Boy, did this one take me back! Electro Slash Disco threw songs at me I had on cassette compilations 20 years ago ready to slide into any microwave-sized jam boxes that didn't have "breakdanceable" music playing on it. This compilation also introduced my ears to tracks that never made it to my part of the country and is now ready to be slid into pancake-sized CD players not playing "breakdanceable" music on it.
Aptly subtitled '80s Underground Dancefloor Sounds,' this collection proves the genre was hardly an organized one, as evidenced by at times sounding like disco, other times like hip-hop, and then at other times like Commodore 64 binary compositions. What really united what we can now look back on as a musical movement was the common use of drum machines, sequencers and other brand new musical technologies best personified by a few recognizable classics included here like Afrika Bambaataa's "Looking for the Perfect Beat" ("…we like to party, we like to party!") and the Depeche Mode extract "Situation" by Yaz.
This compilation is useful for two reasons. First, for those interested in electro's current manifestation (ala Ladytron, Goldfrapp, Bis, etc.) or even its second generation form (808 State, Bjork, etc.), ya gotta check out the roots and marvel that this stuff still translates today as fresh and innovative. Secondly, this particular compilation may bring some justice to cuts that should've gotten more recognition than they did 20 years ago. Personally, I've already played some of these tracks out and man, do they deliver the props!
