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Music : Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984/Compiled By Simon Reynolds
Rating: 
- A decent introduction but not the strongest track selection
For anyone interested in post punk this is a decent intro but I can't help feeling there are better tracks out there by some of the bands represented on here. And yet perhaps the compilers didn't want to play safe and go for the obvious, but I could think of about a dozen pre-fame Human League tracks worthier of inclusion than the throwaway "Dancevision". In fairness, there is the great "lost" single "Violence Grows" by Fatal Microbes which encapsulates brilliantly the shift from punk rock to a more experimental angular sound. And Cabaret Voltaire's "Sluggin Fer Jesus" was a shape of things to come in the future with it's sampled sermon by an unidentified American preacher, but they recorded better, and "Diskono" would have been my preferred selection.
I think a major omission from this compilation is Throbbing Gristle, who pioneered the "Industrial" sound and were a major influence in the next step up from Punk. And perhaps fluff like the B-52s "Give Me Back My Man" could have been ditched for something more gritty like PIL's "Careering" for example. And there's also a weak Banshees number, and Joy Division are also notable for their absence. Rather too many omissions for my liking but on the plus side there's the great John Cooper Clarke poem "Beasley Street", the north of England's answer to "Desolation Row", and the excellent Associates track "White Car In Germany".
For all it's flaws it's still a worthwhile overview of a vital era in rock music, but there's a definitive compilation of this era yet to be released, and unfortunately this isn't the one.
Rating:
- Companion compilation to last year's great book...
Simon Reynolds' 'Rip It Up & Start Again' was the best book published last year and the definitive treatment of the post-punk/new-pop story generally centred between the late Seventies and the mid-80s (& very much in vogue with bands like Interpol, Bloc Party, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Radio 4, The Rapture, Liars, Editors, Artic Monkeys, The Killers, Franz Ferdinand etc nodding that way)V2 have opted to release a compilation to tie-in with the popular book (now in paperback) which like the Soul Jazz compilation 'In the Beginning There Was Rhythm' (2001) and the Rough Trade Post Punk compilation a year or so after that, serves as an ideal primer in the era. Obviously in these times of downloading you can use the book or Reynolds' site to work out what material you're after - so you can make your own compilation if you like. This is an ideal primer and the perfect soundtrack for that excellent book - you should note that a lot of this material is now available - This Heat have reissued an LP and released a box-set, there were the Orange Juice and Scritti Politti compilations last year and other prominent reissues of the last year or so include Throbbing Gristle's 'Taste of TG', the John Lydon-compilation (the two disc one well worth getting), the Mark Stewart/Pop Group compilation 'Kiss the Future', the Talking Heads/Wire reissues remastered, Devo 2.0, a mass of Fall reissues, Siouxsie & the Banshees' 'The Scream', Adam & the Ants' 'Dirk Wears White Sox' and the recent 'Zero' compilation centred on Martin Hannett. So it's not hard to find...
The 20 tracks here (perhaps another volume could be justified?)are an excellent selection from prime post punk to examples of new pop and with some obscure selections added also (Pulsallama & Fatal Microbes are new to me and get added to the list to track down)Things get off to a great start with the 1979-Mancabilly angular rock of The Fall's 'Fiery Jack', which is as great as they were and as great as they are - this and the John Cooper Clarke track demonstrate the fact that Artic Monkeys are great and very much related! The darker side of Devo is found with 'Praying Hands' from their Eno-produced debut - shame that a track from their own label isn't included. 'Praying Hands' ties thematically with Cabaret Voltaire's 'Sluggin' for Jesus', a track that is quite hard to find as released only in Belgium - though it also featured on 'In the Beginning Was Rhythm.' 'Sluggin' for Jesus' is a revolutionary single, this is avant-Cabs utilising religious samples pre-'My Life in the Bush of Ghosts' - a track that sets the ground for the classic triad 'Voice of America-Three Mantras-Red Mecca', as well as later work by Meat Beat Manifesto, Consolidated, The Shamen, Ministry & Revolting Cocks.
