VARIOUS – Late Night Tales: Groove Armada (2023 Repress) – 2LP – Black Vinyl

2LP – Heavyweight Black Vinyl.

If its a smorgasbord of rare mellowtronica and dance music from two of the UKs most esteemed curators youre after, then you could do worse than to check out this brand new reissue of Late Night Tales: Groove Armada that was originally released in 2008.

For their second team-up with the legendary label (and a release that even the BBC admits ‘offers a selection of some great tunes’), Andy Cato and Tom Findlay have painstakingly compiled a collection of songs so varied, itll leave even the most open-minded listener occasionally scratching their head. And yet, somehow, it works – from an unlikely cover of Gary Numans Are (Friends) Electric? to the arcane Americana of Beyond The Wizards Sleeves mix of Roscoe via a Balaeric edit of Will Young and a White Isle-ready edit of Chris Reas Josephine, the good ship Armada never fails to entrance. All aboard!

When I look back on my career the two things Im probably most proud of were the compilations we curated and the live show. They were two things I think we do really well. How many of them are still tunes that I play now? Obviously, it’s got Josephine which is an Ibizan anthem and its soundtracked all my best times in Ibiza. There are the times you find yourself playing one of those nice beachside bars or an afterparty somewhere, and you play that record and it raises a roof and this edit is one I play all the time, even now. – Tom Findlay, Sept 2023

Tracklist:

A1.The League Unlimited Orchestra– The Things That Dreams Are Made Of
A2.Roxy Music– Love Is The Drug
A3.Kitty Grant– Glad To Know You
A4.Depeche Mode– Enjoy The Silence

B1.Max Berlin– Elle & Moi (JoakimRemix)
B2.The African Dream– Makin A Living
B2.Midlake– Roscoe (Beyond The Wizards SleeveRemix)

C1.Liquid People– Son Of Dragon
C2.Ace– How Long
C3.Chris Rea– Josephine (French Edit)
C4.Will Young– Fridays Child (Andy Cato Edit)

D1.Marvin Gaye&Tammi Terrell– Youre All I Need To Get By
D2.Groove Armada– Are Friends Electric? (exclusive cover version)
D3.Peter, Bjorn And John– The Chills
D4.The Cure– Close To Me
D5.Finley Quaye– Even After All Dub (Clean Version)
D6.Will Self– The Happy Detective (Part 1)
(exclusive spoken word track written by Will Self)