Bauhaus
Swing The Heartache: The BBC Sessions

THE REVIEW

I detest anthologies, and when it comes to exploring the sound of a band I'm unfamiliar with, I always prefer to buy a live album. I usually recommend live recorded albums to those who ask me for advice on their first purchase.

"Swing the Heartache - The BBC Sessions" was the first Bauhaus album I bought. The indecision between this and "Press the Eject and Give Me the Tape" was strong at the time of purchase, but considering that the latter inevitably needs to be accompanied by "The Sky's Gone Out", I chose the collection of sessions recorded for the English radio between 1980 and 1983. The album was released much later than the aforementioned recordings, in 1989, when Bauhaus no longer existed, and although I later discovered that it was never fully appreciated by critics, this album contains gems of absolute beauty in my opinion (and surely not just mine!): embryonic versions of tracks that would later become part of masterpieces such as "In the Flat Field" or the acclaimed "Mask", or even became b-sides of successful singles, like the unsettling and Weimar-influenced "Departure" conceived in 1982.

The album is divided into five parts: the first and third consist of the Peel Sessions recorded in the winter of 1980 and the spring of 1982, respectively, while the others are taken from David Jensen's shows.

The highest moments of this true document are the melancholic, haunting "The Three Shadows Part 2" and "Silent Hedges", and the entire first part of the album, composed of "A God in an Alcove", "Telegram Sam" by Marc Bolan of T-Rex, "Double Dare", and "The Spy in the Cab" which alone are worth the entire purchase. And then the covers of Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust" and Brian Eno's "Third Uncle".

An excellent start, in short, for those who are not yet familiar with Bauhaus. And an indispensable for aficionados of genuine dark wave.