Factory Benelux

SECTION 25 / 'From the Hip' / FBN 90 CD

2025-07-01T12:00:00.007+01:00

Factory Benelux presents an expanded and remastered 4xCD box set edition of this pioneering elecro classic from Section 25, with the original 1984 album now augmented with singles, remixes and session and live tracks. Album produced by Bernard Sumner or New Order, with artwork by Peter Saville and Trevor Key.

Album remastered in 2025 by Peter Beckmann at Technology Works. Release date is 12 September 2025. Initial copies of the box set ordered direct from FBN include free 'So Far' DVD. For further details including tracklists click here

DURUTTI COLUMN / A Life of Reilly / book

2025-03-12T12:09:00.006+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)

CRISPY AMBULANCE / Fin + Frozen Blood / FBN 18 CD

2023-08-21T10:19:00.009+01:00

Factory Benelux presents a double disc anthology of singles, radio sessions and live tracks by cult Manchester group Crispy Ambulance, all recorded between 1980 and 1982.

Disc 1 is forceful live album Fin, comprising live performances mix-desk recorded around Europe and the UK during the winter of 1981-1982. Most of this material was never recorded in the studio and captures the band at their most powerful and hypnotic. The album closes with three bonus studio tracks, including both sides of the rare debut single on Aural Assault from 1980 (AAR 01), as well as Black Death, the b-side of 1982 single Sexus on Factory Benelux (FBN 18). 70 minutes of music.

Disc 2 is archive collection Frozen Blood, which includes both sides of the 10" single released on Factory Records (Fac 32) in 1980, all eight tracks from radio sessions for Piccadilly Radio (July 1980) and John Peel (January 1981), plus seven late-period live songs taped in 1982 but never studio recorded. 72 minutes of music, all transferred from the original master tapes.

FBN 18 CD features new artwork and an updated band biography. 32 tracks, 142 minutes of music in total.

For further details click here

THE WAKE / Here Comes Everybody / FBN 35

2023-08-06T12:19:00.005+01:00

Back in stock! Our remastered edition of Here Comes Everybody, limited to 500 copies pressed on 180 gram heaveyweight vinyl with a bonus 7-inch single featuring companion singles Talk About the Past and Of the Matter.

The outer album sleeve is printed on white reverse board; the inner bag featuring lyrics, photos and liner notes by Caesar and Carolyn Allen. The 7-inch single is housed in a facsimile Fac 88 sleeve.

For further details click here

SECTION 25 / 4x vinyl albums

2023-07-02T11:03:00.002+01:00

Due late August 2023 are limited edition vinyl pressings of four albums by the mighty Section 25: Part-Primitiv (FBN 130), Nature + Degree (FBN 135), Retrofit (FBN 140) and Dark Light (FBN 145).

Each pressing is limited to 500 copies only, with FBN 130 pressed on 180g heavyweight black vinyl, and the other 3 on purple, orange and crystal clear vinyl respectively. Each include a digital copy with extra tracks and can be purchased either individually, or as part of a bundle available from FBN and Burning Shed featuring all four albums as well as a signed postcard and a bonus copy of the FBN 124 Alfresco live package.

For further details click here

DURUTTI COLUMN / Time Was Gigantic... / FACT 2.31

2023-06-06T10:59:00.002+01:00

'Time Was Gigantic... When We Were Kids' was originally released in 1998 as the eleventh studio album from Vini Reilly’s eternally underappreciated The Durutti Column. Significantly, it was the project’s final release on Factory Records before the legendary label folded for good. Stylish, atmospheric and utterly unique, this newly remastered edition of FACT 2.31 is available through London Records on CD and double vinyl, feauring bonus tracks and liner notes. Limited edition poster print also available while stocks last!

For further details click here

MARCEL KING / Reach For Love / FBN 47

2023-02-28T12:56:00.009+00:00

Factory Benelux presents a limited edition 180gm vinyl singles collection by Marcel King, best known for his sparkling 1984 dance single 'Reach For Love' on Factory Records, as well as the youthful vocalist on 'Sad Sweet Dreamer' by Sweet Sensation, a UK number one back in 1974.

