Well this is a little strange. I have never heard of Hint, yet here I am reviewing a compilation of their rare and unreleased tracks that appears to span their career from 1993 to present (hence the title).  This is not Hint the Sussex based electronic artist with links to both Rizzle Kicks and Top Gear – cheers Wikipedia. Rather this is Hint the French Avant Garde noise project founded by Herve’ Thomas and Arnaud Fournier. That’s cleared that up. I took the hint (see what I did there).

Hint have toured with a myriad of different acts from Unsane to Pitchshifter, Young Gods to Fugazi. Indeed, Young Gods offer up a remix on this very album.  Luckily for this uninitiated un educated listener this collection is divided into categories.

First off are Hint on their own. Opener The Fish and the Fisher blends trip hop vibes, jazz trumpet and a lilting chanteuse adding sultry yet unnerving vocals. There is something unsettling yet mesmeric about this track and I find myself intrigued. So, imagine my further delight when Trafics continues in a similar vein but adds in Mongolian throat singing to great effect! Crystal clear percussion is layered over some spaced out electronica and the funkiest bass sound I’ve heard in a while with a melancholy trumpet line picking at the seams before a huge riff kicks in with the aforementioned vocals. I am reminded of Ufomammut and Wardruna the way the ancient folk instrumentation (here the voice) is melded perfectly with the psyche doom and spacey vibe.

Next it is time for three collaborative tracks with French punk band Portobello Bones. The band began in 1991 and that is evident from the sound they make with Hint. First up is Hod which is like Mudhoney or Sonic Youth at their most angry fed through minimalist industrial. Shouts and feedback and fuzzed up guitars. What is not to like?

Alleged which follows is a slower but just as angry fucked up grunge affair. Bleach era Nirvana if I had to put m gnarled digit on it and Sixed follows in a similar flannelled shirt. I need to check out Portobello Bones back catalogued (they ended in 2001).

So now I think I know what groove I am in Daunik Lazro enters the fray. Mr Lazro is a French Saxophonist who has been twisting minds since the 70’s. Diagonal – the collaboration here is a mix of surreal and animal like sax sounds laid over a throbbing electronic heartbeat. It is not comfortable to listen to but it is also not too abrasive. I cannot work out of the voices are human or synthesized on here but they sound as though they are coming from the other side of a thin veil or reality.

This album acts like a sonic lesson in French music. Next up is A Hint pf 1989 with Gran Kino and must be linked in some way to the 1989 project Gran Kino released a decade ago. I can’t find anything about them online in English and I don’t trust Google translate or my GCSE to do the honours. This track is a dream pop soundtrack that goes into some avant-garde and dark places – hints (see what I did there) of 90’s Cure .

Alaska’s Polaroid see’s Hint back out on their own for a maelstrom of electronica with a simply delightful dance beat. Is that a set of bagpipes? I think it is!

Finally, The Young Gods get their hands on Wu Wei – Reloaded – not having heard the original I cannot comment what these industrial legends have done differently to the track. Listen for yourself – their trademark stark industrial batshittery is all over it.

This rarities compilation is indeed a rare thing – an introduction not just into a band but into several artists that I have never heard of but now want to explore more fully. The mix is music is rich and varied yet still held together by a common thread that is distinctly Hint.

(7.5/10 Matt Mason)  

https://www.facebook.com/hintenebris

https://hint.bandcamp.com/album/rareties-of-two-centuries