Cath Carroll - England Made Me (1991)

During the 80's Cath Carroll had built up quite an impressive resume for herself. She played guitar in a few random bands in the late 70's and then started her own project, Glass Animals (later to become Gay Animals). In '84 she produced a fanzine with her band mate from Gay Animals (I'm not making this up, I promise) and shortly after began writing for NME and City Limits (under the pseudonym Myrna Minkoff, taken from A Confederacy of Dunces). Also around this time she began another new band, Miaow, who released their first single, Bella Vue, on their own label in '85. Miaow continued to record indie pop singles, gaining a small cult following, until disbanding in '88. She then went on to record with The Hit Parade for a bit and around this time she married Big Black guitarist Santiago Durango and began her solo career. Her brand of sweaty high-intensity 90s dance was not unusual at the time. In fact it was quite popular in clubs and on the radio, but England Made Me had a polish, maturity and moody atmosphere most others lacked, aided by several notable contributors including production assistance by Steve Albini. England Made Me was one of the last Factory releases, and some say the relative expense of the record contributed to Factory's demise. The only reason I didn't score it higher is because the singles sort of outshine the rest of the songs. Still a very stellar album though.

Rating: 8.5/10

DOWNLOAD (.m4a): http://www.mediafire.com/?i92uvmka84ac223

Video for the remix of the magnificent single, "Moves Like You":