Various Artists: Take The Subway To Your Suburb

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Subway Organization 1986. SUBORG 1

Discogs

I have a somewhat uneasy relationship with Subway stuff.  Clearly I liked it because I bought quite a bit of it, but of all the jangly indiepop I listened to back then, this seems to have stood the test of time particularly badly.  It’s not that I dislike jangly indiepop, but Subway has a very particular sound which is starting to grate a bit.  Still, digitising all my old vinyl isn’t just about unearthing forgotten nuggets, it’s also about nostalgia.  Subway stuff makes me cringe, but it also reminds me of my late teens which is good.

This album was Subway’s first and is mostly a roundup of their roster at the time.  The Flatmates are of course represented, because guitarist Martin Whitehead ran the label.  Their stuff is mostly horribly corny and formulaic, but When I’m With You kind of works I guess.  For some reason my favourite by far is the Rosehips The Last Light.  It sounds like a demo and the singing is horribly flat, but I really like the guitar sound and the overall effect is strangely compelling.  I also have a flexi by the band which I’ll post at some point because I love it but have absolutely no idea why.   Pop Will Eat Itself who I saw play more times than I’ll admit to (because they were local) manage a couple of half decent covers – Hawkwind’s Orgone Accumulator and fellow Black Country grebos The Mighty Lemon Drops Like An Angel.  No idea what they’re doing on a Subway compilation – this is the only time they appeared on the label.

This was picked up by the Japanese in the early 90s as part of their inexplicable obsession with 80s UK indiepop so it had a Japanese CD issue too, but this is ripped from an original UK vinyl copy.

Various Artists: Good Morning Mister Presley

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Grunt Grunt A Go Go Records 1985. GGAGG 1

Discogs

In the 80s record shops groaned under the weight of indie compilation albums.  This is a rather obscure one, but consistently strong.  Most of the highlights are on side one – Marc Riley who used to be in The Fall, the always entertaining Yeah Yeah Noh with a different recording of Crimplene Seed Lifestyle (more from them another time), and what is for me is the best track English White Boy Engineer credited here to The Botha Boys who are actually The Three Johns.  The name change is just to emphasise the anti-apartheid message of the lyrics.  If you’re not up on South African history, PW Botha was the last apartheid prime minister.  The Bomb Party track is lifted from The Ray Gun EP which I’ll post another time.

The best known name is probably Microdisney who for some reason completely passed me by.

There’s not much information out there about this complilation so I don’t know how many of the tracks are exclusives, but it’s a worthwhile listen regardless.

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: Never Mind The Jacksons… Here’s The Pollocks

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Abstract 1985.  12 ABS 030

Discogs

A rare excursion into slightly gothy territory which isn’t usually my thing, but I’ve always rather liked this compilation. The Three Johns are always reliable, and the Bomb Party have a really dirty Cramps sound which works well.  It’s old enough for the New Model Army track to be worth a listen, and there’s an appearance by Five Go Down To the Sea? whose Creation 12″ I’ll post at some point.  According to discogs three of the tracks are Peel sessions, including the rather out of place Joolz spoken word piece the album ends with.

I bought this second hand and it’s a bit crackly I’m afraid.  Still, that’s vinyl for you.

Various Artists: Folds and Rhizomes for Gilles Deleuze

Various - Folds And Rhizomes For Gilles Deleuze

Sub Rosa 1995.  SR99

Discogs

The second of three tributes I have to the French philosopher Gilles Deleuze from the electronic music community (The first is here).  This one is slightly different as it was put together while he was alive as a present, but Deleuze committed suicide before the release.  The label, Sub Rosa feels a similar sense of affinity with Deleuze as Mille Plateaux, and the artists they present are similar: only Main and David Shea don’t appear on the Mille Plateaux tribute.

The title of the album refers to a philosophical concept Deleuze developed which fits well with the music presented.  It deals with the idea of culture being a complex web of inter-relationships rather than a hierarchical structure.  This makes it resilient because breaking or damaging parts of it has no impact because there are other connections linking the same places, but it also rejects the idea that you can trace culture back to a “root”.

Other than that, I can only repeat what I said last time – the music is from the intellectual end of 90s electronica, and is essential listening if you’re into that kind of thing.  All the tracks here are exclusives.

Various Artists: Monsters, Robots & Bugmen

Various - Monsters, Robots and Bugmen

Virgin Ambient 1996.  AMBT11

Discogs

Another compilation in Virgin’s superb ambient series, this one dealing with the new, at least back then, genre of post rock.  As is always the case with this series, they do a good job, although it can be a jarring listening experience because of the diversity of post rock.  In fact the sleevenotes give different possible running orders which you could use depending on your mood.  Did anyone bother?

Unusually there are no exclusives here, although most of the tracks are now unavailable 17 years after the event.  I’m surprised that I’ve posted none of the artists here before – many of them will appear later.

Highlights for me are Flying Saucer Attack, Ui, Stereolab, Labradford and Third Eye Foundation.

 

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.

 

Various Artists: Macro Dub Infection Vol 2

Various Artists - Macro Dub Infection - Volume 2 (Disc 2)

Virgin Ambient 1996.  AMBT14

Discogs

The second and final volume in the Macro Dub Infection series, again compiled by Kevin Martin.

For the general idea behind this compilation, have a look at Volume 1.

This is slightly less successful than volume 1, but still has enough great material to make it essential listening, that is, if you’re into this kind of thing. For me the most bizarre track is the last, which brings together “Bonnie “Prince” Billy and Ice (yet another Kevin Martin alias) to make an incredible futuristic dub version of a Will Oldham classic. Other stand-outs are the ever reliable Mouse on Mars, Rhys Chatham and, unsurpsingly, Martin’s own Techno Animal.

Various Artists: Macro Dub Infection Vol 1

Various - Macro Dub Infection Vol. 1

Virgin Ambient 1995.  AMBT 7

Discogs

This is another installment of Virgin’s excellent Ambient series from the 1990s.  Like Jazz Satellites, this was compiled by Kevin Martin, aka The Bug, Techno Animal amongst others.  Martin is always worth listening to; always innovative, always interesting.

There’s not much on this album you’d call dub in a traditional sense.  What it’s about is artists using dub ideas in other genres, in other words, the legacy of dub rather than dub itself.  A project like this is of course spoilt for choice given the overwhelming influence dub has had in experimental music, so the success of this compilation lies in Martin’s skill as a curator.  It spans electronica, hip-hop, jungle and even jazz, but what it all has in common is a spacey feel, thundering bass lines, and elements of the tracks, especially vocals  swinging in and out of the mix.

Standouts are Tortoise, Bedouin Ascent, Coil and Spring Heel Jack, but what makes this a great compilation is how it hangs together.

It’s a double CD ripped as though it was a very long single because it plays better that way.

Various Artists: The Bridge, A Tribute To Neil Young

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Caroline Records 1989.  CAR CD 5

Discogs

This album is from the days when tribute albums were quite a new idea, and it has a most impressive list of contributing artists; impressive enough to make it worth having for most people interested enough in music to end up reading this blog.

As is always the case, the album is less than the sum of its parts.  Sometimes it just provokes an overwhelming desire to dig out the Neil Young originals, which of course is no bad thing.  Loop for example are so faithful to the original that there doesn’t seem much point, but Bongwater take Mr Soul somewhere entirely new.  Sonic Youth, The Pixies, Dinosaur Jr and Nick Cave all contribute in ways that are entirely predictable, but they were on such great form in 1989 that predictability works here.

If you’re not familiar with Neil Young and like the songs here, you could do worse than get a compilation like Decade which has the original versions of some of these tracks.