With sites like Soundcloud twisting the knife into the compilation CD, it takes something special to stand out from the sheer saturation of the market. A compilation has to actually teach you something to be relevant, otherwise why pay for something that has about as much musical adventure as a Spotify click?

Metal Dance 2, the second in Trevor Jackson’s series of collections of alternative electronic tracks, is like a history lesson in how your favourite current leftfield electronic music came to fruition. The seeds of industrial music, modern day punk funk, Belgian New Beat and UK techno can be traced back to some of the tunes included on this outstanding compilation.

Painstakingly compiled over a year, Trevor Jackson has unearthed some fascinating oddities through his exhaustive search; it’s got French lotharios, stern Germans, junked up Americans and pretentious northern Brits all bunched up together, and it works brilliantly. Vice Versa, who went on to become ABC, sound like Suicide would if they came from Sheffield, a monotone vocal over skeletal electronica, ‘Riot Squad’ nodding toward John Cooper Clarke whilst probably influencing Joy Division prior to recording Closer. Psyche’s ‘The Saint Became a Lush’ uses Giorgio Moroder’s arpeggiated riffs and creepy John Carpenter-style atmospherics played out on basic machinery to come up with a claustrophobic track of gothic doom, and Ministry’s ‘Over the Shoulder’ has jittery, spluttering drum machines merged with camp synths that generate a disco track for the dead.

It’s not all grubby guys pressing keys. Hideki Matsutake, one time member of the Yellow Magic Orchestra, is in attendance under his Logic System guise with ‘Unit’, a beautiful piece of computer desolation set to electronic beats. Another epic is presented by German pop act Propaganda, the producers of arguably the best album of the 80’s (1985’s A Secret Wish). The opulent ten minute mix of ‘Frozen Faces’ is an astonishing piece of music, the lavish production of which sounds like luxurious audio chocolate.

The most fascinating thing with these tracks is how contemporary they sound. CHBB’s ‘Ima Iki-Mashoo’ and the moody lip curler ‘Deadlines’ by Front 242 both sound like recent Soulwax remixes, and Crash Course In Science’s ‘Jump Over Barrels’ must be the track that created everything on the DFA label. Electro beats, sardonic half sung/spoken style of the singing, even the lyrical style: “You tried to make me jump over barrels, you tried to make me go out with Carol, Carol?…oh no, and I don’t appreciate it, uh” – James Murphy clearly paid close attention.

It’s not just the genesis of gothier acts like Nine Inch Nails or Depeche Mode that’s compiled here. Throughout you can hear the birthing seeds of Grimes, Factory Floor or The Knife, all the way back to originators like Jagz Kooner, Underworld and Andrew Weatherall. Their blueprint is laid out here, their musical journey began with these tracks. You won’t love its every tune, but Metal Dance 2’s ability to command your attention by pouring these revolutionary sounds into your filthy lugholes can’t be denied.

- Chris Todd