Philip Glass - Dancepieces; Koyaanisqatsi; Satyagraha; Glassworks
Can - Tago Mago; Ege Bamyasi
The Fall - various
Mark Stewart & The Maffia - Learning To Cope With Cowardice
Sonic Youth - Sonic Youth
Public Image Ltd - First Edition
Chrome - The Visitation; Alien Soundtracks
Portishead - Third

B******s Premier League (champions of England)
UEFA Champions League (champions of Europe)
The FIFA Club World Cup (champions of The World)
UEFA Euro 2008
IOC XXIX Olympic Games/Paralympic Games
The FIA Formula One Championship

Sopcast
BBC iPlayer

Cannondale
Decathlon

Sarah Brown - Vegetarian Kitchen (as ever).

Labels: Cerysmatic_Factory

20 ALBUMS
Bon Iver: For Emma
Cloudland Canyon: Lie in Light
Cut Copy: In Ghost Colours
David Holmes: The Holy Pictures
Fucked Up: Chemistry of Common Life
I Am X: The Alternative
Kings of Leon: Only By The Night
Last Shadow Puppets: The Age of the Understatement
Lindstrøm: Where You Go I Go Too
Midnight Juggernauts: Dystopia
Neon Neon: Stainless Style
Presets: Apocalypso
Red Sparowes: Aphorisms
Sigur Ros: Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust
Spiritualized: Songs In A&E
Styrofoam : A Thousand Words
These New Puritans: Beat Pyramid
Torche: Meanderthal
The Verve: Forth
Wild Beasts: Limbo, Panto

04 SONGS
Blow Monkeys: "The Bullet Train"
Kings of Leon: "Sex on Fire"
MGMT: "Time to Pretend"
Styrofoam: "My Next Mistake"

02 CONTINUALLY REVISITED ALBUMS
Tipper: The Critical Path (2000)
Michael Rother: Sterntaler (1978)

01 BIG DISAPPOINTMENT
New Order Remasters

01 FINAL PETER SAVILLE™ QUOTE
“We're often not making things better, we’re just making things different.” (Well, he's half right.)

Labels: Cerysmatic_Factory, New_Order

In no particular order...

A Darker Sunset - John Metcalfe
A Thousand Words - Styrofoam
Auteur Labels - Factory Benelux
Another Way To Die - Jack White and Alicia Keys
Consolers of the Lonely - The Raconteurs
Death Magnetic - Metallica
Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Flight of the Conchords - Flight of the Conchords
In Silico - Pendulum
Letter From God To Man - Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip
Low - Flo Rida
Mountain Battles - The Breeders
Only By The Night - Kings of Leon
Retrospective - The Retro Spankees
Sunlight To Blue... Blue To Blackness - The Durutti Column
The Age of Understatement - The Last Shadow Puppets
The Seldom Seen Kid - Elbow
The Weekend Starts Round Here E.P. - The Parks Dept.
Third - Portishead
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends - Coldplay
We Started Nothing - The Ting Tings
Wearing My Rolex - Wiley

Labels: Auteur_Labels, Cerysmatic_Factory, Factory_Benelux, John_Metcalfe, labels, The_Durutti_Column

We have a winner! As we reach the tail end of 2008, a late entry sneaks in just under the wire for this year's running of our Most Gratuitous Reference to Factory Records stakes.

And now, not by a nose, but by a mile... a Factory Records-related namecheck that is so far past gratuitous (and just downright weird) that it sails right into egregious. Ladies and gentleman, we give you "one of the most renowned video artists of her generation", Annika Larsson.

From the press release for her new video Dolls: "Painted on the ground and the walls, lines and symbols are borrowed from Suprematism or Futurism as well as from signs that are used to teach humanoid robots how to find their way and execute some tasks in a given space. The three lines on the wall are thus taken from a New Order album cover by Peter Saville, itself inspired by the cover of an issue of the Futurist journal by Fortunato Depero."

