NEW CALEDONIA DREAMS- (PART II- 1986- 1995)

underground365

5/21/2024

NEW CALEDONIA DREAMS- (PART II- 1986- 1995)

[Ed. Note. rex apologizes. This was supposed to be the Monday posting but is out today due to a data glitch.]

Scottish Indie really took hold of me during the period of ‘86- 95.

That I made my first two trips to SCOTLAND 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 during this period probably fed into that growth.

EDWIN COLLINS rose from the ashes of the heralded ORANGE JUICE to continue recording great music.

Led by Duglas Stewart, BMX BANDITS made such great noise that KURT COBAIN of NIRVANA said if he was gong to be in any other band it would be BMX BANDITS!

There is was a fair bit of cross pollination. TEENAGE FANCLUB and SOUP DRAGONS, VASELINES and TELSTAR PONIES all shared members.

There was excellent dream pop from stalwarts like THE ORCHIDS. and BIFF BANG POW as well as CLOSE LOBSTERS.

Speaking of BIFF, member ALAN McGEE formed the highly influential CREATION RECORDS. The 1st arrival from one- time CREATION RECORDS “can’t miss” outfit JASMINE MINKS “Think!” Is still a fave. Other genius music on CREATION was delivered by THE PASTELS.

THE COCTEAU TWINS on the 4AD label were at the height of influence during this period.

Dance music started to take hold as well. THE SHAMEN rose to Indie Dance prominence for a while and ONE DOVE were transformational for me.

One band that occupied the high rent space in my mind during this period was GOYA DRESS. Their one and only LP (entitled “Rooms”) was produced by JOHN CALE, if memory serves. Unfortunately I could not locate any of their music on Spotify.

My greatest influence came in 1991 in the form of one of my all time favourite records. The seminal “SCREAMADELICA” (also on CREATION RECORDS)!changed the world of dance music for the better and forever.