Various Artists

Strange Passion, Finders Keepers ****

This collection, complied by Darren McCreesh and weightily subtitled "Explorations in Irish Post-Punk DIY and Electronic Music 1980-83", flicks through the back pages of one of Irish rock's least remembered periods. This trawl through what was not so much a scene as a disparate group of acts (some in thrall to PiL's metallic shrieks) unearths some intriguing gems, as well as one or two stone-cold duds. The former include Tripper Humane's Discoland, Operating Theatre's Austrian, SM Corporation's Accentuate, Choice's Always in Danger and Virgin Prunes' Twenty Tens (I've Been Smoking All Night Long). Duds back in the day (and even worse now) include Chant! Chant! Chant!'s Play Safe and Dogmatic Element's Just Friends. For all its up and downs (mostly ups), this is an instructive piece of Irish music history. finderskeepers records.com

Download tracks: Operating Theatre, Austrian; Choice, Always in Danger; SM Corporation, Accentuate