| C86 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Compilation album by various artists | ||||
| Released | May 1986 | |||
| Recorded | 1985/86 | |||
| Genre | Indie pop, post-punk, indie rock, jangle pop, alternative rock | |||
| Label | Rough Trade, NME | |||
| Compiler | Neil Taylor, Adrian Thrills, Roy Carr | |||
| Various artists chronology | ||||
| ||||
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.
- ^ Hann, Michael (14 June 2011). "NME releases a cassette that codifies music". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Bob Stanley, sleevenotes to CD86
- ^ Sean Michaels (14 March 2014). "NME's C86 compilation to be reissued with previously unheard tracks | Music". Theguardian.com. Retrieved 2015-06-11.