E.M.A.K. (Electronische Musik Aus Köln) - A Synthetic History of E.M.A.K 1982-88

I've been intrigued by this one ever since the pre-order crept onto our overstuffed pages. Soul Jazz's Universal Sound imprint usually know what they're doing as far as this reissue biz goes and they're talking this one up as bridging the gap between the German synth heroes of the 1970s (Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze etc.) and the New Wave/Cold Wave/EBM type stuff of the 1980s. First impressions are that they could well be right, although since these tracks date from 1982 to 1988 it's could be more tempting to see them as following and being somewhat analogous to the early synthpop pioneers of the UK at the time (The Human League, John Foxx etc.) whilst also pointing the way to some of the later electro-influenced pop to come.. Perhaps Propaganda and the like, although without exact dates it's hard to figure out any sort of potential timeline of influence, if constructing one happens to be your bag. In any case, this is a totally classy collection of dark and paranoid electronic compositions which should go down an absolute treat in today's musical climate which has everyone rightfully worshipping at the altar of pure, primitive synthesiser tones like never before.