WARRINGTON-RUNCORN NEW TOWN DEVELOPMENT PLAN + JO JOHNSON – DUST, BRIGHTON 20.9.25
Gordon Chapman-Fox works under the name Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan (WRNTDP) and he produces wonderful propulsive, cinematic electronica which has a musical, conceptual and aesthetic setting in the mid 1970s to early 1980s and has made a great impact since his debut in 2020. Since performing at ‘End Of The Road’ on 3rd September 2022, Gordon has begun a definite move towards the mainstream consciousness, with his appearance there being noted in the Financial Times’ review of the festival.
His journey began with the launch of ‘Interim Report, March 1979’, which despite its title is a long player record that hit the unsuspecting world on 26th February 2021, and was Gordon’s hymn and homage to the brutalist beauty of Cheshire’s designated new towns of Warrington and Runcorn. On 3rd September the same year, the ‘People And Industry’ album carried the same message and picked up where the first left off, really. Musically it was recorded back to back with ‘Interim Report, March 1979’ and there is a progression in the sound, but it’s definitely cut from the same cloth as the first album. It still very much exists in this euphoric melancholy. Third instalment ‘Districts, Roads, Open Space’ followed on 10th October 2022, with the music reflecting the social isolation of New Towns life. This was mirrored by its creation through two years of pandemic lockdown.
Gordon’s work is regularly played on the BBC and he was asked to contribute to Stuart Maconie’s Freak Zone special of hauntology, and was included in Shindig Magazine’s “ones to watch in 2023” feature, where they said “The richness of his visionary music is becoming progressively more enticing. A must for 2023”. ‘The Nation’s Most Central Location’, album dropped in May 2023 and was given 8/10 in a review/interview piece in Uncut. The latest release being his ‘Your Community Hub’ album which dropped in May 2024. There were four tunes left over from the ‘Your Community Hub’ sessions and thankfully these weren’t lost in the annals of time as they have been collected together in the form of an EP titled ‘Overspill Estates’ which dropped on 11th April – Details on this HERE.
WRNTDP have recently dropped ‘Appendix I’ which is the gathering together of the ‘Building A New Town’, ‘A Shared Sense Of Purpose’ and ‘Overspill Estates’ EP’s onto one album, but on CD for the very first time! This came out on 29th August. All previous material having been physical vinyl and downloads only. The packaging of all of the WRNTDP releases are always a joy to behold. None feature bright colours, but revel in pastel colours instead and they give an air of harking back to better times. They could certainly be shown in art galleries with accompanying videos…now’s there’s a thought! Warrington Museum & Art Gallery take note!
What’s difficult to convey is how much these records have resonated with so many cross sections of the public. From electronica fans, to town planners, architects and academics, current and ex-new town dwellers, futurists and nostalgia freaks, the reach and affection for this music has been quite a revelation. In an adept development, the work has become more overtly politicised as Gordon reflects and refracts the broken promises made over generations to those in the North of England. Brought into sharp relief with the latest levelling up debacle, although of the past, the music couldn’t be more current. It’s emotional and moving and it connects deeply with many people.
Moving forward and looking ahead WRNTDP will shortly be releasing ‘Public Works And Utilities’ which is the sixth long-player. This will be hitting the streets on 10th October. The packaging is trademark, but the material is, like tonight’s set, is a sign of a possible new musical direction. Gordon states “There is a certain rawness to some of the tracks, not to mention an almost upbeat, danceable quality. This is no less atmospheric than previous albums, but it has become fused with an urge to get you to move your feet”.
And so we find ourselves camped at the front of the Dust venue which is located at 77 East Street in order to be absorbed into a 74 minute live set from Gordon, which ran from 8:44pm to 9:58pm. This evening’s concert is another which falls under the Love Thy Neighbour promoters banner.
Usually there is a backdrop behind Gordon which plays videos to accompany the material, but sadly this is not present this evening. We felt that this was WRNTDP’s USP (unique selling point), but let’s see how things pan out without them. To be honest, I was actually expecting a re-run of our debut encounter, which took place at Komedia on 13th April 2024 (Review HERE) but this was clearly not the case with the arrival of the first few notes this evening! Crikey! It’s industrial and very Numsnesque! The opener being penned for the Roadburn Festival in the Netherlands in April. Thankfully the sound is crisp clear and at a decent volume level as well. There are several strobe lights for backing which are initially set to red and white and these work very well with the opener, and indeed for the whole duration of the performance, as they are choreographed with the music. Thus Gordon is backlit with no lighting out front and this adds to the mystical air of the material.
Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan gear this time around benefits from the addition of a Vermona PERfourMER MKII Quad Analog Synthesizer which he didn’t have last time around. The rest of the hardware synths are the same; these being Dreadbox Nymphes 6-Voice Analog Polyphonic Synthesizer and a Moog Minitaur Analog Bass Synthesizer. Sequencing is done in Ableton Live (including lighting sequencing), and effects and mixing also done in Ableton.
