by Matthieu Goody
Third Man Books (November 2022)
Selected by Pitchfork as the best music book of 2022
Available in bookstores worldwide, in Third Man Records storefronts, and directly from Thirdmanbooks.com (including a special edition featuring a poster drawn and signed by Robert Scott of The Clean and The Bats.)
Purchase: https://thirdmanrecords.com/products/needles-and-plastic-flying-nun-records-1981-1988
/"With his rewarding archive, Matt Goody details one of the most successful eras in rock music history: Flying Nun Records, founded in 1981 by Roger Shepherd in a Christchurch record store. Shepherd and his brilliant acolytes served up the legendary production of not only stalwarts like The Clean, The Chills and Tall Dwarfs, but also the best of my favorites like Able Tasmans, Bird Nest Roys, Look Blue Go Purple and The Verlaines provide the most complete presentation to this day of the rise of Flying Nun Shepherd's notebook for the international sovereignty of underground rock – and a vital part of a nation's collective art history./" — Bob Nastanovich, Pavement.
Founded in 1981 by Roger Shepherd in Christchurch, New Zealand, Flying Nun Records ignited an extraordinary musical wave that had an impact around the world. Needles and Plastic is the first comprehensive history of the early years of the label and its bands covering the critical period from 1981 to 1988, when many of the most influential and critically acclaimed artists emerged on Flying Nun, bands such as The Clean , The Chills, The Verlaines, The Bats, Look Blue Go Purple, Straitjacket Fits and Bailter Space. The influence of this obscure label became apparent in the 1990s, when well-known indie bands like Pavement, Cat Power, and Yo La Tengo began covering Flying Nun bands.
In entries on more than 140 records of “Tally Ho!” » from The Clean 7/" in 1981 to the Verlaines Bird-Dog LP in 1988, Matthew Goody tells the story through the records themselves. His book draws on years of extensive research to reveal the stories of the bands, the recordings, the songs and the audience, with contributions from a host of important people along the way – Shepherd, Chris Knox, Doug Hood, Hamish Kilgour and many others in this remarkable story of creativity and. of chaos, do-it-yourself innovation, and extraordinary attempts at world domination, Needles and Plastic tells the inside story of one of the world's largest independent music labels.
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