crispy ambulance
ltm catalog

LTM is pleased to present on CD the complete catalogue by Crispy Ambulance, the cult Manchester post-punk/cold wave band who recorded for Factory Records and Factory Benelux between 1980 and 1982, as well as producing two further studio albums in 2002 and 2004. Crispy Ambulance are Alan Hempsall, Gary Madeley, Robert Davenport and Keith Darbyshire. To read a full biography of the band click here. To purchase Crispy Ambulance CDs click here.


THE PLATEAU PHASE + SINGLES LTMCD 2315 £10
Digitally remastered 70 minute CD of the classic 1982 studio album, originally released on Factory Benelux (FBN 12), and an underrated jewel in the Factory catalogue. Core album produced at Strawberry Studio by Chris Nagle. The three bonus single tracks are full-length versions of Sexus, The Presence and Concorde Square, the latter two peerlessly produced by Martin Hannett. Detailed sleevenotes, Benoit Hennebert artwork. Full tracklist: Are You Ready?, Travel Time, The Force and the Wisdom, The Wind Season, Death From Above, We Move Through the Plateau Phase, Bardo Plane, Chill, Federation, Simon's Ghost, The Presence, Concorde Square, Sexus.

Reviews: "17 years on The Plateau Phase sounds like what it probably always was: urgent, postmodernist psychedelia with less debt to Joy Division’s music than to the universal abstract existential tension that comes with being young" (Uncut, 12/99); "An enthralling enough glimpse at a moment in musical history when the DIY ethos of punk gradually gave way to experiments with electronics and song structures" (NME, 01/00); "An essential part of the fabric of British post-punk" (Epitonic, 6/03); "Mixes driving rock, gritty new wave and odd atmospheric stuff" (Option, 1990); "One of the best albums Britain's second city has unleashed" (Q magazine, 03/06); "The Plateau Phase may not be an outright masterpiece but it comes awfully close" (All Music Guide); "Sexus contains a biting vocal and breathtaking post-punk anthem that most bands would be proud of" (amazon.com)


FROZEN BLOOD LTMCD 2327 £10
Digitally remastered, this archive studio, session and live collecion includes both sides of the Fac 32 10" single, all eight tracks from their oustanding radio sessions for John Peel and Piccadilly Radio transferred from the original master tapes, plus seven late-period live tracks taped in 1982 but never studio recorded. 17 tracks (10 studio, 7 live), 72 minutes of music, detailed liner notes. Full tracklist: Not What I Expected, Deaf, Come On, Drug User-Drug Pusher, October 31st, Egypt, A Sense of Reason, Eastern Bloc, Concorde Square, The Presence, Headhunters (live), Frozen Blood (live), Turnbuckle (live), The Gift of Danger (live), Hollow Points (live), The Grind (live), Cult (live).

Reviews: "Witness the driving Deaf or the improvised take on Grind, where trad-angst is eschewed for matters, dare I say, a little bit funky. The cauterising Gift of Danger meanwhile is as good an artifact of the band’s experimental leanings as you’ll find. A vibrant snapshot of Manchester’s beating post-punk heart, this is stirring stuff." (City Life, 12/00); "A dry, earnest sound – they had their moments!" (Q magazine, 03/01)


SCISSORGUN LTMCD 2329 £10
Powerful second studio album (2002) by the re-formed original line-up, produced by long-time band collaborator Graham Massey, whose credits include 808 State, Bjork and Biting Tongues. The album is a co-release with Darla Records in North America (DRL-126). Full tracklist: Step Up!, Loupgarou, Metal Grey, Re-animator, Heatwave, Parallax, The Drop, End Game, Even Now in Heaven There Are Angels Carrying Savage Weapons.

Reviews: "Has done what few Factory-influenced bands have: taken the old sound and gone somewhere new with it. The Ambulance infuses its old swing, giving most of the tunes a gracefulness rarely heard in rock" (Time Out New York, 08/02); "A dynamic, energizing piece of rhythmic post-punk with the feel of a live performance, standing comparison to the group's earlier output" (Epitonic, 06/03); "It's got the same rough-hewn, grimy grandeur as the best Factory releases - an album worth listening to quite apart from its contextual significance" (Splendid e-zine, 07/02); "A beefy take on archetypal early 80's Mancunian post-punk" (Record Collector, 07/02); "An excellent, sharp collection of darkly tinged rock, and an unconventional sound that still sounds fresh" (Erasing Clouds e-zine, 07/02); "Darbyshire's fluid, probing basslines are positively subterranean, while Madeley's spinning drums on tunes like Endgame spur the quartet on to some superb sonic violence… In Loupgarou, Step Up!, End Game and Parallax the band have moulded their fiercely distinctive sound into something live, livid and kicking - bloody good to have them back" (Whisperin' & Hollerin', 05/02)


THE POWDER BLIND DREAM LTMCD 2372 £10
Third studio album from 2003, again produced by Graham Massey. An old friend returns in the guise of the ARP Odyssey synth, which featured heavily on their classic 1982 debut The Plateau Phase and gives this later set a sharp retro-futurist feel. This is a co-release with Darla Records in North America (DRL-138). Full tracklist: Quarter Caste, Triphammer, Evil Eye, Protocol, Any Second Now, Four Line Whip, Chimera, Lucifer Rising, Bad Self, Houses Sinking, Pain and Pleasure.