Limited to just 1000 copies, Reach For Love: Singles 1983-88 features both sides of the infectious electro single co-produced by Bernard Sumner (New Order) and Donald Johnson (A Certain Ratio) and released as Fac 92 in April 1984, as well as a previously unreleased demo for 'Love To Shine', the planned follow-up single on Factory produced by Tony Henry of 52nd Street.

The album also features 'Hollywood Nights', a later single cut by Marcel with Gee Bello of Light of the World, along with a rare US remix of 'Reach For Love' by noted New York DJ Mark Kamins, and extended dub and instrumental versions.

King was invited to record for Factory in 1983 by Joy Division/New Order manager Rob Gretton, a devotee of soul and black music, and prime mover behind the famous Hacienda nightclub. 'Rob was a massive fan of Marcel and thought he was as good a singer as Michael Jackson,' explains Tony Henry. Not just a gifted and plaintive soul singer, King also wrote both sides of his Factory single, 'Reach For Love' and 'Keep On Dancin', both paeans to perseverance and enduring Hacienda classics.

A classic video clip for the single, filmed at The Hacienda with local breakdancing crews, is available in YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-h7X3z8JghY

Alas 'Reach For Love' was destined to remain an underground hit rather than a chart topper. Rob Gretton blamed Factory’s disdain for conventional promotion. 'At Factory we still basically believe that you don’t have to hype a group in any way, and that a record should success on its own. But it’s getting increasingly difficult. We put a record out by Marcel King and it’s hardly sold at all. The charts are wide open to hyping and marketing.'

Adds Bernard Sumner: 'Marcel was an incredibly talented guy, but a tragic figure. He used to sleep in a car in Moss Side and was a bad heroin addict.' A troubled but pioneering artist, Marcel sadly passed away in 1995 after suffering a brain haemorrhage.

1000 copies only of FBN 47 will be available on Record Store Day on 22 April 2023, pressed on 180gm black vinyl. The sleeve is based on original artwork for the Factory single and also includes a press interview with Marcel from 1984.

For further details click here

DURUTTI COLUMN / Treatise on the Steppenwolf / FBN 63

2023-02-25T15:30:00.001+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.

For further details click here

THE WAKE / Harmony + Singles / FBN 29

2023-02-20T09:23:00.003+00:00

Factory Benelux presents a new 3 disc black vinyl edition of Harmony, the debut album by influential Scottish group The Wake. Originally released by Factory Records in December 1982, this new expanded edition marks the 40th anniversary of this landmark postpunk album.

The Wake formed in Glasgow in 1981 after singer/guitarist Caesar left Altered Images, and joined Factory the following year. Harmony was recorded at Strawberry Studios in Stockport with producer Chris Nagle (formerly Martin Hannett’s preferred engineer), by which time the group comprised Caesar (vocals, guitar), Carolyn Allen (keyboards), Steven Allen (drums) and Bobby Gillespie (bass). On release as Fact 60 the original 7 track mini album earned a 5 star review in Sounds magazine, hailed as the missing indiepop link between Factory and Postcard Records.

Bonus tracks on Disc 2 include The Wake’s dub-informed second single, Something Outside b/w Host, and also their John Peel session from July 1983 – the last recordings to feature Gillespie before his departure for The Jesus and Mary Chain and Primal Scream.

Disc 3 offers a desk recorded live set from Ayr Pavilion on 15 April 1983 during a tour with New Order. The concert includes several songs never recorded in the studio, including Recovery and Country of the Blind.

The enhanced trifold artwork for this new edition includes images of the band by noted photographer Paul Slattery, taken at the Mitchell Library in Glasgow, as well as new liner notes by Caesar. A new 2xCD edition is also available (FBN 29 CD).

For further details click here

FACTORY CLASSICAL / 5xCD box set / FBN 276 CD

2023-02-18T15:36:00.002+00:00

Factory Benelux presents a box set collection of the first five albums released by the celebrated Factory Classical imprint in 1989, featuring modern classical works composed by Benjamin Britten, Elliott Carter, Paul Hindemith, Theodore Lalliet, Gyorgy Ligeti, Steve Martland, Olivier Messiaen, Francis Poulenc, Dmitri Shostakovich and Michael Tippett.