THUS?!? (I know I always think of New Order when I think of teaching humanoid robots how to find their way.)

OK, maybe we'll let her have her reference to Movement, even if the lines have no proportional, spatial or colour relationship to said artwork. What we won't let her get away with is the fact that she can't count. There are FOUR horizontal lines on the cover of Movement, not three. (The "borrowing" part is more Saville than her execution. How appropriate.) Let's hope she only gets paid 3/4 for her work.

Video trailers here and here.

Labels: Factory_Records, New_Order

In answer to a November posting on the Cerysmatic message board, the Manchester Evening News reports that "Town hall bosses in Manchester are already set to re-name Whitworth Street West after music legend Tony Wilson."

According to the Manchester AtoZ Street Atlas there are already 3 x Wilson Avenues; 2 x Wilson Roads; 14 x Wilson Streets; Wilson Crescent; Wilson Fold; Wilson Park; Wilson Brow and Wilson Terrace, all within the Greater Manchester conurbation.

Will Manchester City Council follow the lead of their neighbours in Oldham and reflect their fundamental misunderstanding of the 'Wilson Way'? Or will they choose to commemorate their numerous attempts to revoke the Haçienda's licence with 'Wilson! Avenue!'?

Labels: Tony_Wilson

It was almost a year ago that Lindsay Reade first brought maverick genius producer Martin Hannett's "totally unmarked grave" to the attention of the Factory community, prompting both numerous and generous offers of support.

Now, eighteen years after his death, Hannett's final resting place finally has a memorial headstone.

Moist was privileged to be invited to a small gathering of twenty or so people - including Peter Hook, Lindsay, Alan Erasmus, Tosh Ryan and Bruce Mitchell - at Manchester's Southern Cemetery on Friday 19th December to mark the occasion.

Despite the inclement weather, the gathering was a jovial affair culminating in a short dedication by CP Lee.

Cerysmatic also received the following message from Lindsay herself:

"Special thanks to Hooky...many thanks to those who all helped make it possible.
Best wishes Lindsay".

Click here to see a recently-published video of the great man explaining the basics of his art to an enthusiastic television reporter, Mr Anthony H Wilson, back in 1980.

Unity gain!

Labels: Peter_Hook

Cath Carroll celebrates the holiday season in suitably dreamy fashion with a brand new recording of Snobears on MySpace. The track was originally written in 1994 but never finished or released.

Labels: Cath_Carroll

Rhino UK has announced, on the Cerysmatic Factory Message Board, that the 4CD Factory Records Box Set 'Factory Records: Communications 1978-1992' is now available to pre-order from Rhino.co.uk. Moreover, the first 100 copies come with a free roll Factory Records FAC 136 adhesive tape.

The full release date is 12 January 2009.

Labels: Factory_Records

Over the years and through countless interviews with multiple players, various (and continuously escalating) numbers have been assigned to the debilitating debt of Factory Records storied (and long-gone) Haçienda club. Starting with a purported £1,000,000 loss bandied about following its closure in June of 1997, the "actual" number continues its slow yet-skyward march to permanent mythic status.

In a run-up interview to the publication of his forthcoming How Not to Run a Club book, Peter Hook reveals Haçienda debts infinitely more staggering than those previously acknowledged (or claimed). In a Haçienda world that seems to have more in common with Hollywood accounting practices than record labels & nightclubs, Hook now asserts that £20,000,000 profit + £10,000,000 loss = £30,000,000 debt.

Following on with this bizarre Fibonacci Sequence of ever-mounting debt history, we can fully expect a revised debt-load projection of £1 billion by the year 2012, and the retroactive blaming of the Haçienda for the current worldwide financial crisis.

Labels: Factory_Records, Peter_Hook

As the saga of assorted Haçienda-licensed footwear continues to engender a lively discussion on the Cerysmatic Factory Message Board, we've unearthed a set of 9 videos done in conjunction with last year's launch of the Haçienda Fac 51-Y3 trainers.

