Factory Benelux presents Dark Light, the brand new album by post-punk trailblazers Section 25, Factory workers since 1979.

Recorded in 2012, Dark Light is their first collection of new material since the tragic loss of founder Larry Cassidy in 2010, and marks a return to the smooth electro and synth-pop textures first explored on their seminal 1984 album From the Hip. These echoes are amplified by the presence of co-vocalists Beth and Jo Cassidy, and a sublime cover image by iconic artist/designer Peter Saville.

Much of Dark Light was produced in collaboration with remixer Derek Miller (aka Outernationale), and includes new versions of recent single tracks Colour Movement Sex & Violence and Inner Drive. Other stand-out cuts include future pop classic My Outrage, which will also be made available as a limited edition 7” single (7 FBN 62) to mark World Record Store Day in April 2013. There are also two hidden tracks.

Section 25 are: Vin Cassidy, Bethany Cassidy, Steve Stringer, Stuart Hill and Joanna Cassidy. “Metamorphosing from the glummest, most dour group ever into progenitors of House, Blackpool’s SXXV are, inevitably, one of the groups of this very post-punk moment” (Chris Bohn, The Wire magazine)

TRACK LISTING

Vinyl Tracklist:
A1. World’s End
A2. My Outrage
A3. Pitch Black Box
A4. Love Cuts
A5. Colour Movement Sex & Violence
B1. Inner Drive
B2. 78

CD Tracklist:
1. World’s End
2. My Outrage
3. Pitch Black Box
4. Love Cuts
5. Colour Movement Sex & Violence
6. Inner Drive
7. 78
8. Letter To America
9. Memento
10. Early Exit
11. CMSV Dub Mix
12. Program For Light (Outernationale)

Formed in Blackpool (UK) by brothers Larry and Vin Cassidy in 1978, the band were initially mentored by Joy Division, and went on to record four albums with Factory Records. The first of these, "Always Now", offered Krautrock and psychedelia produced by Martin 'Zero' Hannett. Their third, "From The Hip", produced in 1984 by Bernard Sumner of New Order, explored techno and electronica, and spawned the oft-sampled club hit "Looking From A Hilltop". Now recognized as a leading genre band, three Section 25 tracks were included in the recent Warners box set "Factory Records: Communications 1978-1992", with "From The Hip" lauded as one of '1000 albums to hear before you die' by The Guardian newspaper.

After a decade apart, Section 25 released "Part-Primitiv" in 2007 and "Nature + Degree" in 2009, as well as playing a string of powerful live shows across Europe and America. "Retrofit" was recorded before the untimely death of Larry Cassidy in February 2010, and sees the group revisit 10 key tracks from their estimable back catalogue, remade and remodelled using new technology, and closing with a compelling remix of "Looking From A Hilltop" by New Order member Stephen Morris. "Retrofit" also includes an exclusive brand new track, "Uberhymn".

TRACK LISTING

Vinyl Tracklist:
A1. The Process
A2. Looking From A Hilltop
A3. Beating Heart
A4. Reflection (Young Image)
B1. Dirty Disco
B2. Girls Don’t Count
B3. New Horizon
B4. Wretch

CD Tracklist:
1. The Process
2. Looking From A Hilltop
3. Beating Heart
4. Desert
5. Uberhymn
6. Garageland
7. Dirty Disco
8. Girls Don’t Count
9. New Horizon
10. Wretch
11. Another Hilltop (Stephen Morris Mix)

Recorded after a hiatus lasting almost two decades, Part-Primitiv saw founder members Larry and Vin Cassidy joined by former Tunnelvision guitarist Ian Butterworth, as well as multi-instrumentalist Roger Wikeley. Combining raw postpunk power and retro-futurist electro, the album marked a convincing return to form and drew praise from reviewers.

