Electronic Sound Magazine Issue 108 Edizione posteriore

We've got Soft Cell on the cover of this month's Electronic Sound and we're packaging the magazine with an exclusive red vinyl seven-inch featuring demo versions of 'Tainted Love' and 'Bedsitter' produced by Mute boss Daniel Miller.

The focus of our interview with Marc Almond and Dave Ball is ‘Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret’, Soft Cell's glorious debut album. It's a record that defiantly set the tone of the early 1980s and it’s just been reissued as an expanded double LP and a six-CD boxset, both editions loaded up with tons of fantastic extras. As well as delving deep into the heart of the album, which Almond describes as “mundanity with a technicolour touch – glamour in squalor” in the boxset notes, the pair talk about their art-school beginnings and their ongoing working relationship. It’s a scintillating read and a great way for us to bring this year to an end.

We have plenty of other good stuff for you too, including chats with iconic film director and composer John Carpenter, former Radiophonic Workshop synthesist Elizabeth Parker, the perpetually cool Chris & Cosey, and pop star par excellence Howard Jones. We also have multimedia artist Aho Ssan and analogue dreamscaper Hinako Omori, plus a rare interview with eclectic producer Sam Shackleton. And as this is the last Electronic Sound of 2023, there's our Albums Of The Year round-up as well. As always, you'll probably find a few surprises on the list. Will any of your favourite records make it on there?