Les Disques du Crépuscule

THE DURUTTI COLUMN / A Life of Reilly / book

2025-03-12T16:27:00.002+00:00

In 1978 Tony Wilson founded Factory Records to release music by The Durutti Column, the unique music ensemble built around the singular talents of virtuoso guitarist Vini Reilly.

Written - and meticulously researched - by Shadowplayers author James Nice, this authorised biography offers a fascinating insight into the extraordinary triangular relationship between Vini Reilly, Bruce Mitchell and band manager Tony Wilson, as well as the enduring cultural influence of The Durutti Column’s peerless Factory label catalogue.

A Life of Reilly includes candid input from Vini himself, as well as band and family members, and details Vini’s troubled Manchester upbringing, cult stardom in Japan, punk rock glory at the Roxy, radical auto-destructive sandpaper sleeves, diversions into neoclassical orchestration and glossy electronica, dazzling collaborations with Martin Hannett, Morrissey and Stephen Street, and hellacious Hacienda happenings.

The third publishing venture for Burning Shed, the book is presented as a deluxe limited hardback edition with quarter bound cloth spine.

272 pages. 218mm wide x 216mm deep.

'I never imagined a book of my life. It’s amazingly detailed and factually correct. Good sense holds sway and the hard-won research gives real clarity. It’s quite wonderful for me and my family, and it means a great deal to end on positivity.' (Vini Reilly)

'The Return of the Durutti Column is still to me one of the most beautiful and magical records ever made.' (Steven Wilson)

'Vini's guitar sound paintings create colours and textures only visible in the mind. A true psychedelicist.' (Bobby Gillespie)

'An extremely gifted and unique guitarist, with a wonderful way of fusing almost classical guitar technique with something more ambient and spacious.' (Bill Nelson)

A Life of Reilly is available exclusively from Burning Shed (click here to order)

2023-09-20T11:10:00.007+01:00

Les Disques du Crépuscule presents CD and vinyl editions of Fidelity, the 1996 studio album by cult Manchester ensemble The Durutti Column.

Originally released by Crépuscule in April 1996, Fidelity featured 10 tracks written and performed by Vini Reilly, with occasional guest vocals by Eley Rudge. In addition to Vini’s trademark guitar stylings, the album showcases sleek electronic textures and programmed beats, including standout trracks Grace and Future Perfect (recently heard in acclaimed FX series The Bear).

This 2019 vinyl re-master features two bonus tracks: My Only Love was originally released in 1995 on a covermount CD with a specialist guitar magazine, while experimental piece The New Fidelity was issued on a Portuguese compilation album from 1992 called Hare, Hunter, Field.

The double disc vinyl edition is pressed in 180gm black vinyl. The cover artwork is by Crépuscule design director Benoit Hennebert, based on a portrait by Vini Reilly of filmmaker Carol Morley. The CD retains the original 1996 artwork..

For further details click here

JOSEF K / It's Kinda Funny (Singles) / TWI 022 CD

2023-05-22T08:50:00.004+01:00

Crepuscule presents It’s Kinda Funny, an expanded 20 track CD collection of classic singles by iconic Scottish post-punk guitar group Josef K issued between 1979 and 1982, together with John Peel session tracks.

As well as the three legendary 45s on Postcard Records (Radio Drill Time, It’s Kinda Funny and Chance Meeting), the album also includes both Crepuscule singles (Sorry For Laughing, Missionary) as well as the original Absolute version of Chance Meeting from 1979. All b-side tracks are also included, as well as the BBC John Peel session from 1981.

Digipack cover art by Jean-Francois Octave. 8 page booklet features liner notes and archive images by Simon Clegg.

"Josef K specialised in cerebral, nerve-jangling funk, like disco played by Franz Kafka (or Franz Ferdinand). They also had some of the best, most insidious guitar riffs ever, notably The Missionary and Revelation, although they could do mordant: see It's Kinda Funny. What's no laughing matter is this music's dour brilliance" (Classic Pop, 03/2016)

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ERIK SATIE / Art Works 1892-1924 / TWI 1258

2023-03-11T14:07:00.002+00:00

Les Disques du Crepuscule presents a comprehensive 4 disc CD boxed anthology by visionary French avant-garde composer Erik Satie, collecting together works associated with the Dada, Cubist and Surrealist art movements, as well as his celebrated musique d'ameublement (furniture music) written between 1917 and 1923.

Disc 1 offers Satie's extraordinary Vexations, the score for which is just three lines long, yet a complete performance (840 repetitions) may last for anything between 14 and 28 hours. First performed under the supervision of John Cage in 1963, this radical, enigmatic, proto-Surrealist work is now recognised as a significant milestone in the avant-garde canon. This meditative 70 minute recording features 40 repetitions of the motif, performed by Alan Marks on piano.

Disc 2 is a collection of Dada-related works, including music used by Francis Picabia, Tristan Tzara, Kurt Schwitters and Rene Clair. An enthusiastic Dada activist in Paris between 1920 and 1924, Satie collaborated extensively with Tzara, Man Ray, Pablo Picasso and Jean Cocteau. Performed on piano by Bojan Gorisek, this disc includes Trois morceaux en forme de poire, performed by Satie in 1923 at Tzara's notorious Soiree du Coeur a Barbe, as well as Ragtime Dada, an extract from the ballet Parade performed at Dada events staged by Kurt Schwitters and Theo van Doesburg in 1922. Also included is Satie's score for Entr'acte, Picabia's dazzling multi-media 'instantaneist' ballet. Relache dates from 1924, while Cinema is Satie's music for an intermission film by Rene Clair.

