Pitchfork: Factory Records Returns Under the Moniker F4

Factory Records Returns Under the Moniker F4

As far as indie label fairy tales go, it doesn't get much more mythic than Factory Records, the UK-based outfit responsible for signing such legendary bands as Joy Division, New Order, and the Happy Mondays. Notably chronicled in Michael Winterbottom's 2002 feature film 24-Hour Party People, the label's checkered past has been told and retold countless times. And just when you thought that book had been long-shelved (following three, yes three, messy bankruptcies), it seems that a new chapter in the oft-chronicled Factory Records story is about to be written, as founder Tony Wilson has once again resurrected the legendary British label.

Now operating under the moniker F4 Records (an obvious nod to the label's fourth iteration), Wilson's new outfit launched in January 2005 with the unveiling of its official website. Currently featuring a roster of three relatively unknown UK bands, the label has already pegged its golden boy-- hip-hop/garage act Raw T. Speaking to the BBC, Wilson cited the band as one of the main inspirations for his re-emergence as a label head.

"I hadn't planned to go and see them [Raw T] but my son, who has been a jungle DJ and promoter since he was about 13, insisted that we go and see them. So I go, and like everyone else, I'm blown away. I have to say, I mean I know this is pathetic of me, but I am every bit as excited about Raw T as I was about Joy Division or the Mondays. I don't understand what it is, but I can feel when genius is working." What a coincidence, we can feel when someone's full of shit...

Raw T's debut single, "Where We Live", will be the first official F4 release when it hits stores this February. Next up will be the band's first full length album Realise & Witness, which is tentatively scheduled for a March release. Also finding shelter under the F4 umbrella are The Young Offenders Institute (whose F4 debut is being prepped for a spring 2005 release), and former Durutti Column frontman Vini Reilly. Sharp-eyed readers will remember Durutti Column as one of the first wave of groups signed to Factory when the label was founded in 1979.

* F4: <a

Posted by James Gregory in on Tue: 02-08-05: 12:00 AM CST | Digg this article | Add to del.icio.us | Permalink

Fri: 06-20-08: 04:30 PM CDT
Peter Hook Talks New Order Split, DVD, Joy Division