Recommended Records Sampler
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2018}}
{{Short description|Record label sampler album by various artists}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Recommended Records Sampler
| type = compilation
| artist = various artists
| cover = ReR Sampler.jpg
| released = {{Start date|df=yes|1982|5}}
| recorded =
| genre = Avant-rock
| length = {{Duration|m=117|s=47}}
| label = Recommended (UK)
| producer =
}}
The Recommended Records Sampler is a sampler double album by various artists released by English independent record label Recommended Records on LP in 1982. It contains tracks by musicians and groups on the Recommended Records catalogue at the time.
This sampler differed from the traditional record label sampler in that all the pieces here were newly recorded by the artists and, at the time, had never been released elsewhere. (Many of the tracks were later re-released as bonus tracks on the artists' CD reissues of their own albums.) In 1985 Recommended Records launched the RēR Quarterly, a "quarterly" sound-magazine, which continued this approach of releasing previously unreleased work on a compilation album.
A limited edition single-sided EP of the same name was also released in 1982 by Recommended Records and given free to advance subscribers of the double album. It comprised four previously unreleased tracks.
Reception
{{Album ratings
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1Score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite web |last=Tilland |first=William |title=The Recommended Sampler 1982 |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=the-recommended-sampler-1982-mw0000803588|pure_url=yes}} |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=17 December 2018}}
}}
Writing in a review at AllMusic, William Tilland noted that because of Recommended Records' non-commercial stance and the diverse styles of music on this sampler, listening to it "can be challenging" to the uninitiated. He said its highlights include the pieces by Belgian neo-classical gothic groups Art Zoyd and Univers Zero, and called the Aksak Maboul / Honeymoon Killers track, "a fine example of European chamber rock". He was also pleased at the inclusion of two little-known British bands the Work and This Heat. Tilland named Heiner Goebbels' "Berlin – Kudamm 12 April 1981", which concerns a street riot, "the single most unusual" track in the collection. Tilland did, however, question including single tracks by lo-fi artists R. Stevie Moore and Hector Zazou as he felt it did not give them the exposure they deserved. Overall, Tillard described the sampler as "a valuable historical document" and "a fine introduction to a number of artists". He rated the collection as "highly recommended".
Double-LP track listing
{{Track listing
| headline = Side A
| extra_column = Artist
| title1 = Flaschenzug
| extra1 = Vogel
| note1 = Vogel
| length1 = 3:50
| title2 = Extract 5 from Faust Party Three: 'The Voice Of The Pumpkin'
| extra2 = Faust
| note2 = Faust
| length2 = 4:29
| title3 = All Hail
| extra3 = Art Bears
| note3 = Chris Cutler, Fred Frith
| length3 = 4:09
| title4 = Reparto Novità
| extra4 = Stormy Six
| note4 = Carlo De Martini, Umberto Fiori
| length4 = 4:34
| title5 = Walk Before Imitate
| extra5 = The Homosexuals
| note5 = The Homosexuals
| length5 = 2:44
| title6 = On Ne Plus Compter Sur Ses Doigts
| extra6 = Joseph Racaille & Patrick Portella
| note6 = Joseph Racaille, Patrick Portella
| length6 = 0:54
| title7 = *
| extra7 = Feliu Gasul
| note7 = Feliu Gasul
| length7 = 7:26
}}
{{Track listing
| headline = Side B
| extra_column = Artist
| title1 = Strangelove
