New In The Heavens

Tracks In Snow EP - sold out

2011-12-27T09:59:00.002Z

Unless any copies turn up unexpectedly having strayed from their allotted boxes (fairly unlikely now), we've sold out of The Wild Swans' Tracks In Snow EP. We'd like to thank everyone who did buy the album, with or without the EP, directly from the Occultation Shop; you've no idea what a difference this makes when running a small label nowadays. Not one of us makes a penny out of Occultation, in fact a number of generous people have put money in with no realistic prospect of seeing it again.

Although the EP is now gone, we do still have copies of all other Occultation releases, including the two earlier singles by The Wild Swans (both are different from the album versions and have non-album 'b' sides), the two Granite Shore singles, the two EPs by The Distractions, the Factory Star album and single and Jonathan Beckett's She's A Vampire EP. We're probably going to have a little New Year sale starting over the next few days, offering special deals... So keep an eye on the Occultation Shop.

Caught In The Carousel

2011-12-27T09:49:00.002Z

If you visit the excellent US Caught In The Carousel website - as you most certainly should - you'll find their latest issue includes not one, not even two but three pieces on Occultation releases by Dave Cantrell:

1) Factory Star Enter Castle Perilous
A detailed and highly perceptive review of the album together with an interview with Martin Bramah.
2) The Wild Swans The Coldest Winter For A Hundred Years
A fine review of the album
3) Factory Star Lucybel / The Granite Shore When Sleep Won't Come
A review of the Christmas single.

We'd like to thank both Dave, who's put a huge amount of work into these pieces, and also editor Alex Green for all their efforts. We can wholeheartedly recommend the site, the standard of the writing is far above so many such sites.

Finally a very Happy New Year from all of us at Occultation Recordings.

Crystal Stilts cover Martin Bramah's Low Profile

2011-12-03T15:13:00.001Z

You wait 20-odd years for a cover of a Martin Bramah song then suddenly two come along all at once...

Brooklyn-based band Crystal Stilts have recorded a version of the Blue Orchids' Low Profile on their new Radiant Door EP. The band are avowed fans of Martin's work and have apparently been performing the song live for a while now, but this is its recorded debut.

Obviously the other Bramah cover currently on release is The Granite Shore's version of Factory Star's When Sleep Won't Come, from this year's trenchant Enter Castle Perilous album, which is available on the 'b' side of the current Factory Star single Lucybel.

It's interesting to note that whereas The Granite Shore's version is a complete reinterpretation of the song Crystal Stilts have stayed very faithful to the Blue Orchids' original, giving both ends of the cover version spectrum.

Enter Castle Perilous review on Beatbear

2011-12-01T20:01:00.002Z

The Italian website "Beatbear" has just reviewed Factory Star's Enter Castle Perilous album. Below is a very, very rough translation.

"Artist: Factory Star

Album: Enter Castle Perilous

Label: Occultation Recordings

Year: 2011

Download the album:

Enter Castle Perilous - Factory Star

The British label Occultation Recordings are noted for seeking out urgent, rather unfiltered, immediate sounds. If you want proof, try their recent releases, such as the Wild Swans album, and Enter Castle Perilous by Factory Star (released on LP and CD a few months ago) is full confirmation of this.

Factory Star was put together by Martin Bramah, co-founder of the crucial post-punk band The Fall (an institution popular even in Italy) and he also formed the Blue Orchids, an extraordinary band who burned briefly but splendidly with the psychedelic post-punk of The Greatest Hit (released at the time by Rough Trade, a guarantee of quality). Martin founded Factory Star in 2008, looking for a “fresh new start”. The band currently also includes Hop Man Jr, Chris Dutton (bass) and Tom Lewis (drums).

Enter Castle Perilous is an urgent album. Produced by Nick Halliwell, recorded in three days and mixed that same week, every track puts across a live flow of energy which is reminiscent of The Fall, the toughness of punk (in the sense of a direct, free-speaking spirit, like The Clash) and sick blues driven by Hammond and always guitar-oriented sounds.

The opening “Angel Steps” is a fine example of rough indie with a vein of Hammond organ running through it and spoken-word sections propping up the central chorus every now and again. The slow advance of “Big Mill” is made even dirtier by Martin’s stinging vocals. A few tracks are leaps into the past (such as “Cheetham Bill” and its interwoven guitar and organ), others are actually blues with a modern sensibility (such as the anguished “Black Comic Book”), others are post-punk which remind you straightaway of original punk (listen to “The Fall of Great Britain”).

Enter Castle Perilous is an honest, sincere album - it makes no attempt to wheedle or caress. It prefers to be tackled head on, scraping away. Give it a listen if you’re looking for something genuinely pithy.

Luigi Zampi"

Factory Star single launch

2011-11-25T17:54:00.000Z

We've just heard that Factory Star will be playing at Gulliver's in Manchester on 15th December to mark the launch of the new Lucybel Christmas single. More details as we get them.

Lucybel 7"s arrived

2011-11-22T13:13:00.002Z

The Occultation Christmas single, featuring Factory Star's Lucybel with The Granite Shore's version of Martin Bramah's When Sleep Won't Come on the 'b' side, arrived this morning. We will now be posting out advance orders starting today, hopefully. Many thanks to everyone who did pre-order and if you didn't, now's the time, the perfect Christmas present...

Vote for The Wild Swans in the Slicing Up Eyeballs Readers' Poll

2011-11-21T15:32:00.003Z

The Wild Swans' The Coldest Winter For A Hundred Years is one of the contenders for Slicing Up Eyeballs' "albums of the year" category, so perhaps some of you might like to vote for it? We think the Factory Star album should be on the list too but you can't have everything... You can either click on the image above or else here.

We're enormously proud of both albums we released in 2011 and 2012 will see no let-up with The Distractions set to release their follow-up to 1980's Nobody's Perfect a mere 32 years later - frustratingly no, that's not a record, although it's fairly close. There will also be a Granite Shore album and all sorts of other things...

Deck The Halls Of Castle Perilous

2011-11-05T15:34:00.002Z

We are now accepting advance orders for the first-ever Occultation Christmas single, Factory Star's Lucybel, details here. We expect to have vinyl and CDs in stock in approximately a fortnight but you'll get free MP3s as soon as your orders go through. Although this is a Factory Star release, the 'b' side features a cover version of one of the stand-out tracks from 2011's Enter Castle Perilous album, When Sleep Won't Come, recorded by label-mates The Granite Shore. Both tracks can be previewed on the web page or see earlier posts for other options. We're doing this at a special Christmas introductory price of just £5 and for that you get not just a beautiful 7" single but also a CD (both in full-colour sleeves) featuring the two tracks from the single along with two tracks from the Factory Star album, which we see as one of 2011's most important releases. Bound for glory...

When Sleep Won't Come

2011-10-22T19:15:00.001+01:00

Here's an equally rough-and-ready (OK, it's the same one) video for The Granite Shore's version of Factory Star's "When Sleep Won't Come", the original of which appears on their Enter Castle Perilous album released earlier this year.

Lucybel

2011-10-22T18:42:00.001+01:00

Here's a very rough and ready stills video for the Factory Star Christmas single, using some of the artwork. Will post the Granite Shore track on the 'b' side soon...

Factory Star: Lucybel 7" sleeve

2011-10-10T19:55:00.003+01:00

Here's the front cover of the new Factory Star single, Lucybel (It's Christmas Time). We can now announce that the 'b' side will feature a version of Factory Star's When Sleep Won't Come recorded by label-mates The Granite Shore. More information to follow over the next few weeks, we expect to have the singles early-mid-November but we'll keep you posted.

Factory Star Christmas Single

2011-10-02T19:59:00.003+01:00

Occultation Recordings are proud to announce our first ever assault on the coveted Christmas number one slot with the release of Factory Star's Lucybel (It's Christmas Time) - MAB7DB014. More details will follow soon.

"More about Liverpool than any other [album] ever recorded."

2011-10-01T07:55:00.002+01:00

There's a review of a recent Echo and the Bunnymen gig in Glasgow on the Quietus website and, interestingly, near the end come the two paragraphs below:

"[...] perhaps Sergeant is pondering throwing his lot in with former Bunnymen bassist Les Pattinson. He came out of musical retirement to join a re-ignited version of their early eighties support act, The Wild Swans. Currently knocking them dead in the Philippines, it should be remembered that the sole Wild Swans release during their original, all too brief life-span, was bank-rolled and produced by original Bunnymen drummer, the late Pete de Freitas.

Sergeant has played live with The Wild Swans already in Liverpool, and also features on the band's just-released album, The Coldest Winter For A Hundred Years, an album which possibly says more about Liverpool than any other recorded."

We couldn't possibly comment, of course...

