Bookmarks: Joy Division

There's a short-but-lovely piece on the Liverpool Echo where Jamie Bowman suggests Joy Division were as comfortable in Liverpool as Manchester:

Warsaw made their debut in the city at Eric's (where else?) on Mathew Street on August 27, 1977, when they supported punk band X-Ray Spex - a gig notable for being drummer Steven Morris's first with the band.

Later that year they were back to play a New Year's Eve party at the Swinging Apple on Wood Street which became the band's last gig as Warsaw.

I collect, I reject: Looking for somewhere to store your Joy Division oven gloves?

Ian Curtis' kitchen table is up for sale on eBay.

At the moment, it's over £6,000, which means its already three times the original budget of the ruinously expensive Factory Records boardroom table. And with five days to go, it might wind up costing more than that table eventually did...

Bookmarks: The Durutti Column

Hardformat lovingly unpacks the packaging of the first Durutti Column album:

For some of us this album approaches the status of a secular holy relic because, in addition to the beauty of the object and the music, Vini Reilly states that Joy Division were paid by Tony Wilson to assemble the sandpaper sleeves to earn some extra money. In another report, Ian Curtis allegedly did most of the work while the other three sat watching television in the next room.

NME gets lost in the basement

You'll have come across the strange story on the NME website last week which suggested that Jamie Oliver had found New Order and Joy Division mastertapes in the basement of his new restaurant, along with guns and gold. Complete with the certain statement that:

Oliver has since given everything found in the basement to the treasury.

The NME gave Holy Moly as the source for this.

Now, you probably thought 'if that was in any way true, why would Oliver have given the masters of a New Order album to the Treasury?', shrugged and moved on.

It turns out that the whole story was based on a misreading of a story on Manchester Confidential:

We had reported how £1.1m of assorted valuables (and a gun) had been left behind in the safety deposit boxes. But we never said anything about Joy Division master tapes being left there.

We’d put: ‘For each box there were two keys both of which had to be used to unlock the box. The person who rented the box had one key and the bank manager kept the other. All sorts were stored down there from diamonds and gold to the master tapes of Joy Division and New Order. When the bank was decommissioned prior to the restaurant refit a problem became apparent. Some of the boxes hadn't been emptied.’

The half-arsed story also appeared in Metro, but that's a sister paper of the Mail so you wouldn't expect them to bother with facts getting in the way, but, seriously, NME: what would make you think 'hello, here are some master tapes? They'd be crown property, then'?

[Thanks to the wonderful Morag]

Freebass: The dream is over

How shall we go on without Freebass? The Mani-Hooky supergroup has split up in what looks like acrimonious circumstances. The NME reports:

Mani posted a host of outbursts on his Twitter account, Twitter.com/maniscream, attacking Hook for supposedly exploiting his past glories. Hook recently performed a series of shows where he played Joy Division's 'Unknown Pleasures' album in its entirety.

"Three things visible from space, Great Wall Of China, Peter Hook's wallet stuffed with Ian Curtis' blood money, Man City's empty trophy cabinet!" he tweeted, adding: "I've actually got an ongoing career, so I don’t feel the need to exploit my past glories. I exist in the here and the now."

That's sort-of true, isn't it? It's not entirely Mani's fault that his first name has become "FormermemberoftheStoneRoses"; and Primal Scream might be exploiting past glory to remain a going concern these days, but most of the glories date from before Mani joined.

And it isn't entirely clear what Mani thought Freebass was, if not a chance to cash-in on the past lives of those involved - nobody would have got to the end of the first demo track if it hadn't had Hook's name on it. Maybe Mani thought that was down to people's affection for Revenge.

The reference to Manchester City's trophy cabinet doesn't make any sense, either - why would an empty cabinet be visible from space? Unless someone had built a large cabinet to put nothing in? Was the emptiness supposedly visible from space by itself?

The formal announcement of Freebass split runs like this:

"It is with great sadness that just prior to the long-awaited album release of 'It’s A Beautiful Life' we have to announce that the much anticipated Mancunian union of bassists, Freebass, is no longer a functioning group."

"Recent events have made Freebass entirely unviable as a band and, with this in mind, it has been decided that the project should be shelved, rather than placed on hiatus while members pursue their other interests.

"The band would like to take the opportunity to thanks friends and fans for their support and interest, especially on the UK tour in June 2010. We also hope that people will enjoy the album, which concludes five years of work, and treat it on its own merits. No third parties were involved or harmed in the break-up."

The clash of egos. Even smothered in a polite PR sheen, you can still see that from space.

