Felt - Gold Mine Trash

How many bands can you name that released a compilation that is better than any of their albums (and I'm talking about bands that had extremely good albums)? There might be more than two, but only The Smiths and their unbelievably great 1984 Hatful of Hollow, and Felt's Gold Mine Trash, come to mind. Is it a mere coincidence if we're talking about the twin "miserabilist" bands of the 1980s, as the UK press used to call them back then? Maybe not. Both groups paid close attention to singles and B-sides, foreshadowing the tidal wave of 7" indie wonders released by labels like Sarah Records.

In the case of Hatful of Hollow, what makes the compilation so good in my eyes is the array of songs from very disparate sources: alternative single mixes and John Peel sessions of some of their early material - versions that I largely prefer to those on the albums, which are less visceral and more polished. Gold Mine Trash contains exclusive material as well, unreleased versions of twin songs "Dismantled King Is Off the Throne" and "Sunlight Bathed the Golden Glow", but what makes it so special to me is how the record lines up ten of the absolute best songs ever made in the UK. The rapidity with which these rather short songs (most are below 3 minutes long) succeed each other is vertiginous. No interludes, no filler, just Lawrence's incandescent mumblings, barely singing more than one note per song. It is a record that boosts my mood in a slightly crazy way, a protein shake of furious hope. And its artwork has always prompted deep and long reveries of dissolving into the fumes of a hammam - a hedonistic and rather eerie imagery that doesn't really match the brick-walled misery of the inner-sleeve pictures, but which reflects the sense of escapism Felt always gave me.