LTM

THE DURUTTI COLUMN / A Life of Reilly / book

2025-03-12T16:29:00.001+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

2023-08-21T10:21:00.002+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.

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THE WAKE / Here Comes Everybody / FBN 35

2023-08-06T12:21:00.004+01:00

Back in stock! A remastered edition of Here Comes Everybody via Factory Benelux (FBN 35), 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.

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SECTION 25 / 4x vinyl albums

2023-07-02T11:10:00.002+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.

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

2023-06-06T11:05:00.003+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!

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

2023-05-22T08:51:00.004+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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FACTORY CLASSICAL / 5xCD box set / FBN 276

2023-04-03T10:20:00.004+01:00

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

ERIK SATIE / Art Works 1892-1924 / TWI 1258

2023-03-11T14:09:00.000+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.

For further details click here

MARCEL KING / Reach For Love / FBN 47

2023-02-28T12:59:00.003+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

2023-02-25T15:32:00.003+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

2023-02-19T09:23:00.001+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

JOSEF K / The Only Fun in Town / TWI 052

2022-07-18T10:54:00.004+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.

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DURUTTI COLUMN / Fidelity / TWI 976

2022-05-23T08:06:00.003+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.

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LOWLIFE / Diminuendo + Singles / LTMCD 2392

2022-03-23T08:56:00.003+00:00

LTM presents a newly remastered 2022 edition of Diminuendo, the second album by cult Scottish cold wave band Lowlife, who released a string of acclaimed albums between 1985 and 1995.

Lowlife were formed in Grangemouth in 1985 when original Cocteau Twins bassist Will Heggie joined forces with former Dead Neighbours members Craig Lorentsen, Grant McDowell and Stuart Everest. Their morose, gothic dreampop and immaculate angst would often be compared to Joy Division, Bauhaus Comsat Angels and - yes - the Cocteau Twins, yet the band received widespread acclaim over the course of six albums released through indie label Nightshift: Rain (1985), Permanent Sleep (1986), Diminuendo (1987), Godhead (1989), The Black Album (1988), San Antorium (1991) and Gush (1995).

Newly remastered by Peter Beckmann at TechnologyWorks in 2022, Diminuendo + Singles combines all 9 tracks from the original 1987 album with 6 bonus tracks taken from non-album singles and EPs Hollow Gut, Vain Delights and Swirl It Swings. 74 minutes of music, with liner notes by journalist and former manager Brian Guthrie as well as photos and ephemera.

Available on CD + digital (MP3 or FLAC).

For further details click here

CAMPBELL/MALLINDER/BENGE - Clinker - TWI 1256 CD

2022-03-05T18:48:00.005+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

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

2022-01-07T19:10:00.001+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

SECTION 25 / Always Now / t-shirt

2021-12-04T13:25:00.003+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

PAUL HAIG / The Warp of Pure Fun / TWI 669

2021-11-05T18:21:00.003+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

HANNETT + HOPKINS / The Invisible Girls / FBN 65

2021-10-23T14:40:00.004+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

CAMPBELL - MALLINDER - BENGE / Clinker / TWI 1256

2021-10-20T17:53:00.002+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

BLAINE L. REININGER / Wounds & Blessings / TWI 1255

2021-10-03T18:35:00.003+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

23 SKIDOO / The Culling Is Coming / TWI 123

2021-09-26T17:12:00.001+01:00

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

2021-08-19T15:50:00.004+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 gm 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).

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DURUTTI COLUMN / Deux Triangles / FBN 100

2021-07-13T08:55:00.000+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.

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SECTION 25 / From the Hip / FBN 33

2021-07-04T21:07:00.003+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