Things get angular with Josef K's 'Sense of Guilt', which is another great example of a great band who like early Orange Juice, The Fire Engines & The Monochrome Set have been the template for pop-act Franz Ferdinand. Likewise 'p.a.s' by Scritti Politti is an example of Green Gartside & co's DIY-directions from their brilliant 'early'-compilation which sounded tremendous when issued last year (new SP-material on Rough Trade is imminent - Mr G has also returned to playing live. Any chance of a tour, Green?)The anti-hits keep a-comin' with The Slits' 'Spend Spend Spend' a fantastic song from a fantastic album ('Cut') by a fantastic band with a fantastic producer (Dennis Bovell)You can't deny the adjective - why didn't 'Cut' get voted best British album in the NME? It didn't make their Top 100, despite the fact its clearly up there with the greats - '...The Village Green Preservation Society', 'Metal Box', 'Sulk', 'Chairs Missing', 'Chill Out', 'Fried'...
A reader of John Robb's recent 'Punk Rock:An Oral History' will note that quite a few of the key punks cite bands that might have been labelled prog or long-hair - Can, Faust, Genesis, Yes...and in there lurk Soft Machine, whose member Robert Wyatt merits inclusion.It's a bold choice and proof that people like Wyatt, Captain Beefheart, Frank Zappa, Kim Fowley & Jonathan Richman were punkbeforepunkrock. Wyatt's solo career has always been interesting, so his 'Grass' is an excellent choice and the kind of forward thinking music that post-punk was all about (which reminds me, someone should compile the Lydon Radio Show that featured Can, Tim Buckley & co)Siouxsie & the Banshees' 'Slowdive' (yes the band took their name from it!) might be a surprising choice - surely something from 'The Scream' or a track like 'Love in a Void' might have made more sense? But this is a sound idea, as 'Slowdive' comes from one of the best Banshees' albums, the Mike Hedges-produced 'A Kiss in the Dreamhouse' which had a psychedelic-edge and featured the late, extremely great John McGeoch (Magazine, Armoury Show, PIL)It's controversial to say it, but I think 'A Kiss in the Dreamhouse' is a better album than 'The Scream'!
Two key post-punk choices next - The Raincoats and Young Marble Giants - both of which have been cited by such folk as Kurt Cobain, John Lydon, Michael Stipe, Yukio Mishima etc - both tracks remind you that 'The Raincoats' and 'Colossal Youth' are must haves (perhaps someone should reissue The Raincoats again? Heck, not many bands get sleevenotes from Kurt Cobain!)
The New Pop side of things becomes apparent with The Human League's 'Dancevision' which is included as a bonus-track on 'Travelogue's CD-issue and stemmed from the 'Holiday'80'e.p. Thomas Leer's 'Tight as a Drum' and Associates' 'White Car in Germany' advance the electronic side of things towards new pop. Mackenzie & Rankine's 'White Car...' appears to condense advances made by Can, Bowie, Eno & Faust in something like a pop-song - huge synths matching the Nietzschean-feel and centred in Europa. The B52s 'Give Me Back My Man' is a fine track though a curious choice as the Athens oddies hardly feature in the book - I'd have expected something from the No Wave scene instead (though there are two fine NY No Wave compilations available these days).
The Specials' show that they were ahead of Blur, The Streets & Artic Monkeys with their spin on 'Saturday Night, Sunday Morning' - 'Friday Night, Saturday Morning.' Terry Hall's composition is amusing ("hope the chipshop isn't closed cos their pies are really nice...wish I had lipstick on my shirt instead of piss-stains on my shoes"!)& features proto-'Park Life' keyboards from the great Jerry Dammers. The Heaven17 single 'I'm Your Money' has dated well, proto-rave material with similar themes to tracks by Depeche Mode ('Everything Counts'), Pet Shop Boys ('Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money') & the Flying Lizards' take on 'Money.' The compilation ends with the Blue Orchids, the band Martin Bramah and Una Baines formed after leaving The Fall in 1979 - influenced by LSD and 'The White Goddess', the Orchids were psych-post-punksters and 'Dumb Magician' is a hypnotic update on 'Nuggets' climes, with its memorable chorus/mantra "the only way out is UP" which was later quoted by Julian Cope on his 'Autogeddon' LP.
In all, 'Rip It Up' is an excellent compilation and worthy of the book with which it is associated with...OWN!!!