Cubist Works on Disc 3 offers four works composed by Satie between 1913 and 1924 for his collaborations with Pablo Picasso. These include piano and orchestral versions of his scores for the celebrated 'Cubist' ballets Parade (1917) and Mercure (1924), as well as a seldom-heard organ 'diversion', The Statue Found (1923). This third disc also includes The Puppets Are Dancing, written for the French Futurist dancer/poet Valentine de Saint-Point in 1913, and the ludic Trois valses distinguees du precieux degoute ('Three Disgustingly Precious Waltzes'), a barbed swipe at rival Maurice Ravel, premiered at an exhibition of works by Picasso, Matisse and others in 1916. Solo piano performed by Bojan Gorisek.

Disc 4 leads with Satie's often referenced (but seldom heard) musique d'ameublement (furniture music), written to order for various benefactors between 1917 and 1923. Intended to be heard in the background, rather than actually listened to, these five disparate pieces have been cited as a conceptual precursor to the ambient, minimal, functional and serial works of Brian Eno, Paul Hindemith, Steve Reich and Philip Glass.

Also included are the experimental pieces Descriptions automatiques and Sports et divertissements, the latter a collection of 21 miniatures from 1914 published with illustrations by Charles Martin. Disc 4 also finds space for Satie's single-act, neo-Dada lyric comedy Le Piege de Medusa, comprising 'seven tiny dances for Jonah the Monkey', illustrated by Cubist painter Georges Braque., as well as his 'Christian ballet' Uspud from 1892.

The 4 full length CDs are housed in a clamshell box, which also includes an illustrated 32 page booklet featuring detailed liner notes by James Nice and Stephen Whittington.

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DURUTTI COLUMN / Treatise on the Steppenwolf / FBN 63

2023-02-25T15:31:00.002+00:00

Factory Benelux presents the very first vinyl edition of the only soundtrack album recorded by The Durutti Column, the Factory Records ensemble fronted by lauded guitarist and composer Vini Reilly. A limited edition of 1000 copies on 180gm black vinyl have been pressed for Record Store Day 2023.

Treatise on the Steppenwolf is a soundtrack to the performance piece of the same name by experimental theatre group 12 Stars, written and directed by Gerard McInulty (of fellow Factory band The Wake), first staged in Glasgow in May 2003. Freely adapted from the celebrated counter-culture novel by Hermann Hesse, the performance is a portrait a divided character in an ongoing state of conflict.

‘Steppenwolf was something I’d read recently and when we approached Durutti Column with the idea it turned out they were interested too,’ explained McInulty. ‘People have described their music as ambient, although that’s a description they don’t care much for. It’s certainly atmospheric and there’s something about their sunny-sounding guitar that seemed appropriate to a book that, although published in 1927, didn’t become popular in America until the 1960s.’

This expanded vinyl edition combines the studio recordings of the 12 pieces performed live by The Durutti Column during the Glasgow run, along with 3 long and previously unreleased tracks from the Human Avatars art installation at Manchester MOSI in 2005.

Newly mastered for vinyl by Peter Beckman at TechnologyWorks, this limited Record Store Day edition also features new gatefold artwork by Howard Wakefield.

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ANNA DOMINO / East & West / TWI 187

2023-02-18T15:59:00.004+00:00

Les Disques du Crepuscule present a new, remastered vinyl edition of East and West, the bittersweet debut album by American singer-songwriter Anna Domino, originally released by the label in 1984.

East and West was recorded in Brussels in 1983 with guest contributions from Virginia Astley, Blaine L. Reininger (of Tuxedomoon) and altpop polymath Luc Van Acker. The five tracks on the original mini-album format include her first single Trust, In Love (an NME single of the week), and an exquisite cover of Land Of My Dreams, originally a hit for Aretha Franklin in 1965. Rare b-side track Repeating (from the same sessions) is also now added to the album.

Other bonus tracks include the popular singles Zanna, a 1984 collaboration with Luc Van Acker, and radio hit ‘Rythm’, produced a year later by legendary Telex founder and jazzmeister Marc Moulin. The expanded remaster closes with a previously unreleased demo song called Dream Back, recorded in New York City with her friend Stanton Miranda of Thick Pigeon in 1984.

The album retains the original cover art by Joel Van Audenhaege, and adds new liner notes written by Anna herself. the red vinyl edition is limited to 500 copies. We also have a limited number of 180g black vinyl copies available to LDDC mailorder customers.

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JOSEF K / The Only Fun in Town / TWI 052

2022-07-18T10:52:00.006+01:00

Les Disques du Crépuscule presents a new 180gm black vinyl edition of The Only Fun in Town, the influential debut album by iconic Scottish guitar group Josef K, originally released on Postcard Records in July 1981. Crépuscule itself also issued two singles by the band at the time: Sorry For Laughing, and The Missionary.

Speedily recorded in a small studio in Brussels, The Only Fun In Town was a defiantly abrasive, serrated long-player in the mould of the second Velvets album, Josef K having already shelved a more conventional recording. Sharp-edged pop singles abound - It's Kinda Funny, Sorry For Laughing, Revelation - along with rattling Haig/Ross twin guitar classics such as Fun 'n' Frenzy, Heart of Song, Forever Drone and The Angle.

The Only Fun In Town topped the independent charts on release and remains a canonical post-punk album. This 2014 remaster is available in two formats. The double vinyl album (TWI 052) arrives housed in a handsome gatefold sleeve, and by way of bonus tracks also features several Postcard single A and B sides including Radio Drill Time and Chance Meeting. Side 4 features all four tracks from JoKay's celebrated John Peel Session in June 1981, including Heaven Sent and The Missionary.

