v/a - Auteur Labels: Robs Records

The compilation series Auteur Labels profiles independent labels with a unique and enduring sound, vision and design sensibility, usually guided by one or two directors, concerned more with creativity than commerce.

This volume looks at Robs Records, the pioneering Manchester dance imprint founded by Rob Gretton, manager of Joy Division/New Order and Factory partner.

CD tracklist

1. Sub Sub Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use)
2. The Beat Club Security (Bernard Sumner Remix)
3. A Certain Ratio 27 Forever (Jon Dasilva Mix)
4. Spacer IV Sirocco
5. Strangebrew Sky Life
6. Roy Davis Jnr & Jay Jiniel Egyptian Jazz
7. J-Walk Buggin' Becky (Balihu Remix)
8. Mr Scruff Chicken in a Box
9. Aanmbi Our Love Climbs Higher (Extended Mix)
10. Rack-It! Tarantella Ritual
11. Digital Justice Theme From It's All Gone Pear Shaped
12. A Certain Ratio Listen to the Sound
13. Sub Sub Inside of This

Available on CD only. To order please select correct shipping option and click on Add To Cart button below cover image, or contact LTM by email for other payment options.

Reviews:

"Outstanding compilations, sophisticated scholarship' (The Wire, 08/2008)

"LTM deliver another instalment in the extremely exciting Auteur Labels series, compiling the best tracks from the label prior to Rob Gretton's death in 1999. Among them are pre-historic Factory workers A Certain Ratio, Roy Davis Jr, Sub Sub (later Doves) with their Number 3 hit Ain't No Love and the early ambient uberhit Pear Shaped by Digital Justice. Strictly 90s and full-blooded" (Westzeit, 05/2010)

"For all the clichéd 'disco sucks!' rhetoric bandied about, the crossover between dance and punk musics are amusing. Sonically both bore repetitive, rhythmic passages topped with lyrics about boredom, drugs and sex. 80s dance punk/funk groups came and went (Swamp Children, Marine, APB, Maximum Joy) and the late 80s birthed A Guy Called Gerald, Soul II Soul and M People while the 90s represented a more linear sect of DJ/collage/House proponent (Sub Sub, Anamdi, Mr Scruff, Spacer IV, J-Walk, Strangebrew). Joy Division/New Order manager Rob Gretton helped fund Slaughter & The Dogs, helped establish post punk with Joy Division and New Order, and instigated dance club The Haçienda. While Anthony H. Wilson might not have agreed, Gretton himself knew it before anyone: 'Disco RULES!'" (The Big Takeover, 09/2010)