ACE RECORDS
As the 1970s gave way to the 1980s, it became increasingly commonplace to hear synthesisers on British pop records. But how best to employ technology now cheap enough to be accessible to just about everybody? With no rules set down, experimentation was the order of the day. It’s a process captured in the latest excellent compilation from Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs, a double LP that mixes famous names (OMD, Human League, John Foxx) with less familiar treasures. These include lost cult classic Grey Skies by Jersey-based Turquoise Days, Thomas Leer’s eerie Private Plane, and folk-punk Patrick Fitzgerald trying his hand at electronica with the very lovely Personal Loss. A collection that reminds you just how much the invention of synth pop was down to oddballs and mavericks.