Curated by Durutti Column viola player John Metcalfe, the performers include the Kreisler String Orchestra, German pianist Rolf Hind, The Duke Quartet and oboist Robin Williams, with Steve Martland’s material performed by Residentie Orkest Den Haag and pianists Gerard Bouwhuis and Cees Van Zeeland.

Explained Factory founder Tony Wilson: ‘The idea I had in mind was people like Peter Saville, the Factory designer, and his girlfriend - art school kids brought up with Bowie and Roxy Music, into punk, maybe they find acid house interesting, but they’re looking for something else. For people like them or younger, there is no easy way into classical music, because it’s all quite exclusive. They’re scarcely likely to read Gramophone magazine, or make head or tail of it if they did.’

‘I was a relatively angry young man at that time,’ adds Metcalfe, ‘and chose to channel some of that into a rather naïve disapproval of standard classical industry practices. The white tie and tails and very, very boring, reproductions of Constable paintings on album covers, all that stuff. So I had a chat with Tony and he said, “Off you go, fill your boots”.’

Largely drowned out by relentless Acid House beats and faddish Madchester guitar rock in 1989, the bold, contrarian Factory Classical catalogue is now ripe for re-appraisal by much the same audience identified by Wilson. Indeed since 1989 Metcalfe has worked as an arranger for artists such as Peter Gabriel, U2, Blur, Coldplay and Bat for Lashes, as well as performing and recording with the Max Richter Ensemble. Sadly contemporary composer Steve Martland passed away in 2013.

The new Factory Benelux clamshell box set includes a 24 page booklet featuring the original Factory commissioned liner notes from 1989, as well as a contemporary essay by writer Stuart Huggett and an interview with Tony Wilson. Each individual CD is housed in a card wallet which reproduces the original artwork by designers Peter Saville, Trevor Key, Ben Kelly, Mark Farrow, Neville Brody and Trevor Johnson.

The 5 CDs have been newly re-mastered in 2022 by Peter Beckmann at Technology Works.

For further details click here

DURUTTI COLUMN / Fidelity / TWI 976

2022-05-23T08:06:00.000+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

SECTION 25 / Always Now / t-shirt

2021-11-28T17:47:00.006+00:00

Our Section 25 Always Now t-shirt is based on the iconic Fact 45 album cover design created by Peter Saville in 1981, screen printed in black on a yellow cotton shirt (Gildan). The red I-Ching symbol appears on the reverse on the shirt in red.

Sizes available: S, M, L, XL and XXL.

The shirts are priced at £18.00 + shipping. To order please select correct shipping option (UK, Europe or Rest of World) and click on Add To Cart button, stating size required, or else contact FBN by email with size required.

For further details click here

HANNETT + HOPKINS / The Invisible Girls / FBN 65

2021-10-10T18:34:00.002+01:00

The Invisible Girls is a collection of rare and unreleased recordings by legendary production duo Martin Hannett and Steve Hopkins (aka The Invisible Girls), most of them never before heard.

Martin 'Zero' Hannett is the legendary Manchester producer famous for his work with Joy Division, Buzzcocks, New Order, Magazine and Happy Mondays. Steve Hopkins was his musical partner in The Invisible Girls, the floating studio collective that shaped epochal records by John Cooper Clarke, Pauline Murray, Nico and several others.

The first five tracks on the album are a selection of previously unreleased 'moods' recorded at the famous Strawberry Studios between 1980 and 1987. "These were the beginnings of Martin's Invisible Girls world domination plan," Hopkins explains. "The idea was to assemble a roster of key instrumental players, produce tracks to be fronted by different singers/stars - and get some hits!"

Other tracks include 3 rare solo recordings by Hannett. Pressed on heavyweight 180gsm black vinyl for optimum sound quality, the album is housed in a black and silver pantone sleeve, with a bonus NTSC Region 0 DVD featuring an extended live improvisation with Durutti Column maestro Vini Reilly, taped for television in 1980 and included on Factory's pioneering Video Circus compilation.

The inner bag features detailed liner notes by Steve Hopkins, as well as archive Invisible Girls and Strawberry images. FBN 65 is also available on CD and digital (MP3).