Italian review of the Wild Swans album

2011-09-29T10:46:00.003+01:00

There's a review of the Wild Swans album on the Italian Beatbear site here.

Below is a VERY rough translation into English (my Italian isn't totally fluent so it may be a little free in places and clunky in others...):

"The Wild Swans set off on their journey through the post-punk era in Liverpool in 1980 when Paul Simpson left the Teardrop Explodes (one of the brightest stars in the post-punk firmament). Although they’ve never had a hit in the UK, they’ve become a cult band in various countries over the years and members have left to form bands such as the Lotus Eaters, who produced a kind of dreamy pop which still had links to their origins. The group retained close ties to the Liverpool scene (and its insistence upon rising above pompous London artists) they’ve worked with bands such as Echo & The Bunnymen. Having split up on a number of occasions, Simpson got them playing again in 2009 and this now brings us to The Coldest Winter For a Hundred Years, released by Occultation Recordings and featuring Bunnymen stalwart Will Sergeant.

This is a delicate pearl which is at the same time soft and melancholic, leaning more towards indie folk sounds with electric interludes than the darkness of the post-punk sound, leaving just its decadent attitude. The opening “Falling to Bits” is ravishing, with the gentle arpeggios of the piano accompaniment. The voice is delicate and demands to be heard because “this town is falling to bits, and I don’t like it”. On “Liquid Mercury” an electric sound pushes its way to the fore and the guitars sketch out a folk-rock made up of peaks and troughs; this is a melancholic track which only begins to leave its mark after many listens. “Chloroform”, meanwhile, is a piece of very elegant Brit-pop, the guitars at the beginning give way to Simpson's expressive vocals which are highly reminiscent of Al Stewart - a very beautiful, intense song. The album continues with a series of acoustic and electric ballads; “English Electric Lightning” is particularly striking with its aching nocturnal visions and heart-warming piano. Things only change with a few interludes such as the syncopated “Underwater” which is rockier and weaker than some of the other tracks. Then eventually we come to slow, atmospheric songs such as “Glow in the Dark”, because “there’s not enough time to get what I want in this world”.

All things considered there isn’t a lot of darkness in this comeback, the dominant colours are the pastel shades of melancholy, the sweetness of remembrance and the restraint of the music and vocals, embracing the hints of electric indie folk. We should be grateful to the Wild Swans for this tender magic, offering us an oasis and some respite from the cynicism all around us.

Luigi Zampi"

The Wild Swans on Eat Bulaga (again)

2011-09-29T10:01:00.001+01:00

There's now a better quality, longer version of the admittedly somewhat surreal Wild Swans appearance on Filipino TV.

WILD SWANS LIVE @ eat bulaga

2011-09-28T09:30:00.001+01:00

Some footage of the Wild Swans performing "Bringing Home The Ashes" on Filipino TV.

The Wild Swans in the Philippines

2011-09-28T08:33:00.002+01:00

The Wild Swans are now in the Philippines preparing for concerts in Cebu and Manila.

When Sleep Won't Come

2011-09-15T10:53:00.001+01:00

A video by Jim Donnelly in collaboration with Martin Bramah.

Wild Swans album review on Popnews French website

2011-09-14T08:46:00.002+01:00

There's a fine review of the Wild Swans album on the French Popnews website here. A rough translation follows:

"Could 2010 be The Wild Swans’ year?", we wrote – not without a hint of irony - in the "They’re Back" part of our review of the year in 2009. Back from the limbo in which they’d been floating for years, the Liverpool group had shown signs of being ready to spread their wings again [Translator’s note: there’s a play on words in the French here but it’s untranslatable] a few months earlier in the form of a superb double-sided single, "English Electric Lightning". Though almost obsolete, the format was obviously reminiscent of their main claim to fame, 1982’s "Revolutionary Spirit" which should’ve propelled them into the indie Premier League alongside their fellow-Scousers Echo and the Bunnymen and The Teardrop Explodes. Instead, though, The Wild Swans embarked upon an exemplary non-career, not releasing an album until 1988 and disappearing off the radar a few years later, to near-general indifference. The compilations of their tiny discography include one released by Warner [Translator’s note: this is actually a pirated compilation, not released by the real Warner Bros.] in the Philippines (they were popular over there, strangely enough, and they’re actually going to be playing there soon), so they somehow always seemed very far away.

OK, so we were a year out but that hardly matters with a group that’s been quiet for two decades, especially as The Coldest Winter in a Hundred Years is not of its time in any real sense; far more than a nostalgic record, it’s one which makes nostalgia its main subject matter. The title itself is the same as the ‘b’ side of "English Electric Lightning", a long, magnificent spoken-word track in which Paul Simpson droned out his memories of Liverpool in the early 1980s with a cast including Pete de Freitas of the Bunnymen, Julian Cope of The Teardrop Explodes, Pete Burns, the future Dead or Alive frontman and more. “Chloroform” features the singer’s grandfather and father, who fought in the First and Second World War respectively. As for “My Town”, the title and the chorus of “It’s over now, it’s over now” speak for themselves.

However, rather than wallowing, Simpson (the founder and only original member of the group) seems to be drawing new strength from these resurgences of the past. The parts of the blend which made “Revolutionary Spirit” such an extraordinary song – in spite of a botched mix – are all there, but it’s as though they’ve settled and become clearer, the haughty rush of youth giving way to the serenity of a man with nothing left to prove. The strong – even quite astonishing - melodies (“Liquid Mercury”, “In Secret”, “English Electric Lightning”, “When Time Stood Still”, etc.), the guitars which are proud and triumphant but somehow still manage to instil a sense of melancholy – as Maurice Deebank used to do with Felt - the backing vocals and airy keyboard parts, all prevent any pathos and bloating. Then obviously there’s Paul Simpson‘s voice, which has now been stripped of any new wave mannerisms, the lyricism more contained, but still just as lived-in, and it has never before been heard to such great effect. He believes that The Wild Swans have finally come up with their masterpiece. We’d certainly agree that, together with Peter Astor and The Feelies, they have certainly given us the worthiest comeback of the year.

Factory Star and Wild Swans reviews on Freq

2011-09-12T19:54:00.002+01:00

If you care to visit the excellent Freq website, you'll find superb reviews of both Factory Star's Enter Castle Perilous and The Wild Swans' The Coldest Winter For A Hundred Years.

The Wild Swans album is also reviewed on the always opinionated (which, as its stated aim is criticism, is a compliment) Collapse Board site, you can read that one here. Although we have to say we don't agree with all the points made in this piece - why on earth should Englishmen not write about England? If we had a go at the Scots, Welsh or Irish (either side of the border) on these grounds we'd be accused of all sorts - the piece is well-argued and written and it's good to be made to think about such things. If I get more time I might delve further into this subject... (but don't hold your collective breath...)

Enter Castle Perilous review in The Morning Star

2011-09-01T18:47:00.001+01:00

Here's a review of Factory Star's Enter Castle Perilous from The Morning Star.

Enter Castle Perilous lyrics

2011-08-29T18:01:00.001+01:00

As a number of people have asked us about the lyrics to Factory Star's Enter Castle Perilous album, we had a word with Mr Bramah who duly obliged. So if you'd like to download a PDF containing the full lyrics to all ten songs on the album you can either visit the album's page or simply click here.

Enter Castle Perilous review in Rock De Lux

2011-08-26T16:21:00.005+01:00

The new (July-August) edition of the Spanish music magazine Rock De Lux features a rave review of Factory Star's Enter Castle Perilous album by highly-respected journalist Kiko Amat. The original review, in Spanish, is shown above with a rough English translation below.

FACTORY STAR
"Enter Castle Perilous"
OCCULTATION

VINTAGE POST-PUNK. Occultation is a kamikaze label whose mission in life is to put out all those records that only seem to matter to an incredibly select minority. They’re currently home to The Wild Swans - perhaps the most elegant, legendary (and underground) of all 1980s Liverpool groups but, not content with that, the label has now released the first LP by Factory Star, the new group led by Martin Bramah. You all know who he is and what he does in his spare time: as a founder member of The Fall, together with Una Baines and Mark E. Smith, he was responsible for the way that group sounded, then later went on to lead the astounding Blue Orchids (whose two singles and LP for Rough Trade are essential).

So then, Factory Star sound exactly as you’d hope a group led by someone with that kind of credentials would sound. Sometimes they produce the archetypal Bramah sound, i.e. jinxed, oppressive sixties garage of the "Green Fuzz" or "Born Loser" variety with a post-punk psychopathic Fall feel (listen to "Angel Steps", for instance). At other times things get even darker and end up not a million miles away from the homicidal desolation of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds ("Big Mill" or "Cheetham Bill) and at others they go back to the Albion of The Kinks (dogged by bad luck and an air of the Dole queue, as on "Away Dull Care" or "The Fall Of Great Britain). As if this were not enough, Bramah rounds the record out with some pieces which are almost recited and reminiscent of that working men’s club vaudeville which was such a big influence on the likes of Ian Dury and John Cooper Clarke ("Black Comic Book" or "When Sleep Won't Come"). It hardly needs saying that he does this with far more style than all of those other groups who have been imitating The Fall since the day he invented them. Oh, and on top of everything they recorded the whole album in just three days. Buy it.