| extra1 = The Black Sheep
| note1 = The Black Sheep
| length1 = 2:56
| title2 = Influences
| extra2 = Univers Zero
| note2 = Andy Kirk
| length2 = 7:38
| title3 = Boss De Crosses Dans Le Doulos
| extra3 = Aksak Maboul / The Honeymoon Killers
| note3 = Marc Hollander, Yvon Vromman
| length3 = 7:04
| title4 = Houdini
| extra4 = The Work
| note4 = The Work
| length4 = 4:01
| title5 = Slice
| extra5 = Henry Cow
| note5 = Lindsay Cooper
| length5 = 0:39
| title6 = Viva Pa Ubu
| extra6 = Henry Cow
| note6 = Tim Hodgkinson
| length6 = 4:26
| title7 = Radio Extract
| extra7 = Decibel
| note7 = Decibel
| length7 = 3:01
}}
{{Track listing
| headline = Side C
| extra_column = Artist
| title1 = Simulacres
| extra1 = Art Zoyd
| note1 = Gérard Hourbette
| length1 = 6:58
| title2 = Two Extracts from 'Chronometers'
| extra2 = The Muffins
| note2 = Dave Newhouse, The Muffins
| length2 = 4:17
| title3 = Berlin – Kudamm 12 April 1981
| extra3 = Heiner Goebbels
| note3 = Heiner Goebbels
| length3 = 5:09
| title4 = Steer Clear of England
| extra4 = Amos
| note4 = Balloona, Otto Dix
| length4 = 3:47
| title5 = Commerce Nostalgique
| extra5 = Conventum
| note5 = André Duchesne
| length5 = 7:59
| title6 = Vera C
| extra6 = Hector Zazou
| note6 = Hector Zazou
| length6 = 2:32
}}
{{Track listing
| headline = Side D
| extra_column = Artist
| title1 = Pool
| extra1 = This Heat
| note1 = This Heat
| length1 = 4:40
| title2 = Walter Westinghouse
| extra2 = The Residents
| note2 = The Residents
| length2 = 8:04
| title3 = Pedestrian Hop & Copy Me
| extra3 = R. Stevie Moore
| note3 = R. Stevie Moore
| length3 = 5:53
| title4 = I Talk to My Haircut
| extra4 = Ron Pate
| note4 = Ron Pate
| length4 = 3:39
| title5 = Uccelin Del Bosco
| extra5 = Picchio Dal Pozzo
| note5 = Pivio and Aldo De Scalzi
| length5 = 3:17
| title6 = The Internationale
| extra6 = Robert Wyatt
| note6 = Eugène Edine Pottier, Pierre De Geyter
| length6 = 2:59
}}
Source: AllMusic, Discogs.{{cite web|title=Various – Recommended Records Sampler|url=https://www.discogs.com/release/411102|publisher=Discogs|access-date=4 August 2011}}
EP track listing
{{tracklist
| extra_column = Artist
| title1 = Frenzy
| extra1 = Peter Blegvad
| note1 = Peter Blegvad
| length1 = 2:50
| title2 = Total Drop
| extra2 = The Homosexuals
| note2 = The Homosexuals
| length2 = 2:16
| title3 = Extract VI from Faust Party Three: 'The Voice of the Pumpkin'
| extra3 = Faust
| note3 = Faust
| length3 = 0:29
| title4 = What Are You Looking At!
| extra4 = R. Stevie Moore
| note4 = R. Stevie Moore
| length4 = 2:43
| title5 = Flowers Sleep Into The Night
| extra5 = R. Stevie Moore
| note5 = Moore
| length5 = 2:45
}}
Source: Discogs.{{cite web|title=Various – The Recommended Sampler EP|url=https://www.discogs.com/Various-The-Recommended-Sampler-Ep/release/429292|publisher=Discogs|access-date=4 August 2011}}
Reissues
In September 2008 Recommended Records released The Recommended Sampler 1982 – 25th Anniversary Edition, a fully remastered (by Bob Drake) reissue of the original double-LP on a double-CD. It coincided with the label's 30th anniversary and included a copy of the very first handwritten Recommended catalogue plus other memorabilia and trivia. The Japanese edition was issued in a replica mini-LP sleeve and included the EP.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Discogs master|887113|Recommended Records Sampler|type=album}}
- {{Discogs master|448490|The Recommended Records Sampler (EP)|type=album}}
- [http://www.squidco.com/rer/ReR.LP.discog.html Recommended Records LP Discography] at SquidCo.
{{Authority control}}
Category:1982 compilation albums
Category:Experimental music compilation albums