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NME Awards 2004 - Various Artists


 

Released: 2004

Label: NME

When I bought: 2004

In ye olde days before streaming, and even YouTube, it wasn't possible to hear within a matter of moments pretty much every song ever released. Therefore, compilations like this by the NME actually had a degree of value.

Take 'Paperbag Writer' by Radiohead, a b-side from 'There There', the lead single from 2003's Hail to the Thief.

I bought the album but not the single, so I'd never heard this tune. It's a brilliant track, with its electronic shuffle beat and muffled vocals making it sound like a left over from Kid A, or the starting point for Thom Yorke's debut solo album which would be released the following year.

Likewise, 'See You Soon' by Coldplay. A true delight from a 1999 EP, with delicate guitar playing, scarce production, and honest vocal delivery. It's a reminder that once upon a time Chris Martin et al were able to operate with that oft-neglected trait: restraint.

As a snapshot of the music scene in 2004, it sits at a breaking point between the post-Britpop doldrums of the UK music scene, and the rush of bands that released fantastic albums between 2004 and 2007.

The two leaders of that scene in the early days were The Libertines - represented here by a raucous live recording of 'Up The Bracket' which sounds like its going to fall apart at any moment - and Franz Ferdinand, who just a week before this CD was given away with the NME had released their soon-to-be Mercury Prize winning debut album.

This compilation also shows the sound the UK guitar scene was moving away from. Starsailor were always just a bit too milky tea, while Jet's career didn't get much further than wedding-band staple 'Are You Gonna Be My Girl' - a live version which is included here.

The cover of the album promises 'Rare and Unreleased', and perhaps it would have been better if The Thrills version of 'Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me' stayed the latter, likewise with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club struggling their way through the White Stripes 'The Hardest Button to Button'.

'Echoes' by The Rapture is no 'House of Jealous Lovers', but is a glimpse of what would later become that 'nu rave' nonsense that people got excited about for far longer than they should have done.

Unless the Chemical Brothers really went absolutely insane with their remix of Kylie Minogue's hit 'Slow', the track listing on the CD is wrong as track 12 is actually Funeral For A Friend with 'She Drove Me To Daytime Television'. Great title. Awful song. I never liked any of this "shouting-into-a-mic-over-dropped-D-tuning" bands.

The only non-indie/rock nods come from Outkast, perhaps to cash in (can you cash in with a free CD? probably not) with the release of the album being Valentine's Day 2004, and that Kylie remix which is fine, yeah, whatever.

(I've started a Spotify playlist made up of one song from each album I listen to. You can find it here. This one was tricky. I decided to go with Coldplay just because I know there's lots of Radiohead to come)

5/10

Here's the full tracklisting:

1. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - The Hardest Button To Button - Live 3:35

2. Franz Ferdinand - Michael - Live 3:25

3. Outkast - Happy Valentine's Day 5:23

4. The Libertines - Up The Bracket - BBC Radio 1 Live 2:32

5. Coldplay - See You Soon 2:48

6. Jet - Are You Gonna Be My Girl - Live 3:50

7. Radiohead - Paperbag Writer 3:57

8. The Strokes - When It Started 2:55

9. The Thrills - Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me 3:37

10. The Rapture - Echoes - Live 4:00

11. Starsailor - Hot Burrito #2 3:44

12. Funeral For A Friend - She Drove Me To Daytime Television - Live 7:15

13. Kylie Minogue - Slow - Chemical Brothers Remix 3:39

14. The Von Bondies - Save My Life - BBC Radio 1 Session 2:49

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