[Thanks to Michael M for the tip]

Downloadable: The Smashing Pumpkins

To be honest, I'm holding my nose with this one, but it might be of interest:

Transmission - The Smashing Pumpkins

Live in Bilbao, in 1998. Yes, that Transmission.

[Lifted directly from Largehearted Boy, whose daily downloads feature is essential]

Venuewatch: Jillys And Music Box

Grim news from Manchester, where long-running twin venues Jillys Rockworld And The Music Box have gone into liquidation and are closing. Their farewell statement:

AS OF TUESDAY 13th APRIL 2010 JILLY'S ROCKWORLD HAS CLOSED.

THE CLUB THAT HAS BROUGHT MANCHESTER THE BEST ROCK NIGHTS EVER FINALLY CLOSED ITS DOORS FOR THE LAST NIGHT ON SATURDAY 10th APRIL 2010.

WE THANK ALL OUR CUSTOMERS AND SUPPORTERS FOR THE GOOD TIMES THAT WERE HAD OVER MANY MANY YEARS.

WE KNOW WE WILL BE SORELY MISSED.

TODAY THE ROCK DIED AND MANCHESTER'S ALTERNATIVE COMMUNITY MOURNS

JILLY'S WE LOVED YA!!!

R.I.P.

The club had a run of nearly forty years, first under the names Fagans and Rafters, and has offered a home to any number of awkward, developing and downright weird clubnights and performers. There can't be many places which gave a stage to both Tommy Cooper and Mr Scruff. Music historians will know this as the place where Tony Wilson discovered Joy Division, but they provided countless smaller discoveries for thousands of people down the years.

Rumours on Twitter suggest the places are going to be turned into a Tesco; the buildings surely deserve better than that.

[Thanks to Morag for the alert]

Joy over the Zune

The special-edition of the Zune, which comes preloaded with Unknown Pleasures is going to be limited to a run of just 500 and is coming with a bunch of self-congratulatory press flummery, captured by Listening Post:

Chris Stephenson, general manager of global marketing for Microsoft's Zune division, said the company's "involvement" (read: product tie-in) was "a way of saying 'Thank You' to the band for doing what they did" that was "not only a tribute to them but to an entire musical journey through Factory Records and the artists and movements it spawned."

In addition, he said, Microsoft meant the Joy Division Zune as "a tribute to deep respect (huh?) for graphic design that lives on through artists like Peter Saville, and to independent film-makers that believe in more than just commercial success" (which has also largely eluded the Zune). "Ultimately it's a tribute to the self-belief and self-expression that inspires true authentic art."

True authentic art. What better way to pay tribute to that than by throwing an advertising stunt for a multinational company's me-too audio product, eh?

Still, it's nice to know - in a very real way - this special Zune isn't just a thank you to the late Ian Curtis, but also to the Wendys and Northside. Maybe that was a hint that Redmond is preparing a Chicken Rhythms Zune for the Christmas market?

Something to listen to: Joy and Saints

Radio 4 has been overflowing with things to use your ear/speaker combinations for.

First - available until Tuesday teatime - Robbie Williams and Jon Ronson's Radio 4 programme detailing their visit to a UFO conference. It's hard to dislike Williams in this, it has to be said. Although it might have been a better programme without his presence and his desperate "I want to believe" refrain, it was interesting to hear Williams' conviction that being shunned by all your friends because your mother has told everyone you're an Indigo Child is like being a multi-millionaire who can dictate the winner of the British Comedy Awards.

Also available until Tuesday is Great Lives, Simon Armitage enthusing over the late Ian Curtis. And up until Monday, Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow sees Tracy McLeod exploring the Girl Groups of the 1960s.

Permanently, now: T Bone Burnett pops up on the Today programme.

Away from Radio 4, Planet Claire plays host to a St Vincent session. [via Largehearted Boy]

The "Ultimate Honour"

We're surprised to hear from Gigwise that Joy Divison are to get "the ultimate honour".

They're being used to try and push the Zune.

There's going to be a special edition of the music player which has redefined the darker corners of Best Buys up and down the US which, somehow, is going to be a Joy Division version. Because, of course, there's nothing like flogging consumer electronics to make the best use of Ian Curtis' corpse.

Bookmarks: Some stuff to read on the internet

The Creative Review Blog transcribes a conversation between Peter Saville and Dan Fox:

DF: But in a sense you had the autonomous space of an artist for ten years – a degree of liberty that is very similar to that of an artist.

