Crammed Discs is marking the “not-round figure” of turning 42 by reissuing a number of rare tracks from its archives. The digital reissue series, totalling around 250 tracks, explore the releases put out on the Belgian label’s sub-imprints SSR, Language and Selector, from the late ’80s through to the late ’90s. The three labels were outlets for mostly electronic music, as the first waves of Chicago house music and Detroit techno spread to Europe. Releases explored various forms of electronic music, from bleep techno and broken beat to downtempo and ambient, and much of the material had only been available on vinyl-only releases, or on now-deleted CDs.
…Offering more background on the reissues, Crammed Discs has summed up this period in…
…the label’s history in a press release, which reads: “The story in a nutshell: as soon as the first wave of Detroit techno hit Europe, and playful, sample-based electronic dance music started emerging in the UK, we were excited by these new combinations of sounds, and started our SSR division in 1988.
“These early days of SSR saw the advent of a Belgian-Norwegian axis, when a handful of young Norwegian musicians and producers came to Brussels (in connection with Bel Canto, the electro pop band then signed to Crammed), and rubbed shoulders with central Crammed Discs figures such as Minimal Compact singer Samy Birnbach (later known as DJ Morpheus), label boss Marc Hollander, and Vincent Kenis (Marc’s former associate in Aksak Maboul).” — Quietus
Rare SSR Electronica ’88-94 is devoted to the first period of our electronic music imprint SSR (which – alongside sister imprints Language and Selector – released scores of albums and EPs by artists including Carl Craig, Snooze, Juryman aka Ian Simmonds, DJ Spinna, 4hero and Tek 9, Bleep aka Biosphere, Telex, DJ Morpheus and many more).
…By 1994, our electronic music output started shifting and branching out, first with the inauguration of the Freezone ambient electronic music series, then with the launch of two sister labels: London-based Language (with Tony Thorpe aka Moody Boyz at the helm), and Paris based drum’n’bass imprint Selector (headed by Catherine Piault), while DJ Morpheus took co-A&R duties over at SSR. That next phase will be reflected in our 3rd batch of archival reissues. — crammed.be
01 The Gruesome Twosome – Hallucination Generation
02 Syamese – Drum
03 Mr Big Mouse (Hollander & Kenis) – Drop That Ghetto Blaster! (feat. Karen Finley)
04 + (Positive) – Change This Circus !
05 Farida International – Security (feat. Mr Big Mouse & Foreign Affair)
06 Bleep (Biosphere) – Sure Be Glad When You’re Dead
07 Syamese – Absorbia
08 Alegria (Bjørn Torske) – Danger
09 Avalon – Linked (Move D remix)
10 YBU – Keep It Up (Instru-mental)
11 YBU feat. Jonell – Soul Magic – 5.12 Edit
12 YBU feat. Anneli Marian Drecker – Keep It Up (Mixed By Bwana Mpuku For Mr. Big Mouse)
13 Hans G – Camanche
14 Photon – Doin’ Our Thang (Alien)
15 Solar Quest – One Nation
16 Anything You Like – A1
17 Hans G – Geronimo
18 Photon – Doin’ Our Thang (Radiant)
19 Solar Quest – Acid Nation
20 Bobvan – Go With The Flow (Coconino World Remix by Mr Big Mouse)
21 Twin Freaks – Agent Cooper Lurvs Coffee (Loglady Remix)
22 Sacher Musak – Gorba The Chief
23 Avalon – Midsummer’s Night Dream
24 Bleep (Biosphere) – The Launchpad (Boomerang Mix)