I love compilations.  Often it’s hard to go wrong – there will invariably be something that appeals, especially when a record label that can seem to do little wrong in the world of the alternative and damn right good, compiles it.  But problems do arise, oh yes, and it may just be when said compiler just doesn’t know when to stop.  When a finely tuned masterwork slips into the world of the over-heaped and over-baked.  Regrettably this is what the new-ish double c.d. Unlabel compilation, ‘un40rmulated’ (2005/2006), veers towards.  As the name suggests it is a collection of 40 tracks - many from the labels own artists as well as some handpicked guests for good measure.  To its credit it manages to bring together a fair swathe of talent from the DIY scene and some entrenched favourites – Joeyfat, Cove, Part Chimp etc. – as well as others that have of late surfaced into a bigger, wider world - ¡Forward Russia! and Clearlake as examples. 

A band that would have been counted on the latter list some ten or more years ago, also appear like a bolt from the blue two thirds of the way through disc a.   The re-emergence of mid-nineties cultural detractors, S*M*A*S*H, a band I thought I’d seen the last of (but now I haven’t I sort of feel a little better…. sort of) comes as quite a surprise.  Although the track they present here, ‘One in the Chamber’, possess nothing of their earlier energetic bile, instead the band opt for a more subdued and restrained approach.  In this contemporary world of S*M*A*S*H the 1990’s deluge of small-town gits screaming ‘fuck art lets rock’ appears a distant memory, leaving ‘One in the Chamber’ seeming a poor choice and tired (better to burn out…etc etc). 

Un40rumlated is plagued by inconsistency, reducing it to a simple aside of the labels better and more significant releases.  The truth is it’s just too up and down.  Yes there are some great, even inspiring moments (see: Camelion, Songs of My Lap, Nub, Hood), but equally for each of these there are real, “give me strength” moments (maybe don’t see: Paul Taylor & Kevin Tomkins, Sutcliffe Jürgend, Sarandon, Alexander Tucker). The result of all this is a compilation you find yourself listening to with the remote in your hand because you know there will be a lot of skipping to do.  On the positive side, much of the quality to be found on the CD comes from Unlabels own acts and regulars, which means as a label they really are doing little wrong.  It is the unwelcome guests who have a tendency to lower the tone, to chew with their mouths open and piss in the punch.  Unlabel are a great asset to the indie scene and have been for a number of years.  They have many releases that deserve to be shouted about and they have produced compilations in the past that stand up for themselves.  Un40rumlated could have avoided being the black sheep of the Unlabel catalogue if only they had kept it simple, boiled it down and worked the goodness.  They’ve done it before, I’ll guarantee they’ll do it again – and before too long I’ll wager.  

Rob Herian