Stolen from Sid Smiths Diary

QUOTE:

Tim Bowness sent me this press release the other day. Certainly got my pulse quickening.

Hatwise Choice - Archive Recordings 1973-1975, Volume 1

During their brief life span Hatfield And The North recorded two highly acclaimed albums (Hatfield And The North and The Rotters' Club), played numerous live gigs and recorded four BBC radio shows. Apart from the 1980 compilation Afters (now deleted), no retrospective album has ever been released - until now.

Hatfield And The North are pleased to announce the release of Hatwise Choice, the first volume of their archive CD series. This is the first album in thirty years to be entirely performed by the classic Hatfield line-up of Phil Miller, Pip Pyle, Richard Sinclair and Dave Stewart. The CD will be released on January 31st 2005, and you can order your copy from the Hatfield online shop.

Hatwise Choice is the band's own selection of unreleased material culled from their large tape archive. It consists of a 50/50 mixture of live concert tapes and BBC radio recordings, the latter taken from the band's four John Peel sessions and mastered from first generation sources. The gig tapes show aspects of Hatfield's music never before heard on record - on stage, the tight control of the group's studio work is replaced by a looser,improvisational approach. Flashes of humour give way to frightening electronic landscapes, interspersed with extended arrangements of the band's compositions and occasional moments of utter musical madness.

In keeping with the band's reputation, this is a carefully researched, lovingly compiled package featuring rare tunes, musical surprises, photos, press cuttings, period artwork and an extensive history written by the four players. The booklet also contains additional text by Jonathan Coe, who named his best-selling novel The Rotters' Club after the group's legendary 1975 album.

Head over to Burning Shed if you know what's good for you!