LA SCENES DE LA BOHEME Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Back in 1981, London-based Anthony Waites decided to create some "poetic, subversive pop music" with borrowed synthesizers in friends' bedroom studios. The result was a sole, self-released seven-inch single under the Scenes De La Boheme alias, a record that has long been a cult item amongst collectors. "Standing In The Rain", his first ever album, includes those two tracks - the bubbly brilliance of "Zara" and the lo-fi, beat-free, guitar-driven shuffle of "The Tale Of The Butterfly" - alongside four others recorded in the same period. It's an impressively off-kilter and atmospheric set, with the early Human League style hum of "Leap Into The Void" and the icy shuffle of "A City Such As This" standing out.