Various - From Brussels With Love

Double LP on white and black vinyl.

We've had the (fairly pricey) original in a few times the last two years, but finally LDdC have got around to reissuing this bonafide classic collection of post-punk austerity, which was originally released as a cassette in 1980 before eventually finding its way to vinyl with a slightly shuffled tracklisting a fews after that. The names featured here speak volumes. This is a landmark comp kissed with the high-minded experimentalism of Factory’s more outre players, a distinctly European elegance rubbing up against northern Britain industrialism, and charged by a DIY/can-do approach to the avant garde. Harold Budd, Durutti Column, Richard Jobson, Gavin Bryars, Dome, Thomas Dolby (doing his best Bobby Wyatt!), Eno +++ - count the ways they make you blush! Wide reaching, struck with possibles, suggesting new avenues of exploration we’re still walking down now. They were standing on the toes of a future here that i'm not entirely sure we've reached yet (or maybe we've been cheated out of?). I love a compilation don't I, but of all the compilations i love this is the one i love the best. Essential? You better believe it.