Back in Manchester for the first May Bank Holiday weekend in 2009, FAC 51 The Haçienda's celebrates its 27th birthday at Sankey's on Sunday 3 May 2009 with an extra-sensational line-up featuring Darren Emerson, Justin Robertson, Jon Dasilva, Dave Haslam and Peter Hook.

Headlining and playing for the first time with FAC 51 The Haçienda, Darren Emerson makes a rare Manchester appearance. An ex-member of electronic giants Underworld, Darren has remained one of the most cutting edge DJ’s and producers since leaving the band, as his work with Sasha on Scorchio, his own label Underwater and his recent, Detroit inspired dancefloor destroying single, Crashjack have shown all comers. His recent Global Underground Bogota album served to underline and solidfy his critic and crowd pleasing reputation.

Back together on the same bill, two friends of Manchester, Eastern Bloc Records and FAC 51 alike, Justin Robertson and Jon Dasilva take care of other downstairs duties, in their own inimitably acid house Balearic stand up style. Both Justin and Jon's sets combine their comprehensive understanding of two decades of Manchester floorfillers with their modern and classic musical tastes, strictly for lovers of a wide open game.

Upstairs at the club, the Haç's infamous Thursday night from the late Eighties and early Nineties The Temperance Club is revived for the evening only. With original resident Dave Haslam, the nights swaggering, baggy sense of Madchester made it the indie counterpart to Nude and The Haçienda’s Saturday. Local uber band The Whip make their Haçienda debut here with a DJ set whilst New Order's Peter Hook, rounds off the bill, taking a break from his recording duties with the fast upcoming Freebass.

DJ support in the bar comes from the young, Mancunian DJ firm of Umbrella, a catch all outfit dedicated to promoting local talent. The DJ spin-off night from Manchester clubs and community website, headpecked.co.uk, Umbrella sees a young team of DJs given their breaks at Manchester's biggest clubs.

Cerysmatic Factory has a pair of tickets to give away. Simply send an email with "Hac 27 Competition" in the subject to john@cerysmaticfactory.info. Closing date Monday 6 April 2009. The first name drawn out of the hat will be the winner.

--

The Haçienda proudly present

The Haçienda's 27th Birthday Party @ Sankey's, Manchester

Special Guests

Darren Emerson (Underwater), Justin Robertson (Most Excellent), Jon Dasilva (The Haçienda)

"Temperance Club" Upstairs – The Whip (DJ Set), Peter Hook (New Order), Dave Haslam (The Haçienda)

Bar hosted by Umbrella

Sunday 3 May – 8.30pm to 4.30am

Sankey's
Beehive Mill
Jersey St
Manchester, M4 6JG

Tickets: GBP 15.00
Tel: 0161 236 5444

Tickets available via Ticketline (0161 832 1111) & Skiddle

More info at myspace.com/fac51thehacienda

The Haçienda World Tour continues April through June with a DJ line-up including Graeme Park, 808 State, Bez, Jon Dasilva and Peter Hook:

April

Sat 4 - The Canal Club, Wolverhampton - 808 State DJs
Sun 12 - The Syndicate, Blackpool - Shaun Ryder (Live PA), Peter Hook, Bez, 808 State, Jon Dasilva (All DJ sets)

May

Thu 7 - D-Edge, Sao Paolo, Brazil - Peter Hook, Jon Dasilva
Fri 8 - Vive La Vie, Piracicaba, Brazil - Peter Hook, Jon Dasilva
Sat 9 - Club Playa del Colegio, Lima, Peru - Peter Hook, Jon Dasilva
Thu 14 - Lique, Curitiba, Brazil - Peter Hook, Jon Dasilva
Fri 15 - Dochalezinho, Belo Horizonte, Brazil - Peter Hook, Jon Dasilva
Sat 16 - Club Nox, Recife, Brazil - Peter Hook, Jon Dasilva
Thu 21 - Pasaguero, Mexico City, Mexico - Peter Hook
Fri 22 - Anime Bar, Guadalajara, Mexico - Peter Hook
Sat 23 - Aura, Monterrey, Mexico - Peter Hook
Sat 30 - Petrol, Antwerp, Belgium - 808 State DJs, Justin Roberston, A Guy Called Gerald

June

Thu 4 - Insomnia, Pattaya, Thailand - Graeme Park
Fri 5 - Club Culture, Bangkok, China - Graeme Park
Sat 6 - Solas, Hong Kong - Graeme Park
Fri 12 - Independent Theatre, Warsaw - Peter Hook, The Whip (DJ Set)
Sat 13 - Liquid, Jersey - 808 State DJs, Jon Dasilva

Labels: Dave_Haslam, FAC51_The_Hacienda, Factory_Records, New_Order, Peter_Hook

A Certain Ratio play The Button Factory, Dublin, Republic of Ireland tomorrow night. This is the first of a few dates spread across March, April and May.

