Angular guitars,
funk
- and
disco
-influenced rhythms, dabblings with
electronic
gadgetry, leftist politics, a dash of irony, and vocals that aren't so much yelled or sung as they're chanted or detachedly intoned must mean one thing and one thing only:
post-punk
. At the time of
In the Beginning There Was Rhythm
's release, the level of resurgent interest in the style was so high that one might've expected a ten-part documentary series from
Ken Burns
. In reality, even
Burns
himself could've told you that there wasn't a need for a "23 Skidoo: Ken Burns Post-Punk" compilation by the end of 2001. (Well, actually, he would've left them out of the series, so the point is probably moot.) After all, that artery was plugging quickly -- even the smallest blips on the U.K. 1978-1982 radar were re-registering with releases that paired small-time pressings of singles with live shows and otherwise abandoned material. Suddenly, aunties and uncles across the United Kingdom were recollecting sparsely attended gigs by
Crispy Ambulance
,
Drinking Electricity
the Stunt Kites
, and
the Normil Hawaiians
. Meanwhile, across the pond, books like
Our Band Could Be Your Life
were documenting the American side of
(slightly later and rather different) and bands like
Mission of Burma
re-joined to play old favorites and don new kneepads. But throughout all of this nostalgic hoopla, one piece of the U.K.
puzzle remained missing: a definitive compilation. The legendary
Wanna Buy a Bridge?
and
C81
compilations (both of which had ties to
Rough Trade
, a label, shop, and distributor that helped birth the scene) were released while the ball was rolling in the early '80s, but they became valuable out-of-print artifacts of the period at some point. Furthermore, the bootlegged labor of love
Messthetics
series took the hunter-gathering obscurantism of
Nuggets
a few steps further into the darkness of collector scumdom. So along came the trusted
Soul Jazz
label to help matters...and the puzzle remains incomplete. However, the intent with 2002's
wasn't to provide something definitive. Nothing short of an exhaustive multi-disc set could do such a thing with
, as the scene was far too fertile and vast to distill the whole thing down to 11 songs by nine bands. One hope is that this disc will spawn a series similar to
's own
Dynamite
series of
reggae
compilations. Despite the drunken record-shop bins, there are many untapped
resources the label could still cover, and much like the
series,
In the Beginning
does a spectacular job of combining the known with the not so known. Within its tightly wrapped confines,
demonstrates
's breadth, showcasing within the grooves, jabs, and rattling waves of static the style's influences (
Krautrock
experimentation) and the styles that the style influenced (
indie rock
post-rock
, almost every stripe of dance music that followed) at the same time.
The Human League
's
"Being Boiled"
represents
synth pop
at ground zero and, like absolutely everything else here, continues to sound fresh and eminently exciting.
Throbbing Gristle
"20 Jazz Funk Greats,"
Cabaret Voltaire
"Sluggin fer Jesus,"
This Heat
"24 Track Loop"
also lean toward the
side of the fence, abandoning guitar heroics for tape splicing, samples, and studio-manipulated scrap heaps of gray noise, all the while finding a way to coax out jerky rhythms through rhythm box throbs, handclaps, and non-traditional means (i.e., no discernible bass or drums) via repetition. Songs from
Gang of Four
(the perfect choice with
"To Hell With Poverty,"
boasting their best groove),
the Pop Group
the Slits
(the title track),
23 Skidoo
A Certain Ratio
(one of which is a cover of
Banbarra
's obscuro
pearl
"Shack Up"
) embrace
in varying degrees, keeping the bass and drums as the central (and often only) focus and using guitars in a pointillistic fashion (if at all), all the while distancing themselves from traditional
rock & roll
methods and attitudes. Topping it off is a thick booklet full of photos and liner notes that cover each band and tie the music in with the social climate they were residing in. And while one might bemoan the exclusion of
Public Image Limited
Associates
the Normal
Magazine
, or other bands crucial to the ideology, there's no denying that
is a great gateway into this expansive, fruitful, trailblazing era. ~ Andy Kellman