Almost as soon as the track-list for this boxset was published, the debate began as to whether all the artists deserved inclusion, or why particularly artists were omitted - having had chance to see this compilation its clear that a considerable amount of time, effort and deliberation has gone into not just the track compilation, but the packaging, the extensive liner notes written by the artists themselves (over nine thousand words of artist written sleeve notes, and archive photographs) often referencing reviews by Dave Henderson in his early 80's 'Wild Planet' column; Henderson himself penning a lengthy forward to the package - the creation of a rather special release.
Accept that you are not going to please everybody, or be enthralled with another's selection and then you will understand what an outstanding release this is.
Opening with Five Times Of Dust 'Computer Bank', initially released on cassette back in 1981; a period when anything seemed possible, the initial burst of invention that came with punk had faded - too many bands were sounding like second rate Ramones karaoke acts, or channelling their anger into the UK82 hardcore scene, but out there on the fringes artists were gaining access to cheap synths and rhythm machines, the ability to record material outside of a studio was key, and was what allowed Five Times Of Dust to create this Chris Carter inspired gem; built around a Boss Dr-Rhythm DR-55 and a Korg bass generator - its machine music but with soul, albeit a distinctly off-kilter 'Eraserhead' kind of soul.
Having inspired Five Times Of Dust its correct that Chris & Cosey are included; 'Re-Education Through Labour' first appearing on the Rough Trade released 'Trance' album in 1982, this was around the time the ex-TG pair had already recorded 'Sweet Surprise' with The Eurhythmics, itself an outstanding piece of work, though I prefer the clarity of pure Chris & Cosey, this track arcing back to the patterns of TG but also positioning itself within the emerging underground dance scene, there's something darkly constricting about the track, the layers of distorted noise rippling chaotically over a metronomic beat.
Malcolm Brown 'Sedation Strokes' was one of hundreds of cassette releases that were advertised in the back of the NME, deep within the classified section an array of bedroom musicians were offering up their works on self-dubbed C30#s for the princely sum of £1.50, there is something naively engaging about it, its primitive, a collection of assembled bursts of noise and distortion riding a solid rhythmic pattern, apparently this track was performed only once back in March 1983 and then disappeared into he void until being re-released via Vinyl On Demand in 2014.
Thomas Leer is widely remembered for his 1978 release Private Plane' via Oblique Records, a track rightly regarded as an early example of DIY indie techno - long before the term ever surfaced! Leer emerged from the Glasgow experimental scene in the early to mid-1970s, before moving to London when the punk rock scene was raging - he formed Pressure, but rapidly lost interest and fell back to his love of synthpop and Krautrock bands as evidenced here with 'Tight As Drum'.
Subsequent chart stars Blancmange are featured with 'Holiday Camp' lifted from their debut 'Irene & Mavis' EP, this 1000 copy release being starkly at odds with their later TOTP appearances.
Kevin Harrison's 'All Night Long' was part of the 'Inscrutably Obvious' set released via Cherry Red in 1981, within the sub 2mins captured there is a clear indication of quite where the likes of Factory Floor grew from, Harrison is exploring the mix of ambience and rhythm, but is doing so literally light years ahead of his time, and whilst to many his is a name not known, he remains a vital component of UK electronics.
I recall hearing British Standard Unit's cover of 'Do You Think I'm Sexy?' upon release in 1979, I remain as confused by it now as I did then; the 'group' was entirely made up and part of a project known as Hybrid Kids which released cover versions of well-known tracks; BSU was actually former Mott The Hoople keyboard player Morgan Fisher; I also recall hearing Gerry & The Holograms self-titled gem in Probe Records, Liverpool upon its 1979 release - the near Dr Who themed rhythm being enough for me to part with my £1.25 for the Absurd Records release; the track many years later being cited as one of Frank Zappa's Top 20 records, and also cited as the inspiration for New Order's 'Blue Monday' - the musical link is evident, then consider that half of Gerry & The Holograms was CP Lee of Manchester outfit Albertos Y Los Trios Paranoias and consider that conundrum yourself!
The beauty of this compilation is its success in gathering together releases that even in their day were obscure, material that would never gain a physical release in the current climate - that was down to willingness of the record buyers whose attention thrust some of the artists featured into the Futurist Chart (remember that?) and on occasion into the National Chart as were Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, here with 'Almost' the flip to their Factory Records debut 'Electricity' - whilst 'Electricity' was perfect pop 'Almost' referenced the bands affection for repetition, and organic warmth; I even find warmth within The Human League 'Being Boiled' which considering its almost icy stark crystalline sounds is bizarre - perhaps it the analogue machines used, and nesting against these chart smashes are the likes of Zorch 'Adrenalin (Return of the Elohim Pt 1)' a piece of music that slowly builds over 5mins, pulses, wisps of captured sound conjoined together during stolen studio time back in 1975 when the three musicians involved - all owners of the then brand new EMS Synthi contacted each other via yet another classified ad.
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Sea Of Wires 'Robot Dance' - the title dates it, but musically its inclusion is more than justified, and led the Sea Of Wires to future cassette releases via legendary labels including Unconventional Sounds and Snatch Tapes, who were clearly drawn to the Krautrock reference points, another being Mark Shreeve - unable to read or write music, but inspired by the sounds of Tangerine Dream, Shreeve would position himself at a synthesiser until he came up with something 'Embryo' being a perfect example, expansive, hints of influence from Jean Michel Jarre but with the dark foreboding of Bladerunner which wasn't to appear for another two years.
Disc 3 closes with Attrition 'Dead Of Night' - sadly not the full 22 min original version, however even across this 6 minute excerpt you experience the eeriness of the original, the track traversing imaginary rain sodden motorways, neon's skimming past - an ominous excursion into the minds of its creator Martin Bowers, and an early indication of quite where Attrition would take the listener over a further 30yrs as Bowers explored the then developing industrial music genre.
Disc 4 conveniently opens with Throbbing Gristle 'What A Day' from the band's classic '20 Jazz Funk Greats' - TG need no introduction, if you had even a passing thought of buying this compilation then I suggest you would most likely have at least the standard 4 TG albums within your collection already. Portion Control continue to this day - check out their 'Pure Form' album via Other Sounds, though 'Go For The Throat' included here does not really hint at the EBM/Hard Industrial sound they would arrive at.
Blah Blah Blah 'In The Army' was an improvised recording made in the Clacton living room of its creators, and was the debut release of Absurd Records; its frankly appalling, but an important release non the less.
One name straddles this entire release - Al Robertson, here with 'Dignity Of Labour' under his own guise; the track being solely crafted when an advert place in Sounds in October 1979 failed to link Robertson to similarly inspired musicians "Synthetic person seeks synthetic persons, for synthetic music" - other Robertson compositions being The Klingons 'R.A.M ' a clear 'Empire State Human' inspired pulse driven foray - though titling one of your tracks after a Human League release hardly shrouded influences in mystery; Inter City Static 'Fractured Smile' is in similar vein, further offerings from 100% Manmade Fibre 'Green For Go'and Those Little Aliens 'Sentimental', or DC3 'Eco Beat' which Robertson released through his own Synthetic Tapes label back in 1980.
Cherry Red have crafted a comprehensive release that allows us the luxury of being able to revisit a vital period in music development, a time of cultural expansion, when the use of developing technology allowed the realisation of ideas to materialise; 35yrs later - the vast majority of the tracks included continue to challenge, and even continue to light torches for others to follow.
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