Various Artists
"In The Beginning, There Was Rhythm"
(Soul Jazz)
About time! Mind you, this isn't a complete document of the UK post-punk
boom of the late Seventies & early Eighties, but "In The Beginning
There Was Rhythm" is a survey of those bands that introduced elements
of funk, dub and dance music into their sound. Unlike most of the sulphate-and-safety-pin
set, the groups included here incorporated beats, grooves and production techniques
from artists ranging from Kool & The Gang to King Tubby to Kraftwerk.
Some of the album is made up of undisputed classics (like The Pop Group's
"She Is Beyond Good And Evil" and Gang Of Four's "To Hell With
Poverty"), but there's a lot of eyebrow-raising choices (Cabaret Voltaire's
"Sluggin' Fer Jesus", This Heat's "24-Track Loop", and
The Slits' title tune, previously only available as part of a split single
with The Pop Group) that'll convince you that you need this in your collection.
It's somewhat surprising that so much of this music still sounds contemporary
after twenty years, but...any compilation that purports to chronicle a particular
sound/place/time is going to be met with some comments to the effect of "Wait,
how come they didn't include (insert name of criminally omitted selection
here)", and this is no exception. Public image Limited's "Death
Disco" and New Order's "Everything's Gone Green" (two recordings
I'd consider significant in the development of this particular strain of British
post-punk) are absent, but A Certain Ratio and 23 Skidoo get two tracks to
everyone else's one. Sure, they're good songs, but...what gives? So, it may
not be THE definitve UK post-punk compilation, but it is a lot closer to being
it than not being it, and if you're not familiar with the bands featured on
this, then those Tortoise and Gogogo Airheart albums you have may wind up
sounding a bit different to you after this hits your eardrum and kicks your
feet around the floor.
-Mike B.
(to buy this, it's easier to search by label from the home page rather than
scroll through a bazillion compilations- k.)
