#257
I actually hadn’t heard of the influential London group Test Dept until they were booked to play Ombra this year (coming up next week). But they were contemporaries of Einstürzende Neubauten and even cut two Peel Session for BBC.
To coincide with the festival, Artoffact are releasing a new boxet called Industrial Overture on December 5th, which gathers studio and live material from their initial 1982-85 era. At the time they had five core members who got together cause they were all unemployed, but they also collaborated with many other musicians.
Today, after having reformed as a duo in 2015, they consist of original members Paul Jamrozy and Gray Cunnington. In 2015 the book Total State Machine came out, along with a dvd, and some of their music has been reissued by their first label Some Bizarre (also home to e.g. Depeche Mode and Soft Cell) and others.
But with the release of the new 4cd box, it will be the first time their debut cassette (self-released and consisting of live recordings) will be available digitally. The second cd consists of their first ‘official’ release Ecstacy Under Duress, released on tape by Pleasantly Surprised in 1984 (and also consisting of live recordings).
The last two discs hold sessions and demos, as well as the 1992 release Atonal & Hamburg “Live”, recorded live in 1985. And this is simply the first in Artoffact’s release schedule, which also includes a new album from Test Dept in 2026. Check out the group’s 1984 debut LP below as well.
Photo by John Hunt
