Collected Thoughts

Coming back to these end of year reviews, I was surprised at how many compilations I've bought in the last 12 months, both single and various artist collections. 

 

This is some - but not all - of the 2023 releases I'd recommend for further listening, ordered by title.

Broken Hearts & Messed Up Minds - The Remix Album: D:Ream

 

I'll be honest, I wasn't that bothered by D:Ream back in the 1990s. In fact, the only single that I bought of theirs was Unforgiven and that only because of the Leftfield remixes on the CD single. However, I really liked 2021 single Meet Me At Midnight and this prompted me to check out Open Hearts Open Minds, their first album in a decade. 

 

Broken Hearts & Messed Up Minds is a 21-track behemoth of a remix compilation, featuring versions by Justin Robertson, Pete Bones, Leo Zero, Pete Herbert, Rich Lane, Dan Wainwright...too many to mention, really, and all excellent. If pushed to pick a favourite, it would have to be the brace of remixes by Hardway Brothers Meet Monkton Uptown aka Sean Johnston and Duncan Gray.

 

 

 

Culture Bunker 1978-82: The Teardrop Explodes

 

June saw the long-promised box set compiling singles, B-sides, rarities, outtakes, demos and live performances. Incredibly, given the previous deep mining of The Teardrop Explodes' relatively brief existence on expanded editions of their two albums and other collections, this set boasted over 50 previously unreleased versions. Most of these were retrieved from cassettes in Julian Cope's archive and therefore aren't high end quality recordings but that's the only thing about this package that isn't top notch. 

 

My budget wouldn't stretch to the 7LP vinyl edition so I went for the 6CD version, which boasts more tracks in total and is no less beautiful and artifact. Housed in a 10" slip case, with a separate wallet for the individually sleeved and titled CDs, you also get a lavishly illustrated book featuring lengthy musings by Mick Houghton. And of course, the music is fantastic, whether the sublime single version of Bouncing Babies, a 1979 performance of Beauty Comes Second at the Trinity in Bristol or Cope and David Balfe's 1982 demo of Count To Ten And Run For Cover. Worth every penny.

 

 

FSOLdigital Presents 2023: The Future Sound Of London

They've been going for much longer, but I started getting Brian Dougans and Garry Cobain's 'FSOL calendar' during lockdown in 2020 and I've returned to FSOLdigital each year since. You pay upfront and a track drops each month, gradually creating a 12-track compilation of roughly an hour's duration.

All of the music is exclusive, some of it created in-year, some of it from the archives and under their numerous aliases and guises. Unusually, all but one of this year's 'calendar' pieces has been by The Future Sound Of London, with November's offering being a brand new track by Humanoid. The final track will be released on 31st December before the cycle starts all over again in 2024. For a disparate set of songs drip-fed through the year, the end results make for a satisfying complete album and listening experience. 

 

You can buy this calendar (and previous years) via Bandcamp and the FSOLdigital shop, but stick with the latter if you want to get in early on FSOLdigital Presents 2024.

 

Gateway Mechanics: Live Electronic Sound: GLOK 

Gutted though I was to miss experiencing Andy Bell doing his thing as GLOK in person a couple of months ago, I could at least retreat into the session that he performed for Electronic Sound magazine in June 2022 and released as an album at the end of September. Spanning the two albums Andy has released under his psychedelic, space-faring non de plume, it's 45 minutes of sheer sonic bliss.

 

Heavenly Remixes 7 & 8: Various Artists 

Like the D:Ream remix compilation, it's almost impossible to pick out a favourite. I went for the 2-CD, 21-track edition and each one is packed full with quality tunes. 

 

David Holmes is well represented. There are two remixes of It's Over, If We Run Out Of Love, his superb single with Raven Violet, by Hardway Bros (Sean Johnston again) followed by Lovefingers & Heidi Lawden. Unloved, who enjoyed a great 2023 in their own right with the Polychrome mini-album and remix EP, get the treatment here from Horse Meat Disco and Black Science Orchestra aka Ashley Beedle.

The standout for me, which I already owned but shines so brightly on this compilation is You Won't Be The Same (Dub) It's a stunning 10-minute bass-driven workout by Dan Carey, soaring synths and tinkling keys and clanging guitar chords, which originally appeared on the 2015 Join The Dubs EP by TOY.

 

One of the reasons why, in my opinion, Heavenly has continued to be such a brilliant label.

 

 

Jezebellearic Beats Volume 1: Jezebell

Jezebell is Jesse Fahnestock and Darren Bell, who only started releasing music in November 2021 but in that time have amassed a mightily impressive catalogue of original music, re-edits and remixes. Jezebellearic Beats is the culmination of that, compiling 20 songs into a sweeping yet tightly sequenced double album. And it's being released on vinyl in 2024, so we're talking about a 'proper' double album here.

 

You may be spotting a theme, but I really can't pick a favourite track though more because Jezebellearic Beats works so brilliantly as an album to listen to in a single sitting. Music spotters will delight in the little gems that Jesse and Darren drop into their music, e.g. I'm certain that their re-edit of Kajagoogoo slips in a bit of bass from Dissidents by Thomas Dolby. But the point is, whether you find things or not, their care and attention to detail does not in the least detract from making music that moves you, both physically and emotionally.

