2CDs, 42-track retrospective of the 4AD label from the 80s and 90s comes with the limited edition of the book Facing the Other Way: The Story of 4AD by Martin Aston (curated by the author himself).
The British independent labels that flourished during the post-punk era had such distinct identities that they could be thought of as physical locations. If Factory felt like an art gallery-cum-nightclub and Rough Trade a left-leaning college campus, then 4AD was a church. Although the label was broad enough to encompass both the raucous rock eccentrics the Pixies and the dance music one-hit wonders MARRS, founder Ivo Watts-Russell’s core values were epitomised by This Mortal Coil’s 1983 version of Tim Buckley’s “Song to the Siren”: beauty, mystery, dream logic…
320 kbps | 380 MB | UL | TB | FS ** FLAC
…and emotional fragility.
The label’s strong sonic personality was mirrored by designer Vaughan Oliver’s extraordinary sleeve designs, which helped to give the label itself a cultish celebrity. As one fan observed, “The music entered through your eyes and the music got into your ears.” Less poetically, the music paper Sounds dubbed it “the manic depressive Motown”. Watts-Russell himself said his enduring concern was “the beauty of despair”. Longstanding fan Martin Aston’s 600-page chronicle is a suitably extravagant enterprise (Oliver designed the cover) but devotees may not thank him for laying bare every spat, squabble and severed alliance in the history of this most private of labels. The title of This Mortal Coil’s debut album comes to seem grimly prophetic: It’ll End in Tears. — Guardian
Volume One: 1980-1989
1 Hu – Dif Juz
2 Zoo Music Girl – The Birthday Party
3 Hate My Way – Throwing Muses
4 Rema-Rema – Rema-Rema
5 Anomymity – Dance Chapter
6 Time Again for the Golden Sunset – Matt Johnson
7 Dark Entries – Bauhaus
8 No Human Can Drown – Clan of Xymox
9 Barge Calm – B.C.Gilbert and G.Lewis
10 Sado-Masochism is a Must – A.R.Kane
11 Musette and Drums – Cocteau Twins
12 Schopska Pesen (Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares) – Bulgarian State Radio & Television Female Vocal Choir
13 L’Esclave Endormi – Richenel
14 Gathering Dust – Modern English
15 Mercy Seat – Ultra Vivid Scene
16 Die Laughing – In Camera
17 Tony’s Theme – Pixies
18 Baby I Love You So – Colourbox
19 Geheimnis – Xmal Deutschland
20 In Power we Entrust the Love Advocated – Dead Can Dance
21 These Waves – Pieter Nooten and Michael Brook
22 Song to the Siren – This Mortal Coil
Volume Two: 1990-1999
1 Game of Broken Hearts – Tarnation
2 Laura – Lush
3 Blue Mug – GusGus
4 As We Could Ever – His Name is Alive
5 Me and My Charms – Kristin Hersh
6 Make Out Club – Unrest
7 Honey Tree – The Wolfgang Press
8 Mysteries of the Unexplained – Tanya Donelly
9 The Vanishing Spies – Frank Black
10 Slow Breakdown – Michael Brook
11 Coco Crush – Starry Smooth Hound
12 Dagger – The Hope Blister
13 Only Human – Heidi Berry
14 Mercy – Mojave 3
15 New Year – The Breeders
16 Hair Shoes – Pale Saints
17 Road, River & Rail – Cocteau Twins
18 Take Me Out – Red House Painters
19 Sanvean (I am your shadow) – Lisa Gerrard
20 The Darkest Night of All – Lisa Germano