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- 200 RAREST ALBUMS EVER
As the new Rare Record Price Guide hits the shelves, we give you a run down of the most expensive albums out there. - PETER GREEN
Once lost, now found, the British blues legend and Fleetwood Mac founder on his life - DR. JOHN
Cures what ails you – the good doctor on New Orleans, heroin and Phil Spector’s guns
Rare Record Price Guide
- The world's leading authority on prices of rare and collectable records pressed in the UK.
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The Lines - Memory Span
UK post-punk outfit finally get their moment
The Lines are a classic example of a UK group who got lost in the post-punk deluge. Formed in 1978 by mainstay Rico Conning, they released their West Coast-influenced first single, White Night (reissued the following year by Miles Copeland’s Illegal label). The Lines eschewed trends, didn’t court press and were getting darker by follow-up On The Air, maybe recalling The Only Ones with blazing guitar lines and disparaging vocals, but bringing the noise on 1980’s Cool Snap EP.
By now a longstanding fixation with dub and Can was steering Conning into more experimental areas. 1981’s Nerve Pylon and Over the Brow single forged even further into avant pastures, the latter particularly atmospheric with brass-guitar interplay. Transit planted the original melodic vocal into further dubby stratas, also explored on the Therapy album, while funk crept into the House Of Cracks 12”. Still facing indifference from press and public, The Lines vanished after 1983’s final Ultramarine album, leaving their records gaining collectable status over the years.
This first collection collates the five singles and EP, displaying an uncompromisingly individual approach which eschewed the trend-hungry musical climate of the time. Devotees of the era and fans of fresh, fearless music should investigate.
Active | ACU 010
Reviewed by Kris Needs
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