Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan
Music for a broken concrete utopia
Play Video
People and Industry
September 2021
Castles in Spaces
Blue and white vinyl from record stores
Red and white vinyl from Castles in Space Bandcamp
The follow up to Interim Report, March 1979 provides a soundtrack to industry, employment and life in Warrington-Runcorn at the tail end of the 1970s.
Nine new tracks celebrate the work and communities that surrounded the Warrington-Runcorn area, from the petrochemical plant at Weston Point to the cutting-edge Parkside Colliery at Newton-le-Willows.
The album was out on 3rd September 2021 on coloured vinyl and digital formats from Castles in Space and records stores across the UK.
“An on-boarding seminar for a distant time and place, when specks on the map of England had enormous cooling towers on their horizons” – Bleep
“It’s retro-futurism as head-shaking social comment, a heartrending experience. An album of stained overalls and shattered pride.” – Electronic Sound
Interim Report, March 1979
February 2021
Castles in Space
Yellow vinyl (first pressing)
White vinyl (second pressing)
Yellow and black splatter vinyl (third pressing)
The Warrington-Runcorn Development Committee commisioned this music in early 1979 as the soundtrack of a short film to publicise the work of the Committee in providing a thriving cultural life for the residents of the new estates of Warrington and Runcorn. Excerpts were shown later that year on BBC’s Nationwide.
1979 marked a change in the political and wider culture of British society. The Warrington-Runcorn development marks the swan song of post-war urban planning in the UK – soon the ethos of building better communities would be replaced by Thatcherite “no such thing as society” greed. And look where that got us.
The album is being re-pressed on yellow and black splatter vinyl and should be available in stores in September or October 2021.
Live
Other appearances
Live for Emotion Wave
Recorded for an Emotion Wave Telethon in aid of the Trussell Trust in December 2020. This 32 minute live set was recorded in one take.
The Isolation Tapes
This new compilation gathers together over 60 artists for an album recorded during the COVID19 lockdown and raising money for the Cavell Trust, helping nurses and ex-nurses.
Transmission Mix
A mix featuring a selection of tracks from forthcoming Castles in Space releases. Originally created for Simon Tucker’s Transmission radio show airing on Radio Free Matlock.
About
Gordon Chapman-Fox was born in time to be a part of the last gasp of childhood to be enthralled by the space-race and spent his childhood re-enacting Star Wars to the sounds of Jean-Michel Jarre. Gordon has been making electronic music since 2003 as Heskin Radiophonic, and more lately as Dublock.