ltm recordings
label biography



LTM (originally les temps modernes) was founded in Edinburgh in 1983, and like many small labels at that time grew out of a fanzine. After some cassette-only releases by Crispy Ambulance, Section 25, The Names and The Happy Family, the first vinyl singles arived in 1984: Een Kus by Minny Pops, and At Gunpoint by A Primary Industry.

When these first releases appeared I was still at school, and I was still short of finances when I went to Glasgow University between 1984-87. Nevertheless LTM released four albums during this period, by William S. Burroughs, Crispy Ambulance and two Crepuscule-influenced compilations, Heures Sans Soleil and Minutes.

In the summer of 1987 I relocated to Brussels, Belgium, fondly imaging that it would be like Hemingway's Paris in the 1920s. I worked for Les Disques du Crepuscule for around a year, then moved to PIAS. During this time I edited the Futurism & Dada Reviewed collection, and LTM entered its second phase. This included new albums by Tuxedomoon, Steven Brown, Paul Haig and Peter Principle, and CD reissues by Josef K, Section 25 and Crispy Ambulance.

I returned to the UK in 1991 and got a 'proper' job, with the result that LTM was dormant for a few years. In any event, with the rise of Britpop and Creation there was little interest in genres like early Factory, Crepuscule, post-punk and (dare I say it) art.

However, I decided to resurrect LTM in 1997, by which time CD and the internet had made our niche style viable again. Although our specialist area is definitive editions of classic post-punk catalogue, we also release select new albums by established artists, DVDs, and also archive material relating to 20th Century avant-garde art movements. I'm probably the only person who likes all of it, but equally if you've read this far then you'll probably find much to enjoy in the catalogue as well.

James Nice
May 2006

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