Year Zero's mission was launched in November 2009 with legendary punk act X-Ray Spex's Live @ The Roundhouse London 2008 CD/DVD release, a document telling the story of the one-night-only reunion show to celebrate the 30-year anniversary of their Germ Free Adolescence album. With Year Zero's aim being to join the dots of varying musical strands, from punk to electronica to reggae and everything in-between, subsequent releases have included two volumes of the compilation series, Bustin' Out, subtitled New Wave to New Beat. Accompanied by striking visual artwork from Killing Joke album designer Mike Coles plus sleeve notes from legendary hedonistic journalist Kris Needs, the series charts the groundbreaking post punk and electronic movement of the '80s, featuring classic tracks by artists ESG, Gary Numan, Afrika Bambaataa, Bush Tetras, 23 Skidoo and more. Another series of reissues celebrates the legendary Wau! Mr Modo label started by renowned producer Youth and The Orb's Alex Paterson: Sound Iration's seminal 1989 dub landmark, In Dub, (released with a second disc of unreleased material) and a label retrospective mixed by Paterson.
"...an exhilarating glance at the overlooked link between explosive punk and icy synth pop." -- BBC Music (on Bustin' Out)
"...a wonderful artefact." -- Record Collector (on X-Ray Spex)
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viewing 1 To 16 of 16 items
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YZLDD 007CD
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Subtitled: A History Of New York's Musical Melting Pot Vol. 1 (1945-59). Legendary journalist Kris Needs' frighteningly-ambitious project aims to capture the fast-vanishing magic of New York City, documenting major musical landmarks and developments, decade by decade over a series of double-CD sets. The first volume focuses on the 1940s and 1950s, setting the scene for a further five sets, straddling the '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s and 2000s, each accompanied by a 72-page book containing the relevant musical and social history, artist biographies, illustrations and Needs' own stories and recollections of the city that once never slept. For some local perspective and occasional advice on inclusions, Needs pesters names he has encountered during his 35 years as a writer, starting with Suicide's Martin Rev. For the covers, he applies the graffiti techniques he picked up in New York in the early '80s. The first volume includes jazz giants such as Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus, Cozy Cole, Horace Silver, Miles Davis and Thelonius Monk, mambo king Machito, the burgeoning activism-fired folk and blues movements represented by Pete Seeger and the Almanac Singers, Harry Belafonte, Josh White, Dave Van Ronk, New Lost City Ramblers, Allen Ginsberg heading up the Beats, John Cage and Raymond Scott the avant garde and Cab Calloway the Harlem street-slicker, before Big Joe Turner ushers in the rock 'n' roll revolution along with Clyde McPhatter, Drifters and the Honeycones. Singing the blues are Danny "Run Joe" Taylor, Sonny Terry and Big Maybelle. The female singers which the city became renowned for are beautifully represented by Nina Simone, Faye Adams and Billie Holiday, while the mighty cavalcade of vocal groups who, for many, define New York City, include the Paragons, Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers, Five Satins and The Embers. Explains Needs, who compiled and annotated two volumes of the highly-successful Dirty Water: The Birth Of Punk Attitude: "There hasn't really been a project which brings together all the different ingredients in New York City's musical melting pot as they happened in parallel scenes and neighborhoods since the war. The sets will aim to reflect the different forms of music which gestated in local scenes, often before exploding onto the world stage; jazz, folk, mambo, rock 'n' roll, soul, avant garde, psychedelia, electronic, punk, hip-hop, disco, electro, house and post-punk."
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YZLDV 007LP
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2LP version, featuring 25 out of 32 tracks from the 2CD.