Peter Hook (sometime New Order bassist & one-time Haçienda owner), Peter Saville, (one-time Fac image maker & longtime quote generator) and Ben Kelly (the actual it-wasn't-Peter-Saville-designer/architect of the Haçienda) join journalist Miranda Sawyer in a roundtable discussion of all topics Haç, discussing, among many other things, Hooky's tax bill, Saville's inability to actually frequent the Haçienda (um, ever), and Kelly's continuing role as the punchline (or punching bag) for most of Hooky's money-loss jokes.

The videos total approximately 35 minutes. If you're short on time, jump directly to vid #8 to check out a jaw-dropping pre-production model of the final Fac 51-Y3 product.

Links here: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine. (Probably best to use these links only, as the final 4 vids are titled and numbered differently!)

Labels: Ben_Kelly, New_Order, Peter_Hook

James have a new live album, recorded on their April UK tour, available exclusively at their December shows which started last week. The CD comes in a limited edition of 5000 copies costing 10.00 GBP which will be rationed so that there will be copies at all of the shows.

Tracklisting

Oh My Heart
Born of Frustration
Upside
Tomorrow
Bubbles
Hey Ma
Senorita
Waterfall
Boom Boom
Getting Away With It (All Messed Up)
Whiteboy
Sometimes
Laid
Lullaby

wearejames.com
MySpace
OneOfTheThree.co.uk

Labels: James

There's plenty of news from The Durutti Column starting with the announcement of have announced the first part of a major 2009 UK winter tour. Tickets seem to be favourably priced at around 10-12 quid in advance and some are already available to buy. More dates are expected to be announced including Manchester and Scotland.

January

Sat 31 - The Met, Bury [10.00 GBP adv, 12.00 GBP door]

February

Mon 16 - Baby Blue, Liverpool [12.00 GBP adv / 15.00 GBP door]
Sat 21 - Brudenell Social Club, Leeds [10.00 GBP adv]
Wed 25 - Komedia, Brighton
Thu 26 - Thekla, Bristol
Fri 27 - Firestation Arts Centre, Windsor

The new album is expected on Artful/Fullfill early next year according to a statement on the label's website which says "Vini Reilly is in the studio as we speak putting the finishing touches to the album due for release in Feb. Check our eBay shop for exclusive release in late Jan."

Kooky Records has announced a 6CD box set comprising the first four Factory Records albums by The Durutti Column including 2 discs of bonus unreleased material.

Finally, French website popnews.com has a French language translated version of an interview with Vini Reilly which first appeared in Scream City 4 (still on sale on eBay).

Keep up to date with all the very latest Durutti Column news via thedurutticolumn.com.

Labels: Factory_Records, The_Durutti_Column

Now that the Manchester congestion charge debate is over, the voting intentions (if indeed they were actually entitled to vote) of a couple of ex-Factory workers can be revealed.

Ex-Railway Children and ACR manager Colin Sinclair "added his weight to the 'yes' campaign", warning that Mancunians "either want Greater Manchester to be a global player or we don't".

Peter Saville went further by "throw[ing] his weight behind the congestion charge" - stating that the c-charge "very much matches the city's ethos as the original modern city".

They would say that though wouldn't they though? Sinclair is CEO of Manchester's inward investment agency MIDAS, and Saville is Manchester's 'Creative Director'.

Unfortunately, the Mancunians who voted 'No' 'added' up to seventy-eight percent, and the entire 'weighty' TIF proposal was 'thrown' out.

Labels: A_Certain_Ratio, The_Railway_Children

Coming up on Tuesday, 16 December,The Album As Art, a 60 minute documentary as part of BBC Radio 2's Album Season, describing how the LP combined music, cover art, lyrics, liner notes and packaging to become a work of art in its own right. With input from Pete Townshend, David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Tony Visconti, David Gilmour, Noel Gallagher, Donovan, Peter Saville and many others.

