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Product Description
Review
As Green Gartside enjoys another lengthy hiatus between albums, this first career-spanning retrospective in Scritti Politti’s 34-year stint plugs a gap, picking tracks from those sparse decades and throwing in a couple of new ones to sweeten the deal. And Scritti were always about sugaring the pill; candy-cute vocals and light-as-air pop-funk arrangements did a great job of smuggling big ideas and smart wordplay into the charts, at least in the mid-80s. But Gartside could never stick around long enough to keep any momentum going.
Unlike Scritti’s own career, Absolute starts with the hits. Five in a row from second album Cupid & Psyche 85, beginning with the fizzing, punning Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin), through the sly lovers rock of The Word Girl and onto US top 10 smash Perfect Way. These are startling examples of immaculate, state-of-the-art 80s pop, produced by soul backroom legend Arif Mardin and honed to perfection by Gartside and then-colleagues David Gamson and Fred Maher, and they opened doors that the Camden squat collective of eight years earlier couldn’t have hoped to barge.
With Mardin’s approval and Gartside’s timing, Scritti found acceptance with the sort of R&B legends they were hoping to ape, leading to writing songs for Chaka Khan and the extraordinary domino effect of having Miles Davis first cover one of their numbers and then guest on one. That song is Oh Patti (Don’t Feel Sorry for Loverboy), a marriage of soft jazz and blue-eyed soul that followed Cupid & Psyche then and here, the first song off 1988’s troubled Provision. Gartside had made outlandish leaps, but recognition was too much for him and he shrank from it, holing himself up in his native Wales for the next decade or so.
Absolute’s odd sequencing jumps straight to his re-emergence in 1999 with the hip hop/delicate pop-soul hybrid of Anomie & Bonhomie, here represented by four tracks that have aged far better than low-key approval at the time might have suggested. It’s strange too that it should have greater presence than 1982’s Songs to Remember, which makes do with three tracks, including the deathless, Robert Wyatt-assisted dub-pop of The ‘Sweetest Girl’ and signature Scritti tune Jacques Derrida, finding romance in philosophical tract.
Absolute has extras to offer the completists, including meaty sleeve-notes from pop scholar Simon Reynolds, who’d already lovingly chronicled Scritti’s formative years in his Rip It Up And Start Again. Two new tracks are worked up with classic-period partner David Gamson: A Place We Both Belong and Day Late and a Dollar Short are a lush ballad and spry funk bounce respectively, and ample proof there’s life in the impossibly youthful old dog yet. As he averages seven years between albums, you should grab any Gartside you can get.
--Matthew Horton
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CD Description
Absolute is the first ever, career-spanning collection of works and music by Scritti Politti – including two new and exclusive tracks. This collection includes tracks from all four albums, Songs to Remember, Cupid & Psyche, Provision, and Anomie and Bonhomie.
The two new, exclusive tracks are “A Day Late and a Dollar Short” and “A Place We Both Belong” – the first to be released/co-written with long-time collaborator, David Gamson, since Anomie and Bonhomie.
The two new, exclusive tracks are “A Day Late and a Dollar Short” and “A Place We Both Belong” – the first to be released/co-written with long-time collaborator, David Gamson, since Anomie and Bonhomie.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Fans like myself have been waiting for a compilation for years and when it finally arrives it's such an anti-climax.
To it's credit it includes the 7" versions of the Cupid and Psyche 85 singles and two 'new' tracks but overall it's a wasted opportunity.
Surely the main group that would buy a Scritti Politti compilation would be fans so to limit it to one CD to lower it's cost is a redundant argument since the fan would fork out much more to get what they really want which is all singles including even the 'early' ones. A large chunk of 'early' stuff, the beautiful 'Faithless', the poptastic 'First Boy In This Town (Lovesick), 'Take Me In Your Arms And Love Me' and 'The Boom Boom Bap' or anything else from the Mercury Music Prize nominated 'White Bread, Black Beer' for that matter are omitted. Perhaps Rough Trade or Virgin didn't want to put any from the last album on it for financial reasons. Lastly, perhaps it would have been best to leave 'Skank Bloc Bologna' off completely because it sticks out like a sore limb let alone a thumb!
The genius that is Green Gartside deserves a 2CD compilation.
Not very well put together.
To it's credit it includes the 7" versions of the Cupid and Psyche 85 singles and two 'new' tracks but overall it's a wasted opportunity.
