Ceramic Hello
Ceramic Hello was a duo from Burlington, Ontario, formed by Brett Wickens in 1980 after leaving Spoons. He teamed up with Roger Humphreys who added a more classical bent to the minimal synthesizer tunes (in the mold of John Foxx and Mute Records).
Their first release was the single "Climatic Nouveaux" / "Theatre Matrix" (MAN003) on Mannequin Records in 1980, followed quickly by the album The Absence Of A Canary (MAN LP1), which included the single's A-side. The 1000 copies have become a collector's item, so much so that in 2006 the German label Vinyl On Demand produced a two disc re-issue, named The Absence Of A Canary V1.1. The original LP has sold on eBay for up to US$350.
The first two sides consisted of the album as originally issued. Sides C and D contained eight track demos Wickens prepared while in England for a never-issued second album (recorded between 1981 and 1983). Additionally "Theatre Matrix", and demos for a track from a Wickens/Jah Wobble collaboration 12" ("Between Two Frequencies") and a song from the collaboration The Partnership ("Sampling The Blast Furnace") were included. The version of "Sampling The Blast Furnace" that is included on The Absence Of A Canary V1.1 is a demo recorded in a studio run by William Orbit in London. Orbit also produced a 24-track version of the song with Andy McCluskey from OMD on vocals, which was never commercially released due to contractual issues with Virgin Records.
Podcasts:
Ceramic Hello
ALBUMS
- The Absence of a Canary released:
