This is an old friend. I owned it on vinyl back in the day, and have loved this album for over forty years. I never saw Young Marble Giants at the time, but caught them in 2013 when they reformed briefly.
It’s a minimal classic, with Alison Statton’s vocals over sparse arrangements, usually bass and organ/guitar, with an occasional basic drum machine pattern. There are so many great songs, that it seems a shame to pick any out, but NITA and Colossal Youth shine in the first half.
But if anything, the second half is even stronger, with Music For Evenings opening and every song lovely, up the the gentle instrumental ending Wind In The Rigging.
But that's not the ending for us CD kids, oh no. My import from Disques Crepuscules also has the whole of the two EPs Final Day and the instrumental Testcard. So that's pretty much Young Marble Giants' recorded output on one CD, and it's something I'll always enjoy massively.
5* - a classic of post-punk minimalism.
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