SECTION 25 - FROM THE HIP - Factory Benelux. Despite being revisited a few times in recent years, a 30th anniversary edition of S25's most enduring work makes perfect sense. Here is an album that set the tone for electronic darkwave pop like no other. And I mean no other. A conceptual and engaging journey through enlightenment, without the need to be progressive or dull, From The Hip is a masterpiece. Shimmering melodies, glacial atmospherics, brutal power-beats and the latest in technology (due in part to Bernard Sumner and Donald Johnson), the main album remains untouchable, the extras mostly essential and the sleeve an outdoor type's dream.
XTC - DRUMS AND WIRES - Ape. This became the second in a series of 5:1 surround sound reissues of the Swindonian outfit's timeless catalogue after last year's Nonsuch. Oodles of informative sleevenotes, heaps of unissued gems including never-before-heard archives and a crisper, clearer, punchier Steven Wilson remix of the main album.
PAULINE MURRAY AND THE INVISIBLE GIRLS - PAULINE MURRAY AND THE INVISIBLE GIRLS - Les Disques du Crepuscule. At long last, an album that has been crying out for some love and attention for far too long. Double-vinyl with instrumental-version CD (or double CD edition with rare live recordings as bonuses) plus detailed liner-notes about the (mis)fortunes of the underrated Murray's accomplished post-Penetration debut. A really, really, worthwhile addition to your Hannett/new-wave/Murray collections.
A CERTAIN RATIO - SEXTET - Factory Benelux. Given the choice of double CD or double vinyl, you'd have to plump for the latter - that sleeve alone looks amazing in a 12x12 format. On the digital format, you'll find even more hard-to-find tracks, including a Peel Session with unreleased songs. Knife Slits Water, even when presented three times in one sitting, still sounds otherworldly (bass-playing students could do worse than cop an earful of the 12" mix), while the unreleased Who's To Say eases its way into ACR mythology like it was already part of the album's legacy.
SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES - SUPERSTITION - Universal. Part of a series of Siouxsie reissues this year (see below for another entry), Superstition stands up as the most straightforward, commercially appealing of the lot. There are some great songs on here - Shadowtime and the gargantuan Kiss Them For Me are only the tip of the iceberg - plus some lean but informative liner-notes. Job done.
DAVID BOWIE - NOTHING HAS CHANGED - UMC. You're right, David. Nothing has changed. You're still misunderstood, adored, reviled and celebrated in equal measure. It's not hard to hear why on this sprawling 3CD (don't bother with the double edition) - chronologically reversed from Sue (2014) back to Liza Jane years (1964), Nothing Has Changed contains most of his key work from the past 50 years. Recent years have offered some of his best creative work in Heathen and The Next Day, the '90s a roller-coaster of fashioned drum n bass or industrial-techno, the '80s big hits and huge misses, the '70s a seemingly endless conveyor-belt of eye-popping imagery and classics and the '60s some formative triumphs. No Laughing Gnome though.
DURUTTI COLUMN - CHRONICLES XV
Originally issued in 2011, aired at an exclusive Manchester Bridgewater Hall show and then subsequently shelved due to the artist's ill-health and emotional implosion, Chronicles finally got an official public release in 2014 by way of Record Store Day. Most of the initial version of the album, plus an entire disc of rare and previously unreleased recordings, earned a sumptuous revisit that included a jam-packed download code, personal 'maps', inners, discs and a red box that echoed Factory's cassette series in the late '80s. Style, substance and some of Vini Reilly's most intimate performances are gathered right here. Synergetic is, put simply, lachrymation defined.
THE THE - SOUL MINING
There's no denying what a long old spell in East London can do to the creative juices - in Matt Johnson's case, being a resident was even more productive. Positively frothing at the mouth, The The's debut album was, and still is, an urban paranoiac's comfort-blanket. Every song on this landmark set oozes lyrical couplets that most songwriters would kill for these days, not forgetting some of the most memorable tunes and riffs this side of a Tears For Fears t-shirt and a Thompson Twins 12". I'm being ironic of course - the likes of This Is The Day, Uncertain Smile and the title-track were far and away ahead of the pack and still sound as fresh today as they did 30 years ago. But it's the album's huge closing epic that wins out - Giant is a giant of a tune that sounds like several African choirs and tribal drummers carolling and pummelling all at once, buoyed by an explosion of synth hooks and that bassline gently simmering for four to five minutes before quaking its way to a heartfelt conclusion a further five minutes later. This vinyl reissue pulled a few 12" mixes together in a big old box with a poster - and looked fantastic.
GRACE JONES - NIGHTCLUBBING
Originally released in 1981, Jones' most enduring album almost surpassed its chart performance thirty-three years later by reaching #46 (the original scraped its way to number 35), which goes someway to explain just how important Nightclubbing remains today. As well as the classic nine-tracker, this deluxe edition (also issued on vinyl) swept up various 12" mixes, outtakes, unreleased songs (including a pin-sharp take of Gary Numan's Me I Disconnect With You) and flipsides previously only issued on vinyl. Nothing, nothing, comes close to the full-length mix of Feel Up and Walking In The Rain, quite frankly.