Surely the main group that would buy a Scritti Politti compilation would be fans so to limit it to one CD to lower it's cost is a redundant argument since the fan would fork out much more to get what they really want which is all singles including even the 'early' ones. A large chunk of 'early' stuff, the beautiful 'Faithless', the poptastic 'First Boy In This Town (Lovesick), 'Take Me In Your Arms And Love Me' and 'The Boom Boom Bap' or anything else from the Mercury Music Prize nominated 'White Bread, Black Beer' for that matter are omitted. Perhaps Rough Trade or Virgin didn't want to put any from the last album on it for financial reasons. Lastly, perhaps it would have been best to leave 'Skank Bloc Bologna' off completely because it sticks out like a sore limb let alone a thumb!
The genius that is Green Gartside deserves a 2CD compilation.
Not very well put together.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
As a lifelong Scritti Politti fan I've been waiting for this collection to be released and here it is. Almost a full career retrospective - a few highlights missing - but all of the commercial highlights are here.
Starting with the singles from Cupid & Psyche 85, the nice thing is that they are presented as the single versions which is great as I know all Scritti fans know the album versions backwards!
Provision's singles are up next although First Boy In This Town is not here for some reason which is a bit of a shame as it's one of my personal favourites.
Then we are served up several tracks from 1999's Anomie and Bonhomie, two of which were never singles (Die Alone and Brushed With Oil) but still sound great.
Next up are the early singles from Songs to Remember followed by the duet with Shabba Ranks (She's A Woman) and finally the two new tracks. Day Late & A Dollar Short is very current but also at the same time very reminiscent of a Cupid & Psyche era Scritti track. A Place We Both Belong is more mellow but still a welcome addition.
Overall the album demonstrates the versatility of Green Gartside and remind us of what an under appreciated genius he is/was.
My one criticism is a few gems were omitted: First Boy In This Town, Take Me In Your Arms And Love Me and I Don't Know Why I Love You.
Buy the album and search for the other tracks!
Starting with the singles from Cupid & Psyche 85, the nice thing is that they are presented as the single versions which is great as I know all Scritti fans know the album versions backwards!
Provision's singles are up next although First Boy In This Town is not here for some reason which is a bit of a shame as it's one of my personal favourites.
Then we are served up several tracks from 1999's Anomie and Bonhomie, two of which were never singles (Die Alone and Brushed With Oil) but still sound great.
Next up are the early singles from Songs to Remember followed by the duet with Shabba Ranks (She's A Woman) and finally the two new tracks. Day Late & A Dollar Short is very current but also at the same time very reminiscent of a Cupid & Psyche era Scritti track. A Place We Both Belong is more mellow but still a welcome addition.
Overall the album demonstrates the versatility of Green Gartside and remind us of what an under appreciated genius he is/was.
My one criticism is a few gems were omitted: First Boy In This Town, Take Me In Your Arms And Love Me and I Don't Know Why I Love You.
Buy the album and search for the other tracks!
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:MP3 Download
Rating: 6.5/10
Best tracks: `Absolute', `Oh Patti', `The Sweetest Girl', `Umm'
A single CD Scritti Politti compilation was always going to be tricky -there won't be enough room to give all of his different periods enough credit. A 2 CD chronological selection that charted the band's progression with a little more breathing space would have worked much better than this - take the eerie, raw post-punk dirge of `Skank Bloc Bologna', which really sticks out like a sore thumb when nothing else from that era is around to support it. Plus, while the presence of edited 7" mixes make for an interesting diversion for fans who remember the old vinyl single releases, they are all inferior to the album versions - who really wants `Wood Beez' without the second half of its gorgeous synth solo, or to have the ending to `The Word Girl' so rudely faded out early?
Speaking of those two gems, Absolute is so top-heavy with the brilliant blockbusting singles from Cupid and Psyche '85 that everything else that follows cowers in its presence, simply in terms of volume. Compare the thrilling but admittedly unsubtle smash of `Hypnotise' with the gentle, delectable pulse of `The Sweetest Girl', and it makes for an awkward flow. Plus, the White Bread Black Beer album isn't covered at all, the underrated and fun Provision gets a measly two songs to represent it (`Lovesick' and `Overnite' should have been here as well), and the two new songs aren't that great.
Luckily, many of the choices are great - the astonishing `Absolute' may very well be Green's finest hour - a pounding, thrilling blockbuster that sounds amazing turned up loud and is a guaranteed hit anytime of the week - its final chorus, where Green lets the main hook stick around for a little bit longer, is just pop heaven! `Oh Patti', which is an autumnal thing of creamy, dreamy beauty with a wonderful chorus and a surprising cameo from Miles Davis on trumpet duty! There's also the delectable `Umm', which has an unbeatable summery rush to it, and `The Sweetest Girl' is one of the weirdest and most beautiful slices of soul-pop ever.
