Les Disques du Crépuscule is an

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...

founded in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

in 1980 by Michel Duval and

Annik Honoré Annik Honoré (12 October 1957 – 3 July 2014) was a Belgian journalist and music promoter best known for her association with Ian Curtis, the former lead singer and lyricist of Joy Division. She co-founded record labels Les Disques du Cré ...

. It also had a prominent associated sublabel, Factory Benelux. Both are now run by former employee

James Nice James Hayward is the pen name of James Nice (born 6 January 1966 in Essex), an English writer on military, modern art and post-punk musical history. Biography Hayward was educated at the University of Glasgow prior to working in music publishing ...

. "Crépuscule" translates as "twilight", with most of the label's catalogue numbers prefixed by the letters TWI.

History

Duval and Honoré had previously organised and promoted concerts in Brussels at the Plan K venue. The name ''Les Disques du Crépuscule'' was coined by Honoré. Their first visible work as Crépuscule was the fanzine ''Plein Soleil'', issued in June 1980. The company also issued recordings by

Factory Records Factory Records was a Manchester-based British independent record label founded in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus. The label featured several important acts on its roster, including Joy Division, New Order (band), New Order, A Certain Ra ...

-affiliated artists as Factory Benelux. Les Disques du Crépuscule went on to release diverse recordings by a cosmopolitan roster that included

Michael Nyman Michael Laurence Nyman, Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 23 March 1944) is an English composer, pianist, libretto, librettist, musicologist, and filmmaker. He is known for numerous film soundtrack, scores (many written during his lengthy ...

Wim Mertens Wim Mertens (; born 14 May 1953) is a Flemish Belgian composer, countertenor vocalist, pianist, guitarist, and musicologist. Life and work Mertens was born in Neerpelt, Belgium. He studied social and political science at the University of Leu ...

Anna Domino Anna Domino (born 1955, Anna Virginia Taylor) is an American indie rock artist based in New York and Los Angeles who released several albums for Les Disques du Crepuscule and Factory Records in the 1980s and 1990s. Domino has collaborated with ...

Paul Haig Paul Haig (born 4 September 1960)Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 386-7 is a Scottish indie musician, singer and songwriter. He was originally a member of post-punk band Josef K, active between 1979 ...

, Josef K, Cabaret Voltaire,

Mikado Mikado may refer to: * Emperor of Japan or Arts and entertainment * ''The Mikado'', an 1885 comic opera by Gilbert and Sullivan * The Mikado (1939 film), ''The Mikado'' (1939 film), an adaptation of the opera, directed by Victor Schertzinger * ...

, Cathy Claret,

Isabelle Antena Isabelle Antena (born 28 May 1960) is a French singer and songwriter, and founder of the electro- samba group ''Antena''. Biography Isabelle Antena is a bossa nova and samba-inflected nu jazz and electropop artist. She was a founding member o ...

Louis Philippe Louis Philippe I (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850), nicknamed the Citizen King, was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, the penultimate monarch of France, and the last French monarch to bear the title "King". He abdicated from his throne ...

(under the aliases of The Border Boys and The Arcadians),

Gavin Bryars Richard Gavin Bryars (; born 16 January 1943) is an English composer and double bassist. He has worked in jazz, free improvisation, minimalism, Musical historicism, historicism, Avant-garde music, avant-garde, and experimental music. Early lif ...

Bill Nelson Clarence William Nelson II (born September 29, 1942) is an American politician, attorney, and former astronaut who served from 2001 to 2019 as a United States Senate, United States senator from Florida and from 2021 to 2025 as the Administrator ...

, Richard Jobson, Isolation Ward,

Thick Pigeon Miranda Stanton, best known for her recordings as Stanton Miranda, Miranda Dali and Thick Pigeon, is a 1980s Factory Records artist from New York City. She achieved some notice for her single "Wheels Over Indian Trails" (produced by Stephen Morri ...

The Pale Fountains The Pale Fountains were an English band formed in Liverpool in 1980, and composed of Mick Head (vocalist/guitarist), Chris McCaffery (bassist), Thomas Whelan (drummer), trumpet player Andy Diagram (French horn, horns) and Ken Moss (guitarist). ...