THE SOUND - JEOPARDY, FROM THE LION'S MOUTH AND ALL FALL DOWN
The prospect of a Sound box-set, properly mastered and packaged in something respectful, proved to be worth the wait when this four-disc set appeared in the spring. Replacing the cheap and horrible transfers previously issued, Edsel tidied up the originals and sourced a wealth of rare material from Adrian Borland's charges, including EP tracks, live excerpts, sessions and all manner of enticing nuggets. If you don't experience the merest form of euphoria listening to tracks such as Heartland (from Jeopardy), Sense Of Purpose (from From The Lion's Mouth) or Where The Love Is (All Fall Down), you may not get The Sound. You should try.
JOSEF K - THE ONLY FUN IN TOWN
GIRLS AT OUR BEST - PLEASURE
BIG COUNTRY - STEELTOWN
VARIOUS - STUDIO ONE DANCEHALL
VARIOUS - PUNK 45 SICK ON YOU, ONE WAY SPIT
VARIOUS - OF FACTORY NEW YORK
PAUL HAIG - AT TWILIGHT
THE BLUE NILE - PEACE AT LAST
THE DURUTTI COLUMN - THE RETURN OF THE DURUTTI COLUMN
VARIOUS - KOLLEKTION 01 SKY RECORDS
WOLFHOUNDS - UNSEEN RIPPLES FROM A PEBBLE
KEVIN HEWICK - ALL WAS NUMBERED
SPARKS - KIMONO MY HOUSE
VARIOUS - SUBURBAN BASE RECORDS
BIG COUNTRY - THE SEER
JOHN FOXX - THE VIRGIN YEARS (1980-1985)
NIGHTMARES ON WAX - N.O.W. IS THE TIME
PAUL WELLER - MORE MODERN CLASSICS
CYBOTRON - ENTER
BANCO DE GAIA - MAYA
MINNYPOPS - SPARKS IN A DARK ROOM
MINNYPOPS - DRASTIC MEASURES, DRASTIC MOVEMENT
THE NAMES - IN TIME
COLOURBOX - MUSIC OF THE BAND
IT BITES - THE VIRGIN YEARS
RUTS D.C. - RHYTHM COLLISION VOL1
ALPHA & OMEGA - THE HALF THAT'S NEVER BEEN TOLD
VARIOUS - STUDIO ONE ROCKSTEADY
MARSHEAUX - ODYSSEY
VARIOUS - NIGHTINGALE VARIATIONS
XTC - SKYLARKING
JOHN FOXX - METAMATIC
THE WAKE - TESTAMENT
BOARDS OF CANADA - SKAM
SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES - PEEPSHOW
BOB MARLEY - LEGEND
MARK REEDER - COLLABORATOR
LED ZEPPELIN - HOUSES OF THE HOLY
XTC - DRUMS AND WIRES - Ape. This became the second in a series of 5:1 surround sound reissues of the Swindonian outfit's timeless catalogue after last year's Nonsuch. Oodles of informative sleevenotes, heaps of unissued gems including never-before-heard archives and a crisper, clearer, punchier Steven Wilson remix of the main album.
PAULINE MURRAY AND THE INVISIBLE GIRLS - PAULINE MURRAY AND THE INVISIBLE GIRLS - Les Disques du Crepuscule. At long last, an album that has been crying out for some love and attention for far too long. Double-vinyl with instrumental-version CD (or double CD edition with rare live recordings as bonuses) plus detailed liner-notes about the (mis)fortunes of the underrated Murray's accomplished post-Penetration debut. A really, really, worthwhile addition to your Hannett/new-wave/Murray collections.
A CERTAIN RATIO - SEXTET - Factory Benelux. Given the choice of double CD or double vinyl, you'd have to plump for the latter - that sleeve alone looks amazing in a 12x12 format. On the digital format, you'll find even more hard-to-find tracks, including a Peel Session with unreleased songs. Knife Slits Water, even when presented three times in one sitting, still sounds otherworldly (bass-playing students could do worse than cop an earful of the 12" mix), while the unreleased Who's To Say eases its way into ACR mythology like it was already part of the album's legacy.
SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES - SUPERSTITION - Universal. Part of a series of Siouxsie reissues this year (see below for another entry), Superstition stands up as the most straightforward, commercially appealing of the lot. There are some great songs on here - Shadowtime and the gargantuan Kiss Them For Me are only the tip of the iceberg - plus some lean but informative liner-notes. Job done.
DAVID BOWIE - NOTHING HAS CHANGED - UMC. You're right, David. Nothing has changed. You're still misunderstood, adored, reviled and celebrated in equal measure. It's not hard to hear why on this sprawling 3CD (don't bother with the double edition) - chronologically reversed from Sue (2014) back to Liza Jane years (1964), Nothing Has Changed contains most of his key work from the past 50 years. Recent years have offered some of his best creative work in Heathen and The Next Day, the '90s a roller-coaster of fashioned drum n bass or industrial-techno, the '80s big hits and huge misses, the '70s a seemingly endless conveyor-belt of eye-popping imagery and classics and the '60s some formative triumphs. No Laughing Gnome though.
