One record at a time: 502. B.E.F. - Music For Stowaways

Some albums are made for the charts, some are made for record executives, and one was made for a very specific little plastic box clipped to someone’s belt in 1981. The Stowaway (soon to be known to the world as the Walkman) was the new futuristic toy of the time, and British Electric Foundation clearly thought: “Why not make something specifically for people wandering around with headphones on, pretending they’re in Blade Runner?”

The result is a fascinating electronic experiment from Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware, freshly departed from the original Human League and brimming with ideas. I’ll admit I bought my copy before ever hearing it, which is always a high‑risk hobby. But in this case, the gamble paid off. The album has a raw, exploratory charm: you can practically hear two musicians revelling in their newfound creative freedom. It’s part time capsule, part art project, part "let’s see what this button does".

The opener, "The Opium Chant", is a strangely hypnotic swirl of repetitive refrains and dub influenced delays. It is the sort of track that makes you stare into the middle distance and forget what you were meant to be doing. Perfect if what you were meant to be doing was not very important in the first place.

"Uptown Apocalypse" drags in members of Clock DVA and the results are exactly what you might expect and yet somehow more listenable than they have any right to be. There are more melodic moments too on the record. "Wipe The Board Clean" is surprisingly tuneful, while the instrumental version of "We Don't Need This Fascist Groove Thing" is perfectly fine, but we've heard it before.

The standout is "The Old At Rest". This track is ambient perfection, created on a handful of synthesisers that leave enough space between the layers for the music to breathe. Put it on with a good pair of headphones and feel your everyday stress melt away in a gentle wash of electronic calm. 

The rest of the record offers up serious, early electronic explorations packed with interesting ideas. In fact, I would go as far as to say I prefer this to the early Human League material. Controversial perhaps, but I have said it now and there is no turning back. 

Cold Spring Records resurrected the album in 2023 and released two coloured vinyl versions and a standard black one. My copy is one of the 500 yellow editions but the wax itself isn't as vibrant as the cover. Whilst the sleeve proudly sits on my shelf glowing like a radioactive banana, the record inside is more of a sickly mustard colour. 

"Music for Stowaways" remains a quirky, innovative snapshot of early‑80s synth culture, and the yellow vinyl reissue turns it into a collector’s gem. It may no longer fit into a Stowaway, but it plays beautifully on a turntable — and that’s probably for the best as all of the rubber belts in my Walkman have long since perished. 4/5