- A decent introduction but not the strongest track selectionFor anyone interested in post punk this is a decent intro but I can't help feeling there are better tracks out there by some of the bands represented on here. And yet perhaps the compilers didn't want to play safe and go for the obvious, but I could think of about a dozen pre-fame Human League tracks worthier of inclusion than the throwaway "Dancevision". In fairness, there is the great "lost" single "Violence Grows" by Fatal Microbes which encapsulates brilliantly the shift from punk rock to a more experimental angular sound. And Cabaret Voltaire's "Sluggin Fer Jesus" was a shape of things to come in the future with it's sampled sermon by an unidentified American preacher, but they recorded better, and "Diskono" would have been my preferred selection.
I think a major omission from this compilation is Throbbing Gristle, who pioneered the "Industrial" sound and were a major influence in the next step up from Punk. And perhaps fluff like the B-52s "Give Me Back My Man" could have been ditched for something more gritty like PIL's "Careering" for example. And there's also a weak Banshees number, and Joy Division are also notable for their absence. Rather too many omissions for my liking but on the plus side there's the great John Cooper Clarke poem "Beasley Street", the north of England's answer to "Desolation Row", and the excellent Associates track "White Car In Germany".
For all it's flaws it's still a worthwhile overview of a vital era in rock music, but there's a definitive compilation of this era yet to be released, and unfortunately this isn't the one.
Rating:
- Companion compilation to last year's great book...Simon Reynolds' 'Rip It Up & Start Again' was the best book published last year and the definitive treatment of the post-punk/new-pop story generally centred between the late Seventies and the mid-80s (& very much in vogue with bands like Interpol, Bloc Party, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Radio 4, The Rapture, Liars, Editors, Artic Monkeys, The Killers, Franz Ferdinand etc nodding that way)V2 have opted to release a compilation to tie-in with the popular book (now in paperback) which like the Soul Jazz compilation 'In the Beginning There Was Rhythm' (2001) and the Rough Trade Post Punk compilation a year or so after that, serves as an ideal primer in the era. Obviously in these times of downloading you can use the book or Reynolds' site to work out what material you're after - so you can make your own compilation if you like. This is an ideal primer and the perfect soundtrack for that excellent book - you should note that a lot of this material is now available - This Heat have reissued an LP and released a box-set, there were the Orange Juice and Scritti Politti compilations last year and other prominent reissues of the last year or so include Throbbing Gristle's 'Taste of TG', the John Lydon-compilation (the two disc one well worth getting), the Mark Stewart/Pop Group compilation 'Kiss the Future', the Talking Heads/Wire reissues remastered, Devo 2.0, a mass of Fall reissues, Siouxsie & the Banshees' 'The Scream', Adam & the Ants' 'Dirk Wears White Sox' and the recent 'Zero' compilation centred on Martin Hannett. So it's not hard to find...
The 20 tracks here (perhaps another volume could be justified?)are an excellent selection from prime post punk to examples of new pop and with some obscure selections added also (Pulsallama & Fatal Microbes are new to me and get added to the list to track down)Things get off to a great start with the 1979-Mancabilly angular rock of The Fall's 'Fiery Jack', which is as great as they were and as great as they are - this and the John Cooper Clarke track demonstrate the fact that Artic Monkeys are great and very much related! The darker side of Devo is found with 'Praying Hands' from their Eno-produced debut - shame that a track from their own label isn't included. 'Praying Hands' ties thematically with Cabaret Voltaire's 'Sluggin' for Jesus', a track that is quite hard to find as released only in Belgium - though it also featured on 'In the Beginning Was Rhythm.' 'Sluggin' for Jesus' is a revolutionary single, this is avant-Cabs utilising religious samples pre-'My Life in the Bush of Ghosts' - a track that sets the ground for the classic triad 'Voice of America-Three Mantras-Red Mecca', as well as later work by Meat Beat Manifesto, Consolidated, The Shamen, Ministry & Revolting Cocks.
