Terrace Industry

Ascension Records presents terrace industry, an extraordinary array of sonic material – 81 tracks over 4 CDs – originally released on vinyl or cassette by Sydney independent record label M Squared between 1980 and 1983 with the majority now appearing on CD for the first time.

4 CDS + 36 page booklet + Commemorative drink coasters

AUD $65.00 postpaid
Australia wide.

AUD $75.00 postpaid airmail
worldwide outside Australia.

What's in the box?

The Terrace Industry package

With the assistance of John Bakasetas and Ascension Records, the original M Squared partners (Michael Tee, Mitch Jones, Patrick Gibson) and Shane Fahey from The Makers of The Dead Travel Fast have revisited their catalogue to compile their favourite tracks into a complete M Squared CD box set.

To be released on the 11th of January 2010, this 30-year anniversary set includes tracks from Systematics, The Makers of The Dead Travel Fast, Scattered Order, Ya Ya Choral, A Cloakroom Assembly, Patrick Gibson, Prod, Pel Mel, Wild West, SoliPsiK, The Limp, Tame O'Mearas, Severed Heads, Height/Dismay, Belle du Soir, The Slugfuckers, The Same, Splendid Mess, Pleasant Peasants and The Barons.

In addition, a 36 page booklet contains a label history, recollections from the bands involved and unpublished photos. And to slip under your glass as you sit comfortably for a listen, a set of commemorative drink coasters. Cheers.

About M SQUARED

The M Squared label operated in Sydney, Australia from 1980 to 1983. Founded by Mitch Jones and Michael Tee of seminal noisemakers Scattered Order, and quickly joined by Systematics' Patrick Gibson, the label produced 24 vinyl and seven cassette releases over three hectic years. It all took place in a modest recording studio in an inner city terrace house.

The M Squared catalogue, then and now, is resistant to classification. Contemporary journalists tagged it experimental, electronic and avant-garde – shorthand for 'not what the rest of us are listening to'. In hindsight it's been described as post punk, minimalist, synth wave, no wave, synth pop, ambient, noise, pop electronica, art rock... whatever. Genres were never the point, and many M Squared artists took more than one approach to their music.

During the label's brief lifespan, Sydney's inner city was home to a great variety of sounds that existed almost completely outside the mainstream. M Squared, its artists and supporters had, over the intervening 30 years or so, been largely unacknowledged as a small but vibrant episode in the story of Australian music.

But now, a turn around. Recent overseas interest in M Squared, with three European outfits releasing material in the last 18 months, includes German label Vinyl On Demand's Pardon me for barging in like this..., a mammoth box set of rare and unreleased M Squared recordings. Three decades on, the M Squared approach to making music has come out from under the carpet.

Read more about M Squared and its artists at msquaredrecords.com

Complete Tracklist

DISC 1

DISC 2

DISC 3

DISC 4