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YZL 009CD
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Veteran DJ Mike Maguire's spectacular series chronicling the seismic developments in electronic-based music reaches 1984 on its fourth volume, another stellar collection packed with musical milestones. It's often widely assumed that 1984 was something of a calm-before-the-storm doldrums period in music as acid house loomed on the horizon. Synthesized music was indeed progressing wildly, hurried along by developments such as hip-hop now trading session bands for drum machines and proto-samplers, while electro-derived beats underpinned the late '70s disco form to create a dancefloor mutant called boogie. Upgrading electronic tools were affording pioneers and industrial movements new methods to venture into back alleys and darker corners, where sex, anger or psychotic imbalance funnelled through the wide open circuits. Out of the sheer volume of material, Mike has deftly woven an exotic snapshot blend of 1984's titanic deluge, focusing predominantly on the maverick darker side with trailblazing outings such as the Flowerpot Men's coruscating "Jo's So Mean To Josephine," Cabaret Voltaire's future-disco masterwork "Sensoria," Factory band Section 25's enigmatic classic "Looking From A Hilltop," Youth and Ben Watkins' cinematic Empty Quarter project and former Yello synth-wizard Carlos Peron with one of his early solo outings. 1984 was also a revolutionary year for the U.S. dance music underground, represented here by Strafe's epochal party-starting percolator "Set It Off" and Jesse Saunders' "On And On," often credited with being the first manifestation of Chicago's upcoming house music explosion. As with previous volumes, Mike continues to chart the progress of the industrial movement, itself enjoying a pivotal year when Front 242 launched their electronic body music movement with tracks such as the epic "Commando Mix" from their No Comment album. The set also features harsh, sonically-innovative missives from Australia's Severed Heads and Canada's Skinny Puppy. One feature of the series being maintained is the reappearance of important, even under-rated, artists from previous sets, including Anne Clark's "Our Darkness," Adrian Sherwood and the mighty Dub Syndicate with "The Show Is Coming." There was revolution crackling in the air in 1984 and Mike Maguire has again done an inimitable job of bottling it. Extensive sleeve notes written by legendary journalist Kris Needs.
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YZLDD 010CD
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Such was the response from press and public to Kris Needs' Dirty Water: The Birth Of Punk Attitude that he's filling the bathtub again with another riotous selection of proto-punk scorchers, garage band delights and seminal figures who either revolutionized a movement or upset their chosen apple-cart; all filling the arteries which would explode in 1976 and change the world. This new set casts its net even wider than the first, corralling sonic marauders such as Germany's Faust, New York's willfully shambolic Godz, George Clinton's barrier-trampling Parliament, original folk activist Woody Guthrie and deathly '60s electronic trailblazers United States Of America. As before, the set stretches back to primitive rock 'n' roll's early salvos, including Bo Diddley and Johnny Thunders' favorite Eddie Cochran, plus the hot-wired tremors of seminal UK outfits such as Kilburn And The High Roads, Doctors Of Madness, Stack Waddy, Hammersmith Gorillas and the Edgar Broughton Band. New York City is represented by Patti Smith, Blondie, the mighty Jayne County, demented Holy Modal Rounders and Dizzy Gillespie, representing the be-bop movement which flame-blasted cool jazz's rigid trouser-seat, leaving a wide open orifice for the raw, spiritual anarchy of Albert Ayler. Needs also exercises his long-standing fixation with obscure, unhinged '60s U.S. garage-psych with the Misunderstood, Zachary Thaks, Human Expression and high-energy Detroit garage bands Unrelated Segments and Tidal Waves. Reggae's huge influence is acknowledged with righteous cuts from Tapper Zukie and Junior Murvin. The most singled-out artists on the first volume were New York doowoppers The Silhouettes, Flamin' Groovies and Detroit's Death, so they're here again, as are Mott The Hoople in their later phase and untouchable Suicide (whose Martin Rev was an invaluable sounding-board for the project, along with Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie). David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust also makes an appearance, as does Aylesbury lunatic John Otway. The two CDs sport 39 sizzling nuggets in all, again accompanied by a 76-page book, in which Needs explains his reasons for including tracks. This time, Needs feels that the project gets closer to an aural version of Zigzag, the crucial fanzine he edited in the '70s; one reason the set is dedicated to Captain Beefheart, who sadly passed away while it was being compiled, and represented by the blues roar of "Zigzag Wanderer."
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YZLDV 010LP
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2LP version, pressed on 180 gram vinyl. Includes a full-color insert with photo and features 19 tracks from the 2CD version. Artists: Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band, The Human Expression, Death, Patti Smith, Bo Diddley, David Bowie, Mott The Hoople, Doctors Of Madness, Flamin Groovies, Blue Cheer, The Misunderstood , The Zakary Thaks, MC5, Blondie , The United States Of America, Junior Murvin, Rudements and Vice Creems.
