Hut Recordings 1991-2001

AMAZON.CO.UK
This compilation seems uncharacteristic of Hut: the British indie label has never gone in for self-promotion or self-aggrandising, which may be part of the reason that it has never acquired the mythic status of rival imprints like 4AD, Mute or Creation. True to form, there is no celebratory essay included here by way of sleevenotes: Hut seems determined that its artists will speak for it. They do this with varying degrees of effectiveness. Because Hut (unlike 4AD, Mute or Creation) have never allied themselves to any particular aesthetic, they've been free to sign acts as diverse as modest neo-folk balladeers Gomez and Swedish pop scamsters Placebo. The quality varies just as wildly: while there is never going to be an excuse for Smashing Pumpkins' bellicose metal nonsense, or Embrace's Oasis retreads, there is never going to be anything disagreeable about hearing McAlmont & Butler's magnificent "Yes" or The Auteurs' ferocious "Lenny Valentino" again. --Andrew Mueller.