Tracklist:
Godflesh – 40 Versions
Lush – Mannequin
Resolution – It’s A Boy
aMiniature – A Serious Of Snakes
Kustomized – A Question Of Degree
Band Of Susans – Ahead
Bark Psychosis – Three Girl Rhumba
Ex-Lion Tamers – On Returning
Spasm – 12XU
Fudge Tunnel – Lowdown
Laika – German Shepherds
Chris Connelly – A Mutual Friend
Carl Marks – Eastern Standard
Petty Tyrants – Our Swimmer
Scanner – Eardrum Buzz
Polar Bear – Being Sucked In (Again)
Lee Ranaldo – Fragile
My Bloody Valentine – Map Ref 41°N 93°W
Transformer – Outdoor Miner
Main – Used To
Mike Watt – The 15th
Label background: WMO stands for Wire Mail Order, and (as anyone can guess) was responsible for releasing material by band Wire, as well as related projects and even a few compilations. They put out material by the likes of Dome, Desmond Simmons, P’o, Michael O’Shea and Bruce Gilbert, among others.
Notes: This 1996 tribute to legendary punk band Wire features a whole number of electronic, industrial and rock bands (as well as plenty of those that are hard to classify). Curiously enough, many bands from this compilation broke up/went on hiatus sometime after it was released, while Wire, who were relatively quiet throughout the 90s, eventually reformed and started releasing new material.
MBV track is their only post-Loveless material, while Fudge Tunnel and aMiniature broke up/ceased to exist sometime after recording their Wire covers featured here (Fudge Tunnel were also featured on an obscure AC/DC tribute during that year, while San Diego aMiniature recorded an excellent “Murk Time Cruiser” album a year before with Mark Trombino from Drive Like Jehu)
Kustomized was a short-lived project that featured Peter Prescott from Mission of Burma / Volcano Suns, as well as members of Cul De Sac and Gary Burton Quartet. They also did a cover of Wire’s “Surgeon’s Girl” on “The Day I Had Some Fun” 7″ in 1994.
“Ahead” by Band of Susans is yet another final track for a band that was active throughout years (and which also, at some point, included Page Hamilton from Helmet). Other band members included Robert Poss, Ron Spitzer and Susan Stenger/Susan Tallman (hence the band name, apparently).
Bark Psychosis their only full-length (at that time) called Hex in 1994 and much of what followed were compilations of their old material – 1994 “Independency” and 1997 “Game Over” (both on 3rd Stone label), the latter of which featured “Three Girl Rhumba”.
Ex-Lion Tamers features Jim DeRogatis – famous/infamous Chicago Sun-Times rock critic, who wrote a lot of material on alternative bands of the 90s and was much criticized for it by bands like Sonic Youth and Smashing Pumpkins. Ex-Lion Tamers were also featured on “Dugga, Dugga, Dugga”, another Wire-related compilation, which also came out on WMO – it was not a tribute, however, but an album of interpretations of Wire’s song “Drill”.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0750lXG38AA]
Godflesh – 40 Versions
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Interesting, some greats on that list 🙂 Sheri