Various - Ghosts Of Christmas Past (Remake)

Les Disques du Crépuscule - LP
Belgium, 1982
Post-Punk / New Wave / Avantgarde 

Seminal and incomparable post-punk compilation of Christmas-related tunes on legendary Belgian label Les Disques du Crépuscule. What could have been a novelty LP contains exclusive songs by acts like Antena, Cabaret Voltaire, Mikado, The Durutti Column, Winston Tong, The Aztec Camera at their absolute best. Essential.

It's vertiginous to picture the bunch of talented young men and women that would meet with Michel Duval and Annick Honoré in their Bruxelles office, prior to the release of the first version of what would become one of the most daring, and great Christmas LP of the 1980's. it's equally dizzying to think of all the letters, phone calls & tapes that were sent via post services in these pre-internet times.

This is the second pressing in a confusing series of represses of this compilation gathering some of the most prominent names in the then burgeoning Belgian and British New Wave scenes. It features songs that were missing from the original version - at least, as essential as the first batch of tracks - like Antena's minimal synth masterpiece "Noëlle à Hawaï" (sic), what might be Winston Tong's best song - a devastatingly ironic take on the "twelve days of Christmas" carol - or Mikado's inimitable eerie light pop "Message de Noël" - that is also missing from following represses.

Ghosts Of Christmas Past (Remake) is a tour de force for several reasons: it succeeds in being an accurate snapshot of a certain scene, at a certain time and space, as well as one of Les Disques du Crépuscule's most timeless releases, all this while also being a f*cking CHRISTMAS record (!!!), lest we forget. The music is of stelar quality, so diverse that it's quite unsettling to think it was all recorded at the same time, from the funky, Tom Tom Club-esque number by Hillcrest Club to the haunting electro jam by Cabaret Voltaire. The record that made me like Christmas (a little). (VG+ / VG+)

Tracklist

1. The Hillcrest Club - Breakfast At Christmas
2. Antena - Noëlle à Hawaï
3. The French Impressionists - Santa Baby
4. The Pale Fountains - Benoit's Christmas
5. Winston Tong - The Twelve Days Of Xmas
6. Mikado - Message de Noël
7. Aztec Camera - Hot Club Of Christ
8. The Names - Tokyo Twilight
9. Paul Haig - Christiana
10. The Durutti Column - One Christmas For Your Thoughts
11. Tuxedo Moon - Weinhnachts Rap
12. Cabaret Voltaire - Invocation
13. Mania D - Stille Nacht Goes Disco