The double gatefold vinyl version is currently available in a limited edition (500 copies) pressed on 180 gm black vinyl for optimum sound quality.

For further details click here

DURUTTI COLUMN / Fidelity / TWI 976

2022-05-23T08:02:00.005+01:00

Les Disques du Crépuscule presents a new 180gm black vinyl edition of Fidelity, the 1996 studio album by cult Manchester ensemble The Durutti Column.

Originally released by Crépuscule on CD only in April 1996, Fidelity featured 10 tracks written and performed by Vini Reilly, with occasional guest vocals by Eley Rudge. In addition to Vini’s trademark guitar stylings, the album showcases sleek electronic textures and programmed beats.

This 2019 vinyl re-master features two bonus tracks: My Only Love was originally released in 1995 on a covermount CD with a specialist guitar magazine, while experimental piece The New Fidelity was issued on a Portuguese compilation album from 1992 called Hare, Hunter, Field.

Limited to just 500 copies, this special double disc edition pressed in 180gm black vinyl. The cover artwork is by Crépuscule design director Benoit Hennebert, based on a portrait by Vini Reilly of filmmaker Carol Morley.

For further details click here

MINIMAL MAN / The Shroud Of / TWI 034

2022-03-23T08:28:00.013+00:00

Les Disques du Crepuscule presents an expanded CD edition of the debut album by Minimal Man, aka challenging American underground artist figure Patrick Miller, a figure of dark talent and vision who recorded 6 remarkable albums before his untimely death in December 2003.

Formed by Patrick Miller in San Francisco in 1979, the first iteration of Minimal Man cut two albums of dark industrial punk rock. Debut The Shroud Of was originally issued by Subterranean Records in August 1981, when the core of the band comprised a trio of Miller with Andrew Baumer and Lliam Hart. The album serves up 13 slices of dissonant electronics and 'anti-music', together with generous side-orders of isolation, insecurity, terror and black humour. Enjoy!

Guest musicians include Tuxedomoon alumni Steven Brown and Michael Belfer. Like Tuxedomoon, Miller would subsequently relocate from California to Europe where he continued as a prolific creator of music and visual art. His four European albums are Sex with God, Slave Lullabies, Hunger Is All She Has Ever Known and Pure. Passionate and volatile, Miller returned to California in the 1990s and died at home in 2003.

Digitally remastered, this expanded CD edition of The Shroud Of runs for over 60 minutes. The 5 bonus tracks are taken from rare 7-inch singles Two Little Skeletons and He Who Falls, the latter recorded live at the legendary Deaf Club in San Francisco in September 1979. The collection closes with compilation-only track Shower Sequence.

Available on CD and digital (MP3 and FLAC). The CD booklet includes a detailed Patrick Miller biography, as well as examples of his unique visual art.

For further details click here

CAMPBELL/MALLINDER/BENGE - Clinker - TWI 1256 CD

2022-03-05T18:45:00.007+00:00

Crépuscule presents an expanded digipack CD edition of Clinker, the collaborative project by Julie Campbell (aka LoneLady), Stephen Mallinder (Wrangler, Cabaret Voltaire) and Benge (Wrangler, John Foxx).

The 6 original tracks are now joined by 2 extended remixes each by Gabe Gurnsey (of Factory Floor) and Peter Morgan (aka UXB), adding up to 30 minutes of additional music.

The cover image is by Julie, with overall design by Twilight. TWI 1256 is also available to buy on vinyl and digital (MP3 or FLAC).

For further details click here

GINA X PERFORMANCE / Nice Mover + Voyeur / TWI 1249

2022-01-16T12:25:00.003+00:00

Les Disques du Crépuscule presents a new double disc remaster of two seminal albums by German synth wave pioneers Gina X Performance, whose groundbreaking singles Nice Mover, No G.D.M. and Kaddish remain enduring electroclash staples after four decades of club supremacy.

Formed in Cologne in 1978, the core of Gina X Performance composed vocalist Gina Kikoine and producer/keyboard/vocoder wizard Zeus B. Held. 'I had in mind science fiction-inspired tracks,' explains Zeus. 'Really cold sounding music, with no blues-ey chords or melodies, no guitar and nothing rocky.'

Originally issued on German imprint Crystal 1979, icy, noirish debut album Nice Mover spawned two radical Eurodisco hits, with gender-bending single No G.D.M. becoming a firm favourite at the legendary Blitz Club in London's Soho. At the same time Zeus B. Held also became an in-demand producer, working with John Foxx, Fashion, Rockets and Dead or Alive.

The third GXP long player, Voyeur, from 1981, followed a brief spell on EMI and saw the duo return to their experimental, avant-gardist roots, the material by turns seductive, provocative and confrontational. Since then countless electronic artists have acknowledged or betrayed the influence of Gina X Performance, including Depeche Mode, Propaganda, Ladytron and Peaches.

Remastered in 2021 by Zeus B. Held and Lars Lafayette Fassbender, the 2xCD set is housed in a 6 panel digipack sleeve with new artwork and a 12 page booklet featuring archive images and essays by Padraic Moore and Princess Julia. The 8 bonus tracks on the CD format include remixes by DJ Hell, Headman, Red Axes, Psychonauts and Zeus B. Held.

The vinyl edition of Nice Mover + Voyeur is available as a deluxe gatefold double set, pressed on green and clear vinyl. The vinyl is limited to 1000 copies and includes a digital copy (MP3).