"Haunting, melancholic beauty - part post-rock, part trance" (Plan B)

"A vibrant, fierce collection of songs played with all the intense, live-wire energy one could want. Well worth the wait" (All Music Guide)

"The music on Part-Primitiv is informed by all phases of the band's back-catalogue, incorporating their early post-punk impulse alongside their later disposition towards electronic music. She's So Pretty is one of the band's closest brushes with pop music, while Power Base is a surprisingly straight-forward venture into techno, with its rampaging drum machine" (Boomkat)

Two tracks, Dream and Better Make Your Mind Up, were written and sung by Jenny Cassidy before she lost her battle with cancer in 2004. Best known for her beguiling vocal on 1984 club hit Looking From A Hilltop, on subsequent SXXV projects Jenny would be replaced by her daughter Beth.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Winterland I
A2. Can’t Let Go
A3. Poppy Fields
A4. She’s So Pretty
A5. Dream
B1. Power Base
B2. Roma
B3. Better Make Your Mind Up
B4. Cry
B5. Ludus Cantus
B6. Nick

LTM are pleased to present the sixth studio album from cult Factory Records group Section 25, titled "Nature + Degree".
Formed in Blackpool (UK) by brothers Larry and Vin Cassidy in 1978, the band were initially mentored by Joy Division, and went on to record four albums with Factory Records between 1980 and 1986. The first of these, "Always Now", combined harsh post-punk with spacey psychedelia, and was produced by Martin 'Zero' Hannett. Their third, "From The Hip", produced in 1984 by Bernard Sumner of New Order, explored techno and electronica, and spawned the oft-sampled club hit "Looking From A Hilltop".
After a decade apart Section 25 decided to regroup, releasing acclaimed album "Part-Primitiv" in 2007, and playing a string of powerful live shows across Europe, several with guest Peter Hook.
"Nature + Degree" is their sixth studio album, self-produced in April 2009 and featuring new members Stuart Hill and Steve Stringer. Larry and Vin are also joined by Beth Cassidy, whose vocal style recalls that of her late mother Jenny on "From The Hip" and "Love & Hate". Stand-out tracks include "Singularity", "Remembrance", "Garageland" and "Saddled With Something".

Tracklisting
1. Pop Idol Pt 1
2. Singularity
3. Remembrance
4. Garageland
5. L'Arte du Math
6. Attachment
7. Saddled With Something
8. Forty Days
9. One Way Or Another
10. Mirror
11. Agenda
12. Pop Idol Pt 2

TRACK LISTING

A1. Pop Idol 1
A2. Singularity
A3. Remembrance
A4. Garageland
A5. L’Arte Du Math
B1. Attachment
B2. Saddled With Something 

THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2023 EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

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. (NON-RETURNABLE)

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.

THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2023 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON SATURDAY APRIL 22ND ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 8PM ON MONDAY APRIL 24TH).

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. (Non-Returnable)

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.

TRACK LISTING

A1. A Beautiful Thought (Pt 1)
A2. Harry Dreams The Dream
A3. A Wolf Of The Steppes
A4. Interlude
A5. The Title On The Cover
B1. Divided
B2. Magic Theatre
B3. Soul Track
B4. The Mothers And The Fathers
B5. A Beautiful Thought (Pt 2)
C1. Stupid Steppenwolf (Pt 1)
C2. Stupid Steppenwolf (Pt 2)
C3. Human Avatars (Pt 3)
D1. Human Avatars (Pt 1)
D2. Human Avatars (Pt 2)

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 post-punk 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.

CD Edition:
Bonus tracks on CD1 include The Wake’s dub-informed second single, Something Outside, rare debut single On Our Honeymoon, 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.

CD2 is a fascinating collection of 21 lost recordings compiled from live and demo cassettes located in the Rob Gretton tape archive, all taped between 1981 and 1983.

The enhanced 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.

Vinyl Edition:
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.

TRACK LISTING

CD1 Tracklist (Harmony + Singles):
1. Favour
2. Heartburn
3. An Immaculate Conception
4. Judas
5. Testament
6. Patrol
7. The Old Men
8. Chance
9. Something Outside
10. Host
11. The Drill
12. Uniform
13. Here Comes Everybody
14. On Our Honeymoon
15. Give Up
CD2 Tracklist (Lost Recordings 1981-83):
1. Move With The Times 2.36
2. Communion 2.39
3. No More Green Space 2.48
4. Move With The Times (reprise) 0.46
5. Move With The Times 2.35
6. Cold Home 3.03
7. Communion 2.19
8. No More Green Space 2.07
9. Patrol 1.55
10. Give Up 2.04
11. Careering 2.34
12. Favour 2.21
13. Cold Home 2.22
14. Forced To Think 1.40
15. Patrol 2.38
16. Give Up 2.01
17. Move With The Times 2.04
18. An Immaculate Conception 3.47
19. Chance 3.49
20. Judas 3.49
21. Company 4.07

