Cerysmatic.Factory

A shadowy presence in the Factory Records narrative

2019-09-06T06:00:00.000+01:00

TheArtsDesk.com [->] neatly and positively summarises the career and output of Blackpool's Tunnelvision alongside a great review of the recent Factory Benelux anthology 'Watching The Hydroplanes' which is available to buy now via FBN Mailorder [->].

The Drifting Cowboys Durutti Column T-Shirt

2019-08-18T09:46:00.000+01:00

Factory Benelux has produced a t-shirt for The Durutti Column based on the very first "Drifting Cowboys" (or "Two Crazy Cowboys") promotional poster, produced early in 1978 prior to the opening of the Factory Club and also reissued by Factory Too as Fac 3.11.

The design features a black and white screenprint on a charcoal grey cotton Gildan shirt.

The English translation text on the reverse reads:

"What's your scene, man?"
"Reification."
"Yeah? I guess that means pretty hard work with big books and piles of paper on a big table."
"Nope. I drift. Mostly I just drift."

The shirt is 17.00 GBP plus shipping and handling and is available direct from Factory Benelux mailorder.

Tunnelvision - Watching the Hydroplanes [FBN 38]

2019-08-18T09:20:00.000+01:00

Factory Benelux presents a limited edition vinyl album by Tunnelvision, the youthful Blackpool band who released cult single Fac 39 Watching the Hydroplanes on Factory Records in 1981. Just 500 copies have been pressed on clear vinyl, matching the original Factory release.

Formed in 1980, the sombre post-punk quartet were mentored by Section 25 before impressing Rob Gretton and Tony Wilson at an early New Order gig in Blackpool in September 1980. Two songs from their first demo were mixed by Martin Hannett at Britannia Row and released as a 7-inch single (Fac 39) in June 1981, sleeved by Martyn Atkins in an opulent sleeve referencing dictionaries and leather-bound books. After several more gigs with New Order and other Factory artists Tunnelvision taped a second strong demo, mixed for release by Peter Hook. However, the turbulent teenage band disintegrated before a second single emerged.

Newly remastered from the original analogue reels, Watching the Hydroplanes features includes all 8 tracks from their two Cargo demos, including the Hannett mixes of the title track and Morbid Fear. The set also features Emotionless, recorded live at Bristol Trinity Hall in March 1981.

The outer sleeve is printed using silver PMS with a matt varnish. The printed inner bag features new liner notes and an attractive facsimile flyer for a gig with New Order at the Forum, London, in May 1981.

Tracklisting

A1. Watching the Hydroplanes
A2. Morbid Fear
A3. Old Comrades
A4. Glenn Miller
A5. Emotionless

B1. The Man Who Would Be King
B2. 100 Men
B3. Guessing the Way
B4. Whitened Sepulchre

Section 25 - Always Now 5LP box set [FBN 3-045]

2019-08-16T17:00:00.000+01:00

A deluxe 5LP vinyl box set edition of Always Now, the debut album by Section 25, produced by legendary producer Martin Hannett and sleeved by Peter Saville is released on 6 September 2019 on Factory Benelux.

Recorded as a trio at Pink Floyd's Britannia Row studio in London in January 1981, Always Now combined austere post-punk rhythm and noise with elements of Can, Krautrock and modern psychedelia. Key tracks include Friendly Fires, Dirty Disco and New Horizon, along with C.P. (a collaboration with Hannett) and Hit (extensively sampled by Kanye West for the track F.M.L. on his 2016 album The Life of Pablo).

The first 1000 copies of this lavish new edition feature vinyl platters pressed in black, clear, yellow, red and silver. The outer case in printed in PMS 123 with spot varnish.

The accompanying 16-page booklet features unseen images by noted photographer Philippe Carly and texts by founder SXXV members Larry and Vin Cassidy. Also included is the first ever interview with guitarist Paul Wiggin, whose sudden departure in late 1981 saw Tony Wilson try (and fail) to recruit pre-Smiths teenager Johnny Marr as replacement.

The album is available to pre-order now via Factory Benelux Mailorder [->].

