SWIM TEAM # 1 VARIOUS ARTISTS [SWIM~ ] 20 Jan 2000
WM30 [CD]
SWIM~ SWIM SAMPLER Swim, the label established by Colin Newman (of the currently reformed Wire) and Malka Spigel back in 1993, releases this low-price sampler CD of recent and forthcoming delights in May 2000.
A chance to dip into Swim's warm and fertile waters, Swim Team #1 melts the boundaries of atmospheric, mood-shifting electronica and guitar-based rock. A diving board to launch label debutantes Symptoms, S. Gears and child prodigy Bumpy (he's 11!) - all of whom have debut LPs slated for release soon - the compilation contains highlights from the recent past and splashy new tunes from respected outfits like Ronnie & Clyde and Silo. Swim Team #1 retails for around the price of a 12" single.
Both Colin and Malka contribute previously unreleased songs individually and together under the guise of Immersion, while the ultra-rare Newman/ Corrado Izzo track 'The Narrativ' makes its way back from 500 copies only and-sold-out-in-a-day obscurity on the German i220 label.
Come on in, the water's fine!
PRESS
Swim Team #1 is an extraordinary compilation that manages to be both challenging and highly listenable at the same time..The only downside, really, is that if you get this you'll probably end up having to buy at least half a dozen of the albums from which the tracks were taken.
RECORD OF THE WEEK Mark Edwards SUNDAY TIMES
Bargain
Louis Pattison NME
The sounds of swim team #1 are prime examples of what you can do with a little bit of equipment and a lot of great ideas. You watch, in about 5 years Madonna'll be trying to make an album like this one.
Paul Doyle FIESTA
A consistently invaluable cpompilation from one of the best nu-avant-rock labels anywhere
Neil Davenport JOCKEY SLUT
The Team #1 mood is a post-techno, ambient rock coctail...Newman's unjustly neglected genius for combining gorgeous melodies with experimental barbs is well to the fore.
Chris Darke MUTE
All hail the true experimental artists...the ultrafunk of Ronnie & Clyde, the dark dub of Immersion and the analogue echo drop of Lobe sound like nothing you've heard before - without sounding anal into the bargain! Check this out.
Skip Tracer FLIPSIDE
Swim prove that whether it's gloomy post rock or chunky high plains dub, you'll never be short changed in the surprise stakes.
Calvin Bush MUZIK
1.01 Malka Spigel : 'Tall Grey Buildings'
1.02 Silo : 'Templates'
1.03 dol-lop : 'Phase'
1.04 Ronnie & Clyde : 'Mikki Maus'
1.05 Lobe : 'red spaces'
1.06 Symptoms : 'Burn'
1.07 Newman/Izzo :
'The Narrativ'
1.08 S Gears : '1st Person (first version)'
1.09 Bumpy : 'Pizza'
1.10 Malka Spigel : 'The Fishes and The Shining Sea'
1.11 Colin Newman : 'Blank Canvas'
1.12 Legion of Green Men : 'Constellation (Edit)'
1.13 Immersion : 'Walkabout Mix by Mick Harris'
1.14 Immersion : 'Dahab (Edit)'
1.15 Symptoms : 'Versus (fade)'
1.16 Spigel * Newman * Colin * Malka : 'Strumgliding (Edit)'
1.17 Silo : 'Bulk (Work In Progress)'
The track by Steve Gears on this comp is one of my favourite songs ever.Like nothing i had ever heard before or since.