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YZLDD 008CD
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There have been many punk collections over the years, and former ZigZag fanzine editor Kris Needs possesses most of them; so, when it came to compiling his own, he decided to avoid the predictable, except where totally warranted. Although featuring names without whom such a compilation should never be, the set also highlights less-likely candidates through their influence, attitude or sheer courage in the face of adversity. After starting with two quintessential garage-punk bands, The Standells and The Seeds, the album approaches the punk spirit as a way of making music or conveying a message by any means necessary, which makes Harlem's Last Poets prime candidates for laying a hip-hop template in 1970 with their first album. Around the same time, downtown in Washington Square Park, David Peel & The Lower East Side were delivering stoner street anthems which could only be captured by a live recording. Kris' lifelong New York obsession continues with the untouchable New York Dolls, senses-shattering electronic punks Suicide, plus two of their influences in Silver Apples and vocal group The Silhouettes. The Dictators show how their degenerate raunch influenced The Ramones. The Deviants were at the forefront of the UK's 1967 countercultural revolution, like the UK's answer to America's Fugs, MC5 or Mothers Of Invention when it came to forging a new society and playing free concerts, before handing the baton to Pink Fairies. 1970s UK proto-punk is represented by Jook, Third World War and The Sensational Alex Harvey Band's sinister, cinematic missives, while the rarest tune (on CD for the first time) is the Hollywood Brats' storming treatment of The Kinks' "I Need You." The oldest track has to be "Blue Jean Bop" by Gene Vincent, the original black leather man. Other artists include: Mott The Hoople, Dr. Feelgood, Peter Hammill, Can, T. Rex, The Stooges, The Up, Death, Sun Ra, Red Krayola, Rocket From The Tombs, The Saints, Flamin' Groovies, Zolar X, The Monks, and Culture. The set is accompanied by extensive liner notes from Needs in a 76-page book.
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YZLDV 008LP
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2LP version, featuring 23 of the 33 tracks from the 2CD version. There have been many punk collections over the years, and former ZigZag fanzine editor Kris Needs possesses most of them; so, when it came to compiling his own, he decided to avoid the predictable, except where totally warranted. Although featuring names without whom such a compilation should never be, the set also highlights less-likely candidates through their influence, attitude or sheer courage in the face of adversity. The album approaches the punk spirit as a way of making music or conveying a message by any means necessary, which makes Harlem's Last Poets prime candidates for laying a hip-hop template in 1970 with their first album. Around the same time, downtown in Washington Square Park, David Peel & The Lower East Side were delivering stoner street anthems which could only be captured by a live recording. Kris' lifelong New York obsession continues with the untouchable New York Dolls, senses-shattering electronic punks Suicide, plus their influence with a track by vocal group The Silhouettes. The Dictators show how their degenerate raunch influenced The Ramones. The Deviants were at the forefront of the UK's 1967 countercultural revolution, like the UK's answer to America's Fugs, MC5 or Mothers Of Invention when it came to forging a new society and playing free concerts, before handing the baton to Pink Fairies. The oldest track has to be "Blue Jean Bop" by Gene Vincent, the original black leather man. Also includes an immeasurably crucial obscurity, "I Need You," by Hollywood Brats. Other artists include: Mott The Hoople, The Standells, The Saints, Dr. Feelgood, Peter Hammill, Can, The Up, Death, Sun Ra, Zolar X, The Monks, and Culture. On 180 gram vinyl, featuring a full-color glossy insert.
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YZLDV 006LP
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2LP format features the 15 rare and club-friendly cuts from the 3CD package plus a download code insert to the full album. Featuring rare and influential cuts across acid house, ambient soundscapes & dub from the W.A.U.! Mr. Modo catalog. Cover art image designed by Jimmy Cauty of sonic anarchists The KLF. Features a previously-unheard demo version of The Orb's "Little Fluffy Clouds" and an unreleased version of Zoe's "Sunshine On A Rainy Day." Includes an extensive "scrapbook" fold-out poster of original W.A.U.! cuttings from '80s and '90s music press unearthed from The Orb's personal archive.
