Territory: WORLDWIDE

Genre: Electronic, Leftfield, Jazz, Techno, Minimalism

DLP: 350gsm Heavyweight Sleeve with Inside Out Print, Sticker

Tracklisting DLP
A1. All Of A Sudden
A2. Surfacing
B1. Sucker 4U
B2. On The Brink
B3. Zombie
C1. By Turns
C2. Ambush
C3. 4U Version
D1. Ghost Routine
D2. What Machines Want


Info

WRWTFWW Records is honored to reissue revered UK electronic duo Ultramarine’s best kept secret from their discography, the superb A User’s Guide album, available as a limited double LP housed in a beautiful heavyweight sleeve with inside out printing.

On the rare occasions that Ultramarine’s story is told, the duo’s fifth album, 1998’s A User’s Guide, tends to get omitted from the narrative. Radically different to anything the duo released before or since, it has remained a slept-on, timeless and inherently futurist classic ever since.

Unavailable on vinyl since the year it was released – in part because the label it originally came out on, New Electronica, folded shortly afterwards – A User’s Guide was the result of a conscious decision by Ultramarine members Paul Hammond and Ian Cooper to change their working methods and the “sound palette” that underpinned their work.

Out went the partially improvised hybrid electronic/acoustic sounds and the collaborations with guest musicians they’d become famous for. They were replaced by painstakingly created electronic sounds and textures, metallic motifs, spaced-out chords, rhythms rooted in contemporary techno and drum & bass culture, and nods aplenty to pioneering music of the period, from the post-rock atmospherics of Tortoise, and the hazy dub techno of Basic Channel, to the tech-jazz of Detroit, the minimalism of Berlin, and the musically expansive warmth of Chicago deep house.

It may have taken a year to create – part of which was spent developing this head-spinning new sound – but the results were undeniably unearthly and effortlessly forward-thinking. Over a quarter of a century may have passed since it first appeared in record stores, but A User’s Guide still sounds fresh and modern – a remarkable achievement given the relatively sparse and basic equipment used in the making of the album.

As this first vinyl reissue conclusively proves, the material showcased on A User’s Guide has lost none of its sparkle in the 26 years that have passed since its release. For proof, check the head-nodding IDM bubbliness of opener ‘All of a Sudden’, the queasy, lopsided tech-jazz of ‘Sucker For You’, the locked-in beats and mind-mangling motifs of ‘Zombie’, the ghostly, out-there electro of ‘Ambush’, the Autechre-esque ‘Ghost Routine’ and the triumphant closing cut ‘What Machines Want’, a classic of minimalistic, jazz-flecked techno futurism.

Fully remastered from the original DATs by Jason G at Transition Studios, the 2024 vinyl edition of A User’s Guide thrusts Ultramarine’s most overlooked album back into the spotlight. This WRWTFWW edition also features brand new contextualizing sleeve notes, complete with new quotes on the production process from Ultramarine, by dance music historian Matt Anniss (author of Join The Future: Bleep Techno and the Birth of British Bass Music, and founder of online electronic music platform Jointhefuture.net).

Points of interests

For fans of electronic, leftfield, postrock, tech-jazz, IDM, minimalism, futurist electronica, dub techno, house, experimental, Autechre, Tortoise, Basic Channel, forgotten gems from superb discographies, very good music, and very very very very good music.

Official vinyl reissue of legendary UK electronic’s duo Ultramarine’s timeless and radical album A User’s Guide.


Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: [email protected]More

Genre: Soundtrack, 80s, Cult, Horror, Score, Synth, Orchestral

LP: Limited Edition of 500, Heavyweight 350gsm Sleeve, Cut Out Sticker, Composer Notes

Tracklisting LP
A1. Main Title
A2. Stuck
A3. Teddy
A4. The House
A5. The Basement
A6. Judy And Dolls
A7. Mr. Punch
A8. Dark Hallways
A9. Gabriel’s Workroom
A10. Toys For Us Kids
A11. The Rooms
A12. Isabel And Judy
B1. The End Of Isabel
B2. The Dolls Attack
B3. So Long, Shortstuff
B4. Toys Are Loyal
B5. Trapped
B6. End Title

Info

WRWTFWW Records is very excited to announce the first ever release of the highly-sought after original soundtrack from 1987 cult horror movie Dolls by multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, music man extraordinaire Fuzzbee Morse. The limited-edition LP is a miracle of lost-then-found VHS era film scores and is housed in a heavyweight 350gsm sleeve with a bloody cutout sticker and exclusive composer notes.

Directed by Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator, From Beyond, Robot Jox...) and released by Charles Band’s infamous Empire Pictures (which later morphed into Full Moon Productions), Dolls is 80s campy VHS horror in all its glory, a fan-favorite with all the attributes needed for a frightening popcorn night, including one hell of a soundtrack with a very welcomed heavy dose of menacing synths, thunderous orchestrations, and quirky interludes.

The haunting score comes from master Fuzzbee Morse who composed it in Richard Band’s garage with a Yamaha QX-1 sequencer, an arsenal of vintage synthesizers, and a wide array of instruments. The result is a must-have (and never released before!) soundtrack that blends horror tropes with influences ranging from Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring to Bernard Herrmann, Frank Zappa, Beethoven, Charles Ives and Eleanor Rigby!

Dolls follows the WRWTFWW release of Fuzzbee Morse’s Ghoulies II (1988) as well as 3 other soundtracks from the Empire Pictures vaults: Richard Band’s Ghoulies (1985), TerrorVision (1986), and Troll (1986). All still available – complete the collection now!

Points of interests

- For fans of soundtracks, horror, cult, synth, ambient, classical, 80s, VHS, Charles Band, Full Moon Productions, Stuart Gordon, John Carpenter, b-movies, sci-fi, Gremlins, toys, evil toys, Toys R Us, the good old days, toys you can play with at 33rpm, Christmas presents.

- First ever release for the soundtrack of cult horror movie Dolls (1987), with cut out sticker and composer notes.




Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: [email protected]More