Various – Rough Trade: Counter Culture '06 / '76 (V2)
4/5
By: Thomas Hannan
Rough Trade's counter culture compilations are an education. More precisely, they're like revising before an exam you'll never take, though if you've gone to the extent of pondering these records as some kind of educational exercise it's quite possible that the company you keep require you to be horribly up to date on all things music related anyway, and as such you could count your social life as one long examination of a sort whereby you constantly have to prove yourself via up to date music trivia. You poor sod.
But at times, one can feel that life is like that. As such, it's nice to have these compilations as both a comfort and a textbook. 'Counter Culture '06' is a two CD set comprising of whatever Rough Trade shoppers deemed to be their favourite tracks of last year, and it's very useful indeed. If, for example, like us you spent much of last year listening to Tapes N Tapes, Rough Trade not only tell you that yes, you made a cool choice (by including 'Cowbell'), but also inform you that whilst you were doing that, other people, like New Moscow, were doing equally worthy things like 'C'mon Up' which you might not have heard of. The only people in the world who probably had enough time to actually listen to all of the worthy music last year, you see, were the people who themselves work in Rough Trade, and that's because they're paid to be there and do just that.
You'll be able to tell from a glance at the track listing whether it's worth your time giving this compilation a chance or not. But bear in mind that it's budget-priced, it's full of music (at least 75% of which is really rather great), and only after listening to it will you truly consider yourself sufficiently up to date. You'll be able to go to parties and understand what people are saying, you might even start conversations yourself, about the merits of things like the last Broken Social Scene single (hint - 'Fire Eye'd Boy' was amazing). Just be careful not to become an arsehole.
Of course, it's so comprehensive that there's a bit of guff on it from time to time, which is fair enough, because to be fair there was a bit of guff released last year - but at least you're informed! Sure, it's a shame to have to listen to Lily Allen's 'LDN' again (we all loved it once, remember, before radios killed it?), but there's a lot of very daring stuff here too - Burial's 'Night Bus' and Alva Noto & Ryuichi Sakamoto's 'Ax Mr L' are a pair of brilliant ambient compositions that start off the second CD, and Kudos to them for putting Wolf Eyes' brilliant 'Lake of Roaches' on the same disc as The Gossip.
Further treats abound - Richard Swift treats 'Paisley Park' very tenderly, sensually even, but with a sense of humour - just how a Prince classic should be approached. We can't rave enough about him, or Beirut, Yo La Tengo, OOIOO, Erase Errata... all of whom are represented here brilliantly, and the pairing of CSS and Metronomy is one hell of a disco double whammy.
Of course, one could argue that you're only ever really up to date if you know where you came from. And that's where 'Counter Culture 1976', a compilation of what was popular amongst RT shoppers in the year before punk truly dawned, comes in. And this record... well, it makes you want to be young in 1976. Imagine hearing 'Blitzkreig Bop' for the first time, or Blondie... imagine knowing who Joe Strummer was before he was in the Clash - imagine if you were a 101'ers fan! If the newer compilation made you think we had things pretty good (which we do), just imagine who exciting all this would have been the first time 'round...
It's also a testament to how diverse Rough Trade was in the first place, like the newer compilation is a testament to how open minded it remains. Tom Waits' brilliant 'Step Right Up' sits oddly alongside Candi Staton's 'Young Hearts Run Free' but it's so, so good that they're both here. Likewise, The Residents' cover of the Rolling Stones' 'Satisfaction' reminds us of something that is often overlooked - that satire did exist even back in the seventies - and it's more cutting, well executed and generally funnier than its like is today. Plus, it's always a joy to hear Ivor Cutler - rest in peace, you weird old man.
Never thought we'd admit to liking an Aswad song on rockfeedback either, but 'Back To Africa' is pretty darn lovely. To regain scene points, we'll also mention that hearing The Damned's 'New Rose', arguably the first ever punk record, is fantastic because it still sounds so violently fresh. It's been too long since someone shook things in music up. Bring on the dawn of a genre that does that - that's what this record makes you long for. Please let 2007 see that dawn. And please let it be with a genre that's actually real this time...
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