KIKO AMAT

Wild Swans album review in MOJO

2011-08-23T20:32:00.002+01:00

The latest issue of MOJO magazine includes an enthusiastic four-star review of the new Wild Swans album which reads as follows:

"The Wild Swans
****
The Coldest Winter For A Hundred Years

Ex-Teardrop Explodes man's first in 20 years.

The De Quincey-like, anti-consumerist visions of modern Liverpool expressed in the withering My Town - "It's limping tired, it's dead, it's over" - might not win Paul Simpson any friends on the city's tourist board, but the founder Teardrop Explodes organist's reactivated Wild Swans, whose mighty 1982 single The Revolutionary Spirit called time on the Zoo label, are hardly concerned with modernity, spiritually residing in a Brian's Diner/Eric's post-punk Liverpol of the mind. Now featuring guitar poltergeist Mike Mooney from Spiritualized, Les Pattinson of the Bunnymen and Ricky Maymi from the Brian Jonestown Massacre, their first album since 1990 is part band memoir, part call for artistic renewal, delivered via chiming rock anthemics with pop appeal and, as on English Electric Lightning and closer The Bluebell Wood, more than a hint of the world beyond where the past still lives. Transporting.
Ian Harrison"

Factory Star at FAC251

2011-08-13T13:45:00.002+01:00

Above is a video of Factory Star performing When Sleep Won't Come, one of the key tracks from their debut album Enter Castle Perilous released on Occultation earlier this year, live in Preston a few weeks ago.

The band will be playing live at FAC251 in Manchester next Saturday, 20th August.

Reduced prices on back catalogue for a limited period

2011-07-24T09:49:00.003+01:00

For a limited period we're offering specially reduced prices on much of the Occultation back catalogue as we could use the space and also a bit of cash in preparation for the official UK and US release of the Wild Swans album.

So if you'd like to complete your Occultation collection now's the time to visit the Occultation Shop....

Factory Star "New Chemical Light"

2011-07-24T08:30:00.001+01:00

Here's some fantastic footage of Factory Star performing New Chemical Light from their album Enter Castle Perilous last weekend in Preston.

Reduced Factory Star prices for limited period

2011-07-16T19:22:00.003+01:00

Factory Star's Enter Castle Perilous is starting to get some of the attention it deserves, Angel Steps appeared on the MOJO playlist last month, we've started to see a lot of posts on social networking sites, the LP made the top 10 bestsellers on Louder Than War... This is a record that we're enormously proud of so, for a limited period, we're offering reduced prices on all versions, though the real bargain remains the LP+CD version at just £15+P&P (that's just one lot of P&P even though it's two items). More details on our ECP page.

Wild Swans in The Guardian

2011-07-16T12:34:00.002+01:00

The Guardian newspaper included a piece on Glow In The Dark from the new Wild Swans album click here. The piece was published on the paper's website on Thursday and in the print version yesterday (Friday 15/7/11). It reads:
"The Wild Swans Glow in the Dark The Merseysiders' 1982 Zoo Records single The Revolutionary Spirit was one of the classic singles of the post-punk era. Founder Paul Simpson has spent much of the intervening period trying to get over the band's subsequent implosion and relocate the "original spirit" of the group. From the forthcoming album, The Coldest Winter for a Hundred Years, this is stunning, swoonsome guitar pop like they never went away. Dave Simpson" [no relation!]

Tracks In Snow EP - final copies

2011-07-16T10:30:00.003+01:00

We're down to the last few copies of the Wild Swans' Tracks In Snow EP. This is a companion piece to the Coldest Winter For A Hundred Years album featuring three songs recorded at the album sessions but which do not appear on it in any form. We've just unearthed a box containing a few more of these but once these are gone that'll be it.

The Bluebell Wood on The Word cover-mount CD

2011-07-16T10:27:00.003+01:00

The Bluebell Wood, the glorious call-to-arms which closes the new Wild Swans album The Coldest Winter For A Hundred Years, appears on one of the two cover-mount CDs given away with the new (dateline August, street date mid-July) edition of The Word magazine. Click here for details.

Factory Star gig with the Monochrome Set

2011-07-07T14:04:00.003+01:00

On the night before their Newcastle gig (see previous post), Factory Star will be supporting The Monochrome Set in Preston. More info here.

Factory Star gig in Newcastle

2011-07-07T14:01:00.001+01:00

More Occultation-related gig info: Factory Star play the Cumberland Arms Beer Fest in Newcastle on 17th July 2011. More info here.

Jonathan Beckett gig

2011-07-06T14:29:00.002+01:00

Jonathan Beckett has a gig, with Sarah Thomson & The Beautiful Word, at the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill on 21/8/11. More details available here.

Factory Star in MOJO playlist

2011-07-02T10:36:00.002+01:00

The new issue of MOJO magazine has Angel Steps, the opening track from Factory Star's Enter Castle Perilous album in the Playlist. The piece reads: "Garage rock with H.P. organ from early Fall member Martin Bramah; features that poltergeists-in-the-industrial-estate flava familiar to admirers of Live At The Witch Trials. Find it: Enter Castle Perilous (Occultation)"

Factory Star French interview

2011-06-15T14:21:00.002+01:00

There's an interview with Martin Bramah of Factory Star on the French Inside Rock webzine here. For anyone amongst you who doesn't speak French, below is a rough-and-ready translation by yours truly of the introduction, then the original interview in English. Whereas Mark E. Smith refuses to promote his new album, The Fall’s co-founder and guitarist, Martin Bramah, was happy to answer my questions. After leaving the group in 1979, he founded Blue Orchids, releasing The Greatest Hit (Money Mountain) in 1982. The group then broke up several times until they released a handful of albums in the 2000s, including the second album The Sleeper, recorded in 1993. After putting out the Battle Of Twisted Heel solo album, Martin Bramah is back with a new group called Factory Star, whose first album, Enter Castle Perilous, is somewhat reminiscent of the lo-fi psychedelic pop of the Blue Orchids. The record, which still has that rudimentary organ dominating the melodies, came out on the Occultation label in April 2011 and obviously it talks about Manchester.

Inside Rock: First of all, could you talk about your childhood in Manchester, your desire of doing music and The Fall's early years?
Martin Bramah: When I was a child I was completely unaware that I was a child. I was born in Manchester on Sept 18^th 1957. As a small child I lived in Droylsden and Openshaw with my grandma during the week and with my great grandma and mother at the weekends. I didn’t know my father, but I was told he was a bass player in a jazz band… I didn’t like music until I heard The Rolling Stones on the TV… When I reached the age of seven my mother married and we moved to Prestwich, to start a new life.
In Prestwich I played in the woods until I reached puberty, then my parents bought a record player and I discovered Marc Bolan and David Bowie and music became the only thing that made sense (or didn’t have to make sense) in my world . As long as I can remember, I had always painted but I began, at this time, to write words and put them to music and I found that this made better pictures in my mind – I had no training.
In my mid-teens I met Mark E. Smith and we became good friends. We shared ideas about music, books and films mostly – and we came to want to start a band, a band that would be as cool as anything from New York, but totally British/Mancunian – I think Lou Reed said something like: “To imbue the pop song with the intelligence of the novel.” That was our starting point. The Fall was a communal thing to start off with. We were as much influenced by the hippy underground as by the punk movement. Our first British tour was a free tour, with “Here And Now”. And so it goes…

Inside Rock: You played with many artists such as Craig Gannon, Phillip Toby Toman, Stephen Garvey, and obviously with some ex-Fall members. It's like Blue Orchids was the mancunian musician nest. What was it like playing in Manchester at this time? What are your best memories? Have you heard of John Cooper Clarke lately?
MB: Yes, I have played with lots of friends who have gone on to do other things. Manchester, although a city, is still small enough to be like a village for the musicians and music scene here, so we all get to know of each other quite quickly, it seems. I’ve know JCC, on and off, for many years now – the latest thing I heard him do is a voice-over for a Dominos Pizza advert!

Inside Rock: You also met Nico. How did you come to play with her?
MB: I was introduced to her by Alan Wise a local music promoter. She wanted to live in Manchester for awhile and was looking for like-minded musicians to play with. I was lucky enough to have my name put forward and we got on very well, so we started to make music together.

