Akoustik Anarkhy Present Class aA: Beyond Entertainment
If you come from Manchester and are in a band, chances are you will heard of Akoustik Anarkhy. If not, despite the slightly misleading name this part label part promotions outfit have, over the course of six years, become synonymous with the new school of Manchester's rock and indie output. Most infamous for having offered the fledgling Nine Black Alps the first rung on the ladder to success AA have over course of their existence devoted themselves to finding, putting on shows and releasing records by local and further a field bands that best epitomise the 'good times, good music' spirit they promote.
With that in mind it is perhaps slightly disappointing then that AA's first compilation 'Beyond Entertainment,' at times fails to live up to the hype surrounding the collectives' legendary live events. Although the bands featured and the songs it contains appear gleefully diverse in musical direction, at times the consistency of quality of the music is sadly lacking.
Opening two tracks 'The Driver' and 'Altercation' by Autokat and Loose Cannon (the later incidentally the founding members of AA) respectively, resonate with the exact blend of attitude and atmosphere so inherent in the fabric of Manchester based music (you know, the one we all pretend to hate but secretly get off on) but as any DJ worth his weight will tell you, flow is all important and this is a flow all but stunted by the Libertines-by-numbers 'Man Of The Hour' from The Harrisons and the overlong Mr Scruff worshipping noise of 'Patchwork Guilt' by Soft Priest and herein lies the problem with 'Beyond Entertainment,' for every song like The Yacht Club's 'There was a party,' a magnificent twist on the Cure's 80's gothic pop, there is something as uninspired and tepid as Jack Cooper's 'Love Letters.'
There can be no doubts however as to the highlight of this compilation, the inclusion of two of Manchester's most exciting bands: the Longcut and Nine Black Alps is a firm reminder of the strength of the current scene in the city. NBA's 'Over The Ocean' is a firm reminder of the magnificent potential of this band and a live version of 'Transition' from the Longcut is classic atmospheric Manchester but a song whose influence is drawn as much from At The Drive in as it is Joy Division.
Whether or not breaking this compilation down in such a structured way is missing the point or not is a valid concern. The spirit of AA and it's ethic is undoubtedly layered in the fabric of this recording but this ultimately is why the inclusion of the weaker tracks only serves to frustrate that such a promising organisation could put together anything that delivers any less than 100%.