Despite some overlap, Strut’s ZE 30: ZE Records Story 1979-2009 complements the 2003 expanded reissue of Mutant Disco — a two-disc comp released by the then-revitalized ZE label, presumably out of circulation at the time of this set’s release. Strut didn’t come up with a definitive look at one of the maverick labels of the late ’70s early ’80s. Instead, it chose to go rather deep while throwing in a few of the singles that received a great deal of rotation in underground clubs (such as Was [Not Was]‘ “Tell Me That I’m Dreaming,” oddball disco-funk at its baddest, unless you count the same band’s “Wheel Me Out”). Only the most knowledgeable DJs and disco fanatics have known about some of the inclusions, like Sympho-State’s brisk and elegant “You Know What I Like,” the B-side of a one-off arranged by Carlos Franzetti (a Fania and Kid Creole associate) that features Leroy Burgess (Black Ivory, Logg) and Christine Wiltshire (Aural Exciters, Musique). A couple cuts — the long version of Suicide’s “Dream Baby Dream” and the Larry Levan remix of Kid Creole & the Coconuts’ “Something Wrong in Paradise” — appeared just a few years prior on ZE’s Mutant Disco, Vol. 3: Garage Sale. Late ZE signing Michael Dracula, from Glasgow, justify their presence with a dread-filled fun-time collision of ZE vets Lydia Lunch, Cristina, and the Waitresses. – Andy Kellman