Inside Rock: With hindsight, how do you explain that there is a gap of 20 years between the Blue Orchids two first records?

MB: Well there was only a ten year gap in recording the first and second albums – but I lost interest – so our second album sat on a shelf for a further ten years.

Inside Rock: When and how was Factory Star born?

MB: Factory Star was born in November 2008. I wanted to make a fresh start and break the old patterns. I saw it as a chance to reassess my music and move forwards with new inspiration.

Inside Rock: How did you compose and record Enter Castle Perilous?

MB: I wrote the songs on Enter Castle Perilous after returning to Manchester from a self-imposed exile in London. It is full of new impressions of the city I grew up in. I played all the songs live for quite some time to help breath some life into them, before attempting to record them. When we finally came to record the songs, I wanted to keep the urgency that we had developed as a band so we worked quickly in the studio, recording the whole album in three days, playing “live” in the studio as if in a club.

Inside Rock: The Blue Orchids sound was very particular, as if you played some short atmospheric songs live, and recorded as it is. Something similar in Enter Castle Perilous can be noticed. Is that important for you to capture that kind of genuine charm?

MB: It is very important for me to capture the moment. I like to hear people interacting with each other. I don’t much like the sound of computers regimenting the human spirit. I love the unintended discords and happy accidents that come from working quickly and trusting your fellow musicians. I enjoy putting people under pressure while keeping the atmosphere light… hopefully!

Inside Rock: Are there any new artists performing these days that you're excited about?
MB: I am very much enjoying The Crystal Stilts at the moment – I like the way they sound as if they’re not trying too hard – a kind of Zen nonchalance maybe?

Inside Rock: What are your hobbies except for music?

MB: Day dreaming… I like to read a lot and I paint sometimes and I have also studied the Japanese art of Aikido for the past twenty years, which has been very important to me in many ways – oh, and I like to walk whenever I can.

Tracks In Snow EP now here

2011-06-01T21:00:00.004+01:00

We received copies of The Wild Swans' Tracks In Snow EP (DIONE7DB013) today and rather lovely they are too. You don't really get the full effect of the colour in these pictures. They're shrinkwrapped for extra... whatever it is that shrinkwrapping gives more of. We are now starting to ship the very first orders but please bear with us as we've been swamped and it's going to take a while to get them all organised and out. We still have some copies of this pressing of the EP left but we'll probably not have them for much longer. We might re-press... Then again we might not, we don't even know ourselves at this point. So to avoid disappointment, etc. etc.

Another Factory Star review

2011-05-29T10:25:00.001+01:00

There's another glowing review of Factory Star's Enter Castle Perilous album here.

Wild Swans "Coldest Winter For A Hundred Years" CDs

2011-05-28T12:18:00.002+01:00

We now have the CDs of the Wild Swans "Coldest Winter For A Hundred Years" album, pictured above. Top to bottom: lyric booklet, inner sleeve and CD, outer sleeve; right: shrinkwrapped CDs.

Once the "Tracks In Snow" EP arrives in about a week we'll start posting them out to everyone who's ordered, earliest orders first. Please be patient as we've had far more orders than expected but you should all have had free MP3s. Incidentally, we've already sold around 2/3 of our initial allocation of EPs so if you want one best get in quickly. There's no guarantee that we'll have any more of these, although the band will have some to buy together with the album at dates on their UK tour starting in a couple of weeks' time.

More Factory Star dates

2011-05-21T16:14:00.002+01:00

We've just been told that Factory Star will be out playing live in support of their recent Occultation album Enter Castle Perilous in June and July and three dates have been confirmed:

9th June Gullivers, Manchester

16th July Preston (with The Monochrome Set, venue tbc)

17th July Newcastle (venue tbc)

More info - especially venues - to follow when we get it.

Advance ordering for The Wild Swans album.

2011-05-20T13:52:00.002+01:00

We are now taking orders for the forthcoming Wild Swans album, The Coldest Winter For A Hundred Years and the exclusive Tracks In Snow EP. We expect to receive the CDs from our manufacturers over the next week or two and then we'll be posting them out in the order in which people paid for them.

Details on how to order here. They are going very, very fast indeed.

When Time Stood Still

2011-05-18T14:53:00.001+01:00

Here's another preview from the forthcoming Wild Swans album. Ordering will hopefully start in a few days' time.

The Wild Swans: Chloroform

2011-05-17T13:24:00.002+01:00

Here's a first sample track from the forthcoming Wild Swans album.

Wild Swans "Tracks In Snow" EP details

2011-05-12T18:37:00.000+01:00

Above is the sleeve for the Wild Swans Tracks In Snow EP (Occultation DIONE7DB013). This is a companion piece to the forthcoming album The Coldest Winter For A Hundred Years (DIONE7DB012).

Here is the tracklist:
1. Dark Times (2:47) 2. Disintegrating (2:58) 3. Poison (2:28)

None of these tracks appear on the album itself.

The EP will only be available to order together with the album from the Occultation Shop and at gigs on the band's UK tour in June - there are no current plans for it to be released separately.

As you can see, the sleeve artwork is a variant on that for the album, again featuring Ged Quinn's painting entitled Camp.

Wild Swans album first details

2011-05-12T18:19:00.000+01:00

Above is the sleeve to the forthcoming Wild Swans album, The Coldest Winter For A Hundred Years.

Here is the tracklist:

1. Falling To Bits (2:11) 2. Liquid Mercury (album version) (2:58) 3. Chloroform (3:28) 4. In Secret (3:56) 5. English Electric Lightning (album version) (5:53) 6. When Time Stood Still (2:28) 7. Underwater (3:54) 8. Intravenous (2:34) 9. Glow In The Dark (3:42) 10. My Town (3:28) 11. Lost At Sea (3:36) 12. The Bluebell Wood (4:26)

Please note that the versions of English Electric Lightning and Liquid Mercury which appear on the album are not the same as those released on earlier Occultation singles DIONE7D9001 (a completely different mix) and DIONE7D9003 (the album has the full, unedited song). The singles are still available to purchase in the Occultation Shop.

The album is now in production and we're just waiting for the manufacturers to give us a delivery date, once we have that we'll send out an e-mail to everyone on our mailing list and start taking advance orders.

Anyone ordering from us will also have the opportunity to buy a special package featuring both the album and the Tracks In Snow companion EP - more details on that will follow soon but it contains three otherwise unissued songs recorded during the Coldest Winter sessions. It will be available only from Occultation, to buy together with the album, and at gigs on the band's UK tour in June.

We hope to do a vinyl version of the album at a later date but there simply wasn't the time (or resources) to do this in time for the tour so the physical version will be CD-only at least to start with. An MP3 version will also be available from this website only, at least initially.

Once again, sleeve artwork features a painting by original Wild Swans keyboard player Ged Quinn. The CD will be in a similar format to the recent Factory Star album, with both outer and inner sleeves but also a 16-page full-colour lyric booklet.

More news to follow over the next few days, as we build up to the opening of advance ordering which we'd hope will be over the next couple of weeks or so.

Vivonzeureux review of "Enter Castle Perilous"

2011-05-07T16:44:00.003+01:00

There's an excellent French review of Factory Star's Enter Castle Perilous on the Vivonzeureux website, if you speak French you can read the original here. If you don't, I'll post my own translation below:

"It all started three or four weeks ago with a really nice e-mail, in French, from the independent label Occultation. After this blog (briefly) mentioned the Blue Orchids, a Rough Trade new wave group of the very early 1980s, they drew my attention to the forthcoming release of the first album by Factory Star, the new project led by Martin Bramah who, together with the organist Una Baines, was one of the founder members of The Fall. In 1979 they were also among the first to jump Mark E. Smith’s turbulent ship to found The Blue Orchids.

A nice letter deserves a friendly reply so, after I’d taken a look at how the record was presented on the Occultation website, I decided that I’d write about a Blue Orchids record sometime soon, and that’d then give me the opportunity to announce the release of the Factory Star album.

Except that in the meantime I thought I might as well download the tracks from the album from the link Occultation had given me and I loved it so much I decided I’d much rather write about this new record rather than an old one!

Like Longest Meow by Bobby Bare Jr, Enter Castle Perilous was recorded and mixed - mainly live in the studio - in just a few days and the two records share the same fresh, energetic qualities. Factory Star’s line-up is basic, with Martin Bramah on vocals and guitar, a bass player, a drummer and an organist. This rather prominent organ provides a direct link to the sound of the Blue Orchids. The singing and the structure of some of the songs also allow a line to be drawn all the way back to The Fall (I reckon Bramah is having a bit of fun when he leaves a long silence after the word "Fall" as he sings "This is a warning to you all, This is the story of the fall — of Great Britain" on The Fall Of Great Britain.

