Long Reads

The myth of Delia Derbyshire grows by the year, but her archive reveals that all is not quite as it seems, offering a fascinating insight into her sound-obsessed childhood and her work after leaving the radiophonic workshop

Learning the ropes from Stockhausen, La MoNte young and Terry Riley and showing the way forward to Eno and Byrne, Jon Hassell is an electronic music colossus. Seems that at 81, he’s just getting started

A surprise soundtrack album, an untimely death, a chance opportunity and a Hawaiian full moon… peak inside the Red Room of Johnny Jewel

First published in New Musical Express on 2 February 1980 under the title ‘The Emaciated Line Between Art And Ambience’, we’re heading into the eye of the Factory Records storm… or in Tony Wilson’s car on our way to meet The Durutti Column’s Vini Reilly.

In his first volume of memoirs, Stephen Morris tackles growing up in Macclesfield and how he ended up as the drummer in Joy Division.  We talk to him about the idea of independence, why it was embraced  in 1970s Manchester and how Factory’s version ended up on top

Way ahead of their time, Section 25 were one of Factory’s most inspired signings. Drummer Vin Cassidy looks back on the early years of the label and how his band came into its orbit 

One of the more curious arms of the Factory roster, there was never a dull moment with art punks Minny Pops. Lead man Wally Van Middendorp reminisces on the journey that started with a band called Tits.

My conversation with Tony Wilson took place on Saturday 29 October 2005 at his loft apartment on Little Peter Street in Manchester.

One of the first bands signed to Factory, A Certain Ratio helped to define the label’s distinctive look and sound, from their Peter Saville-designed record sleeves to their individualistic output. 

Once upon a time, at the dawn of the electronic age, Mark Reeder ran away to join the circus. He never came home again.