Cool As Icesweeps up the scattered remains of the influential dance singlesproduced by Be Music, a catch-all name that denoted productions byvarious members of New Order. Most of these tracks were produced byBernard Sumner, often working alongside DoJo (Donald Johnson of ACertain Ratio); with a few tracks produced by Peter Hook, Steve Morrisand Gillian Gilbert. It's a fantastic collection of rarely heardelectro and dance classics from the early years of British clubculture. The twelve tracks collected on Cool As Ice wereoriginally released in a particularly fertile creative period of1983-4. 52nd Street's "Can't Afford To Let You Go" is a classic slab ofacross-the-Atlantic electro: throbbing analog sequences and stunningRoland 808 programming alongside soulful R&B vocals. It's a thick,delicious concoction of post-Disco dance every bit as good as Detroitmainstays like Rhythm is Rhythm, but with an ear for clean-edged,spartan production familiar from classic New Order tracks like theubiquitous "Blue Monday." "Looking From a Hilltop (Megamix),"painstakingly reworked from a track by Section 25, rates among thegreatest all-time techno singles; a lush urban sprawl illuminated bythe glistening surfaces of newly constructed high-rise apartmentbuildings. Marcel King's "Reach For Love" is a gloriously overwroughtgay-club anthem that never was, bearing more than a passing resemblanceto my beloved Bronski Beat. Cool As Ice would be worth theprice for the first three tracks alone, but luckily there are nine moretracks, filling out the disc's running time to the 74-minute limit.Other tracks by obscure acts like Quando Quango, Thick Pigeon and JosefK frontman Paul Haig outline that unique mid-80's intersection ofpost-punk, new wave, Big Beat and the emerging dance scenes. Thequality of the songs varies from average to better, but most of themhave held up remarkably well, due in no small to the smart productionby New Order members. It's strange, considering the long-runningnotoriety and success of New Order, that no one thought to compile thisstuff before now. But that's LTM's specialty: fulfilling needs wedidn't even know we had. - 52nd Street - Can't Afford To Let You Go
- Section 25 - Looking From A Hilltop (Megamix)
- Marcel King - Reach For Love
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