You know what it’s like, during your formative musical years you take a shine to a particular genre. Along the way you find a suitable exponent of that genre in the form of a band (or artist). You begin to accrue a healthy selection of said band (or artists) albums and singles and before you know it you find yourself intimately familiar with their discography.

You chart the high points savouring the delights of their obligatory classic albums as well as forgiving some of their creative troughs by claiming that even at their worst they are still streets ahead of the competition. Its when you become this familiar with a band its always nice to find something new to take your fancy, the odd rarity or unreleased gem here and there.

Realising that this is something that fans are often fond of obtaining Saint Etienne have taken steps to address this with the release of “Nice Price”, a twelve track fan club compilation of demos, mixes and previously unobtainable stuff all clubbed together on one disc for the discerning listener.

This is as the sleeve notes declare an ‘alternate universe’ snapshot of Saint Etienne, things that could have been but weren’t. Most of the changes it has to be said were for the better but if you can find yourself a copy of this CD then fan or not it actually does make a respectable pop compilation.

The rub with this CD alas is it’s only getting a limited pressing and in terms of availability is only available for purchase through their website as a member of their fan club (which incidentally is free). So if you miss the initial run the odds are you’re best bet is going to be eBay or perhaps some other such aficionado like outlet.

The track listing goes right back to Saint Etienne’s earliest incarnation as Cola Boy and kicks off with an alternative vocal mix of “Seven Ways To Love” (Sarah Cracknell providing a surprisingly gutsy vocal on this early mix). Before working its way through the nineties with alternative versions of tracks such as “Who Do You Think You Are” (a distinctively house based cut with Debsy providing the vocal) and tracks such as “Like A Motorway” in a somewhat lumpier demo form.

Other tracks such as “Hobart Paving” and “Former Lover” turn up in more complete forms, both of them having a decidedly weightier more dramatic styling than the versions you might be familiar with and you can see how it might have been a coin toss situation as to which version would have eventually seen the light of day.

Of course for every curiosity that pleases the ear there are of course some tracks that could quite easily have died on the writing table. “Lose That Girl” in its early form comes across as uninspired (despite the pleasant piano work) and “Heart Failed (In The Back Of A Taxi) sounds like something you might hear from a kid who got a Casio keyboard for his birthday, but lets get it into perspective these are early versions (but by Christ, “Heart Failed” in this version is bloody awful, which makes it astonishing that further down the line it became a pretty fine tune).

The album tapers off with alternative mixes from their latest album “Tales From Turnpike House” (which was one of my favourites from last year). “Milk Bottle Symphony” makes a good showing in this collection with a nice string laden intro and driving acoustic guitars which make this mix as good as the final version. Finally “Good Night” maintains the suitable air of melancholy of the released mix and closes off the selection in a most fitting manner.

“Nice Price” as I mentioned is “not available in the shops” but if you do come across it on your travels then as I said it’s a commendable pop purchase, albeit something of a curiosity I’ll admit but a worthy one all the same.