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YZLTD 006CD
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Subtitled: The Story Of W.A.U.! Mr. Modo. Year Zero presents a deluxe 3CD package telling the comprehensive story of the iconic W.A.U.! Mr. Modo label started by Alex Paterson and Killing Joke bassist, Martin "Youth" Glover that gave birth to The Orb in the late '80s. W.A.U.! Mr. Modo was the product of like-minded music freaks and lifelong friends Youth and Alex Paterson setting out to celebrate and play their part in the acid house revolution sweeping the UK in the late '80s. In the process, they became two of the most well-known and lastingly influential names to emerge from the whole movement, while the label epitomized the innocence and questing spirit of the era. The first Orb single, recorded at KLF's Transcentral squat HQ, was a homage to KISS FM., called The Kiss EP. Meanwhile, Alex and Youth started demoing a song they called "Little Fluffy Clouds" (a never-before heard version which opens this compilation). After hooking up with former Killing Joke road manager Adam Morris (aka Mr. Modo), the label became known as W.A.U.! Mr. Modo. The music started flowing freely as names including STP Twentythree, Insync, Paradise X and Lyndsey Holloday recorded there. The two CDs also feature the cream of the early W.A.U. releases; a stellar collection of half-forgotten names from the acid house archives (several featuring Alex and Youth), including STP Twentythree, Eternity, Discotec 2000, Delkom, Johnson Dean, U.N.C.L.E., Paradise X, Sun Electric, Indica All Stars, Mystic Knights, Insync, Sound Iration and Zoe, with "Sunshine On A Rainy Day," one of the label's biggest hits. The recordings here can now be considered the acid house equivalent of Alan Lomax's blues field recordings or compilations of DIY bedroom punk; snapshots of seminal moments in musical history. In many ways, acid house was like punk rock all over again; like that movement, Youth and Alex were again in the thick of it but soon out front, leaders of the field within a very short time. This is where it all started. To accompany this celebration of the label, this must-have, collector's package includes a fold-out scrapbook poster of press cuttings from the time unearthed from Paterson's personal archive as well as iconic cover art from Jimmy Cauty. Includes a bonus DJ mix CD mixed by The Orb.
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YZDV 003LP
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Originally released in 1989, Sound Iration In Dub (YZDD 003CD) spearheaded a new age in homegrown British reggae, continuing a mission started by Nick Manasseh and Scruff which pioneered what became UK steppers. This second vinyl format brings together the seven tracks originally intended for the follow-up plus demos and unreleased mixes from the In Dub album, plus extra cuts not featured on the CD issue -- "King Of Kings" & "King Version" and the highly sought-after original instrumental version of "Seventh Seal," originally released on the Mystic Red label in 1988. Mastered at Master & Servant in Germany and pressed on 180 gram deluxe double vinyl.
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YZL 005CD
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This is the third installment in veteran DJ Mike Maguire's sparkling, ongoing series chronicling the seismic developments in electronic-based music through the often misrepresented 1980s. Following the post-punk foragings of volume one and the follow-up which captured the global groundswell of excitement as electronic music came into its own, the microscope now falls on 1983, when the fallout from the previous year's "Planet Rock" spawned electro-funk in tandem with the emerging hip-hop and graffiti cultures, while electronic developments started infiltrating many more stratas of new music, whether disco, punk or even mainstream. Steering clear of the obvious route, the set kicks off with electro-punk poetess Anne Clark from Croydon, proceeding with an atmospheric mix of legendary film director-composer John Carpenter's theme to Assault On Precinct 13, before hitting New York City's boiling electro scene with Special Request's "Salsa Smurf" and later the Jonzun Crew's "We Are The Jonzun Crew," while Downtown is represented by Liquid Liquid's "Optimo." New York's clubs also massively influenced New Order, as beautifully shown on their Power, Corruption And Lies album, represented here by the grand melancholy of "Your Silent Face," while San Francisco's innovative electronic movement is represented by Twilight 22 (formed by Stevie Wonder's former synth programmer Gordon Bahary). Rather than focusing entirely on U.S. developments, the set carries on its tradition of exploring Europe's often darker use of new technology, including Belgium's Front 242 and The Neon Judgement, Denmark's Laid Back with the enigmatic electro of "White Horse," German goth-punks Xmal Deutschland, while Koto's dub of "Chinese Revenge" spotlights the burgeoning Italo disco movement. Another standout track comes from German synth duo The Unknown Cases, fronted by legendary former Traffic percussionist Reebop Kwaku Baah on the rousing Afro-electro of "Masimba Bele." After such a potent, multi-strained hotbed, the UK's Cocteau Twins make the perfect finale with "Sugar Hiccup." 1983 was as unpredictable as it was exciting, with musical boundaries blurring all the time and club land on fire with the oddest anthems. At the time, the word buzzing around New York summed everything up: fresh. Same goes for this latest gem to appear in this wonderful series, telling the whole story in the celebratory spirit of that amazing era. Extensive sleeve notes written by legendary journalist Kris Needs. Artwork by Mike Coles (Malicious Damage).
