When people think of the iconic Manchester label Factory Records, numerous things likely come to mind. Whether it be the forward-thinking music of Joy Division and New Order, the drug-addled chaos of the Happy Mondays, the esoteric label-head and impresario Tony Wilson, or the acid-house haze of The Hacienda amidst the second summer of love, Factory is a label that comes with a legacy or two, to say the least.
And this iconic status is deserved. Many of the UK’s most influential records have been put out on the Factory label: Unknown Pleasures has had its landmark legacy stamped upon every angsty teen’s heart (and every Urban Outfitters range), Power, Corruption & Lies proved the electronic artifice of 80s synth-pop could have heart, and Pills ’n’ Thrills ’n’ Bellyaches, alongside The Stone Roses’ debut, cemented indie dance in all its bagginess. The label paved the way for DIY indie music as we know it, and did so on its own terms.
But what about the hidden gems of the label’s output? Factory Records was so much more than their flagship groups, championing local artists in their various musical pursuits – no matter how strange they could be. Forget the charts and radio-friendliness. Read on for the five Factory Records releases you need to hear in 2024.
A Factory Sample (1979) – Various artists
If Buzzcocks’ 1978 DIY single ‘Boredom’, a bonafide anti-establishment success story, established indie music as we know it, then A Factory Sample kept the newfound DIY spirit of punk going and made it more unsettling. Post-punk as we knew it was born in Manchester.
Featuring producer Martin Hannett’s first collaboration with Joy Division, the EP begins with a young punk band finally finding their sound. ‘Digital’ and ‘Glass’, still as sharply contemporary as they were in 1979, find the group moving away from Sex Pistols punk towards the genre-blending rhythms – bad faith that you can dance to – that would go on to define Unknown Pleasures and Closer.
A Factory Sample also features cuts from local talents such as The Durutti Column, John Dowie, and Cabaret Voltaire. A mix of industrial anxiety and art-house experimentation, the record compactly displayed the musical liberation that was taking place in the North. Factory Records had arrived.
The Return of The Durutti Column (1980) – The Durutti Column
Vinni Reilly, guitarist/vocalist/songwriter behind The Durutti Column, is one of Manchester’s true guitar heroes, and is up there with the likes of Johnny Marr or John Squire. His arpeggio tapestries are perhaps at their very best on his first LP outing, contrarily entitled in typical Factory style The Return of The Durutti Column.
Reilly’s 1980 LP is one of the most beguiling and intricate records to ever come out of Manchester. Part prog, part ambient, part jazz, part post-punk, the soundscapes glitter and glow all the way through from the citron psychedelia of ‘Sketch For Summer’ to the frosty glare of ‘In “D”’. As God Himself says in Michael Winterbottom’s 24 Hour Party People (2002), “It’s great music to chill out to.” This remains true – Vini Reilly’s guitar playing sounds as coyly effervescent as it did 40 years ago.
A fun piece of trivia: the sandpaper sleeve of the record, which was designed to damage the other records in buyers’ collections, was folded by hand by the members of Joy Division one afternoon in the Factory offices. This neatly summarises Factory’s humble origins: a group of contrarian, vaguely anarchistic Mancunians making records together.
Sextet (1982) – A Certain Ratio
When Factory started out, Joy Division was the label’s main group and was managed by the ambitious former Northern Soul DJ Rob Gretton. Tony Wilson wanted a band of his own to look after. Enter A Certain Ratio.
The Wythenshawe jazz-funk-punk group were never ones to follow the crowd. A Certain Ratio’s distinct mix of post-punk gloom and elastic groove has cemented them as a long-lasting cult band, their eclectic sound still championed by a dazzling array of artists such as The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, The Stone Roses, David Byrne, The Orielles, and Squid. Their festering energy has weaved its way throughout contemporary music, whether the public knows it or not.
Sextet saw the group expand its lineup: the addition of vocalist Martha Tilson adds an effeminate phantom-like presence to Jez Kerr’s bass tour-de-force ‘Lucinda’. Disarming, dark, punctual: Sextet is the perfect introduction to Manchester’s answer to Talking Heads.
From The Hip (1984) – Section 25
From the opening nostalgic ambience of ‘The Process’ to the conclusive proto-LCD Soundsystem warbling of ‘Inspiration’, Section 25’s third record remains a glittery landmark in 80s synth-pop. Whilst less accessible than synthesiser peers such as Soft Cell or Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, Section 25 proves to be every bit as enduring, and a bit more dangerous. From The Hip, produced by New Order’s Bernard Sumner, is a sprawling, ambitious work of electronica, every bit as expansive, frostbitten, and romantic as its Peter Saville sleeve would suggest.
For the eagle-eyed: the sleeve’s set of climbing poles, pitched across a stretch of mountains, are colour-coded to spell out the band’s name and LP title. Saville uses the same colour-coding system here as he did on New Order’s 1983 masterpiece Power, Corruption & Lies.
Electronic (1991) – Electronic
After The Smiths’ dramatic split in 1987, guitarist wunderkind Johnny Marr was left band-less. He sifted around the scene as a gun-for-hire, playing with the likes of The The, Talking Heads, and Brian Ferry, but the 28-year-old ex-Smith wanted something closer to home, something different.
And he found exactly what he was looking for in New Order’s Bernard Sumner. The electronica expert was only a stone’s throw away, and somewhat aimless after a temporary New Order split. The two banded together, with occasional backing vocals and songwriting input from The Pet Shop Boys‘ Neil Tennant and Primal Scream’s Denise Johnson, to form Electronic – a supergroup of certified indie royalty.
Electronic’s debut is a bubbly piece of electronic indie pop, a spiritual blueprint for Hot Chip’s hipster electronica. Sumner does what he does best, crafting quirky dance beats, penning senseless lyrics and earnestly attempting to sing in key, whilst Marr applies flourishes of six-string sparkle. Admittedly, the album is held up by its singles: the bitter-sweet Morrissey pastiche ‘Getting Away With It’, the sun-struck jangle of ‘Get The Message’, and the half-way-house-hip-hop of ‘Feel Every Beat’. However, the record still holds up as a tight-knit batch of indie disco antics courtesy of two of Manchester’s sharpest musical minds.
In 2024, Factory’s output is still ripe for exploring.