Tracklisting

LP1 [the original Always Now album - black vinyl]

A1. Friendly Fires
A2. Dirty Disco
A3. C.P.
A4. Loose Talk (Costs Lives)
A5. Inside Out
A6. Melt Close

B1. Hit
B2. Babies in the Bardo
B3. Be Brave
B4. New Horizon

LP2 [non-album singles from the period 1980-81 including 'Je Veux Ton Amour' and 'Girls Don't Count' - clear vinyl]

A1. Knew Noise
A2. Up To You
A3. Girls Don’t Count
A4. After Image
A5. Human Puppets

B1. Charnel Ground
B2. Haunted
B3. Je Veux Ton Amour
B4. One True Path

LP3 [complete live show recorded at Groningen, NL on 26 October 1980 - yellow vinyl]

A1. Loose Talk (Costs Lives) (live)
A2. Human Puppets (live)
A3. Knew Noise (live)
A4. Friendly Fires (live)
A5. Girls Don’t Count (live)

B1. New Horizon (live)
B2. Haunted (live)
B3. You’re On Your Own (live)
B4. One Step Backward (live)

LP4 [second studio album 'The Key of Dreams' - red vinyl]

A1. Always Now
A2. Visitation
A3. Regions
A4. The Wheel
A5. No Abiding Place
A6. Once Before

B1. There Was a Time
B2. Wretch
B3. Sutra

LP5 [further experimental material recorded in 1981 and self-released on 'Illuminus Illumina' cassette plus live encore jam recorded with all four members of New Order at Reading University on 8 May 1981 - silver vinyl]

A1. Fallen Monument
A2. Are You There?
A3. Virtually Everything
A4. Tape Loop
A5. Subferior
A6. In the Garden of Eden
A7. Cry

B1. Red Voice
B2. Floating
B3. Reading Uni Jam with New Order 1981

The Guitar and Other Machines Factory Benelux editions

2017-10-14T15:40:00.003+01:00

News via thedurutticolumn.com

Factory Benelux presents double vinyl and triple cd editions of classic Factory era album by The Durutti Column - The Guitar and Other Machines - which will be released on 12 January 2018.

The double vinyl features the original album on the first disc plus bonus live tracks (from the same period) recorded at the Bottom Line in NYC and the Womad Festival.

The 3CD edition duplicates (and adds to) the live tracks on CD3 and, on CD2, adds many associated recordings, including the rare Greetings 3 EP, Our Lady of the Angels, LFO Mod, Catos con Guantes, When the World, White Rabbit, and many more.

More details at:

The Guitar and Other Machines [FBN 204 CD]

The Guitar and Other Machines [FBN 204]

How to buy

Available direct from Factory Benelux Mailorder.

Independent Label Market @ Spitalfields 8 July 2017

2017-06-28T08:07:00.000+01:00

Independent Label Market returns to London on Saturday 8 July and Factory Benelux, Les Disques du Crépuscule and LTM will be there for the sale of records, CDs, badges and probably a few free biscuits.

Other labels in attendance include 4AD, Fire and Heavenly and don't forget the London Brewers' Market is on too.

--

Saturday 8 July 2017

11:00 - 18:30
Old Spitalfields Market
London E1 6EW

The Names - German Nights [FBN 122 CD]

2017-06-23T09:00:00.000+01:00

Factory Benelux presents a brand new live CD by The Names. German Nights was recorded in 2016/2017 over the course of three concerts in Berlin, Hamburg and Freiburg. Produced by Thomas Neidhardt, the set draws heavily on the albums Swimming and Stranger Than You, as will as classic singles including Nightshift, Calcutta, The Astronaut and Spectators of Life. The set concludes with a cover of Velvet Underground classic What Goes On.

"The new members have injected new life into the band," explains singer and songwriter Michel Sordinia, "and together we've updated the arrangements on some of the older songs. But ultimately we're still the same new wave band who joined Factory Records in 1980."

Covert art by Twilight. CD booklet features tour photography by Peter Staessens.

CD tracklisting

1. Intro/Discovery
2. Life By the Sea
3. Hands Off Love
4. This Is Harmony
5. The Fire
6. Spectators of Life
7. Shanghai Gesture
8. I Wish I Could Speak Your Language
9. Boy With a Gun
10. Nightshift
11. Calcutta
12. The Astronaut
13. My Angel of Death
14. What Goes On

More details and info on how to order at factorybenelux.com.