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YZL 002CD
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Bustin' Out -- New Wave To New Beat: The Post Punk Era 1979-1981 is an often-startling picture of the no-holds-barred musical ructions which sprang up after punk's scorched earth revolution. The music termed post-punk is well-represented in many of its diverse strains by some of its prime movers. Compiler Mike Maguire has made a rigid stand against being pigeon-holed throughout his 30-year DJing career, spreading the message that no sound or genre should be compartmentalized. This multi-hued set, the first in the New Wave To New Beat series, is a fine testimony to this ethos, encompassing anything from Gary Numan's austere electronic pop on "Replicas," through 23 Skidoo's atmospheric tribal boogie on "The Gospel Comes To New Guinea," to the scrabbling, guitar-driven pop of Josef K. What happens elsewhere defies blanket description, as every track charts a different musical seam which, invariably, proved highly influential. Killing Joke's radical, apocalyptic approach was often cited as a massive influence on anyone from Nirvana to industrial bands, but also incorporated dub reggae and New York dance music, as evidenced by 1979's "Almost Red." The set also shows how later musical movements germinated in the new technology around this time, especially in the hands of electronic protagonists like former Throbbing Gristle duo Chris & Cosey, who pillaged the new sampling possibilities and predated techno with their use of proto-electro pulses, as illustrated by "Heartbeat," from their 1981 debut album. Or Belgium new beat pioneers Front 242, whose "Body To Body" sounds like a spooked house music prototype. New York was also leading the world at this time, particularly the legendary ZE label, which embodied the multi-genred melting pot of disco, punk, reggae and Latin they called "mutant disco." The label is represented here by Lizzy Mercier Descloux's infernal treatment of Arthur Brown's 1968 hit "Fire" and Bill Laswell's Material with "Bustin' Out," his first major dancefloor statement before going on to become a world-renowned producer. Another side of the city is presented by quintessential downtown NY post punk/no wave outfit Bush Tetras and their debut single, "Too Many Creeps," while visionary musician-producer Arthur Russell flies the wigged-out disco flag under his Loose Joints banner on the Larry Levan-remixed "Is it All Over My Face." The set also illustrates how the disparate post-punk spirit captured the rest of the world with the Kraftwerkian "Cracked Mirror" from Vancouver's Moev, Germany's No More with deadpan electronic classic "Suicide Commando" and San Francisco's avant-punk Tuxedomoon, providing one of the set's most grippingly-complex outings. Meanwhile, Melbourne duo Dead Can Dance match Lisa Gerrard's spooky vocals with Brendan Perry's subterranean atmospherics on their 1981 Frontiers demo. All perfect examples of how music had moved on since 1977's spring clean, trampling fences like a herd of elephants during this exciting, unpredictable time. Includes extensive sleeve notes written by Kris Needs, with artwork by Mike Coles (Malicious Damage). Housed in special (carbon neutral) digi-packaging.
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YZ 001CD
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Seminal punk band X-Ray Spex release a special live CD/DVD recorded at a 2008 sell-out concert at The Roundhouse through new future noise music imprint Year Zero. X-Ray Spex's first live outing since 1979, this performance of their classic album Germ Free Adolescents saw Poly Styrene and bassist Paul Dean joined by friends Sid Truelove (anarcho-punk drummer with Rubella Ballet and Flux Of Pink Indians), Gt. Saxby (former guitarist with Arnold, signed to Creation Records and Poptones) and Flash (sax player formerly with Rip Rig & Panic, Jah Wobble, Don Cherry and The Slits) at London's Roundhouse in front of 3,000 raucous fans. In 1976, X-Ray Spex were formed by Poly Styrene placing an ad in NME and Melody Maker for "Young Punx Who Want To Stick It Together." For a generation sifting through the wreckage left by punk rock, X-Ray Spex truly turned our world day-glo. The combination of tough, razor sharp riffs, kooky sax lines and Poly Styrene's wonderful voice and genius lyrics tearing into plastic consumerist society were perfect. Their 1978/1979 stay was all too brief -- a handful of memorable hit singles: "Oh Bondage Up Yours!" then "The Day The World Turned Day-Glo" followed by the anthemic "Identity" with its genius B-side "Let's Submerge," and the more atmospheric "Germ Free Adolescents" before the final spring 1979 release of "Highly Inflammable." Versions of all these songs are featured here, alongside previously-unreleased new track "Bloody War." X-Ray Spex transcended punk, influencing a whole new scene of indie kids and post-Riot Grrrl rockers like Yeah Yeah Yeahs and The Gossip. The band's innate genius and brilliant songwriting makes them as relevant now as they were then and they are the rarest of things -- a group that has never dated. Also includes an edited version of Poly Styrene's as-yet unpublished Diary Of The 70s. Housed in a special hard-case digi-book packaging. NTSC Region 0 DVD format; approx. running time: 66 minutes.
