Disco Inferno - Technicolour
Of of the most underrated albums to come out on Rough Trade. Their last album before this was called DI go Pop but this is where they actually went pop for real. It's a bit of a stretch to call it this but at moments it is almost like New Order meets (a much more friendly) This Heat, totally accessible pop structures with a synthetic sheen and moments of noise collage extracted from toys and junk and a few notable steals - 'It's a Kid's World' is one of the few places you'll hear the rhythm from 'Lust for Life' colliding with the theme music from UK TV's Play School. It's more than just novelty bricolage, the samples are integral parts of each song and it all works seamlessly.
Bark Psychosis - Hex
This came out in 1994 and holds up really well, it's a lot more humble in scope perhaps but shares an overall aesthetic with late-period Talk Talk (Lee Harris plays on it). In fact, it sounds very much like Laughing Stock cleaned up on a hard disk. Don't let that put you off - it's wonderful.
Hood - Home Is Where It Hurts and The Lost You
Hood seem to save some of their best songs for their EPs which tend to come out as limited runs just prior to a new album. Both of these have at least a couple of brilliant tracks, 'The Rest Of Us Still Care' being one of my absolute favourites by this criminally ignored band.
