Aztec Camera

Part of a fine tradition of Scottish indie rock acts with a knack of crafting bitter sweet melodies and smart, melancholic storytelling, Aztec Camera took Elvis Costello's jittery new wave rock and added lush acoustics and shoe-gazy pop to the mix. Led by singer songwriter Roddy Frame, the band formed in East Kilbride in 1980 and, alongside Orange Juice and Josef K, was signed to the influential Glasgow label Postcard Records before the company went bust in 1981. Signing to Rough Trade, the group became darlings of the indie scene with the albums High Land, Hard Rain (1983) and the Mark Knopfler produced Knife (1984) before they shot to Number 3 in the UK with their only major hit Somewhere In My Heart in 1988. Top 10 album Love (1987) is generally recognised as their finest moment, but they also collaborated with Mick Jones from The Clash on the single Good Morning Britain and dabbled with jangly R&B on Dreamland (1993) and Frestonia (1995) before Frame went solo in 1996.

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