There are many funny scenes in the Tony Wilson/Factory Records bio-pic 24 Hour Party People. However, for legendary punk-influenced funk combo A Certain Ratio, the movie might not quite be a Manchester scenester laugh-riot. While they are represented in the film, it is somewhat disparagingly so. And although their music is featured, they were left off the popular soundtrack album (although for a funny reason itself: according to ACR’s Martin Moscrop, the band stole back their master tapes from the Factory offices when they got a whiff that the label was going bankrupt, thus preventing London Records from owning them).
Despite these cinematic slights, not only are A Certain Ratio considered one of the most influential bands of their era, but, barring any historical hiatuses, their career era has spanned over 40 years! Mute Records and the band have announced the latest, and final, installment of their original album reissues.
Following the re-releases of The Graveyard and The Ballroom, To Each…, I’d Like to See You Again, Force, and acr:mcr; the final existing three studio ACR albums will be issued July 27 (ACR’s two other studio albums, Up in Downsville and Good Together, were reissued last week). This forthcoming trio of albums includes what many consider their high-water marks in experimental lo-fi DIY funk: 1982’s dark-yet-funky Sextet, 1997’s understated ambient soul mix Change the Station, and their last album proper, 2008’s Mind Made Up.
Check out Mute’s ACR order page for all pre-order info and available formats for these releases. Original album tracklistings and a few scattered UK dates are also listed below. But before you do that do, why not Do the “Du” down below, too?
Sextet:
01. Lucinda
02. Crystal
03. Gum
04. Knife Slits Water
05. Skipscada
06. Day One
07. Rub Down
08. Rialto
09. Below the Canal
Change the Station:
01. Listen to the Sound
02. Some Day
03. Your on Your Own
04. Waiting for You
05. Yeah Boy
06. Sister Brother
07. Desire
08. Samba 123
09. Pole
10. Do Du Beep
11. Golden Balls
12. Funk Off
Mind Made Up:
01. I Feel Light
02. Down, Down, Down
03. Everything Is Good
04. Way to Escape
05. Rialto 2006
06. Mind Made Up
07. Teri
08. Bird to the Ground
09. Starlight
10. Which Is Reality?
11. Skunk
12. Very Busy Man
Live dates:
06.30.18 - Birmingham, England - Hare and Hounds #
09.07.18 - Portmeirion, Wales - Festival No. 6
09.15.18 - Dublin, Ireland - The Sugar Club
09.29.18 - Edinburgh, Scotland - Voodoo Rooms
11.24.18 - Manchester, England - Gorilla
12.01.18 - Clitheroe, England - The Grand
# with Sink Ya Teeth
More about: A Certain Ratio
