Twelfth Night announce a pair of reissues for 2021

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Twelfth Night, one of the most beloved bands from the British prog revival movement of the 80s, have announced a pair of reissues, due for release shortly.


Their classic live album ‘Live & Let Live’ will be reissued with slightly amended artwork and be expanded with a wealth of bonus materials. These do not differ from the previous release, but it’ll be a welcome return for those who missed the earlier 2CD set.  More interestingly, another live recording, ‘Entropy’, will be reissued and remastered. An earlier “archive series” CD-R will be improved by a clean-up job as far as is possible and new artwork.

The full details for both reissues, plus details regarding Clive Mitten’s next release, can be explored in the press release below.

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AUGUST – 2021

Having had a break to watch the Euros and enjoy some decent weather for a change we are roaring back this month with news of THREE fantastic albums!

The first of these has just been released, with the other two destined for release in September and November. So for more information, read on…

Live And Let Live – 2021
Having sold out of the previous CD version we have repressed what is one of our best-selling titles. However, as it is the first time it has been released on our own label (TNCD21), we have taken the opportunity to update the artwork. So it now has a new cover (thanks David Read), and new disc artwork and updated back tray artwork (thanks Paul Tippett).

Please note that we have NOT changed the music, so please do not think that it is a ‘brand new’ release. If you’d like a copy of the double CD head over to our website, or our Bandcamp page.

If ordering from Bandcamp please order on Fri 6th August, if you can, as it is one of their ‘fee-free’ days, and with margins being what they are, it is very helpful not to have to lose any extra fees. If not ordering on this, or any other Bandcamp fee-free Friday, please order from our TN.info website  where the price is the same but we do not have to pay any extra fees.

We think it looks great, and of course it sounds great too!
Entropy – 40th Anniversary Remaster
We are delighted to announce the forthcoming 40th anniversary re-release of Entropy.
This is the live recording made back in March 1981 when we were touring the Live At The Target album. We have tidied up the recording (a little editing) and remastered it with the help, excellent skills, and finely-tuned ears of Karl Groom at Thin Ice Studios. Not only that but we have commissioned the ever-helpful Spencer Rowbotham to update the artwork for us, which he has done splendidly.

It features a particularly splendid version of the title track – which is only available on this particular album. ‘Entropy’ is a full-length piece (> 13 minutes) – which was performed live under a number of different titles during our career – and is without doubt one of our finest instrumentals.

The full track listing is
Keep the Aspidistra Flying, East To West, Fur Helene part 1, Entropy,
After the Eclipse, Afghan Red, and Sequences.

It will be issued as a single CD disc presented in a jewel case with a full colour artwork throughout. We are having it professionally made (duplicated), so it is what CD-Baby calls a ‘pro CD-R’.

We are only making a limited number of copies, as it is a re-release, however they will be individually hand-numbered (by me) so as to guarantee their authenticity! The actual release date will be Friday 3rd September, but you can secure a copy as we are inviting pre-orders now! Even though there is over 70 minutes of music it is priced at only £6.

You can pre-order the CD from our website http://twelfthnight.info/?cdrs=entropy-2 or from Bandcamp.

As a general point… while the quality and the ‘mix’ of our Archive Release recordings can never be perfect – you have to remember that the technology was very different 40 years ago – we are sure that you’ll like them. Listening through the tracks whilst re-editing and re-mastering the albums brought back a lot of great memories, and although many of the tracks are live versions of ones released at the time, some have subtle differences, rendering them virtual ‘one-offs’. Other tracks were clearly ‘in development’ and are quite different from the more familiar released songs, and some, like ‘Entropy’, simply never made it onto an album at all – until now, that is !!

If you would prefer a digital copy, the new 2021 version can be downloaded from Bandcamp, while the original version can be downloaded from our ‘TN’ web-site.
However if you are ordering from the EU we would strongly suggest that you order all our merchandise through Bandcamp. The reason for this is the imposition of VAT since July 1st. Before then goods valued at less than £ 30 (22 Euros) were exempt from VAT. I tried to explain the problem this causes on a Facebook post on 29th June – but essentially it means that all physical sales to EU customers now have to have VAT added to the purchase price. This has been the case for digital sales (downloads) for a while, as those of you who have ordered form Bandcamp will know, but now applies to ALL purchases.

It is extremely unfortunate that the low-value exemption has been withdrawn, particularly as the charging, accounting, and remitting of the VAT is quite demanding, and to be honest not something that we (as a small non-VAT registered seller) are set up to do. Our understanding is that sales via eBay, Amazon and other official ‘marketplaces’ (which we believe will include Bandcamp) will have VAT added at the point of sale by the marketplace who will then account for the VAT, to their appropriate government, as they are deemed to be the seller.

However sales made directly by us – e.g. through our TN website, either need to have VAT added by us – a process that is simply unworkable for us, or will have import VAT applied at the point of entry (customs) to the EU country. As a result EU customers will be asked to pay around 19-25% extra. To partly offset this, and to share the pain…. we are reducing (and thereby subsidising) the cost of postage to our EU customers for all physical orders made via Bandcamp..

In summary, all orders form the EU made via Bandcamp should have VAT added to the purchase price but will have cheaper postage. EU orders made via our website will not have VAT added by us and are likely to be subject to import taxes that will have to be paid by the purchaser before delivery. Postage costs will also be higher. To avoid the problems associated with these changes we want to encourage our EU consumers to purchase via Bandcamp, at least for the time being, while we see how the new system shapes up.

UK (and Rest of the World) customers are unaffected, so please order via Bandcamp on fee-free Fridays, and from our website anytime!

Sorry that’s been a bit lengthy – but we need our EU customers to be aware of this process and the import VAT charges, as we do not want to see packages returned to us. The extra charges will of course be pocketed by the various national governments, and postal services, who will all make money for doing nothing!!
What is Clive up to now?

Well the exciting news is that his next album, Suite Sixteen – Tales From A Misspent Youth (Volume 1), is nearing completion.

This time Clive is turning his considerable talents to creating orchestral interpretations of music that inspired him when he was a teenager. The first volume, in what we hope will be a series, focusses on tracks from Genesis (Supper’s Ready), Pink Floyd (Echoes), Yes (Awaken), Jethro Tull (Living In The Past), as well as featuring tracks by King Crimson, and Peter Gabriel.

It will be a double CD release later this year – although it will be available to pre-order well in advance, as is the norm these days!

Clive says “although it is in a similar musical style to Suite Cryptique, this time the tracks are cover versions, and not re-compositions.” He also says “many thanks to everyone who has given fantastic reviews of Suite Cryptique.”

40th Anniversary Celebrations
We are working of a very special anniversary release at the moment with help from a number of well known, and highly-regarded, musical friends of ours. We are delighted with progress so far and will give more detail in due course. It has to remain under wraps at the moment for reasons that should be obvious when we tell you more about it and who is helping…