Unreadable Communication: Anxious Recordings 1991-1993

by Curve

Overview

British alternative group Curve had a commanding, undeniably original sound that combined sweet yet scathing vocals and pop melodies with harsh, noisy guitars and dance beats. The band appeared in the early '90s with several buzzed-about EPs and a debut album that nearly hit the U.K. Top 20, and released several singles that achieved alternative radio and club play, while the group toured with the likes of Spiritualized and the Jesus and Mary Chain. They disbanded in 1994, and by the time they resurfaced later in the decade, groups like Garbage and Republica had scored major radio hits that seemed to be heavily informed by Curve's particular electronic-rock hybrid, but much more accessible. Cherry Red's four-CD box set Unreadable Communication gathers pretty much everything Curve released during their original run, when they were signed to Anxious Records, the label owned by Eurythmics' Dave Stewart. (Stewart had mutually introduced Curve's Toni Halliday and Dean Garcia in the '80s, and they originally collaborated together in the short-lived State of Play.) The only thing missing is Radio Sessions, a compilation of the band's two Peel Sessions, which was given a limited release in 1993 and hasn't resurfaced since. Everything on this box set was already reissued when Curve released deluxe two-CD editions of their out-of-print first two albums in 2017. For any fans who didn't pick those up, or newer listeners who haven't made the dive into the band's catalog yet, this is an entirely worthwhile purchase. The set starts out with the group's early EPs, which were compiled in North America as Pubic Fruit, plus a few B-sides. Doppelgänger, the band's first and best album, is appended with tracks from the magnificent "Horror Head" single, plus a riveting cover of Donna Summer's "I Feel Love." The harder-edged, sometimes borderline-industrial second album Cuckoo similarly gains a handful of non-album goodies. The final disc gathers two electrifying live performances as well as remixes and single versions. These include a mesmerizing ten-minute Future Sound of London remix (Halliday later guested on the duo's classic Lifeforms), a more downtempo Trent Reznor and Flood version of the jackhammering single "Missing Link," and one of the first remixes Aphex Twin ever did, which of course sounds nothing like its source material. ~ Paul Simpson

Product Details

Release Date:	02/23/2024
Label:	Cherry Red
UPC:	5013929116696
Rank:	26342

Tracks

Disc 1

1. Ten Little Girls
2. I Speak Your Every Word
3. Blindfold
4. No Escape From Heaven
5. Coast Is Clear
6. The Colour Hurts
7. Frozen
8. Zoo
9. Clipped
10. Die Like a Dog
11. Galaxy
12. Cherry
13. Fait Accompli [Single Version]
14. Arms Out
15. Sigh

Disc 2

16. Already Yours
17. Horror Head
18. Wish You Dead
19. Doppelgänger
20. Lillies Dying
21. Ice That Melts the Tips
22. Split Into Fractions
23. Think and Act
24. Fait Accompli
25. Sandpit
26. Falling Free
27. Mission From God
28. Today Is Not the Day
29. I Feel Love

Disc 3

30. Missing Link
31. Crystal
32. Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus
33. All of One
34. Unreadable Communication
35. Turkey Crossing
36. Superblaster
37. Left of Mother
38. Sweetest Pie
39. Cuckoo
40. On the Wheel
41. Triumph
42. Low and Behold
43. Nothing Without Me
44. Rising [Original Mix]
45. Half the Time [Original Mix]

Disc 4

46. Coast Is Clear [Live/Manchester/91]
47. Die Like a Dog [Live/London/91]
48. Fait Accompli [Extended, Extended, Extended...]
49. Horror Head [Single Mix]
50. Falling Free [Aphex Twin Remix]
51. Missing Link [Single Mix]
52. Missing Link [Screaming Bird Mix]
53. Rising [Headspace Mix]
54. Half the Time [Honey Tongue Mix]
55. Superblaster [Single Mix]