Doors open at 19:00 and new ACR badges will be on sale.

The rest of those ACR tour dates in full...

10 Apr - Ancienne Belgique, Brussels, Belgium [Doors 20:00]
11 Apr - Motel Mozaïque Festival indoor, Rotterdam, The Netherlands [Doors 20:00]
27 May - Ninkasi, Lyon, France [Doors 20:00]
28 May - Leposteagalene, Marseille [Doors 20:00]
29 May - Primavera, Barcelona [Doors 20:00]

Cheers to Tim B.

Labels: A_Certain_Ratio, artefacts, badges

Ike Yard has signed to Denmark's Phisteria label. The first fruits of this new relationship will be a 10" comprising Oshima Cassette / Citiiesglit plus remixes, followed by the as-yet-untitled new Ike Yard album.

Both releases will be available as digital downloads from iTunes, Beatport and Amazon with actual release dates to be confirmed.

Labels: ESG, Ike_Yard

Following on from the confirmation of their European Tour, A Certain Ratio are confirmed to play Brudenell Social Club in Leeds on Saturday 4 July 2009. This is the venue which The Durutti Column recently played on their winter tour.

Tickets are available priced 13.00 from wegottickets.com. This is an over-18s only gig.

Thanks to Andrew on the Cerysmatic Factory Message Board.

Labels: A_Certain_Ratio, The_Durutti_Column

John Metcalfe has revealed that Paean to Wilson, the piece he has collaborated on and will perform with The Durutti Column at the Manchester International Festival on 15-17 July 2009 is "a major 70 minute work". Commenting on the fact that the work is instrumental Vini Reilly said that "I want the work to be purely instrumental, my 'awful schoolboy poetry' style of lyrics discarded, to realise Tony's greatest wish for my work; to finally be as he really would have liked it to be; music in its purest form."

John has been a busy chap, what with arranging the strings on Peter Doherty's new album Grace/Wastelands and continuing to play live, most recently last night with The Bays at King's Place in London.

John's also on tour with Peter Doherty, tonight at the O2 Academy in Birmingham, Thursday at the Academy 1 and 2 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Friday at the Picture House in Edinburgh and Sunday at Troxy in London.

Labels: John_Metcalfe, The_Durutti_Column, Tony_Wilson

The previously-announced new album by Section 25 will be called Force of Will and is due out via LTM later this year.

Labels: Section_25

24 Hour Party People has a welcome screening tonight on Film 4 and is described by Paul Howlett in the Guardian G2 as "... a drunken romp of a movie... the action staggering from primal punk days to the Hacienda raves. A funny, zippy, resolutely superficial tribute to those wild times."

24 Hour Party People (Michael Winterbottom, 2001)
Film 4 (Freeview ch 15, Sky ch 315, Virgin ch 444)
Wed 25 Mar 2009
23:00

Labels: FAC51_The_Hacienda

The full line-up for this summer's Manchester International Festival which runs from 2-19 July 2009 was announced today. The highlight for Factory Records fans is a 3-night residency by The Durutti Column who perform a specially-commissioned work in honour of the late Tony Wilson.

The Durutti Column (Vini Reilly, Bruce Mitchell, Keir Stewart and Poppy Morgan plus special guest John Metcalfe) will perform the new instrumental work A Paean for Wilson written by Vini Reilly.

The venue will be The Pavilion Theatre tent in Albert Square with shows taking place at 8pm on 15-17 July 2009. Tickets priced GBP 16.50 (9.00 concs) are on sale from Thursday 19 March at 15:00 GMT from mif.co.uk or by telephoning 0844 815 4960. No per ticket booking fee (transaction fee applies).

Other MIF highlights include Kraftwerk plus Steve Reich at the Manchester Velodrome, Elbow with the Hallé Orchestra at the Bridgewater Hall, Lauri Anderson and Lou Reed at the Palace and De La Soul at The Ritz.

Labels: Factory_Records, John_Metcalfe, The_Durutti_Column, Tony_Wilson

Section 25 have announced, via the revamped section25.com, new members, new recordings and a new live date.

