Pigs & Battleships

For their sole album, Quando Quango almost became something of a Manchester supergroup – besides core member Mike Pickering’s roles as legendary DJ and future founder of M People and Beverly McDonald’s previous singing in 52nd Street, other players included Vini Reilly, A Certain Ratio’s Simon Topping and Andy Connell and more besides. Pigs + Battleships is a delight of an album, touching on sleek polyrhythms, house-influenced piano and nods to reggae and dancehall; standouts include “Go Exciting,” “Genius,” and the slow groover “Happy Boy.”