Available on double coloured vinyl + 2xCD digipack in February 2022. For further details and tracklists click here

PISCINE ET CHARLES / Quart de Tour, Mon Amour / TWI 500

2022-01-04T21:16:00.008+00:00

Les Disques du Crépuscule present a remastered vinyl edition of Quart de Tour, Mon Amour, the mysterious debut album by enigmatic Belgian duo Piscine et Charles, originally released by LDDC sub-label Another Side in 1984. The pressing is strictly limited to 500 copies only, in turquoise vinyl.

A duo comprising Dominique Outers and Luc Raemdonck, Piscine et Charles taped their debut album at Daylight Studio in Brussels with engineer Didier de Roos (Univers Zero, Tideline), along with several guest musicians and classical singer Lucie Grauman. A concept album of sorts, Quart de Tour, Mon Amour (which translates as Quarter Turn, My Love) combines literary lyrics with music described as a "neat fusion of coldwave, electronics and lounge-jazz, predating acid-jazz by about five years and conjuring impressive atmospheres."

Despite failing to reach a wide audience at the time, Quart de Tour, Mon Amour has since become a sought-after collector's item, with the title track recently appearing on acclaimed anthology set Uneven Paths: Deviant Pop From Europe on Dutch label Music From Memory. "A very unique sound, Piscine et Charles explore a poetic, romantic and enigmatic musical realm where synth-pop meets jazz and spoken word."

This newly remastered 2022 edition retains the original cover art, as well as adding text and previously unseen images from the Piscine et Charles archive, plus a digital copy (MP3 or FLAC).

Tracklist:

A1. Empire
A2. Circuit Tango
A3. Danse a Toute Allure
A4. Maison Neuve
A5. Charmant
B1. Quart de Tour, Mon Amour
B2. Existe en Rouge
B3. Capitulation
B4. Personne ne doit Venir
B5. Finale

Available on vinyl + digital (MP3 or FLAC). Limited edition of 500 copies pressed on turquoise vinyl with inner bag.
For further details click here

23 SKIDOO / The Culling Is Coming / TWI 123

2021-11-20T10:39:00.001+00:00

First released by Les Disques du Crépuscule and Operation Twilight in February 1983, The Culling is Coming flagged two radical new directions for Skidoo following funky indie chart-topper Seven Songs the previous year.

Drawn from two extraordinary live performances, Culling combined a Balinese Gamelan inspired session recorded at Dartington College of Music in October 1982, together with extracts from a more extreme, improvised set at the first WOMAD festival in July 1982, using scrap metal and tape loops. Both sides of the album were exactly 23 minutes long, side one signing off with a stylus-hostile locked groove.

Digitally remastered, The Culling is Coming has been expanded to include a complete (and equally extreme) 26 minute loop performance at Tielt, Belgium, on 8 October 1982. Recorded as part of Crépuscule's short Move Back/Bite Harder tour with Cabaret Voltaire, Tuxedomoon, Antena and The Pale Fountains. The extended set runs for 76 minutes. The CD booklet features the original artwork along with contextual notes by Skidoo's Alex Turnbull.

Available on CD and digital (MP3). The CD replaces BOUCD 6604, which is now out of print.

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PAUL HAIG / The Warp of Pure Fun / TWI 669

2021-11-05T18:20:00.000+00:00

Les Disques du Crépuscule is proud to present a newly remastered and expanded CD box set edition of The Warp of Pure Fun, the acclaimed 1985 album by Scottish songwriter Paul Haig, formerly of influential Postcard/postpunk group Josef K.

Co-produced by Alan Rankine of The Associates, The Warp of Pure Fun followed a brief flirtation with mainstream dance-pop on the Island Records, and marked a return to warmer, more personal songs and arrangements, live drums and ringing guitars, as well as embracing emergent digital technology such as Akai sequencers and the Kurzweil sampling keyboard.

The album includes 4 singles in Big Blue World, Heaven Help You Now, Love Eternal and electro-funk stormer The Only Truth, the latter produced with Bernard Sumner of New Order and Donald Johnson (A Certain Ratio). As well as Alan Rankine on luxuriant keyboards, other stellar guests include drummers Steve Goulding, Toby and James Locke, bassist Michael McCann and Blaine L. Reininger of Tuxedomoon, who adds dramatic strings to epic closer Love and War.

The mammoth 64 track box set also includes a raft of extended 12" mixes, including rare US remixes by Man Parrish and Mantronik, and no less than 3 versions of The Executioner, a spooky electro collaboration with Cabaret Voltaire taped at their Western Works Studio in Sheffield. B-sides include Paul's frantic rockabilly take on Ghost Rider by Suicide, featuring Malcolm Ross and David McClymont of Josef K/Orange Juice.

Disc 2 features a fascinating early album demo recorded at home on 4 track equipment, featuring several previously unheard songs, as well as all tracks from Paul's legendary 'lost' second album from 1984, including sublime standout song Shining Hour.

Disc 4 offers 9 tracks professionally recorded live in Japan in May 1985 (with accompanying radio interview), along with several more demo tracks recorded later that year. Again, several of these songs (Testimony, Wrapped, Bridges) have never heard or released on record before.

Remastered in 2021 by Peter Beckmann at TechnologyWorks London. Cover art by Benoît Hennebert. The booklet contains a detailed track by track commentary by Paul, and additional notes from Alan Rankine.

Available on 4xCD. For further details click here

BLAINE L. REININGER / Wounds + Blessings / TWI 1255

2021-09-23T08:48:00.006+01:00

Wounds and Blessings is a brand new studio double album by Blaine L. Reininger, the Colorado-born composer and founder member of avant-garde music group Tuxedomoon.

