I'd never heard of the New Art Riot E.P. before I saw a copy of the cd in the HMV in Bournemouth in 1999. I'd just started getting into the Manics and only had their newest album at the time, This Is My Truth, and their first, Generation Terrorists. It was £5, which was quite a lot for four songs especially since I had only just started working and really needed to be spending any money I did have on Christmas presents for my family. I distinctly remember my friend Chris laughing at me for spending so much on a "single".
Of course the joke got worse when I got home and played the cd. New Art Riot is not the Manics at their finest. It's only when you appreciate the EP in the broader context of the history of the Manics that you get the most out of it. This was them at their scrappy beginnings, before they got picked up and convinced they could write good songs. There's not a huge amount of time that passed between this EP and songs like Motown Junk and Motorcycle Emptiness, but the change is pretty extraordinary. After a while, you can start to see the potential hidden behind the terrible production, slightly ridiculous lyrics and dubious vocals (from a man who often has an incredible voice). The songs aren't bad - each has it's merits in some way - but they're not as easily enjoyed as the songs they'd go on to write.
When I bought that cd I was very confused, and 16 years later, I'm not much wiser; why was a copy knocking around in the Bournemouth HMV nine years after it had been released? Surely it hadn't been sat there for nine years. I think the answer is that the label has just never really stopped printing copies of it; why would you if you had music by one of the bands that went on to be one of the biggest bands of the 90's? From what I can tell, it's basically impossible to determine whether a copy is an original 1990 copy or a subsequent repress from the many years that followed. It's quite nice in a way - much like the quote about cans of Coke on the back of the sleeve: "all Cokes are the same and all Cokes are good".
Anyway, a year and a half later I found this very (suspiciously) mint 12" copy at a record fair in Southampton. My Manics collection was in full swing my that point so it obviously had to be bought. I certainly don't play it often, but it's nice to be reminded of the bands early days every now and again.
Format: 12"
Tracks: 4
Cost: £5.50 second hand
Bought: Record fair, Southampton
When: 29/07/01
Colour: Black
Etching: Side B: "Motown wot!"
mp3s: no
