{"product_id":"ultramarine-a-users-guide-2025-remaster","title":"Ultramarine - A User's Guide (2025 Remaster)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe music of Canterbury duo Ultramarine resists easy classification, drawing as it does from electronica, ambient, techno, and folk as well as eclectic '70s Canterbury prog rock artists such as the Soft Machine, Caravan, and Robert Wyatt (the latter of whom occasionally performed live with the group and appeared on their 1993 album, United Kingdoms). Though they recorded semi-regularly in the '90s, the group was absent in the first decade of the 21st century, working on solo projects and production efforts. The duo, made up of Paul Hammond and Ian Cooper, delivers a distinctly British feel in their music. In addition to banks of keyboards and samplers, they employ a wide range of acoustic and electric instruments, found sounds, and synthetic yet airy textures in their productions which makes their music simultaneously quirky and readily accessible.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOn the rare occasions that Ultramarine’s story is told, the duo’s fifth album, 1998’s \u003cem\u003eA User’s Guide\u003c\/em\u003e, tends to get omitted from the narrative. Radically different to anything the duo released before or since, it has remained a slept-on, timeless and inherently futurist classic ever since. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eUnavailable on vinyl since the year it was released – in part because the label it originally came out on, New Electronica, folded shortly afterwards – \u003cem\u003eA User’s Guide \u003c\/em\u003ewas the result of a conscious decision by Ultramarine members Paul Hammond and Ian Cooper to change their working methods and the “sound palette” that underpinned their work. Out went the partially improvised hybrid electronic\/acoustic sounds and the collaborations with guest musicians they’d become famous for. They were replaced by painstakingly created electronic sounds and textures, metallic motifs, spaced-out chords, rhythms rooted in contemporary techno and drum \u0026amp; bass culture, and nods\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e aplenty to pioneering music of the period, from the post-rock atmospherics of Tortoise, and the hazy dub techno of Basic Channel, to the tech-jazz of Detroit, the minimalism of Berlin, and the musically expansive warmth of Chicago deep house.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs this first vinyl reissue conclusively proves, the material showcased on\u003cem\u003e A User’s Guide\u003c\/em\u003e has lost none of its sparkle in the 26 years that have passed since its release. For proof, check the head-nodding IDM bubbliness of opener ‘All of a Sudden’, the queasy, lopsided tech-jazz of ‘Sucker For You’, the locked-in beats and mind-mangling motifs of ‘Zombie’, the ghostly, out-there electro of ‘Ambush’, the Autechre-esque ‘Ghost Routine’ and the triumphant closing cut ‘What Machines Want’, a classic of minimalistic, jazz-flecked techno futurism. Fully remastered from the original DATs by Jason G at Transition Studios, the 2025 vinyl edition of \u003cem\u003eA User’s Guide\u003c\/em\u003e thrusts Ultramarine’s most overlooked album back into the spotlight. This WRWTFWW edition also features brand new contextualising sleeve notes, complete with new quotes on the production process from Ultramarine. — via Label\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ciframe style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=1271662071\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/tracklist=false\/artwork=small\/transparent=true\/\" seamless=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e↓\u003cbr\u003eLabel: WRWTFWW\u003cbr\u003eFormat: 2 x Vinyl, LP, Album, Remastered\u003cbr\u003eReissued: 2025\u003cbr\u003eGenre: Electronic\u003cbr\u003eStyle: Techno, Downtempo, Dub Techno\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFile under: Leftfield\u003cbr\u003e⦿\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WRWTFWW Records","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45117100097694,"sku":"4251804183895","price":60.0,"currency_code":"SGD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0584\/5434\/3838\/files\/a3099065221_10.jpg?v=1740462297","url":"https:\/\/theanalogvault.mom\/products\/ultramarine-a-users-guide-2025-remaster","provider":"The Analog Vault","version":"1.0","type":"link"}