See also: thenames.be

Releases of time to come

2017-06-05T18:39:00.000+01:00

Transcript of typewritten Factory Benelux release schedule from the archives with, as ever, a few unexpected twists on the FBN catalogue as we know it. Check the explanatory notes at the end for more info.

December 30th 1983

Releases of time to come

FBN 15
CRISPY AMBULANCE 'Sexus'
1982 recording in Brussels. Sleeve Patrick Roques. testpressings just arrived ¹
12"

FBN 22
from the december 83 recordings; no edit known as yet; song still to be selected; sleeve? this is for NEW ORDER. ²
12"

FBN 26
SURPRIZE
'In movimento' A Dojo Be Music production for this Italian act; sleeve by the band in the Mussolini style; cutting in Belgium Jan 9th. ³
mLP

FBN 28
NYAM NYAM
'Fate/Hate' Hookie on production; cutting done in London recently; testpressings soon to be available; sleeve by the band currently being processed in Brussels. ⁴
12"

FBN 31
JAMES
recordings to happen in Brussels early February with an appearance at Interferences, latest nightspot in Grand-Place, Bruxelles. ⁵
12"

FBN 32
ACR
If Donald was less upset about Benelux recent foolishness, we'd know more about this project... but it shouldn't remain a questionmark for much longer... ⁶

FBN 33
Section 25 'From The Hip'
To be released simultaneously by Brussels and Manchester and France, etc. Sleeve by Saville; masters and films impatiently expected; a memorable release for start of 84; thank you Wally. ⁷

FBN 34
LAVOLTA LAKOTA 'Mitawin/Prayer'
Testpressings just arrived. A Hookie production again; one side is 33rpm; sleeve by the band currently being processed in Brussels ⁸
7"

FBN 35
THE WAKE 'Talk About The Past'
Masters and films expected anytime. Release to be launched with a Benelux and German tour late February. ⁹

FBN 35
THE DURUTTI COLUMN 'Short Stories for Pauline'
From the December recordings in Brussels. Picture sleeve for the back (c.f. Tony's choice) Release schedule to be discussed according to Portuguese LP and the next FAC album. ¹⁰
LP

Notes:

¹ - released as FBN 18 (instead of FBN 15) in April 1984
² - released as FBN 22 (Murder b/w Thieves Like Us (instrumental)) in May 1984
³ - released as FBN 26 in April 1984
⁴ - released as FBN 28 in April 1984
⁵ - unreleased by James but FBN 31 eventually became Alma Mater by Stockholm Monsters
⁶ - released as FBN 32 (Brazilia) in December 1984
⁷ - released as FBN 33 and FACT 90 (From The Hip) in March 1984
⁸ - released as FBN 34 (Prayer / Mitawin) in July 1984
⁹ - unreleased FBN version of FAC 88 Talk About The Past
¹⁰ - unreleased until it eventually surfaced on the resurrected Factory Benelux on CD and LP in 2012

The Durutti Column Postcard Set (FBN 56)

2017-05-11T18:19:00.000+01:00

The Durutti Column Postcard Set is out now via Polite Company (and very soon via Factory Benelux priced at 25.00 plus shipping and handling.

The lovely Durutti red "hessian" box ia reminiscent of the classic boxed cassette series. It contains 25 litho printed postcards of Vini Reilly and the wider DC world including photos by Mark Warner, Philippe Carly, Annik Honoré and others.

The Names - Stranger Than You [FBN 119 + FBN 119 CD]

2015-03-20T17:17:00.000+00:00

Stranger Than You, the fourth studio album by The Names is out on 18 May 2015 via Factory Benelux on CD and double vinyl LP (with free download code).

Recorded in 2014, Stranger Than You marks a conscious return to the sounds and styles explored on their debut album Swimming in 1982. "There's a strong element of reconnection," explains singer/songwriter (and bassist) Michel Sordinia. "Yet at the same time it's also about developing your own legitimate strangeness, just as the great Surrealist poet Rene Char invited his readers to do. A new mystery singing in your bones."

