This Heat

At last, a decent reissue for one of the strongest and strangest debut records of all time. Seemingly born out of the fervent experimentalism of the UK post-punk scene, This Heat's beautifully skewed mix of improvisation, lo-fi tapework and stretched, ghostly songform actually had more in common with maverick longhairs like Henry Cow and Faust.

But that's by the by. The music here seethes with an economy, invention and power that still shocks a quarter of a century on. That's literally true of the opening "Horizontal Hold", a slice of denselyvisceral prog that'll kick the unwary listener into orbit with its fearsome opening salvo. Elsewhere the trio offer aquatic, half-formed songs, primal bursts of noise and last but not least, they invent Techno with the seminal "24 Track Loop". If you've never heard this before, I really envy you...Indispensable.