Whether or not its because life support has finally been withdrawn from the time-travelling 80s franchise, Ashes To Ashes, or whether it is because our own contemporary artists are doing the eighties so much better this time around, I find myself quietly disappointed by the latest offering from the ordinarily tremendous ‘New Wave To New Beat’ series. It’s all a bit one-dimensional, if anything. Volume 1 and Volume 2 were a reminder that actual tunes were the glue that held the 80s together and not the ubiquitous static whir of a Juno or a Korg. Tracks like ‘The End’ from John Carpenter and ‘Salsa Smurf’ are, on the otherhand, equally painful reminders that for every ‘Enola Gay’ and ‘Cracked Mirror’ you had a dozen or so ‘Axel F’s. In this respect, ‘staying clear of the obvious’ has its obvious disadvantages.
There are exceptions of course, New Order’s surly yet baroque ‘Your Silent Face’ makes a triumphant appearance and the Cocteau Twin’s ‘Sugar Hiccup’ proves as savagely charismatic and otherworldly as it was ‘back in the day’.
If it’s evidence that the 80s was thirty years ahead of its time that you’re looking for (or the naughties was thirty years behind it) then mark it ‘exhibit a’. If not, then scoop up Volumes I and II instead.