Close to the Noise Floor album review - will deliver the goods like few other genre releases

With two subtitles – Formative UK electronica 1975-1984 and Excursions in proto synth-pop, DIY techno and ambient exploration, you can bet your last euro that this four-disc set will deliver the goods like few other genre releases this year.

With a mixture of punk-rock pogrom, post-punk experimentation, and the availability of cheap keyboard-based equipment, hundreds of UK music acts surfed the sine waves.

Some embraced the mainstream (Human League, OMD, Blancmange), others not so (Throbbing Gristle, John Foxx, Eyeless in Gaza), while most floundered (whither Gerry and the Holograms?).

The link between everyone is the will to do interesting (sometimes superb) work, and this extremely nifty package showcases that with style and intelligence.

[ cherryred.co.uk ]