Various – 80s Underground Cassette Culture Volume 1 (Contort
Yourself)
Double Vinyl
18 September 2017
18 September 2017
8 / 10
Glaswegian record label release compilation of alternative
synth tracks from the 80s.
This is no ordinary 80s compilation, nor is it just another synth/electro
compilation, make no doubt that this is something that will make your skin
crawl and your toes curl. This is the
epitome of alternative and experimental scenescapes containing industrial and
minimalist rarities that will delight and disturb.
If you’re a fan of Steve Barker and his On The Wire show
(why wouldn’t you be?) or, obsessed with On U-Sound (surely everybody is?) then
this new compilation from Contort Yourself could be right up your virtual street. Two vinyl albums containing twenty-one tracks
which is nothing short of enthralling with artists that, to be frank, there is
every likelihood you will never have heard of before. There is probably good reason for your lack
of knowledge, you will have heard very little of the composers unless you are a
fan, and maybe the likes of Merzbow or Doxa Sinistra ring a vague bell in your
grey matter but nothing else.
Opener, Assassins by East End Butchers probably sets the
tone for what is to come perfectly.
Sounding like a cross between Fast Products era Human League and Nine
Inch Nails’ The Downward Spiral, it jutters and staggers along with a spoken
word vocal and an out of sync ‘beating’ sound that evokes emotions of some cult
horror movie.
Throughout, the albums clearly display artists who had an
idea (maybe sometimes not), a tape recorder and basic instruments that enabled
them to make noise. Whether that noise
is interpreted as music is up to the individual but its influence on more commercially
successful tracks of the time is clear to see.
Maybe in some backroom studio the likes of Mark Stewart or Adrian
Sherwood might have heard an excerpt of the hypnotic Myths of Seduction & Betrayal
by PCR or the incredible reverbed Tribal Moment from Urbain Autopsy & K…,
and prepared their battle plans.
It’s true, 80s Underground Cassette Culture won’t be for
everyone but listen to the bassline on ALU’s Fies Sein and deny that it doesn’t
remind you of Leftfield’s Phat Planet or even the often incomprehensible drawl
of the pioneering Underworld. Menko is
basic synth pop with that undeniable charm and Jacinthebox represent chaotic electro
punk that will shake your socks off.
By the time Muziekkamer and Dead Tech have closed side four
you have been absorbed by something rather wonderful. Head ready to burst, ears ready to bleed,
Contort Yourself have pulled off a blinder here. Listen, take a trip down the memory lane that
you didn’t know existed and, be impressed.
No comments:
Post a Comment