Starting with the last of these, the gig is on 30 May 2009 at the Wave-Gotik-Treffen Festival in Leipzig, Germany.

Other highlights include Clan of Xymox, Client, Steven Severin, Theatre of Hate, the delightfully-named Painbastard, and, last but not least, everyone's favourite acronym, KMFDM.

As for the new album and band members, a statement reads:

"The Band are currently working on their 6th studio album at West Orange Studios. It is planned that this will be released June 2009 on LTM Recordings-title and catalogue number to follow. It is very much a joint effort between original band members Vin and Larry Cassidy and new boys Stuart Hill and Steve Stringer*. An exciting new addition to the bands sound will be some great vocal contributions from Larry's daughter Bethany on several of the tracks. The new material is a blending of the electronica and the excursions into the fuller rock approach. Sources from the S25 camp report a return to FTH form."

* A further statement on the arrival of Stuart Hill and Steven Stringer

"After the unexpected departure from the ranks of Section 25 of Roger Wikely and Ian Butterworth in late 2008 it is a pleasure to report that Stuart Hill the original front of house sound engineer has stepped into and ably filled the vacant bassists shoes left by Roger. Steve (great name for a guitarist) Stringer, was originally drafted in for keyboard and bass duties on the Peter Hook/Section 25 European Tour of Nov 2008, but after Butty left it was kind of natural for Steve to play guitar as well for the band as he is a bloody good guitar player-nuff said."

Labels: A_Certain_Ratio, Larry_Cassidy, Peter_Hook, Section_25

From the House of Tomorrow Newsletter:

Tickets for the stage adaption of Neil Gaiman's Coraline, with music and lyrics by Stephin Merritt (The Sixths, The Magnetic Fields, et al), will go on sale Monday, 23 March 2009 via the MCC Theater website.

The production, a collaboration between Merritt, director Leigh Silverman, and writer/actor David Greenspan, begins a special limited engagement run on 7 May at New York City's Lucille Lortel Theatre.

From 23 March to 12 April single price tickets to any performance will be available at the special price of USD 39 (Regular ticket prices start at USD 65). To purchase tickets at the discounted price, apply the promotional code CLHT upon checkout at the MCC Theater website. There is a limit of eight tickets per order. Availability is subject to change.

Be wise. Be brave. Be tricky. See Coraline this spring!

Labels: Magnetic_Fields, New_Order, Stephin_Merritt, The_Sixths

The Dominatrix EP by Dominatrix is the debut release on Stuart Argabright's new REC label. It's released tomorrow 17 March 2009 by the Virtual Label via iTunes, Amazon, eMusic, Rhapsody and all usual outlets.

After re-releasing '80's music with Gigolo Records, Troubleman, Gomma and Acute / Car Park Records, Stuart (Ike Yard) made plans to form his label REC in order to release new music as well as choice re-releases.

Stuart said "With 2009 being the 25th Anniversary of the original "The Dominatrix Sleeps Tonight" 12", we have produced two new songs and taken one alternative mix from the vaults from 1984 for the occasion.

The Dominatrix EP (Dominatrix Party / You Never Forget Your First Dominatrix / City That Never Sleeps V2) comes with special cover art by NYC artist David Levinthal and will serve as reintroduction to the global network of playful vibes, soft vocals, techno pop and 'Drums!' that is Dominatrix.

This first EP will be followed by a second EP later this year, with plans for the all new album in 2010...

We are happy to be pairing with Virtual Label and will be working hard to bring you all kinds of cool stuff in the months and hopefully years to come..."

Tracklisting

01. Dominatrix Party
02. You Never Forget Your First Dominatrix
03. City That Never Sleeps 2

--

Artist: Dominatrix
Title: Dominatrix EP
Release date: 17 March 2009 (Worldwide)

Labels: Ike_Yard, New_Order, Stuart_Argabright

'Mind Made Up' by A Certain Ratio is finally available to download via the official website of Le Son du Maquis, the French label on which it was released last year.

The download is priced 10 Euro and it's also available to buy on CD for 12 Euro.

Le Son du Maquis says "Mind Made Up offers a mixture of pop and funk supported by the groovy and warm-hearted rhythmics of the drummer and the almost epileptic nervous guitar of Martin Moscrop. 12 funk songs promised to a bright future."

