WOO - Whichever Way You Are Going, You Are Going Wrong Double LP (Clear Vinyl)

BEST REISSUE OF THE WEEK! "Endlessly fascinating... Their intimate lo-fi sound was both ahead of and of its time, capturing their mixture of analogue electronics, eccentric pop, and toytown elevator muzak at its most potent... An astonishing sonic stew that could be incredibly pretty and mellow but also sometimes atonal and unsettling... Essential."
—Norman Records

"Leave it to Independent Project Records to reissue a title I had never heard of but now can’t imagine living without... This was a rare music of unaffected innocence that becomes a balm for the person lucky enough to be listening to it. Especially in 2026! The arrival of this reissue could’t have been more timely... Once I put this album on it beckons me to let it play all night long. It casts a compelling spell that I’m not eager to break."
—Post-Punk Monk

"Sneaking out in '82, this album got enthusiastic reviews in the music press (who likened them to The Durutti Column), the brothers discovering they'd been crafting a groundbreaking electronic and acoustic fusion... Forced to play at low volume so as not to piss off the neighbours, this quietly lo-fi approach, using triangles instead of drums, came to define a sound that's utterly unique. It wafts around its own mysteriously beautiful universe, not giving a flying squirrel's nut bag about commercial restraints or traditional structures. If the motorik, lyrical bass and subtly soaring textures of the opening track 'Swingtime' evoke 'Ege Bamyasi'-era Can, the comparisons end with 'Wah Bass' and 'The Attic'. Evocative, emotional and supremely chilled, this lavishly repackaged set opens the door to a catalogue initially drawn from 1,500 tracks recorded in their first 10 years before continuing to the present day... One recurring theme in my memoir is the lifelong thrill of new musical discoveries. It's reassuring that can still continue."
—Kris Needs, Electronic Sound

"Cosmic... The kaleidoscopic 1982 debut LP from the brothers Ives, Mark and Clive, was wildly adventurous, sounding like both the future and the past all at once, sending mutating elevator music down a colorful, analog rabbit hole of psychedelic jazz, free-range pop bliss, and ambient electronica. An extravagant new reissue revisits a wonderfully strange and intoxicating record that still feels like the discovery of an alien musical universe."
—Peter Lindblad, Ink19

"Woo’s musical exploration results in wide sonic vistas and evocative soundscapes in which it is quite possible to become lost... Whichever Way You Are Going, You Are Going Wrong is akin to white clouds passing in an azure sky with their form shapeshifting and the gentle breeze blowing elements of reggae (‘Wah Bass’), Indian drums (‘Wapping’), and klezmer (‘Razorblades’) in your direction, then being swept away but not before leaving an indelible mark on your memory... Ten tracks have been assembled (by Clive and Mark Ives) as a mini-album and are included as a bonus. Put together in the same spirit as Whichever Way You Are Going, You Are Going Wrong, it’s another realm to explore and like its parent album one listen (in fact, one lifetime) is not nearly enough to fully excavate its hidden treasures."
—The Midlands Rocks

"The remaster is absolutely lovely, maintaining the lo-fi haze of the original recordings while giving it a nice balanced lift that helps peel back some of the layers of overdubs to let individual instrumental performances drift into focus. The re-release of Whichever Way You Are Going, You Are Going Wrong is, without question, perfectly done. The music is presented in a thoughtful remaster on flat, noise-free vinyl and the records themselves are packaged in a gorgeously designed sleeve. And they top it off with liner notes that put it all in the proper historical context. It's the fitting way to honor artists that continue to be a still-growing influence on fellow experimental musicians."
—Robert Ham, The Vinyl Cut

"WOO flirt with dub, jazz, and ambient music without ever settling into any one idiom... Even when melodies verge on the whimsical, there’s an undercurrent of melancholy that keeps the music from becoming decorative. These are not background sketches; they are quiet statements of intent. What makes Whichever Way You Are Going, You Are Going Wrong feel so prescient is its refusal to draw hard lines between genres or emotional registers... Each track operates as a self-contained vignette, a small cinematic moment that leaves space for interpretation. The expanded reissue only strengthens the album’s stature... Above all, Whichever Way You Are Going, You Are Going Wrong endures because it trusts the listener. It doesn’t instruct, impress, or overwhelm. It simply opens a door and lets you wander. WOO’s debut remains a reminder that some of the most radical music is made by people content to move quietly, follow instinct, and accept that getting lost might be the whole point."
—James Broscheid, The Big Takeover

★★★★ "First released in 1982 on their own Sunshine Series label, the debut album by brothers Mark and Clive Ives won critical acclaim but swiftly fell into obscurity outside of a small but devoted circle of Woo aficionados around the world. One such fan was and is musician and artist Bruce Licher (Savage Republic), who has overseen this beautifully packaged reissue, properly mastered for the first time. Gently odd, always understated and mostly instrumental, Woo was always going to be a connoisseur's band, although it's perhaps surprising their music hasn't been sought out for film soundtracks and adverts. These DIY bedroom-pop experiments, played on a variety of guitars, keyboards and percussion instruments, combine influences from easy-listening jazz and exotica with ideas from the classical avant-garde, anticipating both New Age Music and the ambient boom of the '90s. Ten additional tracks recorded between '75 and '90 expand on the gorgeous original LP."
—Ben Graham, Shindig!