A Certain Radio- Wild Party (from Fac. Dance) by Strut
Fac. Dance Bill Brewster Factory Records Mini-Mix by Strut
Strut presents FAC. DANCE, an essential new retrospective covering the dance output of Factory Records, the seminal Manchester record label founded by Tony Wilson, Alan Erasmus and designer Peter Saville.
The album turns the spotlight on some of the label’s early dancefloor-based work across key 12″ mixes and rarities, from the unmistakeable production style of Martin Hannett to pioneering studio work by New Order’s Bernard Sumner and A Certain Ratio drummer Donald Johnson, under their BeMusic and DoJo monikers.
Early Factory experiments like Blurt’s avant garde mutant funk blast ‘Puppeteer’ rub shoulders with the fertile post-Joy Division period as the label’s unique, coruscating post-punk sound took shape on extended 12″ cuts from A Certain Ratio, Section 25 and more. The album also expressly documents Factory’s strong links and cross-pollination with New York’s 1980s club culture, as New Order joined forces with producer Arthur Baker, fresh from his pioneering electro work with Afrika Bambaataa, while Quando Quango and Marcel King enlisted NY remixer Mark Kamins for tough-edged club treatments. Factory artists including Quando Quango would also perform at some of the city’s seminal nightspots, including the Paradise Garage.
The compilation also touches on some of the wider dancefloor directions explored by Factory during its early years – the latin jazz funk of Swamp Children and Kalima, the cool British soul of Tony Henry’s 52nd Street and a track from Factory’s only overtly reggae single, the Dennis Bovell-produced ‘See Them A’Come’ by X-O-Dus. Within FAC. DANCE are contained the grooves that would provide the blueprint for the Manchester scene of the late ’80s and Factory’s heady later years – Happy Mondays, James, Northside and the rest.
FAC. DANCE is compiled and annotated by Bill Brewster of djhistory.com and produced in association with Factory Records Ltd.
Members of several bands, as well as the compiler are available for interviews. For interview requests, more info, or materials, contact Force Field PR.
Strut is posting interviews with several of the bands from the collection – check out a recently posted interview with Shark Vegas here and check out what Pitchfork had to say about the collection today here
Various Artists
FAC. DANCE
Factory Records 12″ Mixes & Rarities 1980 – 1987
(Strut)
Street Date: Oct. 25, 2011
CD 1
Section 25 – Looking From A Hilltop (Megamix) (8:12)
A Certain Ratio – Wild Party (4:17)
Quando Quango – Love Tempo (7:49)
52nd Street – Express (5:00)
Swamp Children – Little Voices (7:10)
Biting Tongues – Boss Toyota Trouble (5:30)
The Durutti Column – For Belgian Friends (Valuable Passages version) (5:22)
Royal Family & The Poor – Art On 45 (4:49)
A Certain Ratio – Knife Slits Water (12-inch version) (9:44)
Section 25 – Dirty Disco
Blurt – Puppeteer (3:22)
X-O-Dus – See Them-A-Come (8.28)
CD 2
Shark Vegas – Pretenders Of Love (5:08)
52nd Street – Cool As Ice (Jellybean Mix) (7:29)
Streetlife – Act On Instinct (Hot Swedish Mix) (5:32)
The Hood – Salvation! (Nitromix) (12:05)
Abecedarians – Smiling Monarchs (6:47)
Quando Quango – Atom Rock (Mark Kamins Mix) 7:27)
Marcel King – Reach For Love (New York Remix) (5:26)
52nd Street – Look Into My Eyes (6:55)
Quando Quango – Genius (6:22)
Swamp Children – You’ve Got Me Beat (4:55)
The Durutti Column – Madeleine (3:00)
Digital only bonus tracks:
Minny Pops – Time (3.44)
Kalima – Black Water (6.35)
Royal Family & The Poor – Motherland (5:42)
Links: Strut Records