One of the other reference points which came to me on first listen was Jonathan Fire*Eater, and the comparison also holds true with the group that came after it, The Walkmen - except that I recently listened to Lisbon, their latest album, and I find even Factory Star’s weakest tracks (although the more I listen to the record the fewer of these I can find) far more exciting than anything on The Walkmen’s album. I’d be hard-pushed to pick out any favourites from the ten tracks, but if I did then Black Comic Book, New Chemical Light and Angel Steps would surely be among them. The organ on Stone Tumbling Stream and Arise Europa! remind me slightly of The Stranglers.

If I had to pick a fault, the thing I like the least is the group’s name, but when you see it right next to the album’s title it’s almost like a literary way of conjuring up an image of a worker entering his factory, and the fact that there’s a song entitled Big Mill and the line "There used to be a factory there" appears in the next track, Away Dull Care, almost seem to back this interpretation up.

So this was a fantastic surprise and a very fine new release for 2011!

Three songs can be heard on the Occultation website, where the record is on sale as an LP, CD or MP3s."

Thanks to Pol Dodu for the review and permission to translate it.

A few snippets...

2011-05-05T16:13:00.003+01:00

1) Marc Riley played When Sleep Won't Come from Factory Star's Enter Castle Perilous album on his BBC6 show on Tuesday evening.

2) All advance orders for the LP and LP+CD versions of the album have now been posted, we just have to catch up on one or two orders which have come in this week, those should be in the post by tomorrow (Friday 6/5/11).

3) We should be able to announce some details of the forthcoming Wild Swans album The Coldest Winter For A Hundred Years fairly soon. Artwork will be posted soon as well...

4) There will also be a Wild Swans EP entitled Tracks In Snow, a companion piece to the album featuring three exclusive tracks recorded at the same sessions but not included on the final album. This will be available to buy only from The Occultation Shop and from the band on their forthcoming UK tour, there are currently no plans for a retail release of this EP.

More to follow

Factory Star at Sounds From The Other City

2011-04-29T14:43:00.003+01:00

Just a reminder that Factory Star are headlining the Sounds From The Other City festival at the Crescent in Manchester on Sunday 1st May. Copies of their Occultation debut album Enter Castle Perilous will be available to purchase. The band are expected on-stage at around 10.15 p.m., although the event gets underway in the afternoon.

The first few orders for the LP (and/or LP+CD) version of the album were posted out yesterday afternoon. More will go out over the next few days, although this weekend is a four-day one in the UK as someone or other's getting married today (Friday 29/4) and then Monday's a bank holiday but we'll be getting all remaining orders out as quickly as possible early next week.

More pictures of the Enter Castle Perilous vinyl

2011-04-28T16:01:00.003+01:00

Yes, they really are rather lovely...

Factory Star Vinyl

2011-04-28T13:40:00.004+01:00

This morning we finally took delivery of the vinyl version of Factory Star's Enter Castle Perilous album. The first few orders will go in the post this afternoon. Please note that, as there is a long (four-day) bank holiday weekend in the UK, during which post offices are closed, most orders will go out next week. Someone or other's getting married, apparently.

The vinyl edition is a thing of great beauty. The CDs were lovely but the artwork, especially the gorgeous photos by Jim Donnelly on the front and back, really comes into its own at 12 inches. From next week all orders should be shipping more or less immediately.

Factory Star launch gig photos

2011-04-19T11:22:00.003+01:00

Thanks to Jim Donnelly (the man responsible for the images on the Enter Castle Perilous sleeve) for some photos of the gig Factory Star played in Manchester last Friday to launch the album. Click here to see more.

Factory Star review on Vital Weekly

2011-04-14T19:09:00.002+01:00

There's another review of Factory Star's Enter Castle Perilous, this time from the Dutch Vital Weekly review round-up website. It reads thus:

"FACTORY STAR - ENTER CASTLE PERILOUS (CD by Occultation)
Listening to music all day is of course a great thing, and obviously something I like to do. But of course playing experimental music of a serious nature all day is not always the most easy task, but thank god for labels like Static Caravan or Occultation, which deliver pop music on my doorstep. Martin Bramah, erstwhile of The Fall and The Blue Orchids, formed in 2008 a new band, Factory Star. A simple line up of Bramah on vocals and guitar, along with bass, drums and keyboards. It sounds like a live recording actually and according to the press release it was more or less recorded without many overdubs. A great record it is of what the biz calls 'urgent' music. Demanding music, uplifting and dark. Especially I like the addition of the organ here. Partly because I like organs in popmusic, and here it reminds me of some of The Doors or The Stranglers, although less persistent with Factory Star, but it gives the music a great drive. Slightly psychedelic but with the urgency of a garage rock band. Excellent counter-point of this week. (FdW)
Address: http://www.occultation.co.uk"

Interview with Martin Bramah of Factory Star on Penny Black Music

2011-04-12T18:18:00.002+01:00

There's an interview with Martin Bramah of Factory Star, discussing the band's Occultation debut, Enter Castle Perilous, on the Penny Black Music website here. Just a reminder that the band will be playing at the Salutation, off Oxford Road in Manchester this Friday, 15th April - don't miss it if you're in North-Western England.

Factory Star review on Your Heart Out

2011-04-07T13:44:00.002+01:00

There's a genuinely excellent review of Factory Star's Enter Castle Perilous on Kevin Piece's Your Heart Out website here.

Factory Star Manchester date

2011-04-02T13:05:00.002+01:00

For those of you in North West England, Factory Star are playing at the Salutation, off Oxford Road in Manchester on 15th April, in support of their debut album, Enter Castle Perilous.

The band will also be headlining the Helmets For Men At The Crescent festival in Manchester on Sunday 1st May.

Further dates to be announced.

Factory Star Enter Castle Perilous 30-sec excerpts

2011-04-01T11:42:00.001+01:00

We've just posted a rough-and-ready video to YouTube featuring the first 30 seconds from each of the ten tracks which make up Factory Star's Enter Castle Perilous. Special prices in the Shop for a limited period.

Entry to Castle Perilous...

2011-03-31T16:33:00.003+01:00

We are now accepting orders for Factory Star's Enter Castle Perilous album. We'd expected to have both vinyl and CD by now but there's been a hold-up (circumstances beyond our control) on the vinyl, which we're now told will be 2-3 weeks, but possibly sooner. As some small compensation, we're offering reduced pricing on orders for the album, especially the vinyl and vinyl+CD versions, and you will, of course, receive free MP3s as soon as your purchase goes through. We think you'll find the album's worth the wait.

Wild Swans Tour and Album

2011-03-30T11:08:00.004+01:00

STOP PRESS.

We've had confirmation of the following UK tour dates for The Wild Swans:

June 7th: Glasgow Captains Cabin
June 8th: Manchester Ruby Lounge
June 9th: Bristol Thekla
June 10th: London Bush Hall
June 11th: Liverpool Stanley Theatre

There may be further dates still to be added.

We're now working at a frantic pace to get their album, The Coldest Winter In A Hundred Years, out in at least one format by then. More news on this will follow, the album is being mixed and artwork designed as we write.

Factory Star Enter Castle Perilous CDs

2011-03-20T14:06:00.004Z

We took delivery of the CD edition of Factory Star's Enter Castle Perilous album this weekend, a couple of photos appear above. As you can see, they're in a special Occultation design, heavy-duty outer wallets (350gsm, which is heavier than a lot of vinyl sleeves), with inner sleeves in a lighter gauge so that they slide in and out easily without falling out accidentally. We're currently waiting on a delivery date for the vinyl version but as soon as we get that we'll be able to start taking orders, hopefully next weekend.

Factory Star Enter Castle Perilous Album Cover

2011-02-23T07:43:00.005Z

Above are the front and back covers of the forthcoming Factory Star album. The album's now in production and we hope to have copies by late March. We'll start taking advance orders as soon as we have a likely delivery date from our manufacturers. Watch this space...

Factory Star track listing

2011-02-07T15:28:00.004Z

More details on the Factory Star album are trickling in... We can now announce that Enter Castle Perilous (MAB7DB011) will feature the following tracks:
Side One
1. Angel Steps
2. Big Mill
3. Away Dull Care
4. Cheetham Bill
5. Black Comic Book
Side Two
1. When Sleep Won't Come
2. The Fall Of Great Britain
3. New Chemical Light
4. Stone Tumbling Stream
5. Arise Europa

Factory Star at FAC251

2011-02-04T12:40:00.002Z

Those of you in the Manchester area should make a beeline for the city's FAC251 club tomorrow (Saturday 5/2/11) night as Factory Star will be performing the whole of their forthcoming Occultation album Enter Castle Perilous.