After the industrial style opener, the initial booming beats give way for more of a Jean-Michel Jarre vibe. This music has hypnotics elements and as I peer around the room some of those present have their eyes shut as they are whisked away with the beats. There are many notable electronic sounds that just want me want to sing “Wir fahr’n, fahr’n, fahr’n auf der Autobahn”, but there are no live vocals with WRNTDP material, and today there are no talky samples either.
Tonight’s performance mainly leans towards the forthcoming ‘Public Works And Utilities’ album, as well as cuts from the previous ‘Your Community Hub’ long-player, and around 15 to 20 minutes from the commissioned material for the Dutch Roadburn Festival. To my mind, tonight’s set was heavier than my previous encounter and I really wasn’t expecting this, but it is very welcome. The material arrives as one continuous mix, and is therefore sometimes a challenge to estimate where one tune signs off and the next kicks in. However at around 42 minutes in we get some amazing electronic lazer bleep sounds, and these with the all encompassing beats and swirls remind me of the Lazerium shows I used to attend in London of days gone by. At 9:54pm the music stopped and was rewarded with a hearty applause and whoops from the punters. After which Gordon gave us a further 4 minutes of electronics which very much sat in the realm of Orbital and ‘Rez’ by Underworld, which was again another pleasing surprise. At 9:58pm Gordon signed off with a sharp ending and that was our lot. Yes I did miss the projections, but at least it wasn’t a carbon copy run of last year’s show. Onwards and upwards!
Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan:
Gordon Chapman-Fox – electronics (see above)
Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan setlist included:
‘Swift, Safe And Comfortable’ (from 2025 ‘Public Works And Utilities’ album)
‘Renewal And Regeneration’ (from 2025 ‘Public Works And Utilities’ album)
‘The People Matter’ (from 2025 ‘Public Works And Utilities’ album)
‘Sunset Over Stanlow’ (from 2025 ‘Public Works And Utilities’ album)
‘A Shared Sense Of Purpose’ (from 2024 ‘Your Community Hub’ album)
‘A New Town With An Old Sense Of Community’ (from 2024 ‘Your Community Hub’ album)
Check out the WRNTDP releases on Bandcamp HERE.
Support this evening came from former Brighton resident and now Kent based Jo Johnson, who is one and the same guitarist and vocalist of the Brighton based riot grrrl band Huggy Bear, who were on our scene for three years from 1991 until they played their final gig in December 1994. Jo wrote a zine last year to coincide with the London book launch for the Huggy Bear book ‘Killed (Of Kids)’ – Find your copy HERE. Plus you can read more about the band HERE.
Jo’s music this evening is a very different affair to that of Huggy Bear, arguably it’s right at the other end of the music spectrum in that it’s ambient instrumental electronics, which build with more and more layers, the longer the compositions run for. I sense that Jo has quite possibly been influenced by Delia Derbyshire, as we watch her busying between her equipment. Her material is definitely for fans of Tangerine Dream and Boards Of Canada and the like. Jo’s brand new album is titled ‘Alterations Volume One’ and it dropped on her brand new Silver Threads label on 9th September.
This evening’s 30 minute set (7:45pm – 8:15pm) comprises all brand new sequences of semi improvised material that is in development. There’s certainly copious amounts of knob twiddling going on here, and in all honesty it looks a tad baffling! After the performance we reached out to Jo regarding the equipment that she was using, and so for electronic music nerds, here goes:
“I used a 1010 Bluebox mixer, Midicake arp sequencer, Waldorf Blofeld synth, Vermona Mono Lancet ‘15 synth, 1010 Lemondrop granular synth with field recordings of children playing at a local pro Palestine demo, and fx – an OTO BIM delay, Empress Echosystem dual engine delay and Strymon Bluesky reverb”.
Thankfully most of the punters were in attendance from the outset, which was pleasing, as we always endeavour to cover all of the artists on the bill. Things were going swimmingly well for Jo until she encountered mixer problems 13 minutes into the set and had to have a re-boot. Jo told us….
“The issue I had was that my mixer crashed and became unresponsive- I tried to improvise my way out of it but realised it was not going to work. It was kind of beautiful, I’m constantly pushing through the creative barrier of perfectionism so it was a great learning experience but I also really felt the audience responding so supportively. I know there were lots of electronic artists in the crowd who completely get how on the edge it all is!”
I did note that the sound was actually louder after the re-boot, so clearly the fault had been rectified. The stage lighting moved slowly to the music to add to the overall experience and after many swirling electronic rhythms, Jo was rewarded with a hearty applause from the crowd.
Check out her work on her Bandcamp pages HERE and HERE.
Jo Johnson:
Jo Johnson – electronics (see above)
Jo Johnson setlist:
Brand new sequences of semi improvised material that is in development.
linktr.ee/jojohnson.tinysilences
