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A masterpiece of synth pop – and a landmark album for the Human League! The record took the group from the Brit post-punk underground to the charts of the world – with a stark blend of noisy keyboards, spare beats, and Phil Okey's wonderfully flat and monotone vocals. And although the record is a bit of a departure from the group's noisier first few albums, it's also still got a dark edge that we'd kind of missed the first time around. Includes a nice remake of the theme from "Get Carter", plus loads of little great synth tunes like "I Am The Law", "Seconds", "The Sound Of The Crowd", and "Darkness" – as well as the hits "Love Action", "Don't You Want Me", and "The Things That Dreams Are Made Of".

Some great early 80s pop groove material from Human League – less of the colder synth of before, and more of the warmer soul-based sound that worked surprisingly well for the group! The EP features a number of tracks that fell between the LPs – including the extended version of their big hit "(Keep Feeling) Fascination", plus "Mirror Man", "Hard Times", "I Love You Too Much", "You Remind Me Of Gold" and "(Keep Feeling) Fascination Improvisation".

Fantastic sounds from the Australian scene of the early 80s – spare electronic work from Ash Wednesday and related projects – all a surprisingly great entry in the lost world of minimal wave! Most numbers here are stark and spare, but undeniably tuneful – the core charm we love at the point when groups like Human League or Cabaret Voltaire started getting a bit more focus, yet were still light years from being commercial. Like the music of both of those groups, the styles here lean heavily on the best analogue sounds forged in the decade before, filtered down to a basic essence, and redirected with tuneful lines and some moody vocals. Given that most of what we know from Australia at the time is guitar-heavy rock and noise, the set's a real revelation – and features 20 tracks that include "Psychotic Reaction", "A Circuit Like Me", "Bad Timing", "Sex I", and "A Living Person" by The Metronomes; "Boom Boom Baby", "Eighteen Creature", and "The Galvanized Garden Of Inner Peace" by Modern Jazz; "Useless Information" and "Radiation Injection" by Thealonian Music; and "Love By Numbers" and "Boring Instrumental" by Ash Wednesday.

Heaven 17 soften up their politics a bit with this second album (yet still address class inequality issues with the title!) – but they also manage to replace their Marxist agenda with some groovier, more soul-based tunes – just the kind of material that helped push them out of import obscurity into more of a crossover market in the US! The album's fondly remembered for the electro dancefloor numbers "Temptation", "Come Live With Me", and "Let Me Go" – all of which stand a cut above the work of their predecessors Human League, and show an ability to go past simple electronic pop riffs – even if they are all pretty darn catchy! Other tracks are great too – and the record has a joyous, optimistic quality that's every bit the best side of this scene from the early 80s generation. Titles include "We Live So Fast", "Best Kept Secret", "Crushed By The Wheels Of Industry", and "Key To The World".

A great but overlooked bit of crossover funk from Chas Jankel – guitarist for Ian Dury & The Blockheads during the late 70s! We're pretty partial to the cut "Glad To Know You" – which is a wicked post-punk crossover tune – almost in the Human League mode, but with some of the playful qualities of Ian Dury's work!

A great but overlooked bit of crossover funk from Chas Jankel – guitarist for Ian Dury & The Blockheads during the late 70s! The real standout here is the original version of "Ai No Corrida" – a track probably best remembered from Quincy Jones' Dude album, but sounding even better here in Jankel's original! We're pretty partial to the cut "Glad To Know You" – which is a wicked post-punk crossover tune – almost in the Human League mode, but with some of the playful qualities of Ian Dury's work!

Rare electro pop from mid 80s Columbus, Ohio – but music that would be equally at home in the Sheffield or Manchester scenes of a few years before! Near Paris are a totally great group who definitely deserved bigger fame – working here with just the right balance of darkness and catchy elements that you'd find in the best early work by New Order or Human League – and done with a similar love of pre-digital elements on keyboards and guitar! The heavy set brings together the group's rare EP plus a number of excellent unreleased tracks – finally giving Near Paris their due with titles that include "Shattered Glass", "979", "Hey You", "Visions", "Interlude", "Everything Will Change", and "Believe Me".

The overlooked collaboration between Human League singer Philip Oakey and producer Giorgio Moroder! The duo initially worked together on the outstanding "Together In Electric Dreams" single – a surprise hit from Moroder's soundtrack for a forgettable movie – and given The Human League's move towards a dancefloor sound around the same time, the timing was perfect to team up! Moroder lays down a soulful synth backdrop that rarely lets up – in fact, the first five tunes flow together almost like a continuous suite! Ultimately, this is a sweet slice of quintessentially 80s sounds – in a style that's endured – especially when you consider its influence on groups like Passion Pit a good 25 years later! Other tracks include "Now", "Why Must The Show Go On", "In Transit", "Goodbye Bad Times" "Brand New Lover (Take A Chance)", "Be My Lover Now", "Valerie" and "Shake It Up". Bonus tracks on this CD version from Gold Legion include an extended version of "Together In Electric Dreams", "In Transit/Goodbye Bad Times (12" Remix)" and "Be My Lover Now (12" Remix)".

A wealth of electronic groovers from the early 80s onwards – mostly club cuts that are heavy on electro touches, presented here in hard-to-find mixes from 12" singles! The set begins with those early 80s grooves we love so much – the best Brit moments when electronics really started to hit the dancefloors in the post-punk years – on up through house tracks, 90s soul numbers, and a few more contemporary tracks. The remixes are offered up as a partner collection to the Electrospective compilation – and the set features 24 cuts that include "Penthouse & Pavement (original 12") by Heaven 17, "It's My Life (US mix)" by Talk Talk, "Talking Loud & Clear (extended)" by OMD, "Buffalo Stance (Kevin Saunderson's techno stance rmx)" by Neneh Cherry, "Water From A Vineleaf (acid bath mix)" by William Orbit, "Always (capella club rmx)" by Erasure, "Milkshake (Tom Neville rmx)" by Kelis, "Sound Of The Crowd (Extended Family voc mix)" by Human League, "Moskow Diskow (Carl Craig rmx)" by Telex, "Around The World (Kenlou mix)" by Daft Punk, and "Good Life (Mayday club mix)" by Inner Life.

A killer set of electronics from BEF – the production arm of Heaven 17, stepping out here in one of their few solo projects! The set is essentially instrumental readings of tunes by the more famous parent group – but done here in really tripped-out versions that play heavily with analogue synth, and which show the duo's connection to early Human League. And in a way, some of these numbers are very much like the best early work by Human League – quite cold and spooky at times! Titles include "Groove Thang", "Uptown Apocalypse", "Optimum Chant", "Baby Called Billy", and "Rise Of The East".

A wealth of electronic groovers from the early 80s onwards – mostly club cuts that are heavy on electro touches, presented here in hard-to-find mixes from 12" singles! The set begins with those early 80s grooves we love so much – the best Brit moments when electronics really started to hit the dancefloors in the post-punk years – on up through house tracks, 90s soul numbers, and a few more contemporary tracks. The remixes are offered up as a partner collection to the Electrospective compilation – and the set features 11 cuts that include "It's My Life (US mix)" by Talk Talk, "Talking Loud & Clear (extended)" by OMD, "Buffalo Stance (Kevin Saunderson's techno stance rmx)" by Neneh Cherry, "Sound Of The Crowd (Extended Family voc mix)" by Human League, "Around The World (Kenlou mix)" by Daft Punk, and "Good Life (Mayday club mix)" by Inner Life.