Distractions interview on Penny Black Music

2011-02-04T10:19:00.003Z

There's an in-depth interview with The Distractions on Penny Black Music. Click here. Messrs Perrin and Finney discuss their classic recordings, recent Occultation releases, plans for the future and much more.

Wild Swans download from Caught By The River

2011-02-03T13:08:00.005Z

We've just been sent this by The Wild Swans:

"Tomorrow’s newsletter from the wonderful Caught By The River website includes a link to a previously unreleased track from the forthcoming Wild Swans album The Coldest Winter For A Hundred Years. The epic song "The Bluebell Wood" highlights the threat to Britain’s native woodland from big business and is particularly apt in light of the Public Bodies Bill currently in parliament which, if passed, would give the green light to the Tories' plan to sell off our few remaining forests. The song is only available to those on the Caught By The River mailing list. Subscribe here. http://caughtbytheriver.net/"

Prepare to Enter Castle Perilous

2011-01-29T17:08:00.005Z

We can now reveal a few advance details about the forthcoming Factory Star LP on Occultation Recordings. It will be entitled Factory Star Enter Castle Perilous and will feature ten tracks recorded in Liverpool in January 2011.

The album's primary format will be vinyl LP, artwork is being designed at the moment and will be uploaded as soon as possible. There will also be a CD release and a special LP+CD package will be available at a significantly-reduced price from the Occultation Shop.

Factory Star are planning live dates to mark the album's release which, if everything goes to plan should be late March/early April. More information will follow as and when it's confirmed.

Factory Star LP

2011-01-20T08:16:00.003Z

Occultation Recordings take enormous pleasure in announcing the forthcoming debut album by Manchester's Factory Star. Details remain to be confirmed but the album is expected in March. It was recorded in Liverpool over three days last weekend and features ten songs written by Fall and Blue Orchids founder member Martin Bramah.

More details will follow soon.

Merry Christmas from everyone at Occultation Recordings

2010-12-25T15:15:00.002Z

A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all from all of us here at Occultation Recordings. 2010's been a pretty amazing year but 2011's all set to be even more extraordinary.

Factory Star / Stone Tumbling Stream

2010-12-02T19:14:00.002Z

Here's a live video of an earlier Factory Star line-up performing Stone Tumbling Stream, to whet your appetites...

Factory Star

2010-12-02T18:57:00.002Z

Occultation Recordings are utterly thrilled to announce that the latest addition to our growing roster is Manchester's Factory Star, led by Martin Bramah, founder member of The Fall and the Blue Orchids. They'll be recording their debut single for Occultation for release early in 2011.

Distractions review in The Quietus

2010-12-01T13:51:00.002Z

There's a lengthy piece on the two Distractions Occultation EPs which has just been published today (1/12/10) on The Quietus website. It's by Mick Middles, who even forgives "the rather awkward fact that at least two members of this band ran off with a wife of mine". I love that "at least", he's clearly not sure but that it mightn't be MORE than two.

The Distractions - Lost video

2010-11-25T11:13:00.002Z

Here's the video for Lost from The Distractions' Come Home 12" EP. It was filmed by bassist Nick Garside during the recording of the EP in Liverpool back in June (2010). More information to follow.

We've also uploaded the video to a page on the website which will probably offer higher quality. Click here to view.

Come Home...

2010-11-11T17:26:00.002Z

Just a note to say that we've now posted all advance orders of The Distractions' Come Home 12" EP. All new orders will now be shipping more or less immediately, as soon as we can get to a post office, in any case.
Thanks to everyone who's already ordered and we hope you'll be as thrilled with this one as we are. It really is pretty stunning.

The Distractions have Come Home

2010-11-09T15:15:00.003Z

This morning we took delivery of the vinyl 12"s of the new Distractions Come Home EP. They really are rather stunning, the sleeves are in lovely thick card, with a beautiful UV spot-varnish finish on the front, making the Albert Square shot on the front stand out from the grey of the sky. The vinyl is also superb and this really is the way to hear these three songs, at the highest resolution, mastered from a 24-bit/96KHz source. We hope to start posting out the first advance orders tomorrow (Wednesday 10/11/10) and to have shipped all copies ordered to date before the weekend. This is the first ever Occultation 12" but it won't be the last...

Come Home Soon

2010-11-04T15:10:00.002Z

We've heard from the pressing plant that, due to the UV spot-varnishing of the sleeves (the picture above shows the parts which are being varnished), and the drying time the process requires, the Distractions Come Home 12"s will be very slightly delayed. We'd expected to have had them by this week and to be posting out the first advance orders around now, but we've been promised we'll have them next week and obviously we'll start posting as soon as we get them as we do have the limited promo CDs that are available to purchase with them already - we really are just waiting for the boxes of 12"s to arrive and then out they'll go as quickly as humanly possible. Thanks to everyone who's already ordered and for your patience - you should all have received a link to a zip file containing the three MP3 files plus the etc PDF.
We'll be posting news about the first reviews and airplay soon. Apologies for this but I expect the plant got a big order for the new Cliff Christmas single or something...

The Distractions Come Home - Orders now being taken

2010-10-29T19:04:00.003+01:00

We are now accepting orders for the Distractions Come Home 12" EP and we expect to have the vinyl next week (i.e. the first week of November). There's information on the release on the main Come Home page, previews of all three tracks are available here and you can place your orders in the Occultation Shop. We've made various improvements to the ordering system lately, some you'll notice, some you may not, but it should now be cheaper to purchase multiple items as we've found a way of doing this.
YMIR7DA008 is also the first Occultation release to come with something extra, a collaboration between ourselves and the Your Heart Out and Unpopular websites called etc, we'll leave you to discover what it's all about as each of our zips of MP3 files (free for all vinyl and promo/special edition orders) comes with one of these absolutely free. We're not going to say too much about this project just yet, but there will be more to come.
More on this to follow soon.

2010-10-18T10:21:00.001+01:00

We've now got the promo CDs for the Distractions Come Home EP. The 12"s should reach us over the next couple of weeks or so. We'll start taking orders fairly soon.

Distractions Come Home previews

2010-10-08T18:40:00.000+01:00

We've just uploaded streaming previews of the forthcoming Distractions Come Home 12" EP, due in early November, click here to go to the preview page. The 12" single will come in a special UV spot-varnished sleeve and once again the vinyl version was mastered from the highest resolution 24-bit/96KHz recordings so it really should sound pretty special. We'll start taking orders as soon as we get a delivery date from the plant - we always feel awkward taking people's money when we don't know how long it'll be before we can post things out. As on previous occasions, we'll be offering a "deluxe" version of the release, comprising the 12" single plus a promo CD - as always with Occultation the CDs are professionally replicated (not CD-Rs!) and come in vinyl-replica style wallets and they'll be specially priced. There'll also be packages available allowing you to buy this one together with earlier Occultation releases you might have missed - we'll have a number of set options in the Shop but, as always, if you're after a combination that's not there just drop us a line and we'll see what price we can offer you - at the very least we can keep the P&P costs down when you buy more than one item at a time. More on this story to come soon, but have a listen to the previews, we're really very, very proud of this one...

Sign up

2010-10-06T21:09:00.003+01:00

We've finally got around to setting things up so you can sign up to our mailing list on the site. Click here if you'd like to do that now...

We don't abuse this by sending out constant streams of messages, generally only when we've got a new release or something else is happening and always relating to the label or our artists.

We're expecting to have the Distractions' Come Home 12" EP in stock by the beginning of November - we'll start taking advance orders (with the usual free MP3s delivered as soon as your order goes through, generally within a minute or two) as soon as the pressing plant give us an actual delivery date.

The Distractions Come Home

2010-09-24T19:29:00.003+01:00

In early November Occultation Recordings will be releasing the first new Distractions recordings since the mid-1990s. YMIR7DA008, the Come Home 12" EP, was recorded in Liverpool in June 2010, engineered by Richard Turvey of The Wild Swans and featuring a band comprising original Distractions, vocalist Mike Finney and guitarist/main songwriter Steve Perrin, plus another former Distraction in the shape of Nick Garside, who played bass in the mid-1990s incarnation plus guitar and backing vocals contributed by Nick Halliwell from label-mates The Granite Shore, with Stuart Mann on drums.

The EP comprises two new Steve Perrin songs, Lost and Nicole, plus long-time fan Halliwell's Oil Painting and will come on 12" vinyl in a UV gloss-varnished sleeve to the usual Occultation standards and, as with the current Black Velvet EP, it features photographs taken specially for this series of Distractions releases by Mark Cooper. More news and previews will follow over the next few weeks and then we'd hope to start taking orders shortly before the records arrive from the pressing plant, probably towards the end of October.