Tuxedomoon Tuxedomoon is an experimental, post-punk, new wave band from San Francisco, California, United States. The band formed in the late 1970s at the beginning of the punk rock movement. Pulling influence from punk and electronic music, the group, ori ...

Repetition Repetition may refer to: *Repetition (rhetorical device), repeating a word within a short space of words *Repetition (bodybuilding), a single cycle of lifting and lowering a weight in strength training *Working title for the 1985 slasher film '' ...

and many others. Cosmopolitan, and notably popular in Japan, the label is also celebrated for the artwork of design director Benoit Hennebert. Various compilations highlighting different aspects of the Crépuscule roster were issued by the label in its original form, including the landmark cassette release "From Brussels With Love" (TWI 007), featuring

John Foxx John Foxx (born Dennis Leigh; 26 September 1948) is an English singer, musician, artist, photographer, graphic designer, writer, teacher and lecturer. He was the original lead singer of the New wave music, new wave band Ultravox, before leaving ...

Thomas Dolby Thomas Morgan Robertson (born 14 October 1958), known by the stage name Thomas Dolby, is an English musician, producer, composer, entrepreneur and teacher. Dolby came to prominence in the 1980s, releasing hit singles including "She Blinded Me ...

Brian Eno Brian Peter George Jean-Baptiste de la Salle Eno (, born 15 May 1948), also mononymously known as Eno, is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, visual artist, and activist. He is best known for his pioneering contributions to ambien ...

(in conversation),

Durutti Column The Durutti Column are an English post-punk band formed in 1978 in Manchester, England.Strong, Martin C. (1999) "The Great Alternative & Indie Discography", Canongate, The band is the project of guitarist and occasional pianist Vini Reilly, o ...

and The Names among others. "The Fruit of the Original Sin" (TWI 035) was a lavish double-vinyl set featuring

Orange Juice Orange juice is a liquid extract of the orange (fruit), orange tree fruit, produced by squeezing or reaming oranges. It comes in several different varieties, including blood orange, navel oranges, valencia orange, clementine, and tangerine. As ...

, Richard Jobson and many more. Festive set "Ghosts of Christmas Past" (TWI 058) featured many label regulars as well as

Aztec Camera Aztec Camera were a Scottish pop/ new wave band founded by Roddy Frame, the group's singer, songwriter and only consistent member. Established in 1980, Aztec Camera released a total of six studio albums: '' High Land, Hard Rain'' (1983), ''Kn ...

. Later several retail promos also appeared, notably "Non Peut Etre" (issued to highlight new releases during 1988).

Factory Benelux

Initial Factory Benelux releases were by

artists, and were labelled as being "Factory Benelux/Les Disques du Crépuscule" editions. The first of these was a 7" by

A Certain Ratio A Certain Ratio (abbreviated as ACR) are an English post-punk band formed in Greater Manchester in 1977 by Peter Terrell (guitar), Simon Topping (vocals, trumpet), Jez Kerr (bass guitar, vocals), Martin Moscrop (trumpet, guitar) and Donald Johns ...

in August 1980, and singles by

The Durutti Column The Durutti Column are an English post-punk band formed in 1978 in Manchester, England.Strong, Martin C. (1999) "The Great Alternative & Indie Discography", Canongate, The band is the project of guitarist and occasional pianist Vini Reilly, o ...

and Section 25 followed in November 1980. Thereafter Factory Benelux operated as a separate imprint, although the two labels shared the same premises and staff. Bands released were associated with Factory in Manchester, some being releases that one Factory director liked but another did not (''e.g.'',

Crispy Ambulance Crispy Ambulance are an English post-punk band, formed in Manchester in late-1977 by Keith Darbyshire (bass), Robert Davenport (guitar), Alan Hempsall (vocals), and Gary Madeley (drums).Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', ...

). Factory Benelux ceased issuing new releases in 1988, although Crépuscule released some FBN-labeled CD reissues in 1990. The label was revived in 2013.

Other sublabels

A UK-based sublabel, Operation Twilight, was run from 1982 to 1983 by Patrick Moore, who later achieved fame as writer

Philip Hoare Philip Hoare (Southampton, 1958) is a British writer, film-maker and curator. He won the 2009 Samuel Johnson Prize, now known as the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction, for his work ''Leviathan, or the Whale''. Early life and education Ho ...

