Electronic Sound – May 2023

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We have British Electric Foundation on the front of this month's Electronic Sound and an exclusive blue vinyl seven-inch boasting two previously unreleased Martyn Ware tracks to accompany the issue.

Our cover feature is the story of BEF's debut album, 'Music For Stowaways', and it begins at The Human League's HQ in Sheffield in late 1980, with Martyn Ware being ejected from the band and Ian Craig Marsh deciding to leave with him. What followed was a whirlwind year, with Martyn and Ian releasing 'Stowaways', initially only on cassette, and at the same time hooking up with Glenn Gregory and getting to work on Heaven 17's 'Penthouse And Pavement' album. "We wanted to present this notion that you were entering our universe," says Martyn. "We were creating an alternative fantasy existence, because the real world – I mean, I was living in a two-bedroom council house – had no glamour to it. At all."

This month's other lead interviews include Sparks, Penelope Trappes, Anne Clark, Nick Rhodes, Nathan Fake, Gilroy Mere, Trees Speak and Richard Anthony Hewson, the man who gave his initials to The RAH Band. We also have a lengthy piece about Ryuichi Sakamoto, whose death was announced a few weeks ago. Given his broad catalogue of groundbreaking and enriching work over a 45-year career – with Yellow Magic Orchestra, as a solo artist, and as a frequent collaborator – Sakamoto's influence can't be overstated. The electronic world already feels like a poorer place without him.