I never got all that hung up on record labels during my college radio days. That may have been in part because our station was just small enough that some of the humbler labels–of the sort more likely to inspire enduring affection–chose to keep us off their servicing list, not having the financial wherewithal to cover everyone. It may have simply been because my tastes at the time still had enough mainstream swirled into them, lessening how often I dug deep into the sort of incredibly obscure stuff that might stir my interest in a band’s labelmates in the hope I’d find more of the same. Consequently, I didn’t often notice which labels individuals acts called home until I’d written it on our playlist sheets a dozen times or more. There were exceptions to this, primarily 4AD.

The British label that claimed the likes of Dead Can Dance, This Mortal Coil and Cocteau Twins was the first one that I truly viewed as its own brand. When a box came in from 4AD, I felt confident I knew what the album inside was going to sound like, at least roughly. It was be dreamy and dark, richly produced with some gothy underpinnings. It would sound like it was made for the listening room inside a cloud that’s been tie-dyed with mascara drippings. It would be majestic and impressive and not really for me. There were exceptions to this, of course, led by the label’s few American acts, like Throwing Muses and the Pixies. Overall, though, I knew what I was getting, and I could leave it to the sorta spooky kids who came into the station on the weekends.

One of the few “true” 4AD artists I remember connecting with back then had the perfect name for a band on the label: Lush. The London quartet was one of the first to have the term “shoegaze” foist upon them, which begins to explain my fondness for them. Besides the bit of buzz added to the ethereal wonderment, there was a more willing embrace of tried and true pop structures. They seemed more interested in writing actual songs than their contemporaries on the label, many of whom would have probably been happy to keep playing the same languid hook until they floated away. Even though their debut album was produced by one of the Cocteau Twins, Robin Guthrie, giving it the expected 4AD golden mercury flow, Lush’s differing approach to songcraft was clear. As I recall, I played that album, Spooky, a lot, happy to finally have an entryway to this venerated label. As with much of the music that inspired my reticence back in the day, it was me not them serving as the impediment, but I’m still glad that the label started inching my way a bit when I needed it.

Listen or download –> Lush, “Take”

(Disclaimer: Okay, here’s the thing…there may be some simple, direct, internet-magical way for me to completely, totally, 100% confirm that the music I post here is out of print. I don’t know it, though. Instead, I use my humble skills to Google around, usually settling on an album’s unavailability as a physical object that can be procured from a local, independently-owned record store if Amazon is not offering copies for sale directly. It seems that Spooky is not available in that manner, although as I type this there’s a new copy being offered for forty bucks through one of their partner sellers. I assume that’s some sort of inflated price conjured up by the collectors’ market specifically because it is out of print and otherwise unavailable as a shiny, pretty, sealed in plastic thing that can be held in human hands. The artist–and, since we’re on the subject, label–undoubtedly sees no compensation for that sort of purchase, so it doesn’t really concern me much if posting this song impedes that particular act of commerce. Besides, by posting only one song from an album that had another eleven excellent tracks, I mean to encourage people to seek out the full release. In fact, I’ll even specifically suggest talking to the proprietor of your favorite record store that includes the adjectives attached to the previous use of “record store” above and seeing about securing a copy of Ciao! Best of Lush, which is a fine introduction to band and holds a few tracks from Spooky, including the terrific single “For Love.” All that typed, I’ll take the song down if I’m asked to do so by someone or some entity with due authority to make such a request.)