Factory Benelux

Home News Catalogue History FBN Mailorder FBN Merch Contact Crépuscule

Crispy Ambulance \ The Plateau Phase [FBN 12 / CD]

Factory Benelux presents expanded vinyl and CD remasters of The Plateau Phase, the debut album by Manchester postpunk group Crispy Ambulance, originally issued in March 1982.

Recorded at Strawberry 2 with producer Chris Nagle, this acclaimed album captures the group at the peak of their creative powers. Bonus tracks on the CD include extended 12" single The Presence and Concorde Square (both produced by Martin Hannett), along with swansong single Sexus.

The CD edition features enhanced original artwork by renowned Belgian typographer Lucien De Roeck (1915-2002), and live photography in the booklet.

The double vinyl edition was issued in a limited edition of 500 copies for Record Store Day 2019, pressed in clear vinyl and remastered from the original analogue tapes. Tracks on the bonus disc include The Presence and Concorde Square, as well as their John Peel session from 1981. Artwork by Benoit Hennebert. Gatefold sleeve printed on white matt reverse board, with a new sleevenote by Alan Hempsall. SOLD OUT!

CD/digital tracklist:

1. Are You Ready?
2. Travel Time
3. The Force and the Wisdom
4. The Wind Season
5. Death From Above
6. We Move Through the Plateau Phase
7. Bardo Plane
8. Chill
9. Federation
10. Simon's Ghost
11. The Presence
12. Concorde Square
13. Sexus

2xLP tracklist:

A1. Are You Ready?
A2. Travel Time
A3. The Force and the Wisdom
A4. The Wind Season
A5. Death From Above
B1. We Move Through the Plateau Phase
B2. Bardo Plane
B3. Chill
B4. Federation
B5. Simon's Ghost
C1. The Presence
C2. Concorde Square
D1. Come On (Peel)
D2. Drug User Drug Pusher (Peel)
D3. October 31st (Peel)
D4. Egypt (Peel)

Available on CD and digital (MP3 and FLAC). Vinyl is sold out. CD copies ordered direct from FBN are slipcased. To order please first select correct shipping option (UK, Europe, Rest of World) and then click on Add To Cart button below cover image. Digital copies are supplied via link in an email.

Or, you can order with the option of tracked shipping from our friends at Burning Shed (click here to order)

Reviews:

"One of the best albums Britain's second city has unleashed" (Q, 03/2006)

"Seventeen 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, 12/1999)

"An enthralling glimpse at a moment in musical history when the DIY ethos of punk gradually gave way to experiments with electronics and song structures" (NME, 01/2000)

"Mixes driving rock, gritty new wave and odd atmospheric stuff" (Option, 1990)

"Cold and ferocious, but with enough inventive melody to lighten the black abyss of the overall mood" (Les Inrockuptibles, 02/2012)

"The album's strength lies in its varied songwriting approach and diversion away from standard verse-chorus composition (Flipside, 03/2013)

"Phasers on stun!" (Sounds, 05/1982)

"The Plateau Phase may not be an outright masterpiece but it comes awfully close" (All Music Guide)

"Thrillingly discordant and abstract, much of this requires slotting into the post-punk canon" (The Arts Desk, 02/2013)

"A wonderful album with a compelling gravitational pull" (Record Collector, 03/2013)

"Hidden within what now seems an unbalanced overview of the 80s lay an important moment when lo-fi electronic and post punk outfits finally started to find their true musicality. Such was the case with Crispy Ambulance, which is why this Benelux reissue of that first album now sounds fresher and more ironically vibrant than it ever did first time around" (The Quietus, 04/2013)

"Alongside the original record, this clear vinyl reissue of The Plateau Phase includes a second disc featuring the two lengthy tracks from their Live On a Hot August Night 12-inch and their one and only John Peel session, both from 1981. It's a truly fabulous package. What's immediately striking about the material on TPP is the breadth of Crispy Ambulance's aspirations. This is post-punk-plus and alt-funk-extra. So while The Wind Season and Bardo Plane solder spiky guitars to rolling basslines, Death From Above is an eerie experimental furrow, the soundtrack to a film you wouldn't want to watch on your own. There are strong hints of Krautrock here too, particularly in the driving Are You Ready? and the chaotic Federation, as well as flashed of electronica. The synths are key elements on two of the standout cuts: the awesome We Move Through the Plateau Phase, a part-industrial and part-tribal frug, and the sparkling ambient jewel that is Simon's Ghost. Also striking is how fresh and vibrant it all sounds" (Electronic Sound, 05/2019)

"Welcome back Crispy Ambulance, whose 1982 album returns as a clear vinyl pressing accompanied by additional material including the Martin Hannett-produced Live On a Hot August Night. Songs such as Are You Ready? and the title track unfurl a dramatic propulsive power, and the Hannett tracks are tremendous, showcasing both the band's energy and their soundtrack aspirations" (Record Collector, 08/2019)