kalima / swamp children
ltm catalog

Formed in 1980, Factory avant-funk band Swamp Children initially shared members with A Certain Ratio before mutating into acclaimed latin jazz contenders Kalima, releasing four albums between 1986 and 2002. To read full band biography click here. To purchase CDs click here.


SO HOT + SINGLES LTMCD 2364 £10
Swamp Children formed in Manchester in 1980, around core members Ann Quigley (vocals), Tony Quigley (sax and bass), John Kirkham (guitar), Ceri Evans (keyboards and bass), Cliff Saffer (sax) and Martin Moscrop (drums). Although their close association with fellow avant-funksters A Certain Ratio lead many to assume that Swamp Children were merely an ACR splinter group, Swamp Children always pursued a more latin, bossa nova and jazz tinged agenda, and were a totally separate affair. So Hot was originally released by Factory and Factory Benelux in October 1982, and now appears on CD for the very first time. Standout tracks include Samba Zippy, El Figaro and Secret Whispers. Indeed the album received the lofty accolade of 'one of the best albums of the year' from Melody Maker and a 5 Star rating in the Virgin Rock Yearbook for 1982! The six bonus tracks include both their earlier 12" eps, also long unavailable. Little Voices was produced by ACR frontman Simon Topping at Cabaret Voltaire's famed Western Works studio in March 1981, while the Taste What's Rhythm ep (recorded March 1982) includes You've Got Me Beat and the super-slinky Softly Saying Goodbye. Full tracklist: Samba Zippy (Pt 1), El Figaro, Tender Game, Magic, Sunny Weather, Samba Zippy (Pt 2), No Sunshine, Spark the Flame, Secret Whispers, Taste What's Rhythm, You've Got Me Beat, Softly Saying Goodbye, Call Me Honey, Boy, Little Voices.

Reviews: "One of those intriguing Manchester footnotes that provided much pleasure and enjoyment in the early 1980s, before mutating into the equally overlooked Kalima" (Record Collector, 4/04); "So Hot is a cool record to discover and enjoy all over again. When they get it right, like on the sultry, Brazilian-influenced Tender Game or the lovely, lazy and measured Spark the Flame, they're nigh on irresistable" (Whisperin' + Hollerin', 3/04); "Hints of Martin Denny and Sergio Mendes crop up, with an easygoing grace and bubbling energy" (All Music Guide, 10/04); "This is one of the best records of the year. Buy it!" (Melody Maker, 12/82); "Swamp Children grew up in the shadow of the more popular A Certain Ratio (with whom they shared rehearsal space), and a cursory spin through the group's discography makes it easy to see why. Both bands were enamored of walking bass, wailing brass and wah-wah guitar. But where ACR eventually evolved into a kind of starchy white funk, Swamp Children were indebted to the cool groove of jazz and bossa nova" (eMusic, 09/06)


NIGHT TIME SHADOWS + SINGLES LTMCD 2379 £10
The first album by latin-funk-jazz contenders Kalima, originally released on Factory Records (Fact 155) in July 1986. Stand-out tracks include the sensual ballad After Hours, the Latin bounce of Start the Melody and the frantic drummy instrumental In Time. To these are added all six tracks from the first two Kalima records, the Four Songs ep (1985) and their acclaimed cover of the Sarah Vaughan standard The Smiling Hour (1984). During this period (1985/86), core Kalima members Ann and Tony Quigley, John Kirkham, Chris Manos and Cliff Saffer were joined by almost all of cult post-punk funkers A Certain Ratio: Martin Moscrop, Jeremy Kerr and Andy Connell. Playing in Kalima allowed the Ratios to indulge their convoluted jazz chops, and at the same time preserve ACR as a nastier, noisier musical vehicle. Connell soon afterwards found chart fame as one-third of Swing Out Sister. The booklet also features detailed sleevenotes and images of the band. Full tracklist: Mystic Rhymes, After Hours, On Green Dolphin Street, Black Water, In Time, Father Pants, Start the Melody, Token Freaky, Love Suspended in Time, The Smiling Hour, Fly Away, Trickery, Land of Dreams, Sparkle, So Sad.