Wounds and Blessings is a collection of 28 new tracks organised into 4 distinct suites. While all the music is performed and produced by Reininger, featured guests include his Tuxedomoon colleagues Steven Brown and Luc van Lieshout, as well as former Indoor Life member Bob Hoffnar and Reininger's Greek guitarist, Tilemachos Moussas.

On this expansive double set Reininger employs all the tools in his current arsenal, from AI-assisted lyrics to sampler bricolage, to violin and guitar virtuosity, a vast array of computer plug-ins and effects, and a trompe l'oeil assortment of 20th century avant-garde compositional methods.

"When I'm working," explains Blaine, "and a piece begins to reveal itself to me, I always follow where it leads. It becomes clear that it requires a violin, or a guitar, or lyrics. Whether it should be harsh or serene, orchestral, or entirely electronic. So it is with this new collection. Also, in the vocal songs, the subject of mortality has surfaced time and time again, albeit in a lucid manner and without becoming morbid, or fearful. I'm pleased with the results, and grateful to have the means to write every day and present my music to you."

The album is produced by Reininger, with mixing and mastering by long-time collaborator Coti K. Cover portrait and booklet photography by George Geranios.

Available on 2xCD and digital. For further details click here

CAMPBELL/MALLINDER/BENGE / Clinker MLP / TWI 1256

2021-08-17T07:49:00.001+01:00

Crépuscule presents a brand new collaborative project by Julie Campbell (aka LoneLady), Stephen Mallinder (Wrangler, Cabaret Voltaire) and Benge (Wrangler, John Foxx). Titled Clinker, the first 800 copies of the 6 track mini album have been pressed in turquoise vinyl.

'The project began a couple of years ago,' explains Julie. 'Benge had these great sketches that were beats and synth patterns, so those were the starting point. I really went to town adding lots of guitar layers and experimenting with different sounds. On some tracks the guitar is deft and rhythmic, as if mimicking sequencer patterns. On others it's a deconstructed noise-based approach - scratching strings, making fitful, heavy chunks, howls and scrapings of noise and texture.'

Due to competing solo commitments for all 3 members the tracks disappeared into hard drive exile for a couple of years. Julie continues: 'Last year we revisited the mixes and Stephen added his trademark mysterious and menacing vocals. Now we find ourselves with a finished piece of work. I thought of the name Clinker as I love its meaning: "stony residue from burnt coal". This seemed liked an apt description of both industrial and creative processes, and a nice nod to the industrial North of England.'

Stand-out tracks include Camouflage and Condition Collapsing. 'I'd forgotten how liberating it is to play bass guitar on something,' enthuses Mal. 'It compliments Julie's beautifully angular guitar, and Benge and me ripping up live percussion onto the sound of machines... As a collection of tracks these benefited from a lengthy gestation, as they follow no particular trend and were allowed to twist and turn to develop a life of their own. After successive cycles we suddenly drew it all together so the tracks have a sense of completion and identity.'

The cover image is by Julie, with overall design by Twilight. Vinyl edition includes free digital copy. TWI 1256 is also available to buy on digital (MP3 or FLAC).

For further details click here

DURUTTI COLUMN / Deux Triangles Deluxe / FBN 100

2021-07-10T16:47:00.001+01:00

Factory Benelux presents a deluxe double vinyl gatefold edition of Deux Triangles, originally a 1981 EP by acclaimed Factory group The Durutti Column, which can be considered a companion set to their signature second album L.C. Just 1000 copies have been pressed on blue and clear coloured vinyl for Record Store Day on 17 July 2021.

Recorded in Brussels and Manchester in 1981, Deux Triangles began life as single on which Vini Reilly intended to showcase his piano playing as well as his trademark shimmering, filigree guitar. Bruce Mitchell played drums, with his artist wife Jacqueline also contributing tentative bass guitar as well as the record’s beautiful watercolour cover art.

Delayed by the release of the sublime L.C. album in November 1981, Deux Triangles eventually appeared on Factory Benelux the following year and featured 5 tracks: Zinnia, Favourite Painting, For Patti, Weakness and Fever and Piece for Out of Tune Grande Piano, the latter a solo piano improvisation lasting fully 12 minutes.

Long deleted, the original 5 tracks are now expanded to 10 with the inclusion of several other pieces recorded for Benelux and sister label Crepuscule during the same period, including compilation tracks (One Christmas For Your Thoughts, Party, The Eye and the Hand) and album outtakes (Mavucha, Homage to Martinu). Vini’s extended solo piano piece appears in the shortened form (Piece of Out of Tune Grand Piano) issued by Factory in 1986, the full length version being included on the digital version of Deux Triangles Deluxe.

Disc 2 is the complete 10 song live set performed by the group in Brussels on 13 August 1981, never before released on vinyl. Professionally recorded for Belgian radio, the festival gig coincided with the first studio session for Deux Triangles.

The newly remastered double disc set is housed in a gatefold sleeve printed on matt reverse board, with liner notes including a contemporary interview with Vini Reilly. Cover art and calligraphy by Jackie Williams. The digital version includes the full-length version of Piece for Out of Tune Grand Piano, lasting 12 minutes, as a bonus track, as well as Verbier.

For further details click here

VARIOUS / Daylight Upon Magic / TWI 1257

2021-06-07T08:00:00.004+01:00

Daylight Upon Magic (TWI 1257/FBN 165) is a free sampler CD from Les Disques du Crépuscule and Factory Benelux featuring new and rare tracks from our current releases in 2021/22, together with several exclusives and tracks from selected label friends.

It's available free when you order one vinyl or two or more CDs via our own mailorder service. Please note - TWI 1257 will not available in the shops!

