Hood - Re-collected

Domino finally do the decent thing and collect together all of Hood's '90s and '00s output on the label into one box so you can store it in its very own section in your record collection. If this is what happens when you tot up the money collected from Arctic Monkeys and Franz Ferdinand mega sales then bring it on. Back in the mid '90s though it was a different story. Hood were actually one of the first (if not the first) British band signed by the now indie behemoth and alongside Movietone and Third Eye Foundation were the bedrock of  a quiet underground British revolution on the label as previously it had been known as a British licensee for Drag City artists such as Bonnie Prince Billy, Smog and the like. Domino still retains an experimental edge and a knack of seeing a talented band before anyone else (who would have thought the ugly duckling squarkings of Wild Beasts, for example, would lead to the beautiful swan sounds that have lavished their most recent albums). In a horrible twist Brian has asked me to review this luxury set  which because of deep personal links with the music on offer, I am literally the worst person to ask. I do like a challenge but this music borne out of young lives led on the Northern cusp of Leeds just as it reaches up to the high Pennines is shot through with rural murmurings and pop experimentalism that runs deeply through my veins. The box, as you may imagine, is wonderfully lavish. It is housed in a textured manilla box, hand numbered to 500. Each CD is like a miniature version of the original releases with full artwork, all match each other in a neat way. As well as the four studio albums you get a 70 odd minute collection of all the non album EP's and B sides and another collection containing the unreleased 'The Hood Tapes' plus countless extra tracks, several of which have never seen the light of day. The real joy for me is the 32 page beautifully made booklet which contains remembrances from the band and colleagues (including cLOUDDEADs Odd Nosdam) which are laugh-out-loud hilarious, insightful, sad but most of all show intense love for the joy of making music and the experiences and friendships gained as a result. Hopefully this, along with last years Disco Inferno collection is the start of a resurgence in some of the forgotten fringes of music ploughed out in the late 90's/early 00's when it was natural for bands to try to push music forward into new and exciting shapes despite the limitations of the technology on offer and with only a rudimentary Internet to hand, little way of publicising it outside of the usual music industry machine.