Facing the Other Way: The Story of 4AD

By: Martin Aston

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Synopsis: FACING THE OTHERWAY: THE STORY OF 4AD is the first comprehensive account of the iconic record label. Drawing on over a hundred interviews with the label’s menagerie of artists and staff, music writer and 4AD aficionado Martin Aston follows the course of the label’s defining years; initially populated by the likes of Bauhaus, The Birthday Party, Cocteau Twins, This Mortal Coil and Dead Can Dance, each band resembled a new genre on its own, before 4AD embarked on a new era with a wealth of equally startling American signings, including Throwing Muses, Pixies and The Breeders. Yet for every artistic triumph, there was a backlash. Behind the scenes, an accumulation of feuds and enforced commercial compromises in the wake of alternative music’s invasion of the mainstream left 4AD adrift and Watts-Russell a broken man, soon to sever all ties with the music industry, including his beloved label. This definitive history explains why 4AD has been called the greatest independent label of all time, one of the most influential, and certainly the most collectable. The story of 4AD is an unparalleled drama from a pivotal phase in independent music culture.