josef k
ltm catalog

"The Only Fun In Town is the album of guitars, signs, sources and wonder I should be talking about in the same love-breath as Empires and Dance, Affectionate Punch, Kilimanjaro - if not Real Life, The Scream and Unknown Pleasures" (Paul Morley, NME, July 1981); "Spiky, insouciant, sardonic, existentially loaded and debonair. And throughout, their melodies remained pop at heart. Now post-punk punk-funk is the current alt rock flavour, the Edinburgh band sound more prescient still; they also cast a shadow on newsworthy Americans from The Rapture to !!! to Erase Errata - and even Joy Divisionesque Interpol. Before then, much C86-era indie rock (Jasmine Minks, June Brides) and even The Soft Boys and Pavement owed something to them" (Martin Aston, Mojo, August 2004)


UMBRELLAS IN THE SUN LTMDVD 2400 £12
Josef K perform Sorry For Laughing 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.


CRAZY TO EXIST (LIVE) LTMCD 2319 £10
The first and best dedicated live release by Josef K. This 60 minute CD combines two complete gigs by the quartet, taped in Brussels (8 April 1981) and London (8 August 1981), the latter gig at The Venue being their final London show. The CD is mastered from first generation soundboard tapes and the booklet contains a full band biography. 20 tracks in total. Full tracklist: Fun n’ Frenzy, 16 Years, It's Kinda Funny, Crazy To Exist, Forever Drone, Revelation, Citizens, Chance Meeting, Sorry for Laughing, Final Request, Fun n' Frenzy, Heaven Sent, Chance Meeting, Missionary, It’s Kinda Funny, Heart of Song, Forever Drone, Sorry For Laughing, The Angle, Adoration.

Reviews: "Here you get the fullest sense of the band at their most serrated and angular, engaged in an always engaging struggle to break out of their post-punk chrysalis" (Uncut, 4/02); "Josef K must have been a great group to watch, sounding both primitive and vital whilst eschewing the amateurish playing of most punk bands. The dextrous guitar playing involved is really something special - a shame their time together was so brief" (Leonard's Lair, 2001); "Excellent" (Uncut, 11/03)


THE ONLY FUN IN TOWN / SORRY FOR LAUGHING (LTMCD 2305) £10 DELETED
Recorded in April 1981, TOFIT (ten tracks) remains the only album released on the legendary Postcard label and features a host of classic songs by Paul Haig and Malcolm Ross. Recorded six months earlier, the debut album Sorry For Laughing (twelve tracks) was shelved as being too polished (!).70 minutes, 22 tracks, full sleevenotes, original Postcard album artwork Full tracklist: Fun n' Frenzy, Revelation, Crazy to Exist, It's Kinda Funny, The Angle, Forever Drone, Heart of Song, 16 Years, Citizens, Sorry for Laughing, Fun n' Frenzy, Heads Watch, Drone, Sense of Guilt, Art of Things, Crazy to Excist, Citizens, Variation of Scene, Terry's Show Lies, No Glory, Endless Soul, Sorry for Laughing.

Reviews: "The real find is the hitherto lost album, which at times makes for more comfortable listening, but TOFIT remains as important and as vital a debut as Unknown Pleasures and Entertainment" (Sounds, 12/90); "The earlier versions of the songs sound superbly coiled and keen" (Melody Maker, 10/90)


YOUNG AND STUPID (LTMCD 2307) £10 DELETED
This collection gathers together the run of classic JoKay singles recorded for the Absolute, Postcard and Crepuscule labels between 1979 and 1981. All flipsides are included, together with the fondly-remembered John Peel radio session from June 1981, plus early demo tracks and a live take of the last song written for the band by frontman Paul Haig, Adoration. 21 tracks, 72 minutes, full sleevenotes and brand new artwork. Full tracklist: Romance, Chance Meeting, Radio Drill Time, Crazy to Exist, It's Kinda Funny, Final Request, Sorry for Laughing, Revelation, Chance Meeting, Pictures of Cindy, The Angle (2 versions), Missionary, Heart of Song, Applebush, Heaven Sent, Endless Soul, Radio Drill Time (demo), Torn Mentor, Night Ritual, Adoration (live).

Reviews: "Essential - an exemplary history of an excellent band" (Record Collector, 6/02); "Ennui to die for" (Glasgow Herald, 2/02); "A summit meeting between Captain Beefheart and Chic" (Exclaim, 7/02); "Perfectly encapsulates one of Scotland's finest bands" (Record Collector, 1/91); "Contains the Postcard singles and more - part greatest hits and part out-takes, its core is a triumvirate of singles without peer" (Sounds, 10/91)


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