London artsy post-punk new wave indie band The Monochrome Set announced the release of a limited edition box set. The 6CD/6LP collection titled The Monochrome Set 1979-1985: Complete Recordings will be released February 9th and collects material from their early years along with an extensive booklet featuring lyrics for all songs and liner notes by leader Bid (aka Ganesh Seshadri).
The Monochrome Set formed from the ashes of The B-sides (Adam Ant's early band) and though they never enjoyed commercial success many musical luminaries have sung the praises of the band, including Morrissey, Johnny Marr, Graham Coxon, and Alex Kapranos among others.
Though the Monochrome Set are commonly described as post-punk, Bid scoffs at that label:
"I always find it odd that people call us post-punk...I know that punk and New Wave started at the same time because I was there. The genre was to be not a genre. We didn't talk about it, we were just different."
The Monochrome Set have also announced the release of a brand new album titled Maisieworld on February 9th. Stream a three song preview here.
View the tracklisting for The Monochrome Set 1979-1985: Complete Recordings below and pre-order the limited edition boxset and Maisieworld from Tapete Records or Amazon.
CD1/LP1 Strange Boutique
01. The Monochrome Set (I Presume)
02. The Lighter Side Of Dating
03. Expresso
04. The Puerto Rican Fence Climber
05. Tomorrow Will Be Too Long
06. Martians Go Home
07. Love Goes Down The Drain
08. Ici Les Enfants
09. The Etcetera Stroll
10. Goodbye Joe
11. The Strange Boutique
CD2/LP2 Love Zombies
01. Love Zombies
02. Adeste Fideles
03. 405 Lines
04. B-I-D Spells Bid
05. R.S.V.P.
06. Apocalypso
07. Karma Suture
08. The Man With The Black Moustache
09. The Weird, Wild And Wonderful World Of Tony Potts
10. "In Love, Cancer?"
CD3/LP3 Eligible Bachelors
01. The Jet Set Junta
02. I'll Scry Instead
03. On The 13th Day
04. Cloud 10
05. The Mating Game
06. March Of The Eligible Bachelors
07. The Devil Rides Out
08. Fun For All The Family
09. The Midas Touch
10. The Ruling Class
11. The Great Barrier Riff
CD4/LP4 The Lost Weekend
01. Jacob's Ladder
02. Sugarplum
03. Cargo
04. Take Foz
05. Letter From Viola
06. Don't Touch
07. The Twitch
08. Wallflower
09. Starry Nowhere
10. Boom Boom
11. Cowboy Country
CD5/LP5 Singles I
01. He's Frank
02. Alphaville
03. Eine Symphonie Des Grauens
04. Lester Leaps In
05. The Monochrome Set
06. Mr. Bizarro
07. He's Frank (Slight Return)
08. Silicon Carne
09. Fallout
10. Surfing S.W.12
11. 405 Lines
12. Fiasco Bongo
CD6/LP6 Singles II
01. Ten Don'ts For Honeymooners
02. Straits Of Malacca
03. J.D.H.A.N.E.Y.
04. Cast A Long Shadow
05. The Bridge
06. The Jet Set Junta
07. Love Goes Down The Drain
08. Noise (Eine Kleine Symphonie)
09. Andiamo
10. Le Boom Boom
11. Yo Ho Ho (and three bottles of rum)
12. Big Ben Bongo
13. Wallflower (Saloon Bar Mix)