4AD's first release of 1988 was a second volume of Le Mystere Des Voix Bulgares (CAD 801) featuring a further 18 performances drawn from Marcel Cellier's extensive archive of field recordings.
Throwing Muses delivered a second album - House Tornado (CAD 810) - which suggested a continuing refinement of apoproach, and made clearer still Kristin Hersh's fiercely original songwriting talents. The Muses embarked on a now-legendary tour of the UK and Europe with the Pixies; both bands were in incendiary live form, and people privileged enough to witness these shows still speak in hushed tones. (A few Muses performances from this tour sneaked out the following year as B-sides).
The Pixies, meanwhile, had also released their second album, the epochal Surfer Rosa (CAD 803), which was recorded in a mere 13 days, and produced for maximum raw sonic impact by Big Black's Steve Albini. Things were moving fast for the band - later that Spring, they went into the studio with Gil Norton to re-record two Surfer Rosa songs for an EP - "Gigantic" (the first song to spotlight the talents of Kim Deal) and "River Euphrates". Also taped during these sessions was a version of "Here Comes Your Man", which remains unreleased. The two studio tracks were coupled with live versions of "Vamos" and "In Heaven" (from David Lynch's film Eraserhead) and issued as the Gigantic EP (BAD 805).
The Wolfgang Press's "King Of Soul" (BAD 804) served as an early taster for the group's third album, Bird Wood Cage (CAD 810), which was released at the end of the year. Recorded with up-and-coming producer Flood (whose credits at the time included Depeche Mode and Nick Cave), it was the band's most powerful statement yet, eductive, menacing and entirely distinctive. Tracks such as "Kansas" (to be released as a single the following year) began to attract audiences in Britain, as well as in the States, where the album was licensed to Rough Trade. Subsequent tours with both Nick Cave and the Pixies (during which Black Francis came onstage each night to perform an encore of "Rema-Rema") also helped to raise their profile.
4AD only made one signing in 1988 : Ultra Vivid Scene. This was an alias for New Yorker Kurt Ralske, a one-man band with dozens of incredible songs that successfully united the brooding darkness of the Velvet Underground and Suicide with 60's pop-psychedelia. "She Screamed" (BAD 806) (backed with a Hank Williams cover and Ralske's lost classic "Hit By A Truck") was his debut single, followed shortly by a self-titled album.
Blue Bell Knoll (CAD 807) was the first full-band Cocteau Twins album since Treasure, released nearly four years previously. It was a further refinement of the the band's unique sound, and it also became the first 4AD album since Modern English's Ricochet Days to be issued by a major label in America (Capitol Records). Trivia fact : Blue Bell Knoll is the only 4AD album to have been released on DAT.
By now, Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard had developed a pattern for their activities as Dead Can Dance. Brendan had moved to Ireland, where he subsequently built his own studio, while Lisa was spending several months a year back home in Australia. They'd reunite to make recordings and perform a few shows, and then separate to write new material. The Serpent's Egg (CAD 808) included some of their finest work (Lisa's majestic vocals on the opening "The Host Of Seraphim" and Brendan's orchestrated balladry on the closing "Ullyses" are but two of the standouts here). And although John Rivers - who'd co-produced the group's two preceding release - worked on a handful of tracks, all of Dead Can Dance's recordings from here on in would be entirely self-produced.