I bought the digital album in August and forked out again when the vinyl edition was announced without hesitation. As an added reward for the latter, you get an bonus 2-hour mix by Jesse and Darren of the entire compilation which is a thing of beauty in it's own right, plus an exclusive new track A Dangerous Side, which won't get a separate release. At the time of posting, there were only 9 copies of the vinyl album left for pre-order, so I'd get in quick if I were you. And the new song demonstrates that the compilation's 'Volume 1' suffix is not an overambitious claim.

 

 

 

Live At Red Rocks Amphitheatre 2023: King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard

 

I'm a relative newcomer to King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard and I've dipped my toe in with a couple of their releases on Bandcamp, the Willoughby's Beach EP from 2011 and last year's remix companion Butterfly 3001. There are lots of live compilations available too and whilst I was drawn to Live At Red Rocks '22 and it's jaw-droppingly VFM 86 songs for 20 Australian Dollars (just over a tenner in British currency), I also baulked at the sheer volume of music for an uninitiated listener.

Instead, I hopped over to the Internet Archive and found their Red Rocks set from June 2023. They played three shows: one on 7th June, followed by two shows (early and late) the next day. I went for the latter two, collectively coming in at three hours and forty minutes. I've no idea if either contains any "hits" but the music certainly hits hard, heavy motorik grooves and distorted vocals that alternate between screeching and melodic. Nearly half the set averages 10-15 minutes, with some 'shorter' songs interspersed. Listen to just one of the sets and you'll be fully baked by the end. Stick a fork in my ass and turn me over, I'm done.

 

 

Official Bootleg 006, 007 & 008: The The

 

Whilst The The is gearing up for a world tour in 2024 and the promise of a new, full-band, non-soundtrack album, their official website has been steadily releasing a series of 'Official Bootleg' CDs for ten quid a pop in the past few years.

There were three releases in 2023: 006 features a live TV set (and 'backchat') from 1995; 007 leaps forward five years with a live set from the Naked Self tour in Germany; the recently released 008 goes back to a set from 1989's The The Versus The World tour. Many of these have been available before as unofficial bootlegs but the clean up quality is great and whilst there are no extensive liner notes and sketchy detail about the source of some of the material, as a listening experience they do not disappoint.

 

See Through You Rerealized: A Place To Bury Strangers

I've written about this album previously, an on spec purchase with little knowledge of A Place To Bury Strangers history and recorded music. It turned out to be a spot on purchase, not just for the recognisable artists such as Trentemøller, Xiu Xiu, Sonic Boom. It also introduced me to several artists who were new to me - GIFT, Grimoose and bdrmm - whose I've since discovered and enjoyed. The remix that drew me in and which remains the highlight for me is (no surprise, perhaps) by GLOK aka Andy Bell at his most brooding and sinister.

 

 

Smalltown Supersound Remix Anthology Vol. 1-4 2002-2022: Various Artists 

This was a no-brainer, really. 

 

Previously released separately (well, volumes 1-3 at least), the digital version of the combined 4-volume set offers 40 tracks for a mere ten US dollars. Bjørn Torske, Prins Thomas, The Orb, Joe Goddard, Ricardo Villalobos, Laurel Halo remixing Neneh Cherry, Lindstrøm, Carmen Villain and Kelly Lee Owens featuring John Cale...mightily impressive from start to end.

Tucked away at the end of volume 3 is this beauty from 2015: Todd Rundgren, Emil Nikolaisen and Hans-Peter Lindstrøm remixed by Stereolab (Tim Gane) and The High Llamas (Sean O'Hagan).

 

 

Stax Uncovered! Written In Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos - A Mojo Sampler: Various Artists

 

I wouldn't normally include a cover-mounted CD with a music magazine but Mojo really delivered the goods with this 15-track sampler of the mammoth 7CD, 146-track compilation of the same name released in June this year. Budgetary constraints mean that the 'parent' compilation won't be on my shopping list so Mojo magazine's primer is an excellent distillation of some fantastic songs on a fantastic label. 

Every one a winner, though a special mention for Mack Rice's run through of Respect Yourself and the sizzling Too Much Sugar For A Dime by Bettye Crutcher.

 

tici taci Decade Volumes 1-4: Various Artists

I wish I could say I had my finger on the pulse and got in on Duncan Gray's tici taci label back in 2013. Sadly not but these four collections, each spanning 2-3 years and featuring tracks not previously available on Bandcamp, do a superb job of summing up the incredible quality of releases in the past decade. Impossible to refer to this music without mentioning 'chug', 'compelling', 'propulsive' and 'infectious' as ways in which the music gets inside you and carries you along.

An impressive roster of artists over the years, including Tronik Youth, Rude Audio and Dan Wainwright, Rich Lane, Peza and Tim Dorney, though Duncan Gray's own work sets the bar high throughout.

  

I also bought a fair few compilations this year that were released prior to 2023. I'll probably come back to them in separate posts next year.