The House of Love - A Spy In The House Of Love (1990)

Recopilatorio de Caras B de una de mis bandas favoritas.
The House of Love se formaron en 1986, firmando por Creation Records.Allí lanzaron alguno de los singles más importantes del indie de esa epoca.Así mismo editaron un primer Lp homónimo que es ,por derecho propio, un clásico.
Aunque yo siempre he preferido el segundo, el de "la mariposa" que es donde el genio compositivo de Guy Chadwick, líder de la banda,explota en temas como "I don´t Know Why I Love You" o "Shake And Crawl".
Aquí no llega a ese nivel,ya que se trata de descartes pero junto con temas más de relleno, brillan otros como "Love IV" o "Baby Teen".
Imprescindible para completistas de esta banda.

Allmusic,dice: "Chapter one: Label spends enough money on record to make a third-world country queasy. Chapter two: Record flops financially, despite its artistic triumphs. Chapter three: Label realizes financial failure of record and panics. Chapter four: Label raids band's vault and puts out hodgepodge collection cheap to help recuperate from newly incurred monetary woes. A Spy in the House of Love compiles a decent but scrapped single circa '88 ("Safe"), a handful of dolled-up tracks from the scrapped follow-up to their debut, and scraps from various ditched sessions. See a pattern? Though it sounds like a recipe for rotten cranapple pie, HOL despot Guy Chadwick was quick to toss off anything that wasn't top-rate, and occasionally his BS detector was a little off. In fact, "Marble," which comes from the initial sessions for the band's second album, was quality enough to find a spot on the band's best-of that came out eight years later. There are scattered bright spots ("Scratched Inside," "Ray") and moments where the band sounds like they're just plain bored ("Cut the Fool Down" and the appropriately titled "No Fire"). The "Love" songs (Parts II-V) peak through every other track on the second half. They veer from bluesy, stream-of-consciousness shreds to half-finished howlings and decent instrumentals. Certainly one of the least/last links in the House of Love chain, your time and money might be better spent hunting down one of their many wallet-sinking singles (like the one with a cover of the Chills' "Pink Frost" or another with a take on Cream's "Strange Brew"). A second volume of Spy is definitely called for, as the average House of Love fan's wallet sank deeper than Guy Chadwick's cheeks while scurrying for their three-part(!) singles. [The U.S. version of A Spy in the House of Love bizarrely plugs the second album's version of "Shine On" betwixt "Cut the Fool Down" and "Ray."]by Andy Kellman

V/A-Wap100 We Are Reasonable People (1998)

Este recopilatorio fue editado como conmemoración de las 100 referencias del mítico sello de Sheffield.
En él participaban algunos de los artistas y bandas más reconocidos del sello en aquel momento.Destacan las colaboraciones de Broadcast,Nightmares on Wax o Two lone Swordsmen.
Rarezas,demos y algun tema exclusivo componen este interesantísimo recopilatorio.

1 Squarepusher / AFX - Freeman Hardy & Willis Acid
2 Boards of Canada - Orange Romeda
3 Broadcast - Hammer Without a Master
4 Plaid - Ilasas
5 Autechre - Stop Look Listen
6 Nighmares on Wax - Fishtail Parker
7 Jimi Tenor - Wear My Bikini
8 Plone - Plaything
9 Red Snapper - 4 Dead Monks (Original Demo)
10 Mira Calix - Umchunga Locks
11 Two Lone Swordsmen - Circulation
12 Mark Bell - A Salute to Those People Who Say Fuck You


Allmusic dice:"We Are Reasonable People is a select handful of the European upper crust furnishing electronic rarities to the label that made them famous. Warp Records has the cream of the crop to choose from, even if some of that cream has clotted from oversight. All of these selections are previously unreleased, and considering the wide variety of styles on the disc, there truly is "something for everyone." "Freeman Hardy & Willis Acid" is such a memorable high point, it's a wonder this track wasn't saved for the finale. Two of the most accomplished trendsetters, Tom Jenkinson and Richard D. James, combine their abilities for the first time as Squarepusher and AFX, respectively. Pools of mercurial ambience float above rocky landscapes of blistering rhythm tracks, sputtering toward an acid refrain and such spatial disorientation that it pulls the chair right out from under you. An act this tough to follow is rightfully handed to Boards of Canada, whose "Orange Rhomeda" is a magical pinwheel of found digital beats and naïve bytes, an early taste of a duo who would be Warp's next big thing. From here the terrain gets uneven. Although high points are aplenty, listeners might be checking the clock once or twice along the way. Broadcast's "Hammer Without a Master" drones along in burnt electro-waltz/rock waves, and Plaid contributes a sound sculpture that pulses with cascading icicles of synth and a syncopated, chugging drumbox. The indifference intensifies as glitch music superstars Autechre strain to deliver even a shred of the human element for "Stop Look Listen," typing out trigonometric beats and a stray melody. Next, an upbeat Nightmares on Wax grooves conservatively with "Fishtail Parker," a mid-budget tapestry of keyboard funk. From here, the ball passes nicely to Jimi Tenor, who digs into his zoot suit jacket pocket for a slick set of licks on "Wear My Bikini," a jazzy arrangement of downtown-cruising horn/synth riffs and head-bobbing beats. Another abrupt shift in mood comes from Plone's "Plaything" -- disturbingly innocent. It's like easy listening for stuffed animals, featuring bubblegum keyboard leads and a swishing, carefree beatbox. Following this, Red Snapper (black belt of the live groove) unearths the moody "4 Dead Monks (Original Demo)." The upright bass snarls and paces back and forth in a cage, the snares slither and pop, and a lone trumpet adds a fog of crime noir. Two Lone Swordsmen deliver "Circulation," which gurgles menacingly along the floorboards like restless plasma with a curfew. Weatherall and Tenniswood keep a half-dozen elements under close surveillance, letting them breathe slightly before locking them up again. Rounding out the CD, Mira Calix and Mark Bell both deliver pounding, up-tempo industrial showcases; the latter closes out the disc with extra crunch and a keyboard lead that shifts mathematically to the left with each repetition. The energy almost compensates for its structural simplicity. With such a plush assembly of music at its fingertips, Warp pats itself on the back with this release. Rightfully so, for not only staying afloat in the ever-expanding sea of electronic music, but for riding the crest of it." by Glenn Swan