Scritti Politti - Early
Scritti Politti
Early
Rough Trade 2006
Mention Scritti Politti to most folks and they will recall the mid-80s slick and sly arty pop machine, if they remember them at all. Few seem to recall they started as a post-punk outfit in a similar vein to Public Image Limited and Joy Division, except less angry and more emphatically political leftists. Green Gartside is a man who loved the philosophy of Derrida, and the being as D.I.Y. as anyone.
Given his now legendary reclusiveness (he has made only two albums in as many decades), and his penchant for not really showing any interest in this period of his output, one has to be gleefully surprised that all these early EPs have been collected for reevaluation by the masses. Apparently, it is partially due to him being sick of being asked about it, if you read the liner notes he provides.
It is dirty, quirky, and very much a product of that period in time in England, with a very busy and earnest sound; kind of like a hummable The Pop Group. Some of the cuts could be on radio today, and fit right between Bloc Party and whatever bands cheaply imitating the Gang of Four and Joy Division are popular these days.
Skank Bloc Bologna, Is and Ought the Western World and Bibbly-O-Tek are indicative of the clanging, drunken, sputtering fun of those early years, with two cuts harkening ever so faintly to the future of the group in the now classic Lions After Slumber and The Sweetest Girl.
If you are thinking of looking into the early 80s post-punk movement, put this on your shopping list right along with all the other classics.
Of note: this album has nothing to do with their current release White Bread Black Beer (nominated for a Mercury Prize this year).
Early
Rough Trade 2006
Mention Scritti Politti to most folks and they will recall the mid-80s slick and sly arty pop machine, if they remember them at all. Few seem to recall they started as a post-punk outfit in a similar vein to Public Image Limited and Joy Division, except less angry and more emphatically political leftists. Green Gartside is a man who loved the philosophy of Derrida, and the being as D.I.Y. as anyone.
Given his now legendary reclusiveness (he has made only two albums in as many decades), and his penchant for not really showing any interest in this period of his output, one has to be gleefully surprised that all these early EPs have been collected for reevaluation by the masses. Apparently, it is partially due to him being sick of being asked about it, if you read the liner notes he provides.
It is dirty, quirky, and very much a product of that period in time in England, with a very busy and earnest sound; kind of like a hummable The Pop Group. Some of the cuts could be on radio today, and fit right between Bloc Party and whatever bands cheaply imitating the Gang of Four and Joy Division are popular these days.
Skank Bloc Bologna, Is and Ought the Western World and Bibbly-O-Tek are indicative of the clanging, drunken, sputtering fun of those early years, with two cuts harkening ever so faintly to the future of the group in the now classic Lions After Slumber and The Sweetest Girl.
If you are thinking of looking into the early 80s post-punk movement, put this on your shopping list right along with all the other classics.
Of note: this album has nothing to do with their current release White Bread Black Beer (nominated for a Mercury Prize this year).
posted by theloniusfunk at 7:56 PM
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