Recoil – Selected

Oh that all box sets were this well done. After much hand-wringing with the manufacturing, Recoil's contractual wind up with Mute records appeared in the hands of my agent and was presented to me after another day of wasted toil. Let's go over the design first, as it's about as perfect as it gets. The actual box is really a box, not some poorly constructed, glorified jewel case. What it contains can be summed up best as this: vital. There are three over sized booklets of incredible quality; I have never seen this level of reproduction before. This is well beyond mere gloss or cheap pop exploitation, those who own this insanely limited run, you know all too well what I speak of. Executed in a manner consistent with the minimal almost mythic quality of Recoil. Visuals have always played a large role in this project's output and in this, you are right there to see the curtain pulled back. Selected is as much a reveal as it is a compendium.

There is a signed certificate from the man himself penned with an elegant gold script and underpinned by one single green line. The contents of this document show all too clearly what a vivid ride the years 1986 - 2010 have been. No one else could have done this, a shining moment of absolute brilliance. You don't come across moments of such transformation often, Selected is just such a revelation.

Beyond even all of this, we have the three compact discs and dvd themselves. Disc one: the finest moments of Recoil as chosen by Alan Wilder, remastered and given a new life (sic) through the power of digital technology. Disc two: a collection of remixes which include some even I had not heard before featuring new ones from 2007's absolutely stunning 'SubHuman'. For those who have the previously issued singles, you have some of these but it is the way they are arranged which evolves them into almost shimmering works of luscious luminescence.

It is a feat of unparalleled persistence to unleash work of this caliber but then again, this man has never had a problem cutting his own path. I play this over and over, looking for a fault, a flaw; I can find none. Disc three: a live set, of sorts, from the current Selected tour. Wilder intersperses his own work with the likes of Optical, a drum and bass operative I have followed for years on end. If this is how live is interpreted by Recoil, I can only hope for more artists to step it up to this level. There is one nod to his past, the inclusion of the aggro mix of the mode's 'Never Let Me Down Again', but it is the only one. People who look to Wilder to celebrate his time in that band will be sorely disappointed, there's nothing retro about what's going on with this set. Thank god. The DVD contains unreal visualizations of what has been performed live by Alan and PK. You won't come away from viewing these clips the same as when you went in. I had to sit in silence for an hour or so afterward, it is just that powerful.

2010 is his year, this box set shows unequivocally the epic nature of Recoil. He has never been this high profile before and after literal decades spent in the shadows of others, this reclusive mastermind is shown in the wide-angle lens for the first time ever. I equate it to seeing what the dark matter between stars is actually comprised of. Selected is for us, the dedicated fans of this man and his legacy of electronic magnificence.