"Colossal Youth" by Young Marble Giants has mystified and captivated audiences since its release in 1980. Considered by lead songwriter Stuart Moxham as "a last gasp" to make a record, Stuart insisted that the unique 7-inch contract offered by Rough Trade be modified to allow for the release of a full album... This paid off when it became a big seller, producing covers even from bands whose members were a decade or two away from being born at the time of the album's release. When YMG disbanded, Stuart was lost; he had never considered a follow-up. A series of experimental recordings made with his friend Phil Legg (Essential Logic) and supported by other YMG members, musicians from This Heat and Swell Maps, old friends from Cardiff, and new acquaintances like Vivien Goldman resulted in an album, "Embrace The Herd," under the name The Gist. Released just before Rough Trade made bold strides into the pop charts with Scritti Politti, The Smiths, and others, the album was strange for its time but has since taken on the sheen of genius. Years of silence followed, intermittently broken by the odd release from small labels. Stuart immersed himself in family life, although he never stopped writing and recording. More recently, two retrospective compilations of lost recordings by The Gist have been released, along with a superb collaboration with French arranger Louis Philippe, "The Devil Laughs." "Fabstract" is the latest gathering of Stuart's lost recordings. Comparing lost tracks from the YMG era with the recent brilliance of "Crow, Crow" and "Suburban Monochrome," through whimsical pieces and largely alternative versions of fan favorites, this diverse album shouldn't work... But it does, telling the satisfying story of an underestimated talent whose mistake was to follow his muse, not the charts. This album precedes a new recording, in the works for years, produced by Dave Trumfio, which promises to be Stuart's most complete - and original - work since "Colossal Youth."