This LP collects songs from a series of 7”s that where only on sale at Lord Echo’s Japanese gigs. There’s a total of 8 tracks, but I’ll spotlight just a few. In Your Life – sung here by Lisa Tomlins – is a sub-bass shook soundsystem meets street soul clash worthy of Smith & Mighty. Floating Bridge is dubbed-out disco, whose phasing and feedback gradually get more and more intense until the results sound like ESG jamming with Basic Channel. A flute forced way down in the mix, and its breakdown full of Fela Kuti-like keys. There’s the strong possibility that Woah! There’s No Limit started life as a stripped back soul tune. Its falsetto vocal soaring as if Marvin Gaye were set skanking. Its off-kilter groove, of rattling ritual hand-drumming and smokey jazz sax, a bit like What’s Going On? in dub. Cosmic Echoes gets a dynamite deconstruction. The song, which to me has always felt like a vamp on William DeVaughn’s Be Thankful / Jackie Mittoo’s Big Car, retains its percussion but is rendered practically beat-less. The collection also contains an exclusive version of the band’s cover of Sister Sledge’s Thinking Of You. This super stylish reproduction and subsequent reduction for the most part hides the sing-along vocal in its shadows, only punching the chorus back in. Instead a soloing trumpet takes the lyrical lead, before closing with the “living in ecstasy” line looped, Honestly, the album was worth the 4000¥ asking price for this piece alone.

Lord Echo’s Rarities can be purchased directly from Soundway Records.