16 December 2008, 22:30, BBC Radio 2

In 1987 a video of a live performance by The Durutti Column emerged through the normal channels open to collectors. If you were in Manchester (in the pre-internet age), this meant a trip to the Record Peddler on Swan Street, VHS tape in hand.

The video itself features a full rehearsal by the band, comprising Vini Reilly (guitars, keyboards), Bruce Mitchell (drums, percussion) and John Metcalfe (violin, xylophone and drums), playing on the dancefloor of the Hacienda.

The technical details according to Rob Stanzel's (FAC 2.26) The Durutti Column - Vini Reilly site are:

Date: 16 August 1987
Duration: 68 minutes
Label: Structure Moderne SM16 (unreleased)
Tracklisting: Arpeggiator, What Is It To Me, Jongleur Grey, When The World, Miss Haymes, Jacqueline

In the notes it states "allegedly shot by Claude Bessy". Bessy was a French chap who was Factory's in-house videographer and Structure Moderne was a small French label so this has made sense over the years. However, it has recently come to light (courtesy of the internet age) that the video was not shot by Claude Bessy but rather by Pascal and Sylvie, two Parisians.

Aged respectively 48 and 51, and fans of the Factory Records label since its earliest days, they tell the true story of The Haçienda Rehearsal Footage:

"In August 1987, Pascal & I travelled by car thru the UK with three friends. We went to London, Manchester, Liverpool, Blackpool and Glasgow. All of us were fans of the Factory label, so while in Manchester, we obviously made what we used to call "The Magical Factory Tour". Both Pascal & I had Sony V8 cameras, so we filmed a lot of places such as the old Factory club in Hulme, the 86 Palatine Road house & Marie-Louise Gardens in Didsbury, etc, etc, etc... and of course the Hacienda.

"Back then, our friends' project was to create an independent video label, called Structure Moderne. They had the idea, the project, but no cameras. Pascal & I had. So, with them or only for us, we filmed a lot of bands, both in UK and France. About a year and a half after this trip, we've lost contact with these guys, for various reasons too long to explain here, but in Aug 87, thanks to the various local contacts our then friends had managed to get, we got special authorisation to film, amongst many other things, the empty Hacienda in full daylight, and The Durutti Column, who happened to be rehearsing there on that day.

"I, Sylvie, had already met Vini Reilly twice before: in Paris at the Bains-Douches Club where I had interviewed him for a local fanzine, and briefly in London, after a DC concert at the Venue. I don't exactly remember how the whole discussion went on that afternoon at FAC51, but the band was OK for us filming their rehearsal. So, I shot their whole performance from the upstairs balcony, and Pascal from downstairs, walking all around them. Thus, in our archives, we have 2 x 68 min of rushes footage, which has never been edited since. Of course, the overall quality of this recording is not very good, especially the sound (80's analog cameras with built-in microphones...) but it's obviously a gem for any DC fan.

"Recently, we have started to transfer all our old 1980s V8 archives onto DVDs, and also created a YouTube channel so as to share them. Yes, these are good memories!"

Indeed, aside from the Hacienda rehearsal footage you'll find further rehearsals with A Certain Ratio and Happy Mondays, plus New Order live in Paris, plus much more.

Thanks to Pascal and Sylvie for getting in touch and sharing those good memories.

There are some video stills and two new stills (courtesy Pascal and Sylvie) on the Haçienda Rehearsal Footage page.

Labels: A_Certain_Ratio, FAC51_The_Hacienda, Factory_Records, Happy_Mondays, John_Metcalfe, New_Order, The_Durutti_Column

ESG and A Certain Ratio play a very special gig at the Barbican Hall on 3 March 2009 as part of the Spring 09 Contemporary Events strand.

Tickets are available now priced between 15 and 25 GBP.