Things get angular with Josef K's 'Sense of Guilt', which is another great example of a great band who like early Orange Juice, The Fire Engines & The Monochrome Set have been the template for pop-act Franz Ferdinand. Likewise 'p.a.s' by Scritti Politti is an example of Green Gartside & co's DIY-directions from their brilliant 'early'-compilation which sounded tremendous when issued last year (new SP-material on Rough Trade is imminent - Mr G has also returned to playing live. Any chance of a tour, Green?)The anti-hits keep a-comin' with The Slits' 'Spend Spend Spend' a fantastic song from a fantastic album ('Cut') by a fantastic band with a fantastic producer (Dennis Bovell)You can't deny the adjective - why didn't 'Cut' get voted best British album in the NME? It didn't make their Top 100, despite the fact its clearly up there with the greats - '...The Village Green Preservation Society', 'Metal Box', 'Sulk', 'Chairs Missing', 'Chill Out', 'Fried'...
A reader of John Robb's recent 'Punk Rock:An Oral History' will note that quite a few of the key punks cite bands that might have been labelled prog or long-hair - Can, Faust, Genesis, Yes...and in there lurk Soft Machine, whose member Robert Wyatt merits inclusion.It's a bold choice and proof that people like Wyatt, Captain Beefheart, Frank Zappa, Kim Fowley & Jonathan Richman were punkbeforepunkrock. Wyatt's solo career has always been interesting, so his 'Grass' is an excellent choice and the kind of forward thinking music that post-punk was all about (which reminds me, someone should compile the Lydon Radio Show that featured Can, Tim Buckley & co)Siouxsie & the Banshees' 'Slowdive' (yes the band took their name from it!) might be a surprising choice - surely something from 'The Scream' or a track like 'Love in a Void' might have made more sense? But this is a sound idea, as 'Slowdive' comes from one of the best Banshees' albums, the Mike Hedges-produced 'A Kiss in the Dreamhouse' which had a psychedelic-edge and featured the late, extremely great John McGeoch (Magazine, Armoury Show, PIL)It's controversial to say it, but I think 'A Kiss in the Dreamhouse' is a better album than 'The Scream'!
Two key post-punk choices next - The Raincoats and Young Marble Giants - both of which have been cited by such folk as Kurt Cobain, John Lydon, Michael Stipe, Yukio Mishima etc - both tracks remind you that 'The Raincoats' and 'Colossal Youth' are must haves (perhaps someone should reissue The Raincoats again? Heck, not many bands get sleevenotes from Kurt Cobain!)
The New Pop side of things becomes apparent with The Human League's 'Dancevision' which is included as a bonus-track on 'Travelogue's CD-issue and stemmed from the 'Holiday'80'e.p. Thomas Leer's 'Tight as a Drum' and Associates' 'White Car in Germany' advance the electronic side of things towards new pop. Mackenzie & Rankine's 'White Car...' appears to condense advances made by Can, Bowie, Eno & Faust in something like a pop-song - huge synths matching the Nietzschean-feel and centred in Europa. The B52s 'Give Me Back My Man' is a fine track though a curious choice as the Athens oddies hardly feature in the book - I'd have expected something from the No Wave scene instead (though there are two fine NY No Wave compilations available these days).
The Specials' show that they were ahead of Blur, The Streets & Artic Monkeys with their spin on 'Saturday Night, Sunday Morning' - 'Friday Night, Saturday Morning.' Terry Hall's composition is amusing ("hope the chipshop isn't closed cos their pies are really nice...wish I had lipstick on my shirt instead of piss-stains on my shoes"!)& features proto-'Park Life' keyboards from the great Jerry Dammers. The Heaven17 single 'I'm Your Money' has dated well, proto-rave material with similar themes to tracks by Depeche Mode ('Everything Counts'), Pet Shop Boys ('Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money') & the Flying Lizards' take on 'Money.' The compilation ends with the Blue Orchids, the band Martin Bramah and Una Baines formed after leaving The Fall in 1979 - influenced by LSD and 'The White Goddess', the Orchids were psych-post-punksters and 'Dumb Magician' is a hypnotic update on 'Nuggets' climes, with its memorable chorus/mantra "the only way out is UP" which was later quoted by Julian Cope on his 'Autogeddon' LP.
In all, 'Rip It Up' is an excellent compilation and worthy of the book with which it is associated with...OWN!!!