PS: Complete liberty… Strangely out of disinterest. It was New Order’s disinterest and agreed policy of disagreement that allowed it. When Ian died, the natural hierarchy which would have naturally formed in Joy Division… because that’s what happens in bands, at the beginning everyone’s equal, y‘know, if you’ve got a van you can be the manager… that’s how it is. But once they enter the music business, a proper manager is put in place and it’s, “The drummer’s not very good, is he?” and “We’ve got someone else with a drum kit…” The natural hierarchy crystallises around the central figure which is usually the writer/singer and that’s what would have happened had Joy Division signed to a record label or a proper record company, and had Ian survived. He would have gradually, even against his own free will, turned into a Jim Morrison-type character and that’s who you would be working for if you were doing a sleeve or taking a photo or whatever… you’d be working for that person.

Wired's Listening Post carries a lengthy email from MP3Tune's Michael Robertson, placing the lawsuit against his service in the context of the RIAA battle:

While the lawsuit says "EMI" I think the RIAA is advocating this legal fight
as much as any individual label or entity. The RIAA is the music industry's
association with a focus honed on suing seemingly every new technology that
comes along (this last decade at least) . This is what happens when you have
a staff of attorneys -- they want big, long legal fights so they can bill
their clients. The problem with suing every new technology and/or company is
the opportunity to use that new technology in a positive manner is lost. For
example the RIAA sued the first portable MP3 players. The RIAA lost -- not
just the lawsuits, but the chance to leverage an exciting new technology
(MP3 players). It also lost the ability to partner with innovative companies
for increased sales and revenues. By suing every new technology, the music
industry is missing the opportunity to use innovation to dramatically grow
its business in exciting new ways.

... while the Lefsetz Letter responds to Jay-Z's insistence that iTunes doesn't sell his album because he's selling albums, not tracks:

Why does the music industry want to exclude the casual user? We need the people scared away from trading to consume. We need the people who want legal files to be able to pay for them.

Instead of this hissy fit.

Where IS your album available Jay? We’ve got to go to our nearest physical retailer? Where exactly is that? There’s no record store in my neighborhood. And I’m not going to Best Buy for one disc, my life’s too short and I don’t need a refrigerator.

Oh, I get it, I’m supposed to go on Amazon, where you’re breaking Apple’s monopoly. By selling unprotected MP3s.

Is this about money or art? Is this about the whole album or getting people to pay for the entire album?

"We're not copy-Editors"

Tom Smith doesn't like Editors being compared to Interpol. It makes him all sweary and everything:

"When people dismiss us as a second-rate whoever it pisses you off.

"Vocally there is a similarity with Interpol and that's fine but our first album The Back Room doesn't sound anything like them.

"What amazes me is we still get that on this record, An End Has A Start, which sounds nothing like Interpol or Joy Division. If you're a music journalist saying that then you're deaf and need a new job."

Tom, honey; the comparisons with Interpol and Joy Division should flatter you. It's the Coldplay references that you should be worried about.

Hook thrown by the clappers

Peter Hook gives two cheers to the Ian Curtis biopic. But not literal cheers, though:

"I really enjoyed it... But it was like having your heart stamped on. The weirdest thing was at the end, when it really hurt and everybody started clapping. It would've been nice to have a dignified silence."

Still, at least it wasn't a trumpeted announcement about back-catalogue now being sold in the foyer.

That's probably being held back for the general release.

Curtis, sea: Cannes plans

The Ian Curtis biopic is to get a premiere at the Cannes Film Festival later this year - precisely the sort of glittering, star-bejewelled occasion Curtis wasn't known for at all.

Gigwise reportsthe premiere will be:

attended by members of U2, Depeche Mode and the band formed from the ashes of Joy Division, New Order

They might want to rethink the use of a metaphorical "from the ashes", since Joy Divsion ended comprehensively with the actual funeral of the lead singer.

Joy Division Oven Gloves

We've stumbled about the web, really hoping that the Joy Division trainer would turn out to be an April Fool's joke.

It isn't. They're not on general sale, it looks more like a promo-special thing on the part of New Balance. But, oh god, is there no point where people go "maybe this is, you know, pissing all over the memory of music that means something to people?"

At least the Factory shoe seems like the sort of godawful idea Tony Wilson would have pursued to its bitter end.

A Factory plimsole - it'd come in a lovely box, but fall apart as soon as you slipped a foot into it, and you'd not be able to return them to the shop because you'd have messed up the artfully-scrunched tissue paper they were originally protected by.

[Many thanks to FeatherBoa for the link]