C86

C86
Compilation album by
various artists
ReleasedMay 1986
Recorded1985/86
GenreIndie pop, post-punk, indie rock, jangle pop, alternative rock
LabelRough Trade, NME
CompilerNeil Taylor, Adrian Thrills, Roy Carr
Various artists chronology
Pogo A Go Go!
(1986)
C86
(1986)
Holiday Romance
(1986)

C86 is a cassette compilation released by the British music magazine NME in 1986, featuring new bands licensed from British independent record labels of the time.[1] As a term, C86 quickly evolved into shorthand for a guitar-based music genre characterized by jangling guitars and melodic power pop song structures, although other musical styles were represented on the tape. In its time, it became a pejorative term for its associations with so-called "shambling" (a John Peel-coined description celebrating the self-conscious primitive approach of some of the music[2]) and underachievement. The C86 scene is now recognized as a pivotal moment for independent music in the UK,[3] as was recognized in the subtitle of the compilation's 2006 CD issue: CD86: 48 Tracks from the Birth of Indie Pop. In 2014, the original compilation was reissued in a 3CD expanded edition from Cherry Red Records;[4] the 2014 box-set came with an 11,500-word book of sleevenotes by one of the tape's original curators, former NME journalist Neil Taylor.

The C86 name was a play on the labelling and length of blank compact cassette, commonly C60, C90 and C120, combined with 1986.

  1. ^ Hann, Michael (14 June 2011). "NME releases a cassette that codifies music". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  2. ^ Reynolds, Simon (2006-10-23). "The C86 indie scene is back!". Timeout.com. Archived from the original on 2012-10-02. Retrieved 2015-06-11.
  3. ^ Bob Stanley, sleevenotes to CD86
  4. ^ Sean Michaels (14 March 2014). "NME's C86 compilation to be reissued with previously unheard tracks | Music". Theguardian.com. Retrieved 2015-06-11.