VA-North_by_North_West-Liverpool_and_Manchester-Limited_Edition_Box_Set-3CD-2006-pyt

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MP3/FLAC

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pyt

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237,66 MB

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43

Date

2006-10-28

NFO

      artist      : VA
      title       : North By North West-Liverpool & Manchester
      date        : 2006
      label       : Korova
      genre       : Indie
      release date: 28/10/2006
      street date : 19/06/2006
      tracks      : 43
      bitrate     : VBRkbps
      size        : 237,5 MB
      source      : CDDA
      type        : Limited Edition
   _______________________________________________________________________

      Paul Morley is a hugely knowledgeable, perceptive if rather
      self-satisfied former musician, record label boss and now
      (again) critic. The idea of a compilation covering the
      simultaneous music scenes of two cities, so near but so far,
      at one of the most exciting and influential times in British
      music is a good one. However, the compilation is flawed for
      several reasons. Most significant is Morley's thinly
      disguised contempt for Liverpool and the musicians. I lost
      count how many times in the informative only for the informed
      liner notes Morley was quick to say that Liverpool was all
      mouth and no substance. There is a serious point to be
      developed about the sheer weight of expectation generated by
      the Beatles' legacy at which Morley only hints. There is a
      very interesting story about the differences between both
      cities (which will doubtless feature in Morley's forthcoming
      book on what is means to be northern) but the musical
      interaction, similarities and differences between both cities
      is much more complex than Morley states.

      The next problem is the actual track listing. Each of the
      Manchester and Liverpool discs is broadly chronological from
      1976-1984 and tends to focus on any one group's early output.
      Thus we get Buzzcocks' "Boredom", New Order's "Ceremony" and
      Echo & The Bunnymen's first two singles "Pictures on the
      Wall" and "Rescue". However, there is no absolute rule
      whereby each group's first single is played. This reaches
      absurd levels whereby the Smiths are represented by their
      seventh single, the admittedly great "How Soon is Now". I
      have to say that the natural cut off point of the compilation
      is 1980-81. The only reason for extending the scope to
      include 1984 seems to be to include the Smiths, as if no
      Manchester compilation could possibly exist without them
      (Morrissey might well have been at many of the important gigs
      of the late 1970s and close to the action but he had little
      if any actual contribution to the musical output through the
      formative years).

      Other groups are poorly represented, eg the Fall's
      "Repetition". There are some criminal omissions, most
      noticeably Wild Swans' "Revoluntionary Spirit" which should
      have been on the bonus disc at least and calls into question
      why Echo & The Bunnymen are represented twice in addition to
      a solo track from Will Sergeant, even if he is arguably the
      greatest British guitarist of the post-punk era. Perhaps
      Morley thinks the Bunnymen escape the censure of being
      Liverpudlian because they were in awe of Mark E Smith and, as
      Morley himself admits in his recent Observer article, shared
      a musical affinity with Joy Division.

      Devotees of the better known groups here will be hard pushed
      to find anything rare. Most rewarding for me were the songs
      by groups such as A Certain Ratio, Care and the Pale
      Fountains, whose guiding spirits have continued to make music
      but never quite received the acclaim which they deserved at
      the time.

      The final annoyance is the afore-mentioned liner notes.
      Morley's piece in the Observer suffers from the same
      Mancunian bias but at least gives some context and chronology
      to musical developments. However, the notes ask an awful lot
      of someone not familiar with the period. Certainly the
      Liverpool scene is well documented in Tony Fletcher's
      Bunnymen biography "Never Stop", Julian Cope's autobiography
      "Head On" and an old BBC Rock's Family Trees on Eric's Club.
      Indeed a family tree for each city and a cross-over one for
      "Liverchest" (or should that be "Manpool"?) would have been
      very useful.

      In summary, this is a missed opportunity to document an
      important time in British music. Perhaps Bill Drummond or
      Tony Wilson could be invited to have a second stab?

   _______________________________________________________________________

      CD1

      01-Buzzcocks - Boredom                                     03:08
      02-The Fall - Repetition                                   04:56
      03-John Cooper Clarke - I Don't Want To Be Nice            03:53
      04-Magazine - Shot By Both Sides                           04:03
      05-Buzzcocks - What Do I Get                               02:56
      06-Durutti Column - Sketch For Summer                      03:02
      07-Joy Division - Transmission                             03:37
      08-The Passage - Fear                                      02:15
      09-Blue Orchids - Work                                     04:02
      10-The Distractions - Time Goes By So Slow                 03:23
      11-A Certain Ratio - Shack Up                              03:16
      12-Ludus - My Cherry Is In Sherry                          02:40
      13-New Order - Ceremony                                    04:26
      14-The Smiths - How Soon Is Now                            06:47

      CD2

      01-Spitfire Boys - British Refugee                         02:54
      02-Yachts - Suffice To Say                                 04:22
      03-Will Sergeant - Fuzztronic                              03:28
      04-Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - Electricity         03:32
      05-Echo & The Bunnymen - Pictures On My Wall               02:55
      06-Wah! Heat - Better Scream                               03:19
      07-Lori & The Chameleons - Touch                           04:17
      08-The Teardrop Explodes - Reward                          02:44
      09-Echo & The Bunnymen - Rescue                            04:29
      10-Care - Flaming Sword                                    03:13
      11-Pale Fountains - There's Always Something On My Mind    02:42
      12-Dalek I Love You - Holiday In Disneyland                02:56
      13-Lotus Eaters - First Picture Of You                     05:29
      14-Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Relax                       03:57

      CD3

      01-Warsaw - No Love Lost                                   03:44
      02-Slaughter & The Dogs - Cranked Up Really High           02:51
      03-Bette Bright And The Illuminations - My Boyfriend's     03:29
      Back
      04-Those Naughty Lumps - Iggy Pop's Jacket                 01:42
      05-Big In Japan - Big In Japan                             02:52
      06-Stockholm Monsters - Happy Ever After                   03:08
      07-James - Folklore                                        02:52
      08-China Crisis - African And White                        03:48
      09-Spherical Objects - Sweet Tooth                         04:00
      10-Pink Industry - Don't Let Go                            03:35
      11-Crispy Ambulance - Deaf                                 03:59
      12-Section 25 - Knew Noise                                 04:46
      13-Swamp Children - Call Me Honey                          04:57
      14-John Cooper Clarke - Valley Of The Lost Women           04:22
      15-Royal Family & The Poor - Dream                         05:19
                                                                -------
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