For further details click here

X-O-DUS / English Black Boys / FBN 101

2021-08-17T07:40:00.010+01:00

Manchester reggae band X-O-Dus are best known for their 12" single English Black Boys, produced by Dennis Bovell and released on Factory Records (Fac 11) in February 1980.

Talent-spotted by Joy Division manager Rob Gretton, X-O-Dus performed at live events such as Zoo Meets Factory Halfway (August 1979) and Factory By Moonlight (April 1980). In time-honoured Factory fashion Fac 11 was released a year late, the only reggae record to appear in a sleeve designed by Peter Saville.

Digitally remastered by Peter Beckmann in 2021, this 7 track vinyl edition includes both sides of the Factory single as well as 5 album demos recorded in 1980. The 180 gsm black vinyl pressing is limited to 500 copies.

Cover design by Peter Saville. Vinyl inner bag contains sleevenotes by former manager Martin Dunlop along with archive X-O-Dus images, including previously unseen shots from the Moonlight Club show by Peter Anderson.

Also available on CD and digital (MP3).

For further details click here

DURUTTI COLUMN / Deux Triangles Deluxe / FBN 100

2021-07-15T12:28:00.003+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

SECTION 25 / From the Hip / FBN 33

2021-07-04T20:59:00.005+01:00

Factory Benelux presents an expanded and remastered 3xLP vinyl set for Record Store Day 2021 (17 July drop) in a limited edition of 800 copies. This pioneering elecro classic from 1984 is now augmented with singles, remixes and session tracks and is housed in a deluxe trifold sleeve directed by Peter Saville, with each disc pressed in a complementary colour: orange, blue and silver.

3xLP tracklist:

A1. The Process
A2. Looking From a Hilltop
A3. Reflection
A4. Prepare to Live
B1. Program For Light
B2. Desert
B3. Beneath the Blade
B4. Inspiration
C1. Looking From a Hilltop (Megamix)
C2. Another Hilltop (Stephen Morris Mix)
D1. Crazy Wisdom
D2. Dirty Disco II
D3. The Guitar Waltz
D4. Bad News Week
E1. Beating Heart (Remix)
E2. Back to Wonder
E3. Sakura
E4. Slinky
F1. Looking From a Hilltop (BBC Session)
F2. Reflection (BBC Session)
F3. Warhead (BBC Session)
F4. Program for Light (Outernationale Mix)

All tracks are newly re-mastered in 2020 by Peter Beckmann at Technology Works. Includes MP3 digital copy.

For further details including formats and tracklists click here

THE DURUTTI COLUMN / Sex and Death / FBN 201

2021-06-13T06:46:00.001+01:00

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.

For further details including formats and tracklists click here

VARIOUS / Daylight Upon Magic / FBN 165

2021-06-07T07:54:00.004+01:00

Daylight Upon Magic (FBN 165/TWI 1257) is a free sampler CD from Factory Benelux and Les Disques du Crépuscule 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 - FBN 165 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

DURUTTI COLUMN / Another Setting / FBN 20

2021-05-23T07:25:00.004+01:00

Back in stock - our remastered vinyl edition of Another Setting, the third album by The Durutti Column originally issued by Factory and Factory Benelux in 1983.

Another Setting was recorded at Strawberry Studio in Stockport and produced by Chris Nagle, a favourite engineer of Martin Hannett. The 11 track album contains several acknowledged Durutti classics, notably haunting instrumental Prayer (burnished with cor anglais by Maunagh Fleming) and The Beggar, an unusually muscular vocal song and probably the closest Vini Reilly has edged to rock music. Elsewhere Smile in the Crowd would be covered by Depeche Mode mainman Martin Gore on his 1989 solo project Counterfeit.

A limited double disc edition of FBN 30 is available on green vinyl, with the original studio album on disc 1 and a previously unreleased live performance from the Pandora's Box Festival in Rotterdam (4/9/1983) on disc 2. The gatefold sleeve is printed on white matt board. Includes free digital copy of vinyl tracks.

For further details including formats and tracklists click here

THE DURUTTI COLUMN / Circuses + Bread / FBN 154

2021-04-20T13:53:00.002+01:00

Factory Benelux presents expanded 2xLP and CD editions of Circuses & Bread, the seventh studio album by Manchester ensemble The Durutti Column. Originally released by Factory Benelux in 1986, the album is now newly remastered with 6 bonus tracks including Italian EP Greetings Three.

