.
I agree that Soulwax, LCD, DFA etc going back to new wave and disco for inspiration a few years later was when indie-dance started working again. Having trouble trying to think of very much crossover stuff from 97-01 that did it particularly well... Gorillaz I guess? Never really got them though

I don't hate Life Is Sweet or even that Noel Gallagher one he did with CBros but neither project felt necessary beyond 'we need something to please the indie rockers'

A whole bunch of shitty guitar bands trying to ~go Radiohead~ and then Radiohead going fully IDM, haha?

hey ho .. and there was me loving DiV and their need for crappy vocals.

Having trouble trying to think of very much crossover stuff from 97-01 that did it particularly well... Gorillaz I guess?
― Specific Ocean Blue (dog latin)

Certainly 'Guerrilla'

I had completely forgotten DiV ever existed.

I am clearly confused. (Also vibrating!)

*not a murderer tho

there seemed to be a real sense in the late 90s that the whole idea of searching out unexpected influences was pretentious and wanky, and that being 4 lads with lead / rhythm / bass / drums was the authentic way to make music. as ever I blame John Harris for this.

Xxp The Juantrip album on F Communications was another. Capitol K etc

This reminds me of the p4k britpop albums list where they prefaced half the entries with a disclaimer of "this isn't really a britpop album, but..."
And it's no wonder I mean no way we're there 50 good britpop albums. There may not have been 20 good britpop albums. Still, I attribute at least some of the confusion to the first name that ppl associate with the style also being the band that killed it off almost instantaneously.

Xxp The Juantrip album on F Communications was another. Capitol K etc

sorry, but do not get how that's relevant here.
one of the most strange dance infused psych excess albums ever.

Oh right, I forgot he was French. Nevermind. Not that strange a record tho imo.

He sings like John Lennon doesn't he? Can't understand a word of it but as I recall it's all gibberish anyhow 😅