- For about four years now, the British imprint Thisisnotanexit have been operating from the more obscure outer edges of the dance music scene. In the label's world, underground nu-disco is making out with leftfield house while some horny punks are peeking from behind a wall, touching themselves while reminiscing of New Wave heroes. This gritty version of hedonism isn't surprising: after all, this is a label whose very name is a reference to Bret Easton Ellis' dystopian postmodernism, and they cite David Lynch, Kafka's The Trial, Nirvana's In Utero, Albert Camus and Joy Division as influences.
Appropriately, the label's first two CD compilation is dubbed Manifesto #1, referencing a literary genre best associated with early 20th century avant-garde movements. Even if you take away the highbrow, slightly academic nature of the title, it's clear the label has a modernist agenda: uncompromising and trailblazing dance music that doesn't care for traditions, scenes allegiances or populist taste-meetings.
This is all apparent on CD 1 albeit in a twisted way as both the opening and closing tracks encircle the collection with the label's more post-punk and least dance floor-friendly leanings. The instrumentation of "Messages," courtesy of the Trevor Jackson-produced Detachments, from its hammering bassline, screeching guitars and cavernous vocals, loudly screams "Ian Curtis is alive!!" while They Came From the Stars, I Saw Them, despite sounding on "Rabbit Seal Money" like a less exuberant but noisier Polyphonic Spree, can't help but also appear both confrontational and boastful. Stuck in the middle of all this is a bric-a-brac of all things weirdly electronic, from Brain Machine's "Pulsations" (whose, err, pulsating Italo-tinged synths and impressionist melody reveal the label's other penchant) to Professor Genius' more abstract "A Jean Giraud 5," Naum Gabo's creepy "Like Crystalline" and Moscow's oblique "Boson."
You do get two placid songs thrown in there as well with the ever Balearic and serene Hatchback (at almost nine minutes "Jetlag" seems like an odd oasis of tranquility in such company) and Toronto newcomer Parallels, whose sunny "Ultralight" combines the effervescence of Italo-disco with live drumming and tuneful vocals, odd proof of the label's sheer versatility and openness.
CD 2, mixed by label owner Simon A. Carr, offers a glimpse at Thisisnotanexit's more club-oriented cuts. Unsurprisingly, these are mostly offered here in remixed formats. Serge Santiago's Totally Different reinterpretation of They Came From the Stars, I Saw Them's "Moon Song" remains the most radical of them all, as Santiago does away with almost everything from the original and opts for a darker and spookier instrumental bass-driven track that perversely titillates for minutes before the kick drum ever kicks in. Chateau Flight's remix of Spectral Empire's "Innerfearance" is lighter and more upbeat in tone than the title would suggest, the Prins Thomas mix of Hatchback's "White Diamonds" is as stellar now as when it was initially released two years ago, and even the aforementioned Detachments show up again this time with their dancing shoes on "Fear No Fear" and the stirring King of Town remix of their own "Circles."
Whether the compilation is indulging the label's more overtly demanding and uncompromising side or its friendly, more immediate tendencies, the generally tense surrounding created by such diversity and contrasts is what makes the entire proposition an edgy and constantly unpredictable listen. Manifesto #1 is a manifesto indeed.
TracklistChapter One - Unmixed
01. Detachments - Messages
02. Brain Machine - Pulsations
03. Professor Genius - A Jean Giraud 5
04. Panda City Band - Wet Journey
05. Naum Gabo - Like Crystalline
06. Spectral Empire - Lift Shaft
07. Pink Stallone - Vlad
08. Night Plane - Let The Right One In
09. Hatchback - Jetlag
10. Moscow - Boson
11. Young Monday - Zaire
12. Weird Tapes - The Walking Dead
13. The Dark Esquire - What You Need
14. Parallels - Ultralight
15. They Came From The Stars, I Saw Them - Rabbit Seal Monkey
Chapter Two - Mixed by Simon A. Carr
01. Spectral Empire - Innerfearence (Chateau Flight Remix)
02. Hatchback - White Diamond (Prins Thomas Miks Del 1 & 2)
03. Brain Machine - Heaven 8
04. Detachments - Fear No Fear
05. Naum Gabo - Pictur (Joakim Remix)
06. Club Silencio - Turpe Traxx (Sankt Goran Remix)
07. They Came From The Stars, I Saw Them - Moon Song (Serge Santiago Totally Different Mix)
08. Detachments - Circles (King Of Town Remix)
09. Parallels - Midnight Voices
10. Professor Genius - A Jean Giraud 1 (Brennan Green Version)
11. They Came From The Stars, I Saw Them - Moon Song (The Gospel According To Mung 2012 Live At The Hacienda Version)