Track Listing

1. Falling & Laughing
2. Moscow
3. Moscow Olympics
4. Blue Boy
5. Love Sick
6. Simply Thrilled Honey
7. Breakfast Time
8. Poor Old Soul Pt1
9. Poor Old Soul Pt2
10. Louise Louise
11. Three Cheers
12. In A Nutshell
13. Satellite City
14. Consolation Prize
15. Holiday Hymn
16. Intuition Told Me Pt1
17. Intuition Told Me Pt2
18. Wan Light
19. Dying Day
20. Texas Fever
21. Tender Object
22. Blokes On 45
23. I Don't Care

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16810 in Music
• Released on: 2005-07-25
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
To say that Orange Juice are an overlooked band is truly an understatement. Even in the indie stakes, they have been neglected, and apart from "Rip It Up", never really registered in the public consciousness. But listen to anyone from The Smiths to Franz Ferdinand or Interpol, and the template of frenetic sub-funk guitars, inventive bass lines and an emasculated disco beat that Orange Juice pioneered are all well and truly in place.

So where did it all come from? The Glasgow School gives some indications. Even before You Can’t Hide Your Love Forever, Orange Juice had created some gloriously timeless singles but much overlooked for Postcard Records. These singles; "Falling & Laughing", "Blue Boy", "Simply Thrilled Honey" and "Poor Old Soul" are all included here, along with their attendant--and equally indispensable--B-sides which capture a rawer version of the band that those in the know would come to love. On top of that is the band’s stab at a debut album (albeit one that remained unreleased), christened "Ostrich Churchyard". A boon for anyone who cherishes their by-now scratched vinyl, and a good pictorial document of a band who would unwittingly define what the indie sound was all about. --Thom Allott

CD Description
'The Glasgow School' is a collection of early recordings bythe Scottish indie trailblazers Orange Juice. Bringing together all of the band's early recordings for the Postcard label, this album is an ideal introduction to the band and their work. Includes the tracks 'Failing And Laughing' and 'LoveSick'.

Customer Reviews

Timely compilation of early Orange Juice...
'The Glasgow School' is a timely compilation released by Domino that collects the early work of Orange Juice released and recorded for the legendary Postcard-label (also home to Aztec Camera, The Go-Betweens, & Josef-K). Bands like Bloc Party, Editors, Franz Ferdinand, & Interpol have helped revive a period of angular post-punk itself influenced by bands like Buzzcocks, Chic, The Slits, Subway Sect, & Television. Critically revered, these recordings are part of Scottish/British indie mythology and this compilation comes with praise from Belle and Sebastian's Stuart Murdoch and that Alex Kapranos bloke from Josef Ferdinand...

Like 'Spiral Scratch'-Buzzcocks, Orange Juice created their own DIY-scene and set the tone for indie-labels like Creation, Mute and Rough Trade (the chapter in 'Rip It Up & Start Again' is more expansive and helpful than my comments)This is the original line-up which mutated from the Nu-Sonics - Edwyn Collins (who is now rumoured to be on the mend after his terrible recent illness - hope he recovers and can take in some of the credit he and his cohorts deserve), Steven Daly, James Kirk, & David McClymont (the band would later feature Zeke Manyika and Malcolm Ross).

In many ways this is a companion to the compilation of their later Polydor years 'The Esteemed' - a 22 track collection that took in 'You Can't Hide Your Love Forever' (1982), 'Rip It Up' (1983), mini-LP 'Texas Fever' (1983- rerecords a track here)& swansong 'Orange Juice (The Third Album)' (1984). This is great value, coming in a lovely package with great sleevenotes and having been remastered - the compilation 'The Heather's on Fire' had previously collected much of what is the first half here. 'Ostrich Churchyard' takes up the latter half - originally intended as OJ's debut, it ended up getting shelved until its posthumous release in the early 1990s. There's even a joke Peel-Session ('Blokes on 45') and a Nu-Sonics rarity 'I Don't Care' included...

It's all great - jangly and joyful stuff - though 'Moscow'/'Moscow Olympics' and 'Blokes on 45' are more curios, the rest is classic stuff. The earlier versions of 'Consolation Prize','Falling and Laughing', 'In a Nutshell' & 'Texas Fever' have a ragged charm that the later, slicker versions don't. Things sound like they could fall apart at any time, which is always a great thing! The singles are all great - 'Falling and Laughing' and 'Simply Thrilled Honey' in particular- while the Part Two-version of 'Poor Old Soul' features a fantastic chant inspired by Subway Sect (ooh, I like a good chant...)

'The Glasgow School' is exactly the type of compilation/reissue we should have these days, and along with Scritti Politti's 'Early' is currently fighting for compilation of the year in my list-orientated mind...

Pop-jangletastic
This collection brings together the fantastic early A- and B- sides and the abandoned first album of a band whose importance in the British pop/indie scene has been criminally underated. This is them in their original line-up at their absolute pop-jangling best.

The singles 'Blue Boy' and 'Simply Thrilled Honey' are alone enough to burst any depressive bubble, coming from an album that oozes with positivity even at it's most melancholic moments. The "Ostrich Churchyard" tracks are slightly under-polished than those featured on their debut album but nonetheless capture OJ in their prime and are a testament to the quality of songwriting.

Guaranteed to put a smile on your face. A must for any OJ fan or indeed any discerning indie-pop connoisseur.

I hear your bugle calling ...
What a pure and simple JOY to hear those early Postcard singles ringing out like clarion bells, as well as some slightly more rough-edged versions of tunes re-recorded for the later Polydor album. Isn't this just exactly what great Pop music was all about ? Swoonworthy and recommended without hesitation.