Tracklist:

1. Steven Wilson Eyewitness
2. Sink Ya Teeth The Hot House
3. New Order Be A Rebel (Stephen Morris T34 Mix)
4. Sea Fever Folding Lines
5. Union of Knives ft. Marnie A Tall Tale
6. Campbell/Mallinder/Benge Condition Collapsing
7. Thick Pigeon Subway
8. Fovea Hex Falling Things (Where Does A Girl Begin?)
9. Blaine L. Reininger Quarter Teen
10. Piscine et Charles Quart de Tour, Mon Amour
11. Big Daddy Cupid's Itch
12. Ultramarine Music For Random Spectacular
13. Buscemi ft. Steve Ignorant Who D'You Think...?
14. Section 25 Looking From A Hilltop (edit)
15. LoneLady Little Fugue
16. Plenty Forest Also Burning
17. Durutti Column Thin Ice (unedited)

For further details including formats and tracklists click here

BUSCEMI / Mistral du Sud / TWI 1250 CD

2021-05-22T11:01:00.004+01:00

Crépuscule presents Mistral du Sud, the 9th artist album by acclaimed Belgian DJ, producer and remixer Buscemi, whose eclectic dance music stylings embrace a mix of lounge, jazz, house, bossa, electro and latino grooves.

Since 2001 Buscemi (real name Dirk Swartenbroekx) has released eight solo long players as well as mix albums for Blue Note and Ministry of Sound, film and television soundtracks, and three collaborations with the Michel Bisceglia Ensemble. Remix clients have included Melody Gardot, Isabelle Antena, Calexico, Hooverphonic and Nicola Conte.

Seaside, his collaboration with Isabelle Antena from signature album Camino Real, remains a perennial favourite around the globe, and paved the way for his first Crépuscule album Luna Misteriosa in 2018.

Like Luna Misteriosa, the new album is co-created with Henrique Marques and features lead single 'La Jungle' (TWI 1248), featuring vocalist Lauvé, as well as an eclectic selection of guests and collaborators including Tai and former Crass singer Steve Ignorant.

"Most of these songs were recorded during the COVID pandemic," explains Dirk. "The creative process gave me inspiration and strength during these strange times. Taize Oliviera (aka Tai) sings on two tracks. She's a Brazilian singer-songwriter based in Barcelona who mixes soul, urban and Latin rhythms. But also I collaborated with Steve Ignorant on Who d'You Think You're Talking To?, because I always loved punk and new wave music - and will remain a Crass adept forever!"

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FOVEA HEX / The Salt Garden (Landscaped) / TWI 1247

2021-03-19T08:33:00.005+00:00

Les Disques du Crépuscule presents The Salt Garden (Landscaped), an album of extended pieces by acclaimed quiet music ensemble Fovea Hex, featuring longform remixes by British songwriter and producer Steven Wilson and Serbian soundscape artist Abul Mogard, as well as a previously unreleased mix by Peter Chilvers.

Formed in 2005 by Irish musician Clodagh Simonds, Fovea Hex have since released 3 albums (Neither Speak Nor Remain Silent, Here Is Where We Used to Sing and The Salt Garden), drawing favourable comparisons with Nico, This Mortal Coil, Ligeti and even Schubert. As well as Steven Wilson and Abul Mogard, other high-profile admirers include film director David Lynch, who invited the group to play at his Cartier Foundation exhibition in Paris in 2007, and Brian Eno, who has described Clodagh's work as "some of the most extraordinary songs I've heard in years."

The Salt Garden (Landscaped) gathers together 3 long ambient remixes of tracks from the Salt Garden EP trilogy, originally released between 2016 and 2019. The core album is pressed on crystal clear vinyl and showcases 'Solace' and 'Is Lanza Light & Given', both re-worked by musical polymath Steven Wilson. "I've long been a fan of Fovea Hex," explains Steven, "which for me is some of the most sublimely beautiful music ever recorded. It's a mix of electronic and acoustic sounds played on instruments ranging from state-of-the-art to ancient and arcane."

As well as the two tracks reworked by Steven, the bonus CD enclosed with the vinyl album also finds room for 'We Dream All the Dark Away', the widely-acclaimed re-interpretation by Abul Mogard of 'All Those Signs' from the Salt Garden II EP. By turns haunting and sinister, but always beautiful, the piece features vocals by both Clodagh and Brian Eno, as well as cello by Kate Ellis, and modular synth and effects by mysterious soundscaper Mogard.

An additional special bonus track on the CD is an unreleased remix of lesser-known 2015 digital single 'By the Glacial Lake' made by musician Peter Chilvers, best known for his collaborations with Brian Eno, Karl Hyde, Chris Martin and Tim Bowness.

"I feel truly honoured!" says Clodagh Simonds, who began her career in cult folk-psyche band Mellow Candle, and has since guested on albums by Mike Oldfield, Thin Lizzy, Russell Mills, Matmos, Current 93 and Steven Wilson. "It's been fascinating to witness how these pieces have been so imaginatively and skilfully revisioned in the hands of Steven, Abul and Peter. Each piece has emerged into a completely fresh new light, with a different vibrancy, yet remains grounded in what was there before."

The Salt Garden (Landscaped) is pressed on crystal clear vinyl, and comes packaged with a CD version featuring 4 tracks in total. The outer sleeve is printed in white reverse board and features an image taken by Crépuscule designer Joel Van Audenhaege during a recent trip to Greenland. The inner bag offers detailed liner notes as well as an interview with Clodagh.

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BUSCEMI ft. LAUVE / La Jungle / TWI 1248

2021-02-14T09:59:00.001+00:00

Crépuscule presents La Jungle, a new single for 2021 by acclaimed Belgian DJ, producer and remixer Buscemi, featuring vocals and lyrics by compelling newcomer Lauvé.