Produced by Vini Reilly, the album also features contributions from Bruce Mitchell (drums and percussion), John Metcalfe (viola) and Tim Kellett (trumpet). Stand-out tracks include vocal song Tomorrow (also released as a single), extended instrumental meditation Blind Elevator Girl - Osaka, and All That Love and Maths Can Do.

Recording was split between Strawberry and Revolution studios, the finished album appearing first on vinyl via Factory Benelux in April, followed by a CD version on Factory six months later.

Bonus tracks on this 2020 remaster include all 4 tracks from Italian import EP Greetings Three, rare compilation track The Aftermath, and the previously unreleased original mix of Our Lady of the Angels, prepared by Stu 'Jammer' James before the track was mixed for release as a single by producer Stephen Street.

The vinyl version is a 2xLP set pressed on clear and orange vinyl housed in a gatefold sleeve. The CD is housed in a six panel digipack. Both versions retain the original cover art by 8vo, as well as liner notes and archive photography. CD available from the Factory Benelux label site, and also the Crepuscule bandcamp page. Vinyl can be ordered from Burning Shed, Rough Trade, Darla etc.

For further details including formats and tracklists click here

THICK PIGEON / Subway (Singles) / TWI 351

2021-03-07T09:16:00.000+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 is available now!

For further details click here

THE DURUTTI COLUMN / Sex and Death / FBN 201

2021-01-23T19:40:00.000+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

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

2020-10-02T16:46:00.004+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

THE WAKE / Here Comes Everybody + Singles / FBN 35

2020-08-28T18:26:00.003+01:00

Record Store Day 2020 will see the release of a newly remastered vinyl edition of Here Comes Everybody, limited to 800 copies pressed on clear vinyl with a bonus 7-inch single featuring companion singles Talk About the Past and Of the Matter.

The outer album sleeve is printed on white reverse board; the inner bag featuring lyrics, photos and liner notes by Caesar and Carolyn Allen. The 7-inch single is housed in a facsimile Fac 88 sleeve.

For release on Record Store Day on 29 August 2020. Please support your local participating shop!

For further details click here

THE DURUTTI COLUMN / Vini Reilly + WOMAD Live / FBN 244

2020-08-24T14:32:00.002+01:00

Factory Benelux presents expanded double disc editions on vinyl and CD of Vini Reilly, the acclaimed seventh studio album by Manchester ensemble The Durutti Column. Originally released by Factory Records in 1989, the album has now been newly remastered with a multitude of bonus tracks including companion single WOMAD Live.

Produced by Vini Reilly and Stephen Street (The Smiths, Morrissey, Blur), the original working title of the album was The Durutti Column Sampler. ‘People describe them as found samples and found voices,’ explained Vini at the time. ‘I always build up a catalogue of interesting loops and voice samples and stuff. Then I forget where I got them from a lot of the time, which is quite convenient… A lot of the time I manipulate the sample anyway, so it’s singing my tune, rather than the original tune.’

Stand-out tracks include Otis, Love No More and My Country. ‘The tune always comes from playing the guitar,’ added Vini. ‘As soon as I pick a guitar up I’ll come up with a tune. I don’t know whether it’s good or bad - but there’s always a tune there.’

The sleeve itself samples Bob Dylan circa Highway 61 Revisited, showcasing an iconic portrait by Mark Warner. Indeed much about the album flirts with mainstream culture, being a deliberate attempt to position Reilly as a ‘pop’ artist following his chart-topping collaboration with Morrissey on Viva Hate. This collaboration was further celebrated on bonus track For Steven Patrick.

The vinyl edition is housed in a gatefold sleeve printed in matt white board, with a bonus clear vinyl 7" single. Bonus tracks on the 2xCD set include a multitude of demos and outtakes from the same period (some previously issued on The Sporadic Recordings in 1989), plus all four tracks from pristine performance CD WOMAD Live. Recorded at the WOMAD Festival in Cornwall in August 1988, the core Durutti duo of Vini Reilly and Bruce Mitchell are here augmented by Andy Connell on keys and Chinese opera singer Liu Sola.

For further details click here