Michel and guitarist Marc Deprez are joined by new members Laurent Loddewyckx (drums) and Christophe Boulenger (keyboards and piano). Stand-out tracks include the dynamic title track, Kids On Fire and quickfire Boy With A Gun, as well as more contemplative, elegiac numbers such as Lights and My Angel of Death.

The cover art is an original painting by long term Names associate Benoit Hennebert, celebrated for his work as design director for Les Disques du Crépuscule, with portrait photography by Peter Staessens. The double vinyl edition is housed in a deluxe gatefold sleeve and includes a free digital download code.

Tracklisting (CD and vinyl)

1. Stranger Than You
2. Nowherarians
3. Lights
4. Life Again
5. My Angel of Death
6. Kids On Fire
7. What She Knows About the Night
8. Hands Off Love
9. Boy With a Gun
10. Fear
11. Baby You're Scary
12. The Passengers
13. The Days
14. The State I'm In
15. Dare
16. Die Mauer Is No More

Stranger Than You is available to pre-order now via Factory Benelux mailorder.

The Wake - Here Comes Everybody [FBN 35 CD]

2015-02-25T20:23:00.000+00:00

'Here Comes Everybody', the 1985 album by acclaimed Factory band The Wake, will be re-released in a special remastered double disc 30th anniversary CD edition by Factory Benelux on 4 May 2015. Comprising the entire original album plus time-appropriate singles Talk About The Past and Of The Matter, radio session tracks, the Something That No-One Else Could Bring E.P. and seven (count 'em) unreleased demos from 1988-90 this is indeed a very special package.

And that's not all pop-pickers...

Captured Tracks, the specialist boutique vinyl re-releasers, will be putting out a double vinyl edition very soon and the Sarah Records back catalogue is also set for long-overdue re-release later in the year.

Enjoy!

Here Comes Everybody 2CD [FBN 35 CD] Tracklisting

CD1

1. O Pamela
2. Send Them Away
3. Sail Through
4. Melancholy Man
5. World Of Her Own
6. Torn Calendar
7. All I Asked You To Do
8. Here Comes Everybody
9. Talk About the Past (7" version)
10. Of the Matter
11. Talk About the Past (radio session)
12. Rise and Shine (radio session)
13. Make You Understand (radio session) 
14. The Calendar (radio session) 
15. Torn Calendar (dub version)
16. Everybody Works So Hard (7" version)

CD2

1. Gruesome Castle
2. Pale Spectre
3. Furious Sea
4. Plastic Flowers
5. Hated Forsaken (demo)
6. English Rain (demo)
7. The Plastic Flowers (demo)
8. Bob's Empty Head (demo)
9. Are They Chaste? (demo)
10. Crush the Flowers (demo)
11. Carbrain (demo)
12. Pale Spectre (7" edit)
13. Talk About the Past (12" version)

The Wake - Clouds Disco [FBN 94]

2015-02-20T08:53:00.000+00:00

The brand new single by The Wake is Clouds Disco b/w The Sun Is a Star which will come in a special limited edition of 500 vinyl 7" on Record Store Day 2015 (18 April) via Factory Benelux.

Clouds Disco is taken from last year's Testament 'best of' and was produced by the group with Ian Catt (St Etienne, Field Mice).

"These recordings were made during sessions for the A Light Far Out album," says singer/guitarist Caesar. "Clouds Disco is about the burgeoning Glasgow music scene of the early 1980s and our perceived place within it. The idea was to capture a little bit of the atmosphere of the time for the present day, rather than be nostalgic. Clouds Disco was an actual venue, later renamed Satellite City, which in turn became the title of an early Orange Juice song."

B-Side The Sun Is a Star is exclusive to this 7" single, and will not be made available elsewhere.

The cover art for FBN 94 is based on an original design by Peter Saville for an unreleased Factory cassette box edition of Here Comes Everybody.

Tracklisting

1. Clouds Disco
2. The Sun is a Star

Section 25 - Mirror [FBN 73]

2015-02-07T14:07:00.000+00:00

Mirror b/w You Leave Me No Choice is the brand new single by Section 25 which will be released by Factory Benelux in a limited edition of 500 copies for this year's Record Store Day on Saturday 18 April 2015.