Since 2001 Buscemi (real name Dirk Swartenbroekx) has released 8 solo long players as well as mix albums for Blue Note and Ministry of Sound, plus film and television soundtracks. Remix clients have included Melody Gardot, Isabelle Antena, Calexico, Hooverphonic and Nicola Conte. Seaside, his 2003 collaboration with Isabelle Antena from signature album Camino Real, remains a perennial favourite around the globe. His eighth studio album, Luna Misteriosa, was issued by Crépuscule in 2018.

Hard-edged retro-futurist synthpop track La Jungle heralds forthcoming album Mistral du Sud (TWI 1250) and features guest vocals from Lauvé, formerly of Brussels electronic pop duo P.A.N.T.H.E.R. "La Jungle is about a man-eater", explains Lauvé (pronounced lo-vay). "She seduces her prey, little by little - then either devours him, or drives him away. It's a song that allows a woman to have control over the game of seduction. It's empowering, I hope - but with a hint of recklessness too."

The single is a limited edition edition of 500 copies in orange vinyl, with cover photography by Laura Levasseur.

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DURUTTI COLUMN / Sex and Death / FBN 201

2021-01-23T19:40:00.003+00:00

Factory Benelux presents expanded 2xLP and 2xCD editions of Sex and Death, the 11th studio album by lauded Manchester ensemble The Durutti Column. Originally released on CD only in 1995, the album has now been newly remastered with several bonus tracks.

The writing and recording of Sex and Death closed an uncertain period for Vini Reilly and the group following the collapse of Factory Records in 1992. Factory founder Tony Wilson remained in post as manager of the band, but Sex and Death would be their last album with producer Stephen Street, famed for his work with Morrissey, The Smiths and Blur.

Writer and master guitarist Vini Reilly remained philosophical. “People say the Durutti Column is this or that. I don’t care, so long as we make good music. There’s screaming feedback on some tracks, heavy metal guitar, Spanish picking. It’s not just this ethereal trip. Don’t listen to the form, never listen to the form. Listen to the content.”

Stand-out tracks include Anthony, dedicated to Wilson. Guest musicians include viola player John Metcalfe, vocalist Ruth-Ann Boyle (later to form hitmakers Olive with Tim Kellett), programmer Martin Jackson (Magazine, Swing Out Sister) and bassist Peter Hook, then on furlough from New Order post-Republic.

All 5 bonus tracks on the vinyl are previously unreleased, having been retrieved from a long-lost DAT demo tape located in Tony Wilson’s personal archive. 6 tracks from the same DAT tape appear on the CD set, together with 4 outtakes from Sex and Death previously available as a free download (Fac 2.26) via the Durutti Column website.

All tracks are newly re-mastered in 2021 by Peter Beckmann at Technology Works. All formats feature liner notes and interview material with Vini. The 16 page CD booklet is printed on matt art paper. The vinyl album is pressed on blue and silver vinyl and housed in a gatefold sleeve, and available to pre-order via Burning Shed.

For further details including formats and tracklists click here

THICK PIGEON / Subway (Singles) / TWI 351

2021-01-03T19:07:00.009+00:00

Subway is a collection of singles by cult NYC electronica duo Thick Pigeon, originally released on Crépuscule, Factory and Factory Benelux between 1981 and 1991.

Comprised of vocalist Stanton Miranda and instrumentalist Carter Burwell, Thick Pigeon emerged from the downtown New York artrock scene which also spawned Glenn Branca, Bush Tetras, DNA, Arthur Russell and Sonic Youth. Like their chosen name, the duo were typically atypical: Miranda was previously a dancer with the Marthe Graham ballet company, and Carter a film animator and Harvard fine arts/architecture graduate. Very much a studio project, the 'group' hardly ever performed live.

Poised and subtle debut single Subway appeared on Crépuscule in January 1981, a connection forged by Miranda's partner Michael Shamberg. Dog followed a year later, along with wry Christmas single Jingle Bell Rock, before the duo switched to Factory Records, recording debut album Too Crazy Cowboys in Manchester with Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert of New Order producing. Released simultaneously on Factory and Factory US in 1984, the album was billed as "a walk through the civilisation of you soul".

Having now embarked on a career scoring movies (becoming the Coen brothers' composer of choice), Carter was absent from the next TP project, 1986 dance single Wheels Over Indian Trails, although Morris and Gilbert remained on board as guest musicians. However Miranda and Carter would reunite for a second (and final) leftfield pop album, Miranda Dali, issued by Crépuscule in 1991.

As well as singles Subway, Dog, Jingle Bell Rock, Jess + Bart and Wheels Over Indian Trails, TWI 351 also includes b-sides (Sudan, Tracy + Pansy), album highlights (Crime, Riding) and a second festive track, Blue Christmas, previously issued only on cassette as part of a Factory Christmas card in 1986.

Alongside Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert, the stellar cast of guests include Fred Szymanski (of Ike Yard), Ikue Mori (DNA), remixer John Robie, and even artist and event designer Jean-Paul Goude on backing vocals.

Limited to just 500 copies, Subway (Singles) is newly remastered and pressed on purple vinyl, reflecting the original 1981 sleeve artwork by Crépuscule designer Benoit Hennebert. The album includes a free digital copy (MP3) and will be available in February 2021.

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V/A / From Brussels With Love / TWI 007 + 008

2020-10-03T08:33:00.001+01:00

Les Disques du Crépuscule is proud to present 40th anniversary editions of iconic compilation From Brussels With Love. Bearing the catalogue number TWI 007, From Brussels With Love was the very first release on Crépuscule back in November 1980, and now returns in November 2020 on cassette, gatefold 2xLP (coloured vinyl), and 2xCD hardback 60 page 10-inch square earbook.

