Not Too Late for 1988

For a very long time, I considered the year that I was born a kind of musical wasteland. I mean, just look at the Billboard charts for 1988. Music then was just cheesy, artificial, mind-numbing -- and not in a fun way, either.

So I went on a journey to the center of 1988. Beneath the horrors of the mainstream, was there anything worth salvaging?

Quite a bit, it turns out! 1988 was a prime year for UK's Sarah Records and NZ's Flying Nun Records; my mix delivers a heady mix of both. Meanwhile, in the USA, The Go-Betweens and Talking Heads release their final albums. In accordance with the circle of life, another sensation is born when The Pixies debut with "Surfer Rosa."


Rebecca's 1988 Mix

1. The Field Mice - Fabulous Friend

2. The Poppyheads - Pictures You Weave

3. 14 Iced Bears - Come Get Me

4. Another Sunny Day - Anorak City

5. The Sea Urchins - Solace

6. The Golden Dawn - My Secret World

7. Bailter Space - The Today Song

8. The Dead Milkmen - Life is Shit

9. The Go-Betweens - Love Goes On!

10. The Bats - Time to Get Ready

11. The Chills - Wet Blanket

12. The Springfields - Sunflower

13. The Orchids - I've Got a Habit

14. Yo La Tengo - Alyda

15. Pixies - Where Is My Mind?

16. Straitjacket Fits - Telling Tales

17. Talking Heads - Nothing But Flowers

Download the mix here!

Other bright spots in 1988: The Proclaimers concoct the perfect one-hit-wonder-hit; everybody knows that Leonard Cohen is our man; Jesus and Mary Chain release an extensive collection of B-sides; Camper van Beethoven blend genres like nobody's business; and George Harrison and the Beach Boys sneak guilty pleasures onto the charts.

All in all, not too shabby. Hopefully, kids born in 2010 can look past Ke$ha, as I looked past Tiffany, and find the sweet indie releases of these years.