4AD (1980-1993): An Introduction (Re-posting)

      

            With the release of the excellent "Facing the Other Way: The Story of 4AD" by Martin Aston, along with a thirst for some project to bide my time with, I've decided to take a stab at reviewing all the releases from 1980-1990 of one of my favorite record labels of all time. To describe 4AD in this period, one could use the words ethereal, dark, contemplative, introverted. This was really only one facet of the 4AD sound which could swing from electronic dance to alternative funk to American college rock to straight up goth.

            The main connection all the groups had under this time is a similar overall aesthetic as well as  guidance from Ivo Watts-Russell, a co-founder and the head of the label in this era. "Facing the Other Way" goes into good detail on Ivo's life, however where I begin is with the English music scene in the late 70's.  By 1979 the initial punk scene had came and went leavimg behind the beginnings of what would be a promising indie label society. Labels such as Rough Trade and Factory, initially inspired by the punk DIY ethos, had started around '78 signing bands like the Swell Maps and the Raincoats and Joy Division and A Certain Ratio respectively that were to represent the beginnings of the new post-punk era.
           The start of 4AD began with Ivo and Peter Kent while they were working for the Beggars Banquet record store. They had been listening to demos bands sent for the label division of Beggars  and decided after a discussion with the Beggars Banquet label, to create a sub label for groups that they were interested in. They initially called the label Axis.
              In early 1980 Axis released its first and only 4 releases, all of which were singles. Three out of the four weren't much to talk about; they overall were very different from what 4AD would represent. Bearz's She's My Girl was a bit of new wave that was accessible but floated along with subpar melody and a vaguely catchy handclap chorus. Fast Set's Junction One is a decent piece of minimal synth that wasn't too far from what Kraftwerk were doing three years before. The B side is a rather maudlin cover of a T Rex track that sounds to have been produced from someone's Super Nintendo MIDI card. The third single was Shox's No Turning Back which was a bouncy up-beat early synth pop track that was largely forgettable. The fourth single I will cover in the first official review as it was the only Axis single reissued on 4AD. That was Bauhaus's Dark Entries.
              As Ivo and Peter were preparing to release the singles, a foreign label also called Axis had caught wind that they were using that name to start a label and mailed them a letter asking to change their name, while conveniently allowing them to sell off their first and only axis issues. After this 4AD was created after a quick glance at a poster (Neither Pete or Ivo can remember who came up with the name though) with 1984 AD written on it. And thus the proper beginning of the label begin.