The 7-inch vinyl single (FBN 73) features brand new recordings of two songs originally performed live by Section 25 in 1980/81, but which were not recorded in the studio. Vocal duties are performed by special guest Simon Topping (A Certain Ratio, Quando Quango and T-Coy).

The artwork is based on Peter Saville's original cover design with the colour scheme now reversed.

Section 25 are Vin Cassidy, Beth Cassidy, Steve Stringer, Jo Cassidy and Simon Topping.

Tracklisting

A: Mirror
B: You Leave Me No Choice

Section 25 - Always Now [FBN 3-045 CD]

2015-02-07T13:53:00.000+00:00

On 6 April 2015 Factory Benelux releases a deluxe 34-track 2CD edition of Always Now, the debut album by Section 25, produced by legendary sonic architect Martin Hannett in 1981.

Recorded as a trio at Pink Floyd's Britannia Row studio in London, Always Now combined austere post-punk rhythms with elements of Can, Krautrock and modern psychedelia.

The second disc features loads of bonus material includeing a John Peel session from January 1981, a complete live show from Groningen in October 1980, plus various remastered alternate versions of several album tracks.

This new Factory Benelux 2CD edition is housed in a miniature version of the folding pochette wallet designed by Peter Saville - famously one of the most expensive sleeves produced by Factory.

Tracklisting

CD1

1. Friendly Fires
2. Dirty Disco
3. C.P.
4. Loose Talk (Costs Lives)
5. Inside Out
6. Melt Close
7. Hit
8. Babies in the Bardo
9. Be Brave
10. New Horizon
11. Haunted
12. Charnel Ground
13. Human Puppets
14. Knew Noise
15. Up To You
16. Girls Don't Count
17. Oyo Achel Ada
18. After Image
19. Red Voice

CD2

1. One True Path (Peel Session)
2. Babies in the Bardo (Peel Session)
3. Hit (Peel Session)
4. Je Veux Ton Amour (7")
5. Loose Talk (Costs Lives) (live)
6. Human Puppets (live)
7. Knew Noise (live)
8. Friendly Fires (live)
9. Girls Don't Count (live)
10. New Horizon (live)
11. Haunted (live)
12. You're On Your Own (live)
13. Floating (demo)
14. Friendly Fires (outtake)
15. One True Path (outtake)

Crispy Ambulance - Compulsion [FBN 54]

2015-02-01T12:26:00.000+00:00

Factory Benelux will release a new studio album by Crispy Ambulance on 18 April, Record Store Day 2015. 'Compulsion' (FBN 54) will be a limited edition of 500 vinyl copies and there'll be a free digital download version with each copy.

In many respects Compulsion is the second album Crispy Ambulance might have recorded in 1982 after the release of The Plateau Phase, with six of the eight tracks written and performed live at that time. To these are now added Rain Without Clouds, an outtake from The Plateau Phase newly restored from the original multitrack masters, and WMTP.2 with added synth lines by producer-cum fifth member Graham Massey, of 808 State and Biting Tongues.

Almost uniquely, Crispy Ambulance has retained the same line-up since the group was originally founded in 1978: Alan Hempsall (vocals, keyboards), Gary Madeley (drums), Robert Davenport (guitars), Keith Darbyshire (bass).

"There's a sense of feeling compelled by irresistible forces," explains Alan Hempsall. "Compulsion is an apt way to describe our constant urge to go back and make music with people we've known since childhood. While the world may have changed, our music continues to be the product of the same influences - the passing of time, the changing of the seasons, the content of our sleeping dreams, and the existence of space."

Cover art by Peter Staessens. The package also features a free digital download of the album.

Tracklisting

A1. Rainforest Ritual
A2. Say Shake
A3. Nightfall Ends the Ceasefire
A4. At the Sounding of the Klaxon

B1. WMTP.2
B2. Rain Without Clouds
B3. Lucifer Rising
B4. Open, Gates of Fire

The Invisible Girls [FBN 65 CD]

2014-12-07T17:11:00.000+00:00

Factory Benelux presents The Invisible Girls (FBN 65 CD), a collection of rare and unreleased recordings by legendary new wave production duo Martin Hannett and Steve Hopkins (aka The Invisible Girls), most of them never before heard. It's out 2 February 2015 on CD and digital download.

