Machines is a Virgin Records compilation album featuring a lot of great 80s electronic groups including Tubeway Army, OMD, John Foxx and Fad Gadget. It was released on vinyl in 1980 and has some absolutely classic tracks.

But the real payoff on this album–for me, anyway–was the discovery of the Thomas Leer track, Private Plane.

This little gem makes the entire album worth getting. It has that early, hesitant sound a lot of those 1980 releases did, the early, gritty textures of Human League (Being Boiled is still one of my favorites) and those slightly warbly analog synth tones can’t be beat.

And speaking of analog synths, Machines features the Gary Numan track Aircrash Bureau AND the Tubeway Army version of Down In The Park. XTC turns in The Somnambulist, and Fad Gadget gets happy-go-lucky with Ricky’s Hand. All classics, to be sure, but Dalek I and Thomas Leer are the wildcards here–a great investment.

Want to know why I am so enthusiastic about Thomas Leer? Here you go…check the vid below, totally safe for work, I might add. (I have a copy of the Machines LP on Virgin Records for sale at Discogs.com. If the vinyl is sold out by the time you click, try having a look at my other vinyl for sale, as I carry a lot of this sort of thing.)