Joey Beltram - Classics (Compilation, 1996)

I'll outright say it: there are hundreds if not thousands of other music blogs out there that will better serve your techno and dance music desires. I like lots of techno and electronic music as much as other genres, but as a single and club-based medium, I'm definitely not the guy who is going to turn you onto the new big thing. When it comes to modern stuff, I just listen to critics and some fans, get what they tell me to and assume it's going to be good. Oftentimes, it isn't. It has kept my techno and house collection fairly modest.

After trying my hand at the ever-growing current minimal scene, I've discovered that much of it isn't for me. However in that revelation, I've finally turned my attention to some of the pioneers of the dance genres, Joey Beltram (under his numerous guises) being one of them.

Classics collects 13 (classic) dance cuts from the New York based artist. Even the uninitiated techno fan has probably heard tracks like "Energy Flash" and "My Sound" but as the compilation title tells us...these are not just run of the mill compositions.

I can't tell you about Beltram's influence on any scene. I can't recollect any sort of memory of seeing the guy live. I can't tell you about the effect his tracks have in dance clubs. I can tell you that right now, July 27, this compilation is hitting me hard all over again.

When the music is this good, this..."classic"...you don't have to find yourself in the club to enjoy it.

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A Certain Ratio - Early (2002)

I don't know ACR that well, but of the two albums I've heard, they didn't strike me as GREAT. As a collection of good singles or whatever this is much better to me. Basically Joy Division/Factory Records sound but much more NY-disco influenced. It's fun stuff. Plus it's on Soul Jazz Records, so you know it at least sounds good and IF YOU BUY IT it is bound to come with an awesome package.

With the Creation reissues of A Certain Ratio's catalog becoming increasingly tough to track down and with the post-punk revival going on around the time of its release, Early arrived right on time. Despite an uneven discography and an inexplicably numerous string of Joy Division comparisons, ACR was an excellent -- if inconsistent -- post-punk band that exemplified a spectacular movement against the old rock guard. In reality, it only seems right to refer to the ACR captured here as a post-punk band for chronology's sake. They came after the punk explosion of 1977, yet they had hardly anything in common with that movement. At their best, they used rock instrumentation to sound little like a rock band, laying a combination of disco, funk, and Latin percussion as the foundation of their sound. They hardly took a cue from punk, evidenced as early on as their second single, a cover of Banbarra's "Shack Up." Early, an assemblage of key moments and rarities that ends with 1985, is one of those compilations that makes no overt commitment to the fanatic or the curious -- an issue that's probably exacerbated by the inclusion of five Peel Session selections. As a result, four songs are presented in two versions, eating up space that could have been taken up by other highlights. The only case where this overlap can be excused is "All Night Party," their first single; the studio version is a drumless din of Mancunian miserableness, while the Peel Session version is given the death disco treatment with drums from Donald Johnson, who wasn't on board at the time of the song's original recording. It would be a bit of a cop-out on the part of the Soul Jazz label to view the second disc -- the one with the B-sides, rarities, and Peel Session material -- merely as the icing on the cake, the bonus. Though Early goes for the price of a single disc, the space provided could have been used a bit better. The discs are far from maxed-out content-wise, and there are a handful of damnable exclusions. However, this bizarre restraint might have more to do with the future of the ACR catalog than a few boneheaded decisions. All things considered, there is no shortage of great material here, and the packaging is phenomenal. A short film documenting the band's first trip to New York City is also included
-Andy Kellman, AMG

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