Labels: A_Certain_Ratio

UK Sky TV viewers will have recently been able to enjoy Songbook, a recent Sky Arts (and indeed, Sky Arts HD) documentary about Bernard Sumner in which he talks to Will Hodgkinson about his life and times in Joy Division, New Order, Electronic and his work on his new project.

Bernard talked about the writing of several songs including Love Will Tear Us Apart, Bizarre Love Triangle, Getting Away With It and new song Sink or Swim. In each instance he then played them live and acoustic with Phil Cunningham (New Order from 2001) and Jake Evans (Rambo and Leroy).

Bernard confirmed that there will be an album and live dates. He said that he was still deciding on the new band's name but at least for the moment it's Bad Lieutenant (pronounced the American way, and after the book and the film with Harvey Keitel).

This programme has already been screened but there's a good probability it will be repeated. With thanks to Lee on the Cerysmatic Factory Message Board who spotted it when we didn't.

Labels: Bad_Lieutenant, Electronic, Joy_Division, New_Order

John Cooper Clarke (no relation) is the subject of a feature on tonight's Culture Show on BBC Two on the occasion of his 60th birthday.

Cerysmatic Factory, in association with 1 Top Class Manager and the Manchester District Music Archive, brings you a chance to win a copy of 1 Top Class Manager: The Notebooks of Joy Division's manager 1978-1980 together with a special pack of goodies.

The full prize is:

- the book 1 Top Class Manager signed by Lesley Gilbert (with personal dedication if required)
- a unique A1 artwork print proof
- a full set of 1 Top Class Manager badges
- a limited edition postcard

All you have to do it send an email to info@1topclassmanager.co.uk with the subject "Rob Gretton competition". The closing deadline for entries is Friday 27 March 2009. At the close of the competition a winner will be picked out of the hat at random.

1 Top Class Manager is still available to buy direct from 1topclassmanager.co.uk priced 20.00 GBP + p&p. The book is a collection of Rob Gretton's working notebooks kept during his time as Joy Division's manager.
It condenses twenty notebooks into one volume, and also contains posters, letters, invoices, diaries and studio notes, dating from August 1978 to late 1980. It is a full-colour, 220-page softback with a foreword by Jon Savage.

Labels: artefacts, badges, books, Joy_Division, poster

Tickets went on sale today for this year's V Festival which takes place at Hylands Park and Weston Park over the weekend of 22/23 August 2009.

Amongst the acts confirmed to play are James (Weston Park 22/8, Hylands Parks 23/8) and Happy Mondays (exact days to be confirmed).

Non-ex-Fac delights include headliners Oasis and The Killers plus The Specials, British Sea Power, The Ting Tings and Elbow.

Labels: Happy_Mondays, James

Peter Hook narrates a new radio documentary entitled 'The Factory Records Story' for on Smooth Radio Northwest (100.4 FM).

Airing this Sunday 8 March 2009 the show explores "the impact Factory had on the musical and cultural landscape".

Live streaming is available via smoothradio.com and there is a Listen Again feature.

With thanks to Dave for spotting.

Labels: Factory_Records, Peter_Hook

Skylab's Managing Director thanks Tony Wilson for inspiration after winning the Anthony Wilson Original Modern Award at the Big Chip awards at bigchipawards.com.

He also recalls an interesting university project which involved the creation of a Factory Records CD-ROM:

"When I was at University in 1994, I was one of the first people in the UK to make an interactive CD for their final degree project. Very fittingly, the subject was the pioneering Factory Records. I interviewed Tony Wilson and Ben Kelly, the architect of the Haçienda and over time built a really good rapport with Tony.

The CD had an interactive Filofax (or FiloFaç as I called it) with the entire Factory Records catalogue listed, album covers, artwork, videos (including Madonna's first performance at the Haç), interviews with key people and when I eventually finished it and showed it to Tony he said, "I'm going to take this to London Records. This is going to be huge!" He was so enthusiastic about it and I became so caught up in that enthusiasm, such was the passion of the man. Needless to say it didn't go to London Records and it wasn't huge... but it didn't matter. I had my moment and my memory that still drives me to this day. Tony was an inspirational character and to have the award in his name is a personal achievement as well as an achievement for the studio. I have wonderful memories of that time and it's special to me that the award was given in his name. I would like to make a special and personal thanks to Yvette Livesey for her kind comments that were passed forward to us when we received the award."

Labels: Ben_Kelly, Factory_Records, Tony_Wilson

Tonight on Inside Out on BBC North West, Oliver Wilson "looks at the continuing row over cancer drug Sutent, which his father, Anthony Wilson, was denied on the NHS."