DURUTTI COLUMN - CHRONICLES XV
Originally issued in 2011, aired at an exclusive Manchester Bridgewater Hall show and then subsequently shelved due to the artist's ill-health and emotional implosion, Chronicles finally got an official public release in 2014 by way of Record Store Day. Most of the initial version of the album, plus an entire disc of rare and previously unreleased recordings, earned a sumptuous revisit that included a jam-packed download code, personal 'maps', inners, discs and a red box that echoed Factory's cassette series in the late '80s. Style, substance and some of Vini Reilly's most intimate performances are gathered right here. Synergetic is, put simply, lachrymation defined.
THE THE - SOUL MINING
There's no denying what a long old spell in East London can do to the creative juices - in Matt Johnson's case, being a resident was even more productive. Positively frothing at the mouth, The The's debut album was, and still is, an urban paranoiac's comfort-blanket. Every song on this landmark set oozes lyrical couplets that most songwriters would kill for these days, not forgetting some of the most memorable tunes and riffs this side of a Tears For Fears t-shirt and a Thompson Twins 12". I'm being ironic of course - the likes of This Is The Day, Uncertain Smile and the title-track were far and away ahead of the pack and still sound as fresh today as they did 30 years ago. But it's the album's huge closing epic that wins out - Giant is a giant of a tune that sounds like several African choirs and tribal drummers carolling and pummelling all at once, buoyed by an explosion of synth hooks and that bassline gently simmering for four to five minutes before quaking its way to a heartfelt conclusion a further five minutes later. This vinyl reissue pulled a few 12" mixes together in a big old box with a poster - and looked fantastic.
GRACE JONES - NIGHTCLUBBING
Originally released in 1981, Jones' most enduring album almost surpassed its chart performance thirty-three years later by reaching #46 (the original scraped its way to number 35), which goes someway to explain just how important Nightclubbing remains today. As well as the classic nine-tracker, this deluxe edition (also issued on vinyl) swept up various 12" mixes, outtakes, unreleased songs (including a pin-sharp take of Gary Numan's Me I Disconnect With You) and flipsides previously only issued on vinyl. Nothing, nothing, comes close to the full-length mix of Feel Up and Walking In The Rain, quite frankly.
THE SOUND - JEOPARDY, FROM THE LION'S MOUTH AND ALL FALL DOWN
The prospect of a Sound box-set, properly mastered and packaged in something respectful, proved to be worth the wait when this four-disc set appeared in the spring. Replacing the cheap and horrible transfers previously issued, Edsel tidied up the originals and sourced a wealth of rare material from Adrian Borland's charges, including EP tracks, live excerpts, sessions and all manner of enticing nuggets. If you don't experience the merest form of euphoria listening to tracks such as Heartland (from Jeopardy), Sense Of Purpose (from From The Lion's Mouth) or Where The Love Is (All Fall Down), you may not get The Sound. You should try.
JOSEF K - THE ONLY FUN IN TOWN
GIRLS AT OUR BEST - PLEASURE
BIG COUNTRY - STEELTOWN
VARIOUS - STUDIO ONE DANCEHALL
VARIOUS - PUNK 45 SICK ON YOU, ONE WAY SPIT
VARIOUS - OF FACTORY NEW YORK
PAUL HAIG - AT TWILIGHT
THE BLUE NILE - PEACE AT LAST
THE DURUTTI COLUMN - THE RETURN OF THE DURUTTI COLUMN
VARIOUS - KOLLEKTION 01 SKY RECORDS
WOLFHOUNDS - UNSEEN RIPPLES FROM A PEBBLE
KEVIN HEWICK - ALL WAS NUMBERED
SPARKS - KIMONO MY HOUSE
VARIOUS - SUBURBAN BASE RECORDS
BIG COUNTRY - THE SEER
JOHN FOXX - THE VIRGIN YEARS (1980-1985)
NIGHTMARES ON WAX - N.O.W. IS THE TIME
PAUL WELLER - MORE MODERN CLASSICS
CYBOTRON - ENTER
BANCO DE GAIA - MAYA
MINNYPOPS - SPARKS IN A DARK ROOM
MINNYPOPS - DRASTIC MEASURES, DRASTIC MOVEMENT
THE NAMES - IN TIME
COLOURBOX - MUSIC OF THE BAND
IT BITES - THE VIRGIN YEARS
RUTS D.C. - RHYTHM COLLISION VOL1
HUSKER DU - WAREHOUSE AND OTHER STORIES
CABARET VOLTAIRE - #7885 ELECTROPUNK TO TECHNOPOPALPHA & OMEGA - THE HALF THAT'S NEVER BEEN TOLD
VARIOUS - STUDIO ONE ROCKSTEADY
MARSHEAUX - ODYSSEY
VARIOUS - NIGHTINGALE VARIATIONS
XTC - SKYLARKING
JOHN FOXX - METAMATIC
THE WAKE - TESTAMENT
BOARDS OF CANADA - SKAM
SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES - PEEPSHOW
BOB MARLEY - LEGEND
MARK REEDER - COLLABORATOR
LED ZEPPELIN - HOUSES OF THE HOLY