strut present the story of one of the most influential and revered labels emerging from new york in the late >70s and 80s<, ze records. after the late 70s punk and new wave explosion in new york, ze became a by-word for the anything-goes culture clashes that typified the big apple during the early 80s. formed by french art student michel esteban and british journalist michael zilkha, ze quickly created its own unique independent universe, signing artists as varied as alan vegas electronic postpunk pioneers suicide, trash disco queen cristina and maverick producer august darnell a.k.a. kid creole. with estebans sharp graphic eye leading the labels visual identity, ze hit the new york zeitgeist head on and became supremely hip û in 1982, the face magazine nominated it ôthe most fashionable label in the world.the labels early success led to a deal with chris blackwells island records, which gave zes releases worldwide exposure and brought worldwide fame to kid creole, was (not was) and more. over thirty years on and ze remains one of the great cult labels of its time. with this new compilation, strut takes a snapshot of the many weird and wonderful fusions that surfaced on its famous nyc cab-influenced yellow and black label. highlights include one of the earliest outings by was (not was), tell me that im dreaming, a disbelieving commentary on reagan-omics, bob blankÆs short-lived disco supergroup aural exciters and a larry levan mix of kid creoles biting parable about corruption in the caribbean, theres something wrong in paradise. other featured artists include ze label regulars cristina, bill laswells material, kookie french experimentalist lizzy mercier descloux, and camp disco-electro icons, les garcons.
