Various Artists: Presage (s)

Presages

4AD 1980.  BAD11

Discogs

This is a very peculiar release, not for the first time on this blog.  Like this post, it’s an extremely early 4AD release, and like The Fast Set, not much like the style they became known for, either the music or the artwork.  In fact it was 4AD’s first compilation.

What makes this odd is that all the bands on this compilation were unsigned at the time.  Only Modern English went on to become 4AD regulars – apart from that all the bands here disappeared without trace.  It has to be said that were this not on 4AD, it would be of no interest to anyone, apart from, maybe, the people appearing on it.

The music itself is somewhat experimental gothy synth based stuff and it’s really not that great.  Most bizarre, although I kind of like it, is the Red Atkins track – a 65 year old who sounds like a busker, and who, apparently is recording again.

So, this is really only for 4AD obsessives.

 

3 comments
  1. Very cool post of a very rare record. It’s not the best of that label for sure, but it’s still nice to finally hear this. Thanks!

  2. I wondered about posting this – the record itself is of course collectible, but on a blog, all you get is the music, and is that worth having on its own? There have been quite a few downloads of this, so I guess you’re not the only person interested in this curio.
    I’m not surprised it’s rare – I can’t imagine it sold well on release. I bought my copy for next to nothing second hand back in the 90s. I’ll buy anything on 4AD if it’s cheap enough.

    Cheers.

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