Inside Out
BBC One (North West only)
19:30

Labels: Oliver_Wilson

Warner/Rhino customer service is advising that corrected versions of last year's New Order remasters will be released in April.

Thanks to compactrobot via Twitter.

Labels: New_Order

ACR has confirmed several dates around Europe in addition the one previously announced here. The full itinerary as per the official ACR MySpace is:

28 Mar - The Button Factory, Dublin, Republic of Ireland [Doors 19:00]
10 Apr - Ancienne Belgique, Brussels, Belgium [Doors 20:00]
11 Apr - Motel Mozaïque Festival indoor, Rotterdam, The Netherlands [Doors 20:00]
27 May - Ninkasi, Lyon, France [Doors 20:00]
28 May - Leposteagalene, Marseille [Doors 20:00]
29 May - Primavera, Barcelona [Doors 20:00]

Labels: A_Certain_Ratio

Apologies for the quietness around here of late, but Cerysmatic has been pretty busy of late, mostly due to following the current UK tour by The Durutti Column. In case you haven't been following it via thedurutticolumn.com here is a summary of the reviews and photos up to Friday night's excellent gig at the Firestation Arts Centre in Windsor.

February

Fri 27 - Firestation Arts Centre, Windsor

Photos at Official MySpace Photo Gallery

Thu 26 - Thekla, Bristol

Review in Suit Yourself Magazine

Wed 25 - Komedia, Brighton

Photos at Rob Orchard's Flickr Photostream
Photos at Cerysmatic / LottaContinua / Twitpic
Official MySpace Photo Gallery

Sat 21 Feb - Brudenell Social Club, Leeds

Photos at simonwebbon.com

Fri 19 - The Cluny, Newcastle

Photos at David Wala's Flickr Photostream

Mon 16 - Baby Blue, Liverpool

Photos at Official MySpace Photo Gallery

Sat 31 Jan - The Met, Bury

Photos at David Crausby's Flickr Photostream

Labels: The_Durutti_Column

- - - -

08.03 | 09.03 | 10.03 | 11.03 | 12.03 | 01.04 | 02.04 | 03.04 | 04.04 | 05.04 | 06.04 | 07.04 | 08.04 | 09.04 | 10.04 | 11.04 | 12.04 | 01.05 | 02.05 | 03.05 | 04.05 | 05.05 | 06.05 | 07.05 | 08.05 | 09.05 | 10.05 | 11.05 | 12.05 | 01.06 | 02.06 | 03.06 | 04.06 | 05.06 | 06.06 | 07.06 | 08.06 | 09.06 | 10.06 | 11.06 | 12.06 | 01.07 | 02.07 | 03.07 | 04.07 | 05.07 | 06.07 | 07.07 | 08.07 | 09.07 | 10.07 | 11.07 | 12.07 | 01.08 | 02.08 | 03.08 | 04.08 | 05.08 | 06.08 | 07.08 | 08.08 | 09.08 | 10.08 | 11.08 | 12.08 | 01.09 | 02.09 | 03.09 | 04.09 | 05.09 | 06.09 | 07.09 | 08.09 | 09.09 | 10.09 | 11.09 | 12.09 | 01.10 | 02.10 | 03.10 | 04.10 | 05.10 | 06.10 | 07.10 | 08.10 | 09.10 | 10.10 | 11.10 | 12.10 | 01.11 | 02.11 | 03.11 | 04.11 | 05.11 | 06.11 | 07.11 | 08.11 | 09.11 | 10.11 | 11.11 | 12.11 | 01.12 | 02.12 | 03.12 | 04.12 | 05.12 | 06.12 | 07.12 | 08.12 | 09.12 | 10.12 | 11.12 | 12.12 | 01.13 | 02.13 | 03.13 | 04.13 | 05.13 | 06.13 | 07.13 | 08.13 | 09.13 | 10.13 | 11.13 | 12.13 | 01.14 | 02.14 | 03.14 | 04.14 | 05.14 | 06.14 | 07.14 | 08.14 | 09.14 | 10.14 | 11.14 | 12.14 | 01.15 | 02.15 | 03.15 | 04.15 | 05.17 | 06.17 | 07.17 | 08.17 | 09.17 | 10.17 | 11.17 | 05.18 | 12.18 | 01.19 | 08.19 | 09.19 | 10.19 | 11.19 | 12.19 | 03.20 |

- - - -