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 rare solo tracks by Hannett, collaborations with Section 25, Pauline Murray, Nico and Crispy Ambulance, as well as the complete soundtrack to All Sorts of Heroes, a short animated film from 1976 scored by Hannett and Hopkins.

The 74 minute album features detailed liner notes by Steve Hopkins and others, plus archive TIG images.

Tracklisting

1. Scandinavian Wastes
2. Huddersfield Wastes
3. Toy of a Toy
4. Time Is Slipping
5. Yeah, Yeah, Yeah
6. Procession
7. Concorde Drone
8. Collective Project
9. First Aspect of the Same Thing
10. The Music Room
11. Second Aspect of the Same Thing
12. Space Music
13. Three Short Pieces for Trio
14. All Sorts of Heroes

More info and how to buy at factorybenelux.com.

Michael H. Shamberg

2014-11-09T21:02:00.000+00:00

Cerysmatic Factory, along with everyone in the Factory Records community were saddened to hear of the recent passing of Michael H. Shamberg, the innovative music video producer who worked most famously with New Order. Michael also ran Factory's New York operations - Of Factory New York, Factory US and Factory America, and with the last of these was notably associated with Ike Yard on their debut album. Michael also produced films and videos outwith the Factory family via kinoteca.net.

New Order paid tribute to Michael their website saying they "will miss him dearly and send our condolences to all his family and friends."

In the Manchester Evening News Peter Hook, said "Michael was a lovely man. His work on our videos, so important at the time, defined our image and an era. He was a true revolutionary. One of a very small band of of truly gifted individuals! He will be missed.”

James Nice, of Factory Benelux said "We issued the Of Factory New York compilation album earlier this year to raise money for his ongoing treatment, and were able to transfer funds before he passed. More important, Michael received copies of the album and was delighted with it. He will be missed by many people inside the industry and out, and our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with Miranda and his family."

Ike Yard's statement on their Facebook page echoed these sentiments: "Ike Yard would like to celebrate the life of Michael Shamberg, a friend and colleague who managed Factory America / Factory NY and produced many seminal videos for Factory artists. He also designed the cover for Ike Yard's "A Fact A Second" 1982 album. Michael passed away after a long illness last Saturday. We honor his indomitable creative spirit."

Finally, the director of New Order's True Faith, Philippe Découflé gave a short but heartfelt message at the Shamberg-associated Turtle Salon site - "Tristesse immense. Adieu Michael, mon ami...".

Rest in peace Michael.

Deconstruct and Reconstruct

2014-11-05T13:13:00.000+00:00

Check out Cerysmatic Factory's video of a special 16-minute Minny Pops performance of Drastic Measures, Drastic Movement live at The Others, London N16 on Sunday 2 November 2014.

Meanwhile, don't forget that Drastic Measures, Drastic Movement is available in a new 2CD version via Factory Benelux.

Minny Pops @ Tuesdays Post 2 November

2014-10-25T18:40:00.000+01:00

2014 10 25
On the seventh day, restless

On Sunday 2 November 2014, Minny Pops will take part in November's edition of the monthly Tuesdays Post evening at The Others in Stoke Newington, London. Good people, innovative music, comfortable sofas.

In honour of the re-release of their debut recording, Minny Pops' 16-minute performance will deconstruct and construct a song from Drastic Measures, Drastic Movement.

Minny Pops will be on stage at 10.14pm sharp. Doors 7pm, 5 quid.

More info at minnypops.com.

Minny Pops - Collective Manifestations

2014-09-16T20:13:00.000+01:00

Following on from their excellent low-key return to live action at The Forge in Camden in August, the Minny Pops collective will play two dates in October and November 2014:

MUS_IIC Festival 01 @ Red Gallery, London with Wrangler and Gazelle Twin on Saturday 18 October 2014 [Buy tickets priced 15.00 GBP via SeeTickets.com]

Tuesdays Post @ The Others, London N16 - with Darkroom, Michael Peters, Georgina Brett and David Cooper Orton - 5.00 GBP entry - more info at tuesdayspost.com