Au Pairs- Stepping Out of Line: The Anthology (2006) MP3 & FLAC

"Playing your game, verging on the humane, I get a little romance, when I get the      chance to."

Similar to Gang of Four both in sharp-witted tone and stark, scratchy danceability, Au Pairs were easily one of the most politically confrontational bands of the Post-Punk era. What really set this band apart, however, was its passionately feminist politics and lead singer Lesley Wood, one of the first openly lesbian musicians of the rock-era, whose vocals were a force to be reckoned with. Au Pairs' debut, Playing with a Different Sex, is their enduring masterpiece, and takes no prisoners in its whip-smart evisceration of bourgeois notions of sexuality and gender. For example, "We're so Cool" is sung from the perspective of a woman trying halfheartedly to convince herself that "things are cool" with her emotionally vacant lover. Here, Wood pours on the irony while the band locks into a groove that sounds something like Post-Punk funk. While Au Pairs' follow-up LP, Sense and Sensuality, isn't as consistently great as their debut, the sound is more textured due to the addition of synths and occasional horns into the mix, and Wood's vocals show more range, almost taking on a smokey soul-like quality at times. As with Gang of Four, some will find the lyrical content too didactic in places, but musically, Post-Punk doesn't get much better than this.

Stepping Out of Line: The Anthology

CD I: Playing with a Different Sex (1981)
 1. We're so Cool  (3:29)
 2. Love Song  (2:50)
 3. Set Up  (3:21)
 4. Repetition  (3:49)
 5. Headache for Michelle  (6:55)
 6. Come Again  (3:54)
 7. Armagh  (3:37)
 8. Unfinished Business  (3:28)
 9. Dear John  (2:56)
10. It's Obvious  (6:19)
-Bonus Tracks-
11. Pretty Boys (BBC Session)  (4:01)
12. Monogamy (BBC Session)  (2:56)
13. Ideal Woman (BBC Session)  (3:56)
14. You (From You EP, 1979)  (2:51)
15. Domestic Departure (From You EP, 1979)  (2:22)
16. Kerb Crawler (From You EP, 1979)  (2:47)
17. Diet (Single B-Side)  (4:18)
18. It's Obvious (Single A-Side)  (5:46)
19. Inconvenience (12' Version)  (2:56)
20. Pretty Boys (12' Version)  (3:39)

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CD II: Sense and Sensuality (1982)
 1. Stepping Out of Line  (6:02)
 2. Sex Without Stress  (4:31)
 3. Instant Touch  (3:00)
 4. That's When It's Worth It  (4:07)
 5. Shakedown  (4:23)
 6. Tongue in Cheek  (3:02)
 7. Intact  (3:16)
 8. Don't Lie Back  (4:50)
 9. America  (5:20)
10. Fiasco  (3:52)
-Bonus Tracks-
11. No More Secret Lives (1983 Demo)  (5:16)
12. Runs with Honey (1983 Demo)  (6:20)
13. Hokka He Ha (1983 Demo)  (5:32)
14. Taking Care of Him (1983 Demo)  (5:12)
15. What Kind of Girl  (3:36)
16. Piece of My Heart (Live, Berlin Tempodrome, June 20, 1981)  (3:50)
17. Headache for Michelle (12' Version)  (6:38)

 Reposted on Meta (~) Luna