Coinciding with the 40th anniversary of
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Souvenir is an extensive anthology that inevitably appeals more to collectors than to casual listeners. Discs one and two of the physical box set gather the singles dating back to the Dindisc version of "Electricity," one of the most bracing post-punk-era debuts -- much more so than the amateur
Kraftwerk thievery
OMD have claimed it to be -- through the fresh "Don't Go," perhaps the sharpest A-side of
Andy McCluskey and
Paul Humphreys' admirable second run. (The singles portion was also spun off separately as triple-vinyl and double-CD editions under the same title.) The third disc is a set of previously unreleased material consisting primarily of experiments and incomplete songs.
McCluskey says they were wise to abandon and shelve it all, with only the circa 1990 "Flamenco" retroactively judged worthy of B-side placement. "Violin Piece" would at least be appropriate for a neo-noir film set in the early '80s, if potentially mistaken for the work of
Ultravox. Over half of these excavated tracks were made from 1981-1983, making the component of special interest to those who value the more experimental aspects of Organisation, Architecture & Mortality, and
Dazzle Ships. Discs four and five are live. First is a high-spirited 2011 date broadcast by BBC Radio 2 from London's Mermaid Theatre. The set list emphasizes the previous year's
The History of Modern and covers a fairly broad spectrum of hits carrying into the
Humphreys-less '90s. Disc five is filled to capacity with a Hammersmith Odeon gig from 1983, two months after the commercial suicide-turned-cult classic
Dazzle Ships arrived to a mix of delight, bafflement, and repulsion. After six minutes of that LP's clanks, whirs, and partly spoken audio collage, they kick into the oldie "Messages" (their first of 12 Top 20 U.K. hits) with
McCluskey announcing that "This is the last gig on this tour, so we don't care anymore, you know? It's just gonna be a good time." The next number is "She's Leaving," but hold on; the mood lifts and tends to remain up as they hurtle through other past favorites and most of the new stuff (minus "Genetic Engineering"), closing in terrific form with the oil-refinery ballad "Stanlow," the oddly moving conclusion of their second album. A pair of DVDs offer almost two dozen U.K. television appearances (well over half from Top of the Pops), concerts from 1981 (London) and 1985 (Sheffield), and the long-form video for the latter year's
Crush. The object itself is a sturdy, neatly designed 10" case with gatefold sleeves and a hardcover book containing recording info, pictures of the duo, images of all the sleeves for the singles, and notes from
McCluskey and fellow Northerner
Paul Morley. There's also a stack of displayable memorabilia that you can slide out and scatter across the nearest surface. ~ Andy Kellman