for the past two decades, ivan smagghe has perfected the art of making spaced-out clubbers dance, has ridden a fine line and run his label les disques de la mort. rupert cross is a london-based composer who has worked with michael finissy and julian anderson as well as writing music for television and theatre. before/after ma, an album which sat on the fringes of experimental music passed through an industrial particle accelerator. s&c give you the tracks codenamed timothy dalton (according to ivan, the laser sound in the track reminded us of flash gordon). neither pop, nor psychedelic, nor ambient, nor house, nor techno, nor post punk nor even new wave are spared, but none are singled out. to nurture this proto-album, the duo also called upon the talents of tim felton, the outstanding guitarist from the cult band broadcast.