Black Velvet review on Your Heart Out

2010-09-04T15:38:00.003+01:00

There's an excellent piece on the Distractions' Black Velvet EP on the Your Heart Out blog here. There have been a number of other articles and mentions starting to appear across the Internet over the last few days but this is our favourite so far (of the ones we've seen, if anyone out there has spotted anything we might've missed, please e-mail us).

Black Velvet promos

2010-08-26T11:35:00.004+01:00

We've just taken delivery (a few minutes ago) of the Distractions' Black Velvet promo CDs. Advance orders will start shipping later today (Thursday 26/8) or tomorrow. Thanks to everyone who has supported us by pre-ordering.

N.B. [Thursday evening] We have posted out the first batch of Distractions promos to the people who placed the earliest orders and we should have the rest in the post tomorrow and/or Saturday.

Further N.B. [Saturday morning] All advance orders for the Black Velvet EP have now been posted out. Please note that Monday (30/8) is a Bank Holiday in the UK - we tried to get as many of the international orders as possible out on Thursday afternoon, so that hopefully they'll've left the UK before the holiday. Anyway, thanks again to everyone who's already ordered and if you haven't then orders placed over the weekend will go out either today (Saturday) or Tuesday.

The Distractions - Black Velvet EP - Orders being taken now

2010-08-20T19:48:00.003+01:00

Just a note to say that we're now accepting orders for the promo CD version of The Distractions' Black Velvet EP - or you can buy the digital version if you prefer. There's also a special offer on the promo versions of this together with The Granite Shore's Flood of fortune.
We expect to have the promo CDs next week sometime but if you order now you'll get a link to free MP3s sent out pretty much instantly.

Distractions Audio Preview

2010-08-19T20:55:00.003+01:00

We've just uploaded audio of the three tracks on the forthcoming Distractions EP. "Black Velvet", "Still It Doesn't Ring" and "If You Were Mine". We will shortly start taking orders for the limited promo CDs (which, as always, will come with free MP3s delivered immediately) and the digital EP. Watch this space...

Wild Swans Album Preview

2010-08-15T14:56:00.005+01:00

The Wild Swans have sent us a couple of rough mixes of tracks from their forthcoming album The Coldest Winter For A Hundred Years, which we hope to release in early 2011. Underwater has been heard on Janice Long's BBC Radio 2 radio show on a couple of occasions but the other, with the working title of Falling To Bits is making its debut here.

You can listen to the two tracks by clicking here and then on the titles on the preview page.

We should stress that these are work-in-progress mixes, not the finished article, but they do give a very good idea of what an astonishing record this is shaping up to be.

Black Velvet

2010-07-18T18:46:00.003+01:00

It is with enormous pleasure that Occultation Recordings would like to welcome Manchester's most unsung heroes, The Distractions. The band's first release for us will be the Black Velvet EP. This will be a digital download only but, as with other Occultation releases, we will be pressing a limited number of promo CDs and those of you who prefer to own a physical copy will have the chance to purchase these highly collectible items from us. The EP features three tracks recorded back in the mid 1990s by original core members Mike Finney (vocals) and Steve Perrin (guitar), with Nick Garside on bass and Bernard van den Berg (drums).

All tracks have been freshly restored, remixed and mastered by Nick Garside and sound simply stunning. Previews will appear on this website over the next few weeks and we'll start taking orders for the promo CDs once we have a definite date for their delivery. If that weren't enough - and frankly it's not - this EP will be followed by a new Distractions release, recorded in Liverpool in June 2010, again featuring Messrs Finney, Perrin and Garside, this time working with Nick Halliwell from fellow Occultation artists The Granite Shore, aided and abetted by Richard Turvey of The Wild Swans - who also engineered the session - on keyboards and drummer Stuart Mann. We hope to release this on 12" vinyl around early November. The final part of the initial triptych of Distraction will be an archive album entitled Nothing. Precise content is still being finalised but we plan to include the band's first two singles, including both sides of the classic Factory (FAC12) Time Goes By So Slow / Pillow Fight '45 plus more of the mid-1990s material.

We'd like to draw your attention to the band's excellent website and there's also a Facebook page here. More details to follow.

Video for "Flood of fortune" - The Granite Shore

2010-07-05T17:00:00.001+01:00

We'd like to thank Phil Wilson for producing this video for the new Granite Shore single, Flood of fortune, on which he also played.

Occultation inserts

2010-06-20T14:28:00.002+01:00

We've noticed that the new Occultation inserts which come free with initial copies of The Granite Shore's Flood of fortune 7" are proving extremely popular, indeed, scans of them are starting to appear on a number of websites. There a couple of variations but everyone who's ordered the 7" from us so far should've had at least one. In response to a number of enquiries, the insert was designed by Elena Milego and the photo on the front is taken from a 1947 copy of Penguin Music Magazine which has some wonderful information on the record-making process, much of it still relevant today. The back of the insert shows the Occultation catalogue to date, from The Wild Swans' English Electric Lightning 10" through to our next release, which will be The Distractions' Black Velvet EP. We do take enormous care over every aspect of our releases, and it's been very gratifying to find that so many people seem to appreciate this.

Speaking of The Distractions, they were in the studio in Liverpool last week, at work on new recordings for us. The session was engineered by Richard Turvey of The Wild Swans, who also played piano and organ and featured founder Distractions Mike Finney (vocals) and Steve Perrin (guitar, vocals, tambourine), another former member Nick Garside (bass), Nick Halliwell of The Granite Shore (guitar, vocals) keeping up the Occultation connection, plus Stuart Mann (drums). We're absolutely thrilled to welcome The Distractions to Occultation and look forward to a number of releases by the most unjustly unheralded of Manchester groups. There will be the aforementioned Black Velvet digital EP to kick things off (that's currently being finalised, shouldn't be too much longer now), then an album entitled Nothing comprising their 1978 TJM 12" EP and 1979 Factory single plus the legendary 1995 recordings. Then there'll be a new single taken from the June 2010 Liverpool sessions - format to be determined.

Latest releases now shipping

2010-06-11T14:36:00.002+01:00

Just a note to let you know that all advance orders for our two latest releases, The Granite Shore's Flood of fortune and Jonathan Beckett's She's A Vampire EP have now been posted and are on their way to you - if you've not already received them. Initial copies of Flood of fortune come with a special Occultation insert.

Next up will be The Distractions' Black Velvet EP, followed by an album entitled Nothing, featuring their first two singles plus the legendary 1995 recordings, and there will also be a new Distractions record to follow, work on recording that begins next week.

She's A Vampire promos

2010-06-09T08:04:00.003+01:00

We received the promo CDs for Jonathan Beckett's She's A Vampire digital EP on Monday and began posting out initial orders immediately. The digital EP itself will be released worldwide on 30th June 2010, though the promo CDs will be available only from us and at Mr Beckett's live performances - and only while the very limited stocks last. All advance orders for both this and the new Granite Shore single have now been posted so thanks to everyone who did order. And if you've not yet done so then the Shop is just over here.

The Flood is upon us...

2010-06-04T15:12:00.002+01:00

We've just taken delivery of The Granite Shore's Flood of fortune 7" (RHEA7DA006) and we'll be starting to process orders over the weekend. They sound absolutely fantastic - the vinyl version was actually mastered from a 96KHz version of the track so this isn't just vinyl snobbery, there's a good scientific reason why it sounds better. We already have the Flood promos so these will start to go out very soon - we should also have the promos of IO7DA005, Jonathan Beckett's She's A Vampire EP over the next few days.

Flood of fortune promos

2010-06-01T14:25:00.003+01:00

The promo CDs of the new Granite Shore single arrived this morning, and very nice they are too. Here's a photo, with one of the incredibly rare promos for the first single (only a few were pressed) for comparison. We're expecting to receive the vinyl very soon and the Jonathan Beckett promos hopefully won't be far behind.

The Granite Shore - Flood of fortune 7" - advance orders

2010-05-29T09:30:00.005+01:00

We are now taking advance orders for RHEA7DA006, the new Granite Shore single, Flood of fortune. We expect to have the records in stock within the next fortnight (hopefully next week actually...) As with our previous 7", we will have a limited number of promo CDs available to purchase with the vinyl version at a special price.

There are three basic options for buying the single. You can order the 7" on its own, order it together with a promo CD or purchase it together with one or more of our previous singles.

1) vinyl only
2) vinyl + promo CD
3) as a package with previous Occultation releases

Our new Shop system appears to be working and all links are sent out by e-mail automatically pretty much immediately. If you do run into any problems just drop us a line and we'll sort them out as quickly as we can, but so far we've had no trouble at all.

Introducing... Mr Jonathan Beckett

2010-05-22T07:31:00.005+01:00

Occultation Recordings are proud to announce that Jonathan Beckett's She's A Vampire EP will be released worldwide as a digital download on 30th June 2010. The EP is available from the Occultation Shop now and we are also accepting advance orders for the very limited promo CD version.

