Various Artists
Optimism / Reject – Punk And Post-punk Meets D-i-y Aesthetic
Label: Cherry Red
Genre: 80s Wave / Rock / Pop / Punk
Availability
- CD x4 + BOOK €34.99 Out of Stock
• FEATURES CLASSICS, RARITIES, ALBUM TRACKS AND UNEARTHED GEMS FROM THE FALL, SUBWAY SECT, SISTERS OF MERCY, THOMPSON TWINS, BLANCMANGE, YOUNG MARBLE GIANTS, MARINE GIRLS, JOHN COOPER CLARKE, ALTERNATIVE TV, SCRITTI POLITTI, 23 SKIDOO, THE RAINCOATS, THOMAS LEER AND MANY MORE.
• 4CD + 64PP A5 BOOK FORMAT INCLUDES EXTENSIVE ESSAY FROM MOJO’S MARK PAYTRESS PLUS TRACK-BY-TRACK BAND BIOGRAPHIES.
• CURATED AND DESIGNED BY THE PEOPLE WHO BROUGHT YOU SCARED TO GET HAPPY, STILL IN A DREAM, MANCHESTER – NORTH OF ENGLAND, REVOLUTIONARY SPIRIT, ELECTRICAL LANGUAGE, THE CLOSE TO THE NOISE FLOOR SERIES AND MANY MORE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED BOX SETS.
In the wake of punk, musicians in the UK found themselves suddenly liberated artistically and free to think in new terms commercially. The outcome was the independent label boom, and beyond that a certain Do It Yourself aesthetic. Overnight, the possibility arose of recording your own music and releasing your own record, or, if you weren’t musical yourself, setting up your own label to release records by people who were.
Enabled by a new independent distribution network, classified ads in the nation’s music press and the enthusiasm of record shop owners countrywide, a new kind of musician leapt into the spotlight, free of the shackles of commercial aspirations and the conformist musical approaches they necessitated. New sounds were delivered every week, pressed onto cheaply produced 7” singles and ambitious compilations by bedroom based labels. Among the photocopied sleeves and inserts, hand-stamped labels and SAE addresses, not to mention the eclectic range of sounds they accompanied, a common ground appeared: it didn’t matter what you did, so long as you did it yourself.
“Optimism/Reject” captures a snapshot of that time and place. One of many possible views on a period of freedom of expression like no other. From scratchy lo-fi guitar pop to ambitious home productions and experimental meanderings, this is the sound of an underworld beneath the underground. A place so far from the mainstream only those with a keen imagination figured out how to get there. A time when doing nothing was a crime, and doing anything was possible.