Aztec Camera was a fresh alternative to most everything when their debut album was released in 1983. In an era of hardcore punk fundamentalism and icy techno-pop, the Scottish band wedded acoustic textures to lively rhythms and irresistible pop hooks with echoes of Spain and India. Arriving just a tad late, the 30th anniversary edition of High Land, Hard Rain includes that wonderfully flowing first album plus a second disc with alternative versions, remixes, live tracks and lost songs. It holds up well three decades later, and since Aztec Camera were immune to the trends of their moment, nothing sounds dated.
