Various Artists (Rhino)
Back when record labels still mattered, Factory mattered.
However, Tony Wilson’s bloody-minded Manchester imprint hit the corner flag as often as it hit the back of the net, something made abundantly clear by this unflatteringly large four-disc set.
Unimpeachable cuts from the likes of New Order and James wrestle with utter junk by the likes of the Stockholm Monsters and Swamp Children, almost challenging us to reject the label’s self-built mythology. WILL FULFORD-JONES
