Legendary Manchester band A Certain Ratio are out on tour celebrating their 40th anniversary and original Factory Records release of ‘All Night Party’ single.
Their current ACR:BOX and EP remixes contains a brand new mix of ‘Dirty Boy’ by fellow Mancunian Chris Massey, plus long unavailable remixes of ‘Shack Up’ by Electronic (Bernard Sumner and Johnny Marr).
Following on from 2018’s compilation, acr:set, the box showcases the diversity of the singles, B-sides and alternative versions of tracks that A Certain Ratio have released, but without repeating tracks recently made available. ACR:BOX collates everything that fans had been missing from the recent reissue campaign, and compliments that with a selection found after a deep delve into the archive to find all the hidden gems that had been talked about over the years, but never heard – even a few releases the band had forgotten about!
A Certain Ratio embraced the ethic and culture of the late seventies post-punk explosion, but sounded like nothing else around them and refused to fit in. Their sound is not easily pigeonholed, and their influence can never be understated. The band introduced the avant-garde elements of funk, jazz, electronics, tape loops and technology to the pop song, wrapping it in a post punk aesthetic, adding great clothes and the coolest haircuts.
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A Certain Ratio play at Cardiff’s Clwb Ifor Bach on Friday 8th November.