Out of Cold Storage

Valuable to get all This Heats work altogether in a box set. It may have been a good thing that the mainstream wasn't interested in them so they weren't forced into making difficult choices and `selling their souls' like Faust. Some might say that everything seems to have been a struggle for TH and that without this their recordings may have lost their edge and not retained their spontaneity, dynamism, freshness and originality. If they had had some more money, however, who knows what they may have gone on to produce?They posed many questions in their angry, suspicious at times paranoid collages of (often) found words, sounds, noise and often discordant/atonal music.Horizontal Hold - Infernal noisy machines, marking out the pulse of work/life, redundancy - envy them their power and hissing dynamism - edgy guitar, churning keyboards and inspired drumming - reminiscent of urban inner South (East) London.Twilight Furniture - driving, dark drumming with discordant twangs - describing the lies which kill, conspiracy theories and the evaporation of Trust.24 track loop - compelling rhythms - dropped in and out of the mix - reminds me of the music to the 1963 children's TV programme `Space Patrol' - switch over to robot control - doors part and the robot puppets come on doing a happy jerky prophetic dance.Fall of Saigon - did those diplomats really eat each other? - odd such dramatic world changing events only seems to have been written about by TH.Health and Efficiency - a ray of sunlight, children playing, hope - amazing drum sound and inspired rhythmic `at times de tuned' guitar, especially towards the end of the live track.Make Shift Swahili - all meaning Blitzkrieged out of language making it repetitive jargon - voices like distressed Daleks. The recording on Deceit, even from a DIY perspective, isn't good.Sleep (death of John Lennon?) and Shrink Wrap - if you can't fight the advertising slogans and earworms distort them into saying something you want to hear.S.P.Q.R - brilliant frantic/blistering guitar/shredded fingers - a little Latin goes a long way.New Kind of Water - musical anti-nuclear manifesto - misunderstood `This welfare state is our progress' and thought it was `This welfare state is our demise' and thus considered they were saying that the welfare state was just another form of social control - highly anarchic or conservative. Felt so stupid.Live 80 - 81 even though most of this appears to have been recorded on sub-standard equipment (sad because live they always seemed very particular about the quality of the sound) and their voices seem strained, it adds to the energy and immediacy of the tracks. Added to this members of the audience can be heard having urgent conversations whilst TH desperately scream and play their guts out.There should have been a film based on the TH's view of the world - wearing moth eaten track suit tops and bottoms long before the evolutions of the shell suit, or looking like piratical industrial operatives just off the night shift from a nearby loading bay.TH, for me, were the end of an era - nothing after TH seemed so daring, risky, challenging, exploratory or experimental. Following their demise the world of music became more `conservative' and new bands and artists (with ever more new sounds at the press of a button) merely seemed to resorted to imitate what they saw as the safe `cash cows' of the past.

a near perfect compilation of the band's work. possibly there's never been a music as daring as this (at least in the rock context)(well except for Zappa's work maybe). there's no sense in losing much words about, listen and discover, the reward will be yours forever...

Finally the holy quest for the Graal is over.....You'll find (nearly) everything here...from the sober dry This Heat to the generous stormy Deceit, passing through BBC sessions, Live concert and encrypted 12 inch singles.....For what concerns the music of This Heat, History won't repeat itself .....unfortunately.

simply incredible, this should be in everyones collection, it still sounds revolutionary today and is still breaking rules and challenging listeners.couldn't be more recomended

I just want to echo the sentiments already expressed: it's a beautifully assembled collection, featuring all the key recordings. The best full length disc herein is, to my mind, the epochal Deceit. The use of tape montage to contrast the studio recording and live performance of Makeshift Swahili, is an audacious touch. The Fall did likewise on Spector Vs Rector (Dragnet), and The Dead C, following both examples, reiterated this disjunctive approach on Constellation (Harsh Seventies Reality). Another favourite, is the aqueous, melancholy Not Waving, from the first album, which so clearly recalls Robert Wyatt's Rock Bottom - an acknowledged influence. In short, this box, contains an embarrassment of Post Punk riches. It is galling though, to see review after rapturous review of dullards like Arcade Fire, when music of such glaring cultural import as This Heat gets a mere handful of responses! By the way, fans of this would do well to hear the excellent "All's Well" by Camberwell Now.

