Early Output 1996-1998

for most bands, two years is maybe just enough time to write, record and release an album. for fridge, their first two years as a group saw them self-producing nearly 50 tracks spread over two full-length albums and half a dozen singles and eps. released on trevor jackson's fledgling output recordings, fridge's music playfully skated all over the musical map, jumping from bashing lo-fi punk to sublime expanses of downtempo dance with equal enthusiasm. always produced by the band at home (and often mixed directly to cassette), fridge's early output drew much fanfare, sparking an unlikely major label bidding war for their follow-up, the exquisite, densely-layered 'eph'. with output recordings now defunct, and fridge having spawned no less than three successful side-projects (most notably four tet, adem and kieran hebden's collaborations with jazz legend steve reid), 'early output 1996-1998' is a band-curated collection of the most memorable tracks from those wildly prolific early years, including six previously unreleased tracks from that era. remastered from the original master tapes, the package also includes photos and extensive liner notes from the friends, collaborators, and the band themselves.