to celebrate the release of the remastered carter usm back catalogue in digital form, the powers that be are to release a 2 cd set of all the best known tracks, along with a few special extras.
to be honest, while the elements that made up the sonic blueprint of the bands style, (drum machine chaos, rattling guitar chords, and an excess of movie samples) would form the basis of much of my own soundtrack of the era, even at the time, me and carter never clicked and subsequently i never really appreciated their music. probably, as the mass of photographic evidence proves, the band always had a severe problem with their image, they often came across as a last minute attempt at pop stardom, having failed with the twee indie setup jamie wednesday.
oh, and they wore nasty hats.
thankfully, for the huge dedicated audience that the duo found, such youthful shallow snobbery never stopped the nme dropping their mugs onto the front cover.
strange times indeed.
hitting the groove somewhere between sputnik, pop will eat itself with the supposed lyrical depth of billy bragg and the clash the collision of styles meant they came across as a student loved up party band for the beered up boys who read viz, but bought socialist worker to impress teacher.
also, for all the sparkling tracks (excellently remastered) that instigate nostalgia overload, (ie anything off their carreer defining 30 something album), the band will forever be remembered as the lads that twatted philip schofield during an awards ceremony.
disc 1
surfin’ usm
24 minutes from tulse hill
after the watershed (early learning the hard way)
rent
shopper’s paradise
midnight on the murder mile
the young offender’s mum
always the bridesmaid never the bride
lenny and terence
let’s get tattoos
johnny cash
england
anytime anyplace anywhere
r.s.p.c.e.
a prince in a pauper’s grave
this is how it feels
everything you ever wanted to know about everything
falling on a bruise
disc 2
24 minutes from tulse hill
after the watershed (early learning the hard way)
rent
shopper’s paradise
midnight on the murder mile
the young offender’s mum
always the bridesmaid never the bride
lenny and terence
let’s get tattoos
johnny cash
england
anytime anyplace anywhere
r.s.p.c.e.
a prince in a pauper’s grave
this is how it feels
everything you ever wanted to know about everything
falling on a bruise
disc 2
glam rock cops
re-educating rita
born on 5th november
do re me so far so good
rubbish
lean on me i won’t fall over
girls can keep a secret
the only living boy in new cross
say it with flowers
bloodsport for all
the impossible dream
the music that nobody likes
and god created brixton
sheriff fatman
the only loony left in town
a perfect day to drop the bomb
g i blues (contains hidden track as you are leaving the building)
re-educating rita
born on 5th november
do re me so far so good
rubbish
lean on me i won’t fall over
girls can keep a secret
the only living boy in new cross
say it with flowers
bloodsport for all
the impossible dream
the music that nobody likes
and god created brixton
sheriff fatman
the only loony left in town
a perfect day to drop the bomb
g i blues (contains hidden track as you are leaving the building)
more detail : here