Vinyl Tracklist:
A1. Favour
A2. Heartburn
A3. An Immaculate Conception
A4. Judas
B1. Testament
B2. Patrol
B3. The Old Men
B4. Chance
C1. Something Outside
C2. Host
D1. The Drill (Peel)
D2. Uniform (Peel)
D3. Here Comes Everybody (Peel)
E1. Heartburn (live)
E2. Host (live)
E3. Recovery (live)
E4. Uniform (live)
F1. The Old Men (live)
F2. Something Outside (live)
F3. Country Of The Blind (live)
F4. The Drill (live)

Factory Benelux presents an expanded CD edition of the debut album by The Other Two, the electronic pop duo comprising Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert of New Order.

Originally slated for release on Factory Records in 1992, The Other Two & You was eventually issued on London the following year. Produced by 02 with Stephen Hague (New Order, OMD, Pet Shop Boys), the ten track album features polished pop singles Tasty Fish and Selfish, as well as fluid club anthems (Ninth Configuration) and filmic interludes (Night Voice).

The album closes with Loved It, written back in 1990 for the opening of Factory’s opulent new office building on Charles Street, Manchester. The ‘found’ vocals by Tony Wilson, Rob Gretton, Martin Hannett and others now serve to mark the recent 40th anniversary of the iconic Manchester label.

The 6 bonus tracks include clubby (and collectible) remixes by Pascal Gabriel, Moby and Farley & Heller.

Cover art by Peter Saville and Howard Wakefield. Cover portrait by Neil Cooper. Liner notes by James Nice. Released under licence from Warner Music UK Ltd.

TRACK LISTING

1. Tasty Fish
2. The Greatest Thing
3. Selfish
4. Movin’ On
5. Ninth Configuration
6. Feel This Love
7. Spirit Level
8. Night Voice
9. Innocence
10. Loved It (The New Factory)
11. Tasty Fish (Pascal Mix 12”)
12. Selfish (That Pop Mix)
13. The Greatest Thing (Pascal Mix)
14. Movin’ On (Moby Mix)
15. Tasty Fish (Almond Slice Mix)
16. Selfish (Junior Style Dub)

Factory Benelux is proud to present a deluxe 5 disc vinyl box set edition of Always Now, the debut album by cult Factory Records group Section 25, produced by legendary sonic architect Martin Hannett and sleeved by Peter Saville.

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).

Disc 2 gathers together several non-album singles from 1980 and 1981, including Charnel Ground, Je Veux Ton Amour and debut EP Girls Don’t Count – the latter produced by mentors Rob Gretton and Ian Curtis (of Joy Division).

Disc 3 offers a complete live show professionally recorded at Groningen (Netherlands) on 26 October 1980, as part of a Factory package tour.

Disc 4 is part-improvised second studio album The Key of Dreams, recorded and produced by the band themselves a few months after Always Now, and released by Factory Benelux in June 1982.

Disc 5 consists of further experimental material recorded in 1981 and self-released on a cassette called Illuminus Illumina. This final disc closes with an extended (and previously unreleased) live encore jam recorded with all four members of New Order at Reading University on 8 May 1981.

All tracks are newly re-mastered from the original quarter-inch tapes. The first 1000 copies of the box set are pressed in coloured vinyl: disc 1 (black); disc 2 (clear); disc 3 (yellow); disc 4 (red); disc 5 (silver). The outer case in printed in PMS 123 with spot varnish.

The 16 page booklet features unseen images by noted photographer Philippe Carly and texts by founder 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.

