Another in
LTM
's series of releases acting as single-disc spotlights of labels regularly revisited in their reissue campaigns,
Auteur Labels: Les Disques de Crepuscule
is the latest compilation about a label well-known for them over its initial existence, something that the 21-song collection readily conveys. Aside from a late ringer with the inclusion of the
Devine and Statton
cover of
New Order
's
"Bizarre Love Triangle,"
the collection looks at the first few years of the label's existence, starting almost as an art project and multi-country organization before settling into a more focused outfit by 1985. The sense that the label was less interested in conventional music as such and more into something between multimedia-in-audio-format and mysterious soundtrack efforts takes hold early on, with songs like
Michael Nyman
's brief
"Mozart,"
the first full single released by the label, and
Thick Pigeon
's elegantly strange, very
Laurie Anderson
-like effort
"Subway,"
suggesting spare, decidedly non-rock & roll experiences. Meanwhile, as with the other compilations in the series, part of the interest lies in hearing songs by acts not otherwise given the full CD
treatment -- thus the stern, demi-goth pronouncing of
Repetition
"A Still Reflex"
and the equally moody growl and chime of
Isolation Ward
"Lamina Christus"
-- as much as it lies in hearing more familiar acts like
Tuxedomoon
's Eastern European celebration/pisstake
"Ninotchka"
and
Antena
's stellar
indie pop
goes
bossa nova
"Camino del Sol."
Frank Brinkhuis
' liner notes help to untangle the understandable confusion between
Crepuscule
,
Factory
, and
Factory Benelux
while noting the many early highlights and sometime misfires of the label's early days, including a slew of memorable package tours and even a collaborative fashion project done with the Danaque house. ~ Ned Raggett