If you pre-order the promo CD you'll receive the MP3 version immediately either as a link in your browser, in an e-mail or both, via our spanking brand-new automated delivery system and then your CD will be posted out as soon as we get them, which we expect to be early June. Please don't buy both the download AND the promo as there's no need, all physical sales come with free MP3s.

We have tested the new automated delivery but it's early days, so if you come across any problems with it please drop us a line. At present payment via PayPal appears to be working perfectly and links are shown both in your browser (you should see a link saying "IMPORTANT: please click here to download your files" or something similar on the page that appears after you've paid) and in an e-mail sent to you as soon as the payment goes through. Payment via Nochex IS working, but at present only the e-mail seems to be going out, we haven't got the link in browsers working yet. If you don't receive your e-mail please check your spam folders first and then e-mail us if you still can't find it.

Jonathan will be interviewed on BBC Radio Nottingham's The Beat programme tonight. The programme airs between 6 and 10 p.m. although we don't know exactly what time Mr Beckett will be appearing.

I think that's everything. There are plenty more Occultation releases on the way: we'll be taking orders for the new Granite Shore single in a week or two.

Opening the bonnet...

2010-05-21T16:46:00.003+01:00

We will shortly be going live with the new version of the Occultation shop. It looks fairly similar but there are some big changes under the bonnet. For a start, you should now receive links to MP3s of the tracks you've purchased (whether you've bought them as MP3s or whether they're free with your vinyl purchase) pretty much immediately, as we've now set up an automatic delivery system.

Hopefully this'll all work like a dream, but if it doesn't please bear with us. We will be monitoring it closely so if you have any problems just drop us a line.

We have found some issues when people pay with Nochex - for some reason the links may not be immediately displayed in your browser. Even so, you should receive these links by e-mail fairly shortly after paying, and we'll be trying to iron this little difficulty out over the next few days.

The first new Occultation release with the new system will be IO7DA005D, which is Jonathan Beckett's She's A Vampire EP, we hope to go live with that later this evening, or if not then by tomorrow afternoon at the latest.

Thanks for your patience, but once this is all set up and properly tested it should improve things for all of us... No more sending out individual links manually for me and no more waiting for you... As a very wise man (Errol Brown actually) once almost put it "Everyone's a winner baby". And that's no lie.

Under the bonnet at the Occultation Shop

2010-05-20T19:17:00.002+01:00

Just a word of warning... As we've got a number of new releases coming up and the Occultation is growing rapidly, we're trying to set up a new Shop system so that links to MP3s (for both MP3 and physical purchases) can be sent out immediately and automatically. We started off doing this manually and that was fine to start with but it's starting to get a bit complicated and taking up a lot of time, so we felt we should invest in setting something up to do the work for us. We've purchased a system that should help with this and give you your MP3s within minutes even if it's 3 a.m. in the UK when you purchase but please bear with us over the next few days as we set all this up and test it. I'll post more info on this as we go.

Thanks for bearing with us and rest assured that whatever happens if you pay for something you will get it. If you have any problems just drop us a line.

Interview with Paul Simpson

2010-05-15T19:34:00.003+01:00

The excellent Swedish website Throw Me Away has just published an interview with Wild Swans leader Paul Simpson. It's in Swedish but you can always use Google or another automated translation service to get a flavour - not to mention some rather amusing pieces of computerese; though we must stress that this is down to the shortcomings of automatic translation software not the quality of the writing which looks to be top class and shines through some of the rather gnomic utterances spat out by the software - I'm particularly fond of the last paragraph about No Bleeding, which reveals that: "In "No bleeding" is heard only the echo of the champagne glass bowl that was during the party. The piano player for those who have never been awarded any promises, just because they never had any - not even a single - to give in return. For those who are stuck where they were born. It is for them - not for me - like The Wild Swans there." I've written at length about The Wild Swans but I don't think I've ever managed anything as insightful as that. Again, I really, really must stress that this is what you get when machines attempt to translate human language, and especially when that language is well-written and on the poetic side; machines are much better at translating texts about machines...

Anyway, the website itself is highly recommended, they did a piece on the label late last year which you can still read here (again, in Swedish or with comedy software translation).

Wild Swans on Janice Long show on BBC Radio 2

2010-05-14T14:01:00.002+01:00

Last night (13/5/10) The Wild Swans performed a live acoustic session on Janice Long's radio show on BBC Radio 2. Janice is a long-time supporter of the band and her enthusiasm was palpable.

Those of you in the UK can still hear the show (for a week) on the BBC iPlayer. A stripped-down band performed acoustic versions of the recent single Liquid Mercury, a track from the forthcoming album called My Town and the title track of their first Sire album Bringing Home The Ashes and Janice chatted with Paul - the two are old friends, of course as the DJ is a native of Liverpool herself.

Janice has also recently been playing Underwater, another track from The Coldest Winter For A Hundred Years.

Paul Simpson: Man In A Burning Anorak Vols. 1 and 2

2010-04-25T11:57:00.004+01:00

Just a note to let you know that if you head over to The Wild Swans' own website you can purchase two download-only collections of recordings by Paul Simpson.

Man In A Burning Anorak Vol. 1 This was originally available a few years back and comprises studio recordings, demos and curios from various stages of Mr Simpson's storied career.

Man In A Burning Anorak Vol. 2 This is the long-lost, never-completed and certainly never-before-released Paul Simpson solo album, originally entitled The Wickedest Man In The World (whence the track which became the Wild Swans 'b' side of that name), recording at Henry Priestman's Gossamer Dome studio on Anglesey in late summer 2004 with former Wild Swan Ged Quinn on keyboards and Nick Halliwell of The Granite Shore on guitar. Although never completed this is one of those rare cases of a "great lost album" that's actually worth the wait/its weight in gold dust.

Albums are available for a very reasonable £4.99 each, all proceeds will go towards completing the Wild Swans album (and we're reliably informed that it's in the final furlong now...)

Forthcoming releases

2010-04-03T08:42:00.005+01:00

Over the last few months things may have seemed quiet but I can assure you that behind the scenes it's been anything but. We have a number of projects now approaching fruition so here's a little preview:

IO7DA005 - Jonathan Beckett: She's A Vampire digital EP
This will be a digital download-only EP, three songs, led off by the stunning title track, which really is one hell of a song. Paul Simpson brought Jonathan to our attention because the second song on the EP, 1989, references The Wild Swans. The EP is completed by Between Two Worlds. Full release will be in June but we'll be pre-releasing it via the Occultation shop in May.

RHEA7DA006 - The Granite Shore: Flood of fortune 7" vinyl single
Following on from their debut, Tomorrow morning, 3 a.m., which we released last year, this one is also vast albeit in a very different way. It's a huge, huge pop record, 3 minutes and 40 seconds of grandeur, featuring full (real) string and brass sections and a lyric full of marvels. Release: early June.

[Catalogue no. TBC] - The Distractions: Black Velvet digital EP
Another digital EP, this time from one of Manchester's greatest pop groups. You'll know their classic Factory single Time Goes By So Slow and we hope to be releasing a compilation featuring that and their other earlier recordings later in the year. In the meantime we're putting out 3 tracks recorded by a reformed version of the band featuring both singer Mike Finney (one of THE great pop voices) and guitarist/songwriter Steve Perrin from 1995. Many fans who've heard it feel that lead track Black Velvet is among the finest work they ever recorded and the EP will also feature a new version of Still It Doesn't Ring, which appeared on their 1980 album Nobody's Perfect, plus If You Were Mine, featuring a truly astonishing vocal performance by Mr Finney. Release: summer 2010.

Although the formats are strictly as stated above, there is a possibility that we may have a limited quantity of promo CDs of one or more of these releases and, as we know that some of you like these, we'll try to make some available, keep an eye on the website for details.

Before you ask, work on the Wild Swans album continues apace - you would not believe the amount of work that's going into this. Some snippets of rough mixes from a couple of songs have been posted on the band's MySpace page just to keep you going. We'll be gearing up to release this classic the moment Mr Simpson can be persuaded that his work is done. It's going to be well worth the wait, from what we've heard of it so far.

There are a number of other projects in the pipeline but we'll let you know about those as and when... More details will follow over the next few weeks.

For One Stormy Night Only... Live Wild Swans tracks

2010-02-06T17:31:00.001Z

Anyone looking for a souvenir - although surely nobody who was there can need much reminding - of The Wild Swans' triumphant return to the stage in 2009 should head over to the band's own website where five tracks recorded at Static Gallery on 11th December last year can be downloaded for £4.99. All proceeds will go towards completing the forthcoming album, to be released on Occultation as soon as it's done.

Click here to go to the For One Stormy Night Only page on Wild Swans' shop.