Reviews: "Sterling audacity - the monochrome, semi-industrial rhythms and doom-laden guitar of Quarter Caste and Protocol sound irrevocably 1979" (Q magazine, 07/04); "At times truly riveting" (Erasing Clouds, 07/04); "The hour's body of work that this unique collective have constructed puts the relatively lacklustre efforts of men half their age to shame - 4/5" (Leonard's Lair, 05/04); "A powerful and creative new effort, built mostly on whiplash rhythms, stinging guitars, Hempsall's expressive vocals and Massey's strategic, live-sound production" (Whisperin' and Hollerin', 05/04); "Retro modern rock - imagine lethargic Fugazi with an ARP Odyssey synth and the inability to perceive time and space, and you've got Crispy Ambulance. A bold, spirited album" (Outburn (USA), 07/04)


FIN (LIVE 1980-82) LTMCD 2302 £10
Extended 70 minute CD edition chiefly comprising live tracks mix-desk recorded around Europe and the UK during the winter of 1981-1982, on tour with Factory labelmates Section 25. The twelve live tracks capture the band at their most eerie, powerful and hypnotic, with eight of these numbers never studio recorded. The three bonus studio tracks are the rare debut single on Aural Assault from 1980, and Black Death, the b-side of the 1982 farewell single Sexus on Factory Benelux (FBN 16). Detailed band biography in booklet plus live photos. Full tracklist: Rainforest Ritual, United, Choral, Deaf, Brutal, The Plateau Phase, Nightfall Ends the Ceasefire, Bardo Plane, At the Sounding of the Klaxon, Chill, I Talking – You Talking (Pts 1 + 2), Lucifer Rising, Black Death (studio), From the Cradle to the Grave (studio), Four Minutes From the Frontline (studio).

Reviews: "Here was a band that had a vision all of its own without any help from the rest of the pack. Too bad this fine band ended up in the casualty ward" (NME, 09/1990); "The instrumentals included here are some of the best jams this reviewer has ever heard, from a band retrospectively cordoned off into the English new wave scene" (Ear Magazine, 1990); "Revealing a psychic bond with Mission of Burma, New Order and JG Ballard… a band that became really vital in many ways at their final hours" (the blowup.com (USA), 02/01); "Powerful yet still mysterious in concert. Plateau Phase is arguably the standout number, it's driving, rampaging post-punk power simply stunning" (All Music Guide)


ACCESSORY AFTER THE FACT (LIVE 1999) LTMCD 2317 £10
Live document of the band’s first reunion gig in Manchester on 5 November 1999 at the Band on the Wall, digitally recorded and mixed by Graham Massey. A pristine and potent document of a unique event, with images in booklet. Full tracklist: Are You Ready?, Deaf, Come On, The Presence, Travel Time, Federation, Choral, Lucifer Rising, Nightfall Ends the Ceasefire, The Plateau Phase, United, Say Shake, Open Gates of Fire, Sound Block.

Reviews: "The results are good: Alan Hempsall’s vocals and Robert Davenport’s guitar still sound of their time, while on songs such as The Presence and Deaf the tunes and playing still have the era’s sense of power and menace" (Q magazine, 8/00); "Touchstones in the Factory firmament… CA mutate their angst into something much more redemptive, and often beautiful" (City Life, 07/00); "The Crispies certainly mastered chiming, hypnotic guitar lines, and for a bunch of old geezers the band still plays with muscle aplenty, investing each song with a passionate urgency that the crowd responds to with evident enthusiasm. Must have been a great night" (amazon.com)


A FACTORY NIGHT (ONCE AGAIN) (LTMDVD 2519) £12
Crispy Ambulance perform 9 songs on this in-concert souvenir of A Factory Night (Once Again) at the legendary Plan K venue in Brussels on 15 December 2007, shot with five cameras on High Definition. The DVD also includes performances by Section 25, The Names, Kevin Hewick and Peter Hook. For further details click here.


UMBRELLAS IN THE SUN LTMDVD 2400 £12
Crispy Ambulance perform The Presence on this definitive two hour compilation DVD, which also features rare archive clips from Antena, A Certain Ratio, Josef K, Cabaret Voltaire, Marine, Section 25, The Names, Durutti Column, New Order, Crispy Ambulance, Minny Pops, Malaria!, Berntholer, Tuxedomoon, Thick Pigeon, Paul Haig, Kalima, Stockholm Monsters, Quando Quango and Swamp Children. For more details of this DVD click here.


SHADOWPLAYERS LTMDVD 2391 £12
Alan Hempsall of Crispy Ambulance is interviewed in this feature length (two hour) documentary DVD, which traces the early history of iconic Manchester record label Factory Records between 1978 and 1981. Shadowplayers features new, candid interviews with Anthony H. Wilson (Factory founder), Peter Saville (designer), Peter Hook (Joy Division/New Order), Martin Moscrop (A Certain Ratio), Vini Reilly (Durutti Column), Simon Topping (A Certain Ratio), Howard Devoto (Buzzcocks/Magazine), Vin and Larry Cassidy (Section 25), Lindsay Reade, Richard Boon, Chris Watson (Cabaret Voltaire), Alan Hempsall (Crispy Ambulance), Wally Van Middendorp (Minny Pops), The Names, Annik Honore (Factory Benelux), Richard Jobson, Killing Joke, Graham Massey (Biting Tongues/808 State), Ann Quigley (Swamp Children) and Stanton Miranda (Thick Pigeon), For further details click here. To purchase DVD click here.

Go to Crispy Ambulance biography
Go to Crispy Ambulance official website www.crispyambulance.com

Go to shopping/mailorder

Return to LTM homepage