Originally released as a cassette with a 16 page booklet packaged in a PVC wallet, FBWL featured 21 exclusive tracks from the international avant-garde and new wave, as well as contributions from the celebrated Factory Records roster. Then, as now, the featured artists include A Certain Ratio, Gavin Bryars, Harold Budd, Thomas Dolby, Dome, The Durutti Column, John Foxx, Martin Hannett, Richard Jobson, The Names, Bill Nelson, Kevin Hewick + New Order, Michael Nyman and Der Plan.

Running for 78 minutes, the cosmopolitan ‘cassette journal’ was curated by Michel Duval, Annik Honoré and Wim Mertens, and also includes extended interviews with Brian Eno and legendary French film actress Jeanne Moreau. The cover art is by Jean-François Octave, with additional artwork in the booklet by Benoît Hennebert, Marc Borgers and Claude Stassart.

From Brussels With Love quickly sold 6000 copies around Europe, earning rapturous reviews in the UK music press. "This is a reminder - without really trying, without being obvious - that pop is modern poetry, is the sharpest, shiniest collection of experiences. Is always something new" (Paul Morley, NME). More recently, Dan Fox of art magazine Frieze described TWI 007 as "a masterpiece of distinctly northern European post-punk eclecticism."

To mark this 40th anniversary Crépuscule will issue 3 remastered editions. The most ambitious of these is a deluxe 2xCD earbook edition (TWI 007 CD) presented as a 10-inch square hardback book (60 pages), with two full length audio CDs. The book includes rare images, posters, sleeve designs and period ephemera, plus a detailed history of the Crépuscule label between 1979 and 1984, with contributions from Michel Duval, Annik Honoré, Wim Mertens, Octave, Hennebert and photographer Philippe Carly.

CD1 includes all 21 tracks from the original cassette. CD2 includes tracks omitted from TWI 007 for reasons of space, as well as related Crépuscule tracks by Michael Nyman, Bill Nelson, John Foxx, Richard Jobson, Durutti Column, Repetition and The Names, and also contemporary songs by other Belgian artists including Digital Dance, Polyphonic Size, Aksak Maboul, Karel Goeyvaerts and Marine.

In addition, there is a facsimile cassette package in PVC wallet (TWI 007) limited to 500 copies, as well as a gatefold double vinyl edition (TWI 008) pressed on coloured vinyl (Disc 1 is black, and Disc 2 is white), with the booklet pages printed on the inner gatefold. Both the cassette and vinyl come with a digital copy (MP3).

A multi-format bundle is also available including the cassette (TWI 007), vinyl (TWI 008) and 2xCD earbook (TWI 007 CD) plus a Stassart postcard, a brand new LDDC/FBN sampler CD, an Umbrellas In the Sun DVD, a full size reproduction Plan K 16/10/1979 event poster (folded), and an LDDC spiral slipmat (while stocks of the slipmat last!).

There is also a t-shirt, available either as a separate item or as part of the multi-format bundled version at a reduced price (please email for details).

For further details including formats and tracklists click here

ANNA DOMINO / East & West / TWI 187

2020-08-09T15:02:00.004+01:00

East and West is the first album by Anna Domino, originally released by Crépuscule in 1984, and newly expanded as a 2xCD in 2020.

Anna's poised, and poignant, debut set was recorded at Daylight Studio, Brussels with guest contributions from Virginia Astley, Blaine L. Reininger (of Tuxedomoon) and Luc Van Acker. The five tracks on the original mini-album include her first single, Trust In Love (an NME single of the week), as well as a beguiling cover of Aretha Franklin's Land Of My Dreams.

Rare b-side track Repeating concludes the studio component. This is followed on disc one by seven live tracks professionally recorded at Parco in Tokyo, Japan, in January 1987. The band includes guitarist Michel Delory, and Alan Rankine on keyboards. Highlights here include two otherwise unrecorded songs (Change and Just Too Much), as well as an expansive 12 minute version of Caught.

Our new 2020 2xCD edition includes a bonus second disc, North and South, featuring vocal cameos and covers recorded by Anna between 1984 and 2020. These include collaborations with Luc Van Acker, Marc Moulin, Kid Montana, Stanton Miranda, Jean-Michel Basquiat, The The, Stephin Merritt, Buscemi, Ultramarine and The Hood.

Artwork by Joel Van Audenhaege, with liner notes by Anna.

Disc 1:

1. With the Day Comes the Dawn
2. Land Of My Dreams
3. Review
4. Everyday I Don't
5. Trust, In Love
6. Repeating
7. 'Rythm' (live)
8. My Man (live)
9. Take That (live)
10. Change (live)
11. Just Too Much (live)
12. She Walked (live)
13. Caught (live)

Disc 2:

1. Zanna (w. Luc van Acker)
2. Dreamback (w. Stanton Miranda)
3. Crime (w. Jean-Michel Basquiat)
4. Scat (w. Marc Moulin)
5. Joey Came Home (w. Kid Montana)
6. Here In My Heart (w. Stephin Merritt)
7. Pome On Dr Sax (w. Jack Kerouac)
8. December Sunlight (w. The The)
9. Pillar Box Red (w. The The)
10. The Light Downtown
11. Marbletown Girl (w. Snakefarm)
12. Arithmetic (w. Ultramarine)
13. Beautiful As Sorrow (w. Buscemi)
14. Spark From Flint to Clay (w. Ultramarine)
15. She Keeps (w. The Hood)

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