Where it all began compilation.
This compilation from the legendary label salutes the first year of trade for Rough Trade with a collection of songs from that year. The story of the label is a rags to riches affair to rival the likes of Cinderella, after the humble beginnings as a shop soon gave birth to an indie label which has remained cutting edge for more than 30 years and signed the likes of The Smiths, The Strokes and The Libertines amongst many others.
With punk's inception just around the corner, the aesthetic is evident in many of the songs here, and in hindsight the anarchic explosion seems inevitable. The sound of Blondie's blissful 'X-Offender' still creates sparks and 'New Rose' by The Damned is as snarling as ever. Likewise the distorted riffs of '(I'm) Stranded' by The Saints sounds so urgent and edgy you'd be forgiven for confusing their sound with that of a brand new band. Nestled alongside them are protest song-style musings from the likes of Nick Lowe, and reggae flavour is added to the mix by Dennis Brown and The Upsetters.
Folk is nicely represented too by Kate and Anna McGarrigle's simple yet elegant 'Come A Long Way'. Also included for your aural delectation is the Patti Smith Group's seminal 'Pissing in A River'; its beauty is met with a soiled blues sound and offset by Patti's deep vocals. In many ways this album could be described as a blueprint of music for the next three decades, with the likes of Patti Smith being an obvious influence on PJ Harvey. Despite the inclusion of many obscure artists the sound and overall attitude here is one of destroying the rules, and this era is rarely rivalled in terms of its continued influence on modern alternative music.
An instrumental and experimental notch is added by Penguin Café Orchestra to an album that is constantly shape shifting and does so effortlessly as it outlines all of the musical possibilities of this era. Funk is next from Bootsy Collins, followed by a very brief and bizarre dancehall piece clocking in at less than a minute and entitled 'Bicarbonate of Chicken'.
The protest song is reworked by the near spoken word vocals (oddly reminiscent of Bill Nighy), and fuzzy acoustic guitar of Art & Language and the Red Crayola, on a song wonderfully titled 'A Harangue'. The mighty Ramones are included and quite rightly too, 'Blitzkrieg Bop' sounds as anthemic and essential as ever and adds another layer to the amount of quality on display here. As the album nears its close the iconic Tom Waits takes to the mike with 'Step Right Up', a growling but jaunty effort backed with brass.
Ending with the aptly titled 'Conquering Dub' by Yabby You, this album is euphoric listening for anyone interested in Rough Trade or indeed modern music's roots. This shows where the nation's best label came from and hinted at where they would go, the definition of excellence.