Reviews: "The kind of stuff you put on for an intimate evening in on a long hot summer night - pleasant and slinky, and blends into the atmosphere nicely" (Sounds, 1986); "Three essential dance tunes in Trickery, Land of Dreams and Sparkle" (Blues & Soul, 1986); "NTS sees them in nicely reckless form" (Blitz, 1986); "A bouyant, wiggly thing, tickling summer sensibilities with ridiculous delight" (Melody Maker, 1986); "Kalima specialise in moody after-hours jazz, with light instrumental touches, cosmopolitan rhythms and a velvety voice" (Record Mirror, 1986); "An accomplished 45 minutes by any standards" (Sounds, 1986)


KALIMA! + SINGLES LTMCD 2407 £10
The second album from Kalima, originally released on Factory (Fact 206) in March 1988 and the first on which the band emerged from the shadow of A Certain Ratio. Another collection of cool, swingin' cuts to smokey, smooching, moonlighting, 4 am-ing romantics. Where the Downtown 'wow' types meet the Uptown serious collectors, and the talk is loud but never cheap. The remastered CD features 6 bonus tracks culled from the singles Weird Feelings and Whispered Words, plus the rare compilation track Rainforest. Full tracklist: That Twinkle (In Your Eye), Casabel, Sad and Blue, Over the Waves, Now You're Mine, The Strangest Thing, Special Way, Autumn Leaves, Julan, Weird Feelings, The Dance, Rainforest, Whispered Words, Sugar and Spice, In Time (Version).

Reviews: "I love the music of Kalima. Easy listening for difficult people" (Melody Maker, 1988); "Kalima more brass-driven, and revamped" (All Music Guide, 2005)


FEELING FINE + SINGLES LTMCD 2449 £10
Album number three from Kalima, originally released on Factory (Fact 249) in August 1990 and the set on which the second version of the band really hit their stride. The two bonus tracks are taken from the Shine remix 12" single (Fac 269), featuring club-friendly mixes of Shine by Gilles Peterson, Patrick Forge and Tim Oliver. Full tracklist: Shine, A Thousand Signs, Take It Easy, Interstella, All the Way Through, Big Fat City, The Groovy One, Azure, Unreal, Shine (Vibrazonic Mix), Shine (Concret Mix)

Reviews: "One of the few albums on Factory that hasn't aged at all. Still a very fresh album, and every track would sit well in a modern chill-out set. A solid and timeless piece of work" (Discogs, 03/04)


UMBRELLAS IN THE SUN LTMDVD 2400 £12
Kalima perform The Shining Hour and Swamp Children perform You Got Me Beat (live at the Hacienda) 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
Ann Quigley of Swamp Children/Kalima 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.


THE FRUIT OF THE ORIGINAL SIN LTMCD 2497 (2xCD) £12
Deluxe double CD remaster of 2xLP compilation released by Les Disques du Crepuscule in November 1981 (TWI 035), featuring Flesh by Swamp Children. 31 tracks (including 8 bonus cuts), 120 minutes of music, readings and conversation. To read sleevenote click here. Full tracklist: (disc one) Peter Gordon The Fruit of the Original Sin, The French Impressionists My Guardian Angel / Boo Boo's Gone Mambo, Durutti Column The Eye and the Hand, Wim Mertens Multiple 12, Cecile Bruynoghe Clair de Lune, Marine A Man & A Woman, Paul Haig Mad Horses, Marine Animal In My Head, 323 Affectionate Silence, Swamp Children Flesh, DNA Taking Kid to School / Cop Buys a Donut / Delivering the Goods, Lawrence Weiner & Peter Gordon Deutsche Angst, Durutti Column Weakness & Fever, Rhythm of Life Summertime, The Lost Jockey Matters of Theory; (disc two) Rhine River III An End Remains, Richard Jobson The Happiness of Lonely, Marguerite Duras interview, Virginia Astley A Long Absence, Richard Jobson India Song, The Names Music for Someone, Thick Pigeon Sudan, Durutti Column Party, Arthur Russell Sketch for Face of Helen, Durutti Column Experiment in Fifth, Winston Tong The Next Best Thing To Death, William S. Burroughs Twilight's Last Gleaming, Cecile Bruynoghe Gymnopedie No 1, Rhine River III Departures, Rhythm of Life Soon, Lawrence Weiner Where It Came From.

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