VA / Soul Jazz Records Presents - In The Beginning There Was Rhythm [CD]

Format: CD
Catalogue No.: SJRCD550
Barcode: 5026328105505
Release Date: 10 May 2024
Genre: Indie/Alt/Dance

 Unavailable for over 20 years, ‘In The Beginning There Was Rhythm’ was Soul Jazz Records’ first foray into post-punk and punk-funk in the UK, capturing the groundbreaking, seminal groups that crossed the divide of punk and dance music for the first time.
 “‘In The Beginning…’ is essential missing-link history - and body-rockin’ fun” - The Guardian
 “‘In The Beginning…’ doesn’t have a single limp tune. It’ll amaze new listeners and give old ones some hard-to-find tracks. Buy it.” - Pitchfork
 “There’s no denying that ‘In the Beginning There Was Rhythm’ is a great gateway into this expansive, fruitful, trailblazing era.” - All Music
 First released in 2001, this album is fully remastered, remade and presented once more in its entirety and features A Certain Ratio, Cabaret Voltaire, Throbbing Gristle, The Human League, The Pop Group, Gang of Four, The Slits, 23 Skidoo and This Heat.
 This album comes as a CD and as a double black vinyl edition with download code complete with two bespoke inner bags containing extensive sleevenotes and original photography.
 As Muzik magazine noted on its initial release, ‘In The Beginning There Was Rhythm’ is a choice selection from the fertile post-punk period when bands thought nothing of combining politics and philosophy with imported dance rhythms and edgy industrial angst.
 Most of the bands featured come from the then bleak post-industrial North of England - Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds as well as Bristol and London - and yet all show a fascination with Black American rhythms and an experimentation in sound that was completely unique at the time.
 The title of the album comes from The Slits track of the same name.
 Press - Reviews & features in Mojo, The Wire, The Guardian, The Times, The Telegraph, Pitchfork, Irish Times, The Observer, Clash, Vice, Metro, Record Collector, Uncut, The Independent, Q.

Tracklisting
A Certain Ratio - Shack Up
23 Skidoo - Coup
Gang Of Four - To Hell With Poverty
The Human League - Being Boiled
The Slits - In The Beginning There Was Rhythm (Early Version)
This Heat - 24 Track Loop
Throbbing Gristle - 20 Jazz Funk Greats
The Pop Group - She Is Beyond Good and Evil
Cabaret Voltaire - Sluggin' Fer Jesus
23 Skidoo - Vegas El Bandito
A Certain Ratio - Knife Slits Water