i LIKE IT

Abosolute Genius. The complete overview of their too-short lifespan. Deceit puts all modern rock/art rock/indie/avant rock/experimental rock/post punk to shame, Health and Efficiency is unmatchable, Repeat crosses divides, Made Available shows why Peel was the best and the live cd shows a band uncompromising, pushing the envelope that no-one has bettered in my view. I may be a slobbering wreck about this box set, but every penny spent has yielded a lifetime of aural rewards, and I cannot reccommend this enough. Essential listening in every respect. Too far ahead of it's time, only now is this music sinking in...

After some inevitable production delays, I finally received the boxed set yesterday.In the best sense of the word, there were no surprises, and while it's amusing to think that old This Heat fans like myself are supposed to have become 'comfortable' (the whole boxed set concept) rather than terminal homeless down-and-outs, it's still not bad value for money. beautifully packaged, and some great lo-fi gig recordings.It seems rather a hermetic exercise, 'reviewing' a set like this. Either you like This Heat, in which case this set is really indispensible; or you've never heard of them, in which case, a six disc set is probably a first step too far. get the blue and yellow singleton.But 'Health & Efficency' finally available in more than 3" version...I hope the members of the band didn't bankrupt themselves making the package, and can at least enjoy a few drinks down the pub on the proceeds.many thanks.

l'intera discografia dei this heat. oltre ai cd, tutti in digipack, è presente un book di 40 pagine dove vengono analizzate tutte le canzoni dagli stessi th. oltre ai due fondamentali album in studio (l'omonimo e "deceit") sono presenti le peel sessions, un live e due ep: "repeat" e "health and efficiency". grandissimo cofanetto.

Niente da dire, la discografia completa di un gruppo chiave, erano troppo avanti, ci senti il post rock che sarebbe arrivato 15 anni dopo, ci senti canzoni stratosferiche, melodie, sperimentazioni, tutto

Goooood

Wonderful unique experimental music. Definitely worth every penny.I first heard these guys years ago in college and only heard the first few tracks from their debut. I just remember feeling very intrigued and somewhat discomforted especially by “not waving.”I always had them back in my mind to check back with later...Years go by and I started getting into more experimental bands like The Red Krayola, The Residents, Gastr del Sol and Zappa. I decided to just purchase this box set on a whim of trust that I would enjoy it. BEST DECISION EVER!I cannot even do this band justice by trying to put into words what this music will do to you, so I won’t try. All I can say is that listening to this band brings you a sort of relieving freedom only hearing the “truth” (whatever that means”) can do to you. Whether it’s through pure sound (“metal” or “graphic/varispeed”) or through the darker side of humanity (the entire Deceit album), I feel like this band has something unique to offer that will awaken you from the “wallpaper of sound” we always try so hard to surround ourselves with by sticking to artists of certain genres. Listen to these guys, and hear for yourself how powerful and unique the experience can be

I first learned about This Heat in 1990 or so. A friend of mine turned me on to "Deceit", which is an incredible record by the way. Well, 20 years down the road and this magnificent set comes along! Everything on the Recommended label in one box. These are some early tape experiments, and Hayward's drumming is tops. The music of This Heat is not easy, but very enjoyable for the noise meets melody type of person. Deceit is one of a kind, Health and Efficiency is remarkable, the first record is solid, Peel sessions interesting, etc. If you like Minimalism, experimental music, noise, "industrial," then this is a must. These records were extremely hard to find 10 years ago, so enjoy them while they are available. There is nothing that is not of interest here. This is a keeper, a solid box.  Out of Cold StorageOut of Cold Storage

Thrilled that I could get this box set at a reasonable price of this fabulous cult band.

Great