C86 is a cassette compilation released by the British music magazine New Musical Express(NME) in 1986, featuring new bands licensed from independent labels of the time. As a phrase, C86 quickly evolved into shorthand for a guitar-based musical genre characterised by "jangly" guitars and fey melodies, although other musical styles were represented on the tape. It became a term of abuse for its associations with tweeness and underachievement, although some now argue that its release represents a pivotal moment for independent music in the UK

The C86 name was a play on the labelling and length of blank compact cassettes that were sold in the 80s - commonly C60, C90 and C120 - combined with 1986.

side A

1. Primal Scream - "Velocity Girl"
2. The Mighty Lemon Drops - "Happy Head"
3. The Soup Dragons - "Pleasantly Surprised"
4. The Wolfhounds - "Feeling So Strange Again"
5. The Bodines - "Therese"
6. Mighty Mighty - "Law"
7. Stump - "Buffalo"
8. Bogshed - "Run to the Temple"
9. A Witness - "Sharpened Sticks"
10. The Pastels - "Breaking Lines"
11. Age of Chance - "From Now On, This Will Be Your God"..

side B

1. The Shop Assistants - "It's Up to You"
2. Close Lobsters - "Firestation Towers"
3. Miaow - "Sport Most Royal"
4. Half Man Half Biscuit - "I Hate Nerys Hughes (From The Heart)"
5. The Servants - "Transparent"
6. The Mackenzies - "Big Jim (There's no pubs in Heaven)"
7. Big Flame - "New Way (Quick Wash And Brush Up With Liberation Theology)"
8. Fuzzbox - "Console Me"
9. McCarthy - "Celestial City"
10. The Shrubs - "Bullfighter's Bones"
11. The Wedding Present - "This Boy Can Wait"

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