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YZDD 003CD
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Released in 1989, Sound Iration In Dub spear-headed a new age in homegrown British reggae, continuing a mission started by Nick Manasseh and Scruff" which pioneered what became "UK steppers." They were among the first producers to pioneer what's now known as '80s digi-dub, which has become so sought-after by today's dubstep producers. Swapping drum machines and synths for real instruments, they created an awesome sound. This is exemplified on this important debut release. First in a series of reissues drawn from both WAU!'s roots reggae and house archives, the original album presents eight beautiful excursions into deepest roots in embroidered skeleton dub form, which has lost none of its magic. Tracks like "New Style" turned the London take on pure reggae rhythm into a different kind of art form with the new technology coming in, but the album is also a reminder of reggae before it lost much of its richness and spiritual current through digitalization. The second CD will be of particular interest, featuring seven tracks originally intended for the follow-up, plus demos and one-off dub plates including the much sought-after "7th Seal" and unreleased mixes. With reggae still progressing and often in danger of ignoring its spiritual heritage, new generations still continue to discover the unique, timeless quality of roots music. The reissue of this long-feted but much sought-after milestone is timely indeed. With the previously-unreleased material, it stands as a vital document of a crucial time in the music's evolution. Extensive sleeve notes written by Kris Needs.
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YZL 004CD
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Bustin' Out 1982: New Wave To New Beat Volume 2 is the second installment in veteran DJ Mike Maguire's fascinating new mission aimed at charting the groundbreaking developments in electronic-based music through the '80s. The set kicks off in Germany with Düsseldorf's proto-industrial electronic body music exponents, Die Krupps and the 6-minute 12" version of "Goldfinger," their irreverent take on electronically-cultivated pop music. Klein & MBO's unadulterated dancefloor classic "Dirty Talk" marked the blueprint for the oncoming house revolution. The importance of the trio of New York acts contained in this collection is inestimable. South Bronx sisters ESG, who opened Manchester's Hacienda, remained above pigeonholing, influencing everything from hip-hop to house. The second monolithic Big Apple outing is "Hip Hop Be Bop" by Man Parrish, whose ingenious welding of Kraftwerk robo-sonics and European synth-pop sounds were a crossover club sensation. Thirdly is "Planet Rock" by Afrika Bambaataa and Soul Sonic Force, who crafted the first hip-hop record to use a drum machine, setting the electronic rhythm beast loose in hip-hop, paving the way for electro and bringing a unifying house music sensibility to the party. Gary Numan is represented by "Music For Chameleons," displaying a more mature, haunted city style than earlier outings. Ex-Throbbing Gristle duo Chris & Cosey are present here, with the popping proto-electro of "Impulse," as well as Belgium's new-beat pioneers Front 242 whose "U-Men" is possibly the rarest item on display here. Meanwhile Mark Stewart, who by 1982 had left Bristol social agitators The Pop Group, released the Jerusalem EP which featured the bleak alien dub-funk of "Welcome To Liberty City," a suitably unsettling backdrop for his wired urban reportage. This is neatly followed by Dub Syndicate's "Pounding System." A more avant-jazz flavored other-worldliness, even foreshadowing dubstep, continues with Benjamin Lew and Steve Brown, and Shriekback are represented here with their rousing funk chant of "My Spine Is My Bassline," as well as Colourbox with their 4AD debut "Breakdown." Another serious master-stroke is the inclusion of South London's infamous Portion Control, whose fearsome brand of "electro punk" is represented by "Fiends." The set ends with the hugely-influential but obscure Pylon, from Athens, Georgia. "Four Minutes" was the B-side of the 12" version of their Beep single, heaving through a crashing, alien dronescape, making a suitably unorthodox finale for this rather fine summation of a year when blips on the musical radar often assumed depth charge proportions. Extensive sleeve notes written by Kris Needs in a full-color 24-page booklet. Artwork by Mike Coles (Malicious Damage). Housed in special (carbon neutral) 3-panel digi-packaging.
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