“One of the best albums Britain's second city has unleashed” (Uncut); “In 1980 their bass-driven mantras were thoughtlessly dismissed as second-rate Joy Division, but hindsight judges them more kindly. The wind-dried skeins of their blasted guitar harmonics and skimped electronics gauntly cling to the songs’ skeletal frames. With telltale titles like Babies in the Bardo their Buddhist interests hang heavy over these early stirrings. But, combining a bass-led drone with a characteristic groaning vocal, Charnel Ground succinctly pins down Section 25's pre-disco appeal” (The Wire)

TRACK LISTING

Disc 1:
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

Disc 2:
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

Disc 3:
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)

Disc 4:
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

Disc 5:
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

THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2019 EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

Factory Benelux presents a remastered edition of The Plateau Phase, the debut by Manchester postpunk group Crispy Ambulance. Originally issued by Factory Benelux in March 1982, the album is now reissued in a strictly limited edition of 500 copies in clear vinyl for Record Store Day on 13 April 2019. (NON-RETURNABLE) Recorded at Strawberry 2 with producer Chris Nagle, the album captured Crispy Ambulance at the peak of their creative powers.   “When we started discussing the track selection for this new vinyl edition,” says singer Alan Hempsall, “it struck me that the songs which made the cut were all written and recorded within a very short space of time. July 1980 to September 1981 marked an intensive period of creativity informed by the new music we were being exposed to, and films we’d seen around that time: Eraserhead, Scorpio Rising, Apocalypse Now, Warhol’s Dracula and Argento’s Suspiria all played a part. We became curious about what would result from a partial breaking away from traditional song structures and experimenting with the concept of soundtrack and incidental music. Film music looking for a film, so to speak.” Bonus tracks on the second disc include lauded 12” single The Presence and Concorde Square, produced by the legendary Martin Hannett at Pink Floyd’s Britannia Row studio, as well as the group’s powerful John Peel session from January 1981. Sleeve art by Benoit Hennebert. Inner gatefold portrait by Harry Papadopoulos. New liner notes by Alan Hempsall. Tracklist: A1. Are You Ready? A2. Travel Time A3. The Force and the Wisdom A4. The Wind Season A5. Death From Above B1. We Move Through the Plateau Phase B2. Bardo Plane B3. Chill B4. Federation B5. Simon’s Ghost C1. The Presence C2. Concorde Square D1. Come On D2. Drug User-Drug Pusher D3. October 31st D4. Egypt

THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2015 EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

Factory Benelux presents Mirror b/w You Leave Me No Choice, the brand new single by Section 25 issued in a special limited edition of just 500 copies to mark Record Store Day on Saturday 18 April 2015
Coinciding with a deluxe double disc remaster of classic debut album Always Now (originally released by Factory Records in 1981), the single features brand new recordings of two songs performed live by the original trio line-up of Section 25 in 1980/81, but never studio recorded. Bridging past and present, Larry Cassidy’s vocals and lyrics are now handled by Factory colleague Simon Topping, previously a member of A Certain Ratio, Quando Quango and T-Coy.
The artwork is based on the original cover design for Always Now by Peter Saville, with the colour scheme now reversed.
Section 25 are Vin Cassidy, Beth Cassidy, Steve Stringer, Jo Cassidy and Simon Topping. “A revelation. The best old/new band in Britain” (The Guardian, 2014).

TRACK LISTING

Side A: Mirror
Side B: You Leave Me No Choice

THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2014 EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

Factory Benelux presents Reflection (Young Image) b/w Change, the brand new single by Section 25, issued in a special limited edition of just 500 copies pressed in orange vinyl to mark Record Store Day on 19 April 2014
Taken from the forthcoming release From The Hip (30th Anniversary Edition), Reflection is a brand new version of this driving dream-pop anthem from side one of the classic 1984 album, which maybe should have been a single at the time. “On first listening Reflection is a whimsical yet heartfelt expression of true love,” says Beth Cassidy. “But strip this back and we discover an inner core which explores the surreal nature of life itself. Even after 30 years there are layers to this song that conceal its true meaning.”

Flipside 'Change' is exclusive to this 7” single and will not be made available elsewhere. “The lyric is the narrative of a changing relationship wrapped up in the music of a changing band,” explains founder member Vin Cassidy.

The fluorescent artwork and packaging is based on original designs by Peter Saville for SXXV’s classic 1984 club single Looking From A Hilltop.
Section 25 today are Vin Cassidy, Beth Cassidy, Steve Stringer and Jo Cassidy. “Metamorphosing from the glummest, most dour group ever into progenitors of House, Blackpool’s SXXV are, inevitably, one of the groups of this very post-punk moment” (Chris Bohn, The Wire magazine).

TRACK LISTING

Side A: Reflection (Young Image)
Side B: Change