severed heads
ltm catalogue

Severed Heads are one of the most innovative electronic bands of the last three decades. LTM will reissue selected titles from their impressive back catalogue, all remastered by head Head Tom Ellard with enhanced artwork and booklets. To read Severed Heads biography click here. To purchase CDs click here.



ROTUND FOR SUCCESS LTMCD 2404 £10
Rotund For Success was originally released in 1989, and saw Severed Heads flirt with mainstream success. Although all material was written by chief Head Tom Ellard, it's Robert Racic's seamless mixes of slinky dance tracks Greater Reward and All Saint's Day which truly set the album apart. This expanded CD issue has been digitally remastered by Tom Ellard and runs for over 72 minutes. The booklet contains a detailed band biography by Bernie Maier, as well as notes by Tom. Full tracklist: All Saints Day, Triangle Tangle Tango, Bad Times Too, Midget Sings, Seven Miles, Greater Reward, Big Car Intro, Big Car, First Steps, Rotund For Success, L.F.M., Chasing Skirt, All Saints Day (Original Mix), Bad Times Three, Star Spangled Bradbury, Bombs Fell, L.F.M. Part Two).

Reviews: "Rotund For Success is one of the group's better efforts, focusing more on actual songs than avant-garde experimentation. Main Head Tom Ellard suceeded in crafting several surprisingly catchy pop-friendly tunes, especially All Saints Day, Greater Reward and Big Car. Producer Robert Racic's appearance behind the boards is a big plus" (All Music Guide, 07/2005); "Lies somewhat comfortably on the timeline of Severed Heads' natural progression from dark industrial towards more accessible dance. While decidedly reaching for more mainstream success, music lovers not limited solely to difficult listening and elitist esoterica will find Rotund For Success both a worthwhile treasure and (on another level) an upbeat throwback to a time where electronic dance music was still going through growing pains" (brainwashed.com, 2005); "Easily Severed Heads' most accessible work, this album actually sounds quite pop-ish, until you listen closer and note the underlying weirdness" (amazon.com, 2005); "Severed Heads jettisoned willful weirdness and moved into politely presentable synth-dance-pop on Rotund For Success, an unnervingly plain-sounding record, although Ellard's lyrical sensibility is unnervingly off-kilter and flashes of a twisted mind erupt now and then in the mix" (Trouser Press)



VIVA! HEADS! LTMCD 2464 £10
The first ever live CD from Severed Heads, digitally recorded at various performances in Europe and Australia between 1998 and 2005. Seamlessly produced and edited by Tom Ellard, the set gives new twists to old favourites, and ranges from techno through electronica to modern composition (with a beat). Unusually for a live album crowd noise has been entirely removed. Says Tom: "We've taken the old tunes and renewed them - true to our past, but relevant to new listeners. It's a compilation but kicks way above that - live versions known to please, spanning seven big years of festivals and nightclubs. Trust it!" 13 tracks, 61 minutes of music. Full tracklist: The Ant Can See Legs, Dead Eyes Opened, Greater Reward, Anti Intellectual, The Song Of Sam, Someone Who Doesn't Need Their Organs Anymore, Choose Evil, 2000 Freedoms Remain, Your Eyes Are Getting Bleepy, The Discovery of Christian Science, Book Burner, Formal Choices, Go.

Reviews: "Severed Heads are legends in electronic music, and most of the tracks here are new or from the more recent releases. Greater Reward and Dead Eyes Opened are excellent classic tracks that still sound strong; other wonderful cuts include Choose Evil, Your Eyes Are Getting Bleepy and The Ant Can See Legs" (thetripwire, 01/07); "While crowd-pleasing favourites Dead Eyes Opened and Greater Reward certainly make appearances, the tracklisting takes in a diverse cross-section of Ellard's post-major label output, meaning that Viva! Heads! represents the perfect primer compilation for anyone unaware that Sevs continued to release albums post-Gigapus. As well as featuring tracks from Haul Ass and Op 1.2, the tracklisting also manages to pack in a suitably twisted remix of Your Kidneys from last year's Illustrated Family Doctor soundtrack, and even a handful of tracks previously released under Ellard?s Cok*La*Coma alias. In many ways Ellard's openly-expressed ambivalence towards his commercially successful early 90s electro-pop period comes across as curious in the light of the fact that it's clearly left an indelible imprint upon his later work, as this retrospective collection neatly illustrates" (Cyclic Defrost, 11/06)


ComMerz (Best Of) LTMCD 2493 £12
Comprehensive 2xCD best of collection spanning the years 1982-2006, compiled and mastered by Tom Ellard, with detailed artist history in booklet. 30 tracks, 140 minutes of music. Full tracklist: disc one Dead Eyes Opened, Adolf A Karrot, A Million Angels, Goodbye Tonsils, Bless The House, Now An Explosive New Movie, Halo, Petrol, Mambo First Miasma, Blast Patter, 20DD, Hot With Fleas, Nature Ten, Canine; disc two Greater Reward, All Saints Day, Big Car Retread, Pilot In Hell, Twister, Heart Of The Party, Snow Remix, Choose Evil, Sevs In Space, Pinagoal Hank, Oblique Firefly Overlocker, Kittenette, Pilots Hate You, We Choose Moon, Bigfoot, Snuck.

Reviews: "Severed Heads have two decades of wonderful and weird music. ComMerz consists of 140 minutes of avant-electro excellence which spans many albums, and many of Tom Ellard's classic and essential songs. Also includes a very detailed booklet, making ComMerz the best Heads compilation on the market (TripWire, 07/07); "This 2-CD collection is both pleasant and cutting edge. Greater Reward and Dead Eyes Opened will divert fans of New Order or early Depeche Mode, but they're at their best when at their weirdest, as on A Million Angels with its distorted vocals, reminiscent of The Orb or Future Sound of London with its whimsically trippy edge" (Record Collector, 10/07); "Severed Heads married the melodic sensibilities of Talking Heads to a synth-pop backdrop to create an adventurous sound exemplified hy the 1984 hit Dead Eyes Opened. Seminal" (Mojo, 01/08); "This 2-CD anthology may serve as an introduction for many to an experimental electronic that was heavily influential during the mid-80s. Evolving out of the Sydney, Australia 70s punk scene and led by Tom Ellard these heads still have their fingers in many pies, currently they make their own videos, graphics, DVDs and websites. The music though wide ranging can be identified by spongy beats, tinker toy like percussion, lightweight pop vocals and bizarre samples, if that sounds like a lot of the experimental bands of the last 2 decades it's because those bands listened to the Heads. While some of the earlier material seems dated, this is an excellent intro for experimental music fans" (The Big Takeover, 12/2007); "This is proto-electro music, influenced by the Germanic sounds of Kraftwerk no doubt, but with an attention to detail and production values that make it difficult to understand how they never achieved mainstream popularity. A treasured discovery" (Boomkat, 11/2007)

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