Labels: A_Certain_Ratio, ESG

The new Ku-ling Brothers' album 'Here Come The Astronauts' is out now on Pública Records and features guest vocals by Shaun Ryder (and others) and new artwork by Central Station Technicolour.

Here's the full details:

Tracklisting

1. Shape Shifter (feat. Shaun Ryder)
2. The Calm Before (feat. Will Scarlett and Day One)
3. Seems Everyday (feat. Milly James)
4. Ice Cream (feat. Shaun Ryder)
5. Fall Again (feat. Milly James)
6. Big Mouth
7. Shake
9. Move On
10. Boom Chuck
11. Slide, shouting into a bucket blues

Written and arranged by Shane Norton
Co-written and arranged by Stephen Mallinder and Kiriakos Lucas
Produced/Engineered by Shane Norton at 'Spin'
Mastered by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound, New York
Art Design - Central Station Technicolor
Pública Records England Limited 2008

Review

With thanks to Walter on the NagNagNag (Cabaret Voltaire) list.

Labels: Cabaret_Voltaire, Central_Station_Design

If you're an avid or casual follower of the Cerysmatic Factory Message Board, the discovery of a cache of original Factory Records master tapes by artists such as The Wendys, Northside, Section 25, X-O-Dus and Cath Carroll by Oli Wilson whilst clearing his dad's Loft won't have escaped your attention.

A number of the artists in question (the full list also includes Hopper, Fadela, The Railway Children and Thick Pigeon) have already posted on the thread or been in contact with Cerysmatic and/or Oli regarding the find.

In his message, Oli describes what's happened "When clearing my dads loft out I found lots of original master tapes from Factory Records releases over the years. I intend to return these to their rightful owners (the artist) or preferably I would like to put them into an archive in Manchester (whether this is Museum of Science and Industry or somewhere else I dont know yet)."

"I would rather store them as so far they have been kept in great condition by my old man and it would be great to keep them that way... have a feeling that if they aren't kept like that they would just gather dust and rot away in a studio!!!"

That the tapes have been lovingly looked after for all these years is not a surprise given their custodian. Of course, under Factory's infamous "no contract" policy, all the artists owned their own music and Factory "owned nothing".

It would be difficult to begrudge the reunion of the tapes with their rightful owners (particularly if rare and unreleased, or even un-re-released) material exists. However, the donation of such historically significant material to an institution such as MoSI has a nice ring to it. Perhaps there is scope for both to happen.

Now... where's Fadela!?

Labels: Factory_Records, Factory_Too, Fadela, labels, Northside, Oliver_Wilson, Section_25, The_Railway_Children, The_Wendys, Thick_Pigeon, X-O-Dus

James kick off their UK tour with a warm-up gig at the Proud Galleries in Camden tonight before proceedings properly start in Brighton on Tuesday. The tour finishes at Manchester Central (formerly G-Mex) on 19 and 20 December.

December

7 Proud Galleries, Camden, London
9 Brighton Dome, Brighton
11 Leeds Carling Academy, Leeds
12 Glasgow SECC Glasgow, Scotland
13 Birmingham NIA, Birmingham
15 Brixton Academy, London
16 Brixton Academy, London
19 Manchester Central, Manchester
20 Manchester Central, Manchester

24 hr CC hotline: 0871 2200 260
www.gigsandtours.com
www.wearejames.com

Labels: James

Collaborative paintings between Peter Saville and Michael Bauer are currently showing at Art Basel Miami Beach 2008 (4-7 December), while this little fella appears in the online catalog. Sign it "R. Mutt" and we'll be done.

Tony Wilson has been made an Honorary Freeman of the City of Manchester.

Full details on thedurutticolumn.com plus there's a full set photos featuring Bruce Mitchell, Peter Hook, Peter Saville, Yvette Livesey and Oli & Izzy Wilson here.

Labels: Oliver_Wilson, Peter_Hook, The_Durutti_Column, Tony_Wilson

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