The Jasmine Minks: The Jasmine Minks

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Creation 1985.  CRELP007

Discogs

The Jasmine Minks are synonymous with the early Creation sound; jangly guitars, some strong songwriting and lots of energy.  No doubt their success was helped by their association with the label, but they made some great records which helped to define early indiepop.

This was their second album and it has some great material.  Cold Heart was a single and has appeared here before, but the album is pretty consistent.

It suffers somewhat from the interferance of Alan McGee.  At his insistence, some of the original material was dropped and replaced by tracks from earlier sessions which makes the whole thing sound a bit disjointed.

Various Artists: Creation, Purple Compilation

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Creation Records 1988.  CRELP 032 CD

Discogs

Some time ago I listed Creation’s first ever CD, a compilation of early singles. It’s been one of the most popular posts, so here’s its companion release, Purple. It covers similar ground, has similar artists and is of a similar high standard. As I recall it didn’t sell nearly as well as the first one – I guess people thought one of these compilations was enough. Anyway if you liked the first one, you’ll like this one too.

Various Artists: Flowers In The Sky

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Creation Records 1988.  CRELP 028 CD

Discogs

I bought this the same day I bought my first CD player.  As I left the shop I realised I had only one CD, Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me by The Smiths – a good start but listening to one single over and over was going to drive me nuts, so I rushed out and bought this and the New Order Substance compilation.  As far as I know this was also the first CD Creation released – there are some with lower catalogue numbers, but with those the CD was issued some time after the vinyl.

Creation had a habit of putting out way too many compilation albums, usually when they were short of cash, and quality was often poor.  This one works well though.  It’s a retrospective of their early singles, although strangely the Revolving Paint Dream track it’s named after doesn’t appear.  It has the artists you’d expect – Primal Scream in their jangly phase, House Of Love & Felt, as well as forgotten gems like The Loft.  It works as a reminder of what made the label great in the first place – not that some of their later phases weren’t great too.