Various | The Rubens Room: El Records - In Camera | 2Vinyl LP -

Of all the independent record labels of the 1980s, \u00E9l was the most singular and exciting. \u00E9l only existed for a few short years and yet paradoxically - given its modest commercial success - was hugely influential. For writer Jonathan Coe, one of the label\u2019s many devotees, \u00E9l was \u2018Britain's great musical secret\u2019. This \u2018best of\u2019 compilation LP, curated by label supremo Mike Alway himself, will remind the world of the greatness of \u00E9l. The secret is out\u2026 \u00E9l was created in 1984 by Alway, a mercurial A&R man for Cherry Red signing outstanding artists like Everything But the Girl, The Monochrome Set and Felt. Alway briefly co-ran Blanco Y Negro (an offshoot of WEA) but was soon constrained by the conservatism of the commercial music sector and left to set up his own label. \u00E9l was once described as \u2018the most innately English record label there has ever been\u2019 and yet the look and the sound of the label achieved global r.