. Their second UK sub-label, Operation Afterglow (1985–1986) simply issued UK editions of Belgian releases. Other sub-labels include Crépuscule Section Française, Crépuscule America and Crépuscule Au Japon (1983–2002), Interference, Dancyclopaedia and Another Side (1984–1987), and video label Les Images Du Crépuscule. Crépuscule also assisted in the launch of industrial label L.A.Y.L.A.H. Antirecords (1984–1989),

éL Él may refer to: * ''Él'', 1926 autobiographical novel by Mercedes Pinto * ''Él'' (visual novel), a 2000 Japanese adult visual novel * ''Él'' (film), a Mexican film directed by Luis Buñuel, based upon the novel by Mercedes Pinto * ''Él'' ...

Benelux, Little Circle and Interior Music (run with James Nice of LTM).

Closure

Having relocated to Paris in the late 1990s, the label became dormant after

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

. Duval went on to work in music publishing at Virgin and

Because Music Because Music is a record label based in France. The label was founded in 2004 by Emmanuel de Buretel and Eric Bielsa upon their exit from major labels. Because Music has acts such as Justice, Christine and the Queens and Aime Simone on their r ...

. Honoré's relationship with

Joy Division Joy Division were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist, guitarist and lyricist Ian Curtis, guitarist and keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris (musici ...

singer

Ian Curtis Ian Kevin Curtis (15 July 1956 – 18 May 1980) was an English singer, songwriter and musician. He was the lead singer, lyricist and occasional guitarist of the band Joy Division, with whom he released the albums ''Unknown Pleasures'' (197 ...

was dramatized in ''

Control Control may refer to: Basic meanings Economics and business * Control (management), an element of management * Control, an element of management accounting * Comptroller (or controller), a senior financial officer in an organization * Controlling ...

'', the 2007 film directed by

Anton Corbijn Anton Johannes Gerrit Corbijn van Willenswaard (; born 20 May 1955) is a Dutch photographer, film director, and music video director. He is the creative director behind the visual output of Depeche Mode and U2,Pitman, Joanna"The silent partner" ...

. Many of the artists, including

, Blaine L. Reininger (

Winston Tong Winston Tong (born 1951 in San Francisco, California) is an actor, playwright, visual artist, puppeteer, and singer-songwriter. He is best known for his vocals in Tuxedomoon and for winning an Obie award in puppetry for ''Bound Feet'' in 1978. Ea ...

(Tuxedomoon),

, Devine & Statton and Isolation Ward had their catalogue, old and new, re-issued by

LTM Recordings LTM Recordings (originally les temps modernes) is a British independent record label founded in 1983, and best known for reissues of artists and music from 1978 to the present day, as well as modern classical and avant-garde composition. The la ...

retaining their original Crepuscule artwork. A few Crepuscule-themed collections also appeared on LTM, notably ''After Twilight'' (2011), a collection of previously-issued and specially-recorded tracks featuring curator

plus

, The Names, Blaine L. Reininger and Cathy Claret.

Reactivation

In 2012 and 2013, both Factory Benelux and Crépuscule were revived by James Nice of LTM with the blessing of Duval and Honoré. This gave rise to many reissues, along with new releases by

Helen Marnie Helen Lindsay Marnie (born 21 February 1978) is a Scottish musician, known as the lead vocalist and one of the keyboardists and songwriters of the electronic band Ladytron. In 2012, she started a solo career as Marnie and released her debut so ...

Marsheaux Marsheaux is a Greek synthpop duo formed in Athens in 2003. The group is composed of vocalists, songwriters and keyboardists Marianthi Melitsi and Sophie Sarigiannidou. The name Marsheaux is derived from the first syllable of each band member's ...

, 23 Skidoo and Penelope Queen (daughter of Isabelle Antena), as well as Section 25, The Wake and The Names on Factory Benelux. Nice has also worked with Duval on new Crépuscule projects.

Sources

History of the label
(Frank Brinkhuis) *

References

External links

Les Disques du Crépuscule
(official site)
Factory Benelux
(official site) {{DEFAULTSORT:Crepuscule, Les Disques Du Belgian independent record labels Record labels established in 1980 Record labels disestablished in 2004 Record labels established in 2013 1980 establishments in Belgium 2004 disestablishments in Belgium 2013 establishments in the United Kingdom Alternative rock record labels Factory Records