My advice is to buy this as a practical stop-gap to get an idea of what Scritti Politti sound like, so that then you can move on to the albums, after which you can swiftly dispatch this to your nearest second-hand shop.
Best tracks: `Absolute', `Oh Patti', `The Sweetest Girl', `Umm'
A single CD Scritti Politti compilation was always going to be tricky -there won't be enough room to give all of his different periods enough credit. A 2 CD chronological selection that charted the band's progression with a little more breathing space would have worked much better than this - take the eerie, raw post-punk dirge of `Skank Bloc Bologna', which really sticks out like a sore thumb when nothing else from that era is around to support it. Plus, while the presence of edited 7" mixes make for an interesting diversion for fans who remember the old vinyl single releases, they are all inferior to the album versions - who really wants `Wood Beez' without the second half of its gorgeous synth solo, or to have the ending to `The Word Girl' so rudely faded out early?
Speaking of those two gems, Absolute is so top-heavy with the brilliant blockbusting singles from Cupid and Psyche '85 that everything else that follows cowers in its presence, simply in terms of volume. Compare the thrilling but admittedly unsubtle smash of `Hypnotise' with the gentle, delectable pulse of `The Sweetest Girl', and it makes for an awkward flow. Plus, the White Bread Black Beer album isn't covered at all, the underrated and fun Provision gets a measly two songs to represent it (`Lovesick' and `Overnite' should have been here as well), and the two new songs aren't that great.
Luckily, many of the choices are great - the astonishing `Absolute' may very well be Green's finest hour - a pounding, thrilling blockbuster that sounds amazing turned up loud and is a guaranteed hit anytime of the week - its final chorus, where Green lets the main hook stick around for a little bit longer, is just pop heaven! `Oh Patti', which is an autumnal thing of creamy, dreamy beauty with a wonderful chorus and a surprising cameo from Miles Davis on trumpet duty! There's also the delectable `Umm', which has an unbeatable summery rush to it, and `The Sweetest Girl' is one of the weirdest and most beautiful slices of soul-pop ever.
My advice is to buy this as a practical stop-gap to get an idea of what Scritti Politti sound like, so that then you can move on to the albums, after which you can swiftly dispatch this to your nearest second-hand shop.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
An Oddly Incomplete Trip to Scritti Land
I was first turned on to Scritti not by Peel or Jensen (that would have been too cool), rather by Peter Powell who played Jacques Derrida one afternoon after I had got back from... Read more
Published 2 months ago by robotfish
Hypnotizing!
Great career-spanning collection of the cleverest lyrics and catchiest tunes since Roxy Music's first Greatest Hits collection. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Carl Hubbard
Ouch My Ears !!
Firstly, you can't fault the songs.
An uneven tracklisting is frankly bizarre including notable omissions & it's running order is all over the place. Read more
An uneven tracklisting is frankly bizarre including notable omissions & it's running order is all over the place. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Paul Chapman
Back to the 80's
The album is fab, the hits sound as good as when they came out and the ones I didn't know I've easily warmed too, great album, great bargain.
Published 10 months ago by Lesleykitty
Could do better
I agree with several of the other reviews. Whilst I love every track here, the album makes no sense without any contributions from White Bread, Black Beer. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Mr. William B. Lavin
Nice but shame no DVD
Scritti Politti made some great songs. Having finally getting a greatest hits it's a shame they didnt decide to place a DVD with their videos with the CD. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Mr. G. Smith
Arrgh! 80's
This is a very subjective review by someone who thought sequencers were very clever when they were a new thing but then went,
'too much plinky plonky plastic man, my ears- my... Read more
'too much plinky plonky plastic man, my ears- my... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Captain Nemo
Paradigm Shift
It's not a 'Greatest Hits' nor a 'Best Of' ...it's 'A Collection Of The Words & Music Of Scritti Politti. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Brian Connor
Long Overdue!
Listening to this album reminds me why I always seem to come back to old Scritti Politti stuff more than most other bands who have been around for similar timespans: the quality of... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Jackster
Close but not quite perfect...
Presumably Green had some input into the compilation, but as the earlier 4 reviews have hinted, this is not quite the compilation it could have been. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Widnes Bob
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