69 (album)

Not to be confused with *69, a 2018 album by Emily Blue.

69
Studio album by
A.R. Kane
Released20 June 1988[1]
Recorded1988
StudioH.ark Studio
Genre
Length40:26
LabelRough Trade
Producer
A.R. Kane chronology
69
(1988) 		"i"
(1989)

69 is the debut album by British band A.R. Kane, released in 1988 on Rough Trade Records and produced by the band with additional co-production from Ray Shulman. Following the release of their acclaimed Lollita and Up Home! EPs, 69 developed the experimental "dream pop" style named and pioneered by the duo, blending elements of dub, psychedelia, noise, jazz, and pop.

69 reached number 1 on the UK Independent Albums Chart upon release, and received critical acclaim from the UK music press, garnering comparisons to the work of many disparate artists and being hailed as musically innovative at the time of its release. Writing for Melody Maker, critic Simon Reynolds described it as "the outstanding record of '88."[6] Music historian Martin C. Strong described the album's sound as "hard to pigeonhole yet seminal nevertheless."[5]

The album has been recognized as an influential precursor to genres such as shoegaze, post-rock and trip hop, with it influencing acts in the respective genres and being identified as having prototypical songs in said genres. In a retrospective review for AllMusic, music critic Ned Raggett called it "an unfairly long-lost classic."[7] In 2007, The Guardian included it in their list of "1000 Albums to Hear Before You Die."[8]

  1. ^ "AR Kane – 69". Discogs.
  2. ^ "A.R. Kane: 69 Album Review | Pitchfork Media". pitchfork.com. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  3. ^ DeRogatis, Jim (1996). Kaleidoscope Eyes: Psychedelic Rock from the '60s to the '90s. Carol Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-8065-1788-9.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference blogspot was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference bible was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Reynolds, Simon (1988). "AR Kane: 'Supercolourfragilelipsticksexyallahdosehush'". Melody Maker. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  7. ^ Raggett, Ned. "69 – A.R. Kane". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  8. ^ "1000 albums to hear before you die: Artists beginning with A". the Guardian. 17 November 2007. Retrieved 10 December 2023.