If you look at some of the most exciting, innovative & critically acclaimed electronic music that has come out of the beautiful North of England over the past years; from the psychedelic electronic rock of ‘The Moonlandingz’, to the folkloric radiophonic avant-garde Of ‘Eccentronic Research Council ft Maxine Peake’, to the party electro of International Teachers of Pop; at the forefront of all these projects (and many more) is a man in a hat and shades called Adrian Flanagan.

Adrian has spent two decades working on the fringes of alternative music as a songwriter, wordsmith, musician, producer, remixer, DJ and cultural agitator – working with artists as diverse as Maxine Peake, Yoko Ono, The Human League’s Philip Oakey, Fat White Family, Sean Lennon and many more. Adrian returns this year with his debut album under the Acid Klaus moniker, ‘Step On My Travelator: The Imagined Career Trajectory of Superstar DJ & Dance-Pop Producer, Melvin Harris’.

The album features contributions from Adrian’s long-time collaborators and friends including actress Maxine Peake, US musician and video director Charlotte Kemp Muhl (Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger), Maria Uzor from Sink Ya Teeth and Bradford born pop-noir singer Hannah Hu who is joined on a track by Mr Richard Hawley who performs lapsteel guitar. The album is completed by a whole host of fresh and exciting artists including Lieselot Elzinga of the Amsterdam-based now-wave electro group, Baby’s Berserk. There’s also the enigmatic Queen Bee of the Calder Valley, solo artist Bianca Eddleston who goes under the name Soft Focus and finally, from South Wales the incredible Welsh language singer songwriter, Cat Rin.

In his own words, Adrian says of the album, “I hereby herald in a masterclass of conceptual brilliance and sonic floor shaking heroism – a record that is both mocking and hugging in its stance. A solid and weighty brick in the face to the horrid and cod sincere, brat histrionics, of the easy on-the-eye, careerist minstrel.” He continues, “conceptually and with great style and panache, there is a sub-narrative that plays out via the imagined career trajectory of fictional musician and DJ, Melvin Harris. It’s a dream cum-nightmare that is perpetuated and encouraged by an industry that reaps the benefits and feasts on the clotted blood of its fallen and broken troubadours.”