Orange Juice - Coals to Newcastle

(Domino)

A small review isn’t nearly enough to express the wonders of this six CD and one DVD box set by the Edwyn Collins’ fronted floppy-fringed dandies who effectively invented indie-pop as we know it. Recorded over a startling four years from 1980–1984 from the sublime lo-fi glories of the Postcard years to the out-of-step white funk of major label albums, there’s a knowing clever-clogs archness to Collins’ plum-in-gob delivery that belies the material’s apparent naiveté. Complete with John Peel sessions, TV appearances and a video of late single ‘What Presence?!’ directed by Derek Jarman, this is an essential insight into how the geeks inherited the earth by way of a slow-burning jangular pop revolution.