The 50 Greatest UK Indie Records of All Time
10 Comments Published by Tom on Thursday, February 07, 2008 at 18:03.
Mojo, one of the better music magazines in the UK, has just published what it considers to be the 50 greatest UK indie records of all time. Despite having a few entries from major labels it's not a bad list. But no Fizzbombs, Bubblegum Splash or Rosehips - you're having a laugh!Any way here is the list from 50 to 1.
50) Huggy Bear - Herjazz
49) The Delgados - The Great Eastern
48) James - Village Fire
47) Swell Maps - Read About Seymour
46) Camera Obscura - Lloyd, I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken
45) Half Man Half Biscuit - Trumpton Riots EP
44) The Wild Swans - The Revolutionary Spirit
43) The Pooh Sticks - On Tape
42) Fire Engines - Candyskin
41) McCarthy - Keep An Open Mind Or Else
40)Jane And Barton - It's A Fine Day
39) Josef K - The Missionary
38) Ride - Ride EP
37) The Bodines - Therese
36) Shop Assistants - Safety Net
35) The Primitives - Really Stupid
34) Saint Etienne - So Tough
33) The Sea Urchins - Pristine Christine
32) Elastica - Line Up
31) Stereolab - Peng!
30) The Wedding Present - George Best
29) Young Marble Giants - Colossal Youth
28) New Order - Temptation
27) Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out
26) The Libertines - What A Waster
25) The Loft - Up The Hill And Down The Slope
24) The Vaselines - Son Of A Gun
23) Aztec Camera - High Land Hard Rain
22) Happy Mondays - Lazyitis (One Armed Boxer)
21) The Pastels - Up For A Bit With The Pastels
20) Spacemen 3 - Revolution
19) This Mortal Coil - Song To The Siren
18) Lloyd Cole And The Commotions - Rattlesnakes
17) Teenage Fanclub - Everything Flows
16) Wire - Outdoor Miner
15) Echo & The Bunnymen - Crocodiles
14) Belle & Sebastian - Tigermilk
13) The House Of Love - Destroy The Heart
12) Subway Sect - Ambition
11) Felt - Forever Breathes The Lonely Word
10) Primal Scream - Crystal Crescent/Velocity Girl
9) The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses
8) The La's - There She Goes
7) Arctic Monkeys - I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor
6) Joy Division - Transmission
5) My Bloody Valentine - You Made Me Realise
4) The Fall - How I Wrote 'Elastic Man'
3) Orange Juice - You Can't Hide Your Love Forever
2) The Jesus & Mary Chain - Psychocandy
1) The Smiths - This Charming Man
If we're going to define indie as an attitude rather than a business arrangement, then surely Pulp, Suede and the (Richey-era) Manics deserve a nod. Also missing: Mogwai, Urusei Yatsura, Telstar Ponies, Chesterf!elds, Soup Dragons.
And where exactly does punk stop and post-punk/indie/alternative begin? The Buzzcocks are as crucial as Joy Division in understanding the indie ethos (lovelorn, wry, articulate, self-deprecating, etc etc).
The magazine forgot "Desert's Songs" MERCURY REV i thought.
What are the Arctic Monkeys doing in this list? They're the quintessential NME hype band, churning out dumbed-down, overcompressed facsimiles of the garage rock of yesteryear. Why not throw Razorlight in there and be done with it?
neri 3:16, mercury rev is an american band
Also, the absence of anything from Sarah Records is inexplicable. One would have expected to find The Sea Urchins' Pristine Christine, The Field Mice's Emma's House, Heavenly's Hearts and Crosses or something similar on any such list.
er, one made it.
33) The Sea Urchins - Pristine Christine
Yes sorry, i am backing to the cave. Mercury Rev is not an UK band. My fault.
thanks for advice me.
Restricted at best. No Desert Wolves, Company She Keeps or Field Mice to name but a few. Someone should send them the whole Sound Of Leamington Spa series to help them out. Turntable Revolution, my blog, will be posting a top 50 in the next few days.
My Bloody valentine are Irish. You can have U2 (giftwrapped if it helps), but we'd like to keep MBV if at all possible.
My Bloody Valentine are anglo Irish hence their inclusion. Butcher and Goodge are both English whilst Shields himself was born in the States. Now if you are talking of the 1984 line-up.