Compilation of the house label's biggest hits
If this collection got any more nostalgic it would be in an armchair with a pipe and slippers, regaling us with tales of the 'second summer of love' and the rave years. Impossible Oddities is a comprehensive album charting the story of seminal record label WAU! Mr Modo [WAU commonly interpreted as 'What About Us?' and Mr Modo refers to the nickname of label founder Adam Morris]. It's also a nostalgia trip for Alex Patterson and Martin 'Youth' Glover, both former roadie and bassist respectively for Killing Joke as well as sometime co-conspirators in The Orb. Not only do they mix the material here, but they're also responsible for a large chunk of it as original label founders.
Even for a hardened rocker like myself the impact of Roland synths and sampling changed the face of music almost overnight. Between the aforementioned 'second summer of love' around 1987 and the rave culture of the early nineties, WAU! Mr Modo released a glut of psychadelic pop inspired house, including The Orb's ambient 'Little Fluffy Clouds' (represented here in an early demo version) and first release 'Tripping On Sunshine'. As common as it is to compare the sci-fi and psych elements of The Orb or Paradise X to early progressive rock, the label's inhabitants didn't limit their sampling to a single genre, citing reggae, funk, R&B, pop, and almost every rave and house sub-genre going.
Discs 1 and 2 are a snapshot of the label's most popular original singles, including two versions of the Indica All Stars' classic 'Open Our Eyes' as well as the demo version of 'Little Fluffy Clouds'. Disc 2 opens with Zoe's ever-present feelgood anthem 'Sunshine On A Rainy Day', the irresistably catchy 'Work Your Body', and the bizarre sampling of 'Also Sprach Zarathustra' on Eternity's 'Blackcurrant'. Disc 3 is an hour-long set as mixed by The Orb, some of which features earlier in the compilation, some of which is new. Including the 'Hotel California remix' it showcases the best of the ambient post-punk pre-grunge house mixes.
Dedicated to a sound, to a time and a place, the WAU! Mr Modo recordings live on as the inspiration for today's DJs and samplers. A fantastic way of tracking down a lot of rare recordings. The cover art says it all.