Review: Ed Cartwright and Leon Oakey's first collaborative compilation is one of the few we've come across to eschew a narrow focus on one genre or style in favour of celebrating an under-documented era, namely UK dance music's eclectic, impossible to pigeonhole 'post-rave' period in the mid 1990s. Given that lots of great music was released then, it's a great idea. The tracklist boasts a lot of very good cuts, including a near impossible to find Richard D James oddity (as Strider B), a couple of killer Richard H Kirk-related numbers, some stretched-out, acid-fired early morning psychedelia (Thunderhead The Word By Eden), classic IDM gems (Xeper, the Black Dog), a dash of dubby, post-bleep brilliance (Liquid Son, Rotor) and a clutch of hybrid deep house/tech-house tracks (Max, Fretless AZM, Herbert).
Review: Blessed by the likes of Simon Reynolds in his book Energy Flash, and of course the UK's most influential label Rough Trade, Ultramarine's Ian Cooper and Paul Hammond admittedly weren't totally sure what they were doing when they signed a record deal with the famously bohemian label Les Disques du Crepuscule outta Brussels a lifetime ago. It preceded the duo's most recognised album, Every Man and Woman Is a Star, and three decades on it's been given a full remaster as part of its 30th anniversary reissue by the London-based archivists Foam On A Wave! Drawing inspiration from the clandestine sounds of Canterbury's jazz-infused psychedelia scene that lead Ultramarine to pioneer what many tagged as the 'pastoral techno' sound, Folk presents a fresh look at how techno, ambient and folk music first began to cross paths in a journey that saw them saddle up alongside Cabaret Voltaire, System 7 and Global Communications.
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