31 May 2005
Rachel from Hopper's new material and live dates 
Rachel Ratajski (formerly Morris) who was the singer in Hopper is working on tracks with a new guitarist. The new stuff is mainly acoustic but they are recruiting a drummer and possibly a bass player too. They are are going under the name of Klee.

This Saturday 3 June they play at Slappers at the Arts Theatre Club in Frith Street and then the following Saturday at Turnmills.

Arts Theatre Club
50 Frith St
London W1D 4SQ
Tel: 020 7287 9236
7.00 GBP entry

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Review of Doves @ The Ritz 
Doves played a lunchtime set at The Ritz in Manchester on Saturday as part of Carling 24. Read the Manchester Evening News' review here.

Last night the band recorded three songs: Black and White Town, Snowden and Sky Starts Falling for transmission on Later with Jools Holland on 10 June (this Friday's show features New Order).

www.doves.net

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30 May 2005
'We're The Young Offenders' released today 
From The Young Offenders Institute newsletter:

"The debut Young Offenders Institute single R6M40 'We're The Young Offenders' is released today on F4 Records.

It's a limited edition of 500 and all the copies have been snapped up by retailers so hurry down to the shops to get yours. HMV is the best place to try although other stores may have them too. You can also try www.amazon.co.uk.

If you have no luck there, we will hopefully have a handful more copies to sell via www.youngoffendersinstitute.com"

- -

The catalogue number R6M40 follows the pattern set by previous F4 Records releases. R6 stands for the release number and M40 is the postal district of Collyhurst in Manchester from where the Young Offenders originate.
29 May 2005
Posters of Joy Division 1979-1980 
The 21 May edition of the NME includes 6 A4-sized (approx) black and white posters of striking Joy Division images by Kevin Cummins, Paul Slattery, Adrian Boot and Ian Tilton.

New Musical Express
21 May 2005
www.nme.com
1.90 GBP / 5.50 USD

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The Man Who Heard The Future 
Visionary producer Martin Hannett is remembered by New Order (Stephen Morris and Peter Hook) and AHW in a detailed four-page article in the latest issue of Record Collector by Hardeep Phull. In this extract Hooky looks back on Martin's life and times: "He was a genius in the way he treated things. He showed us a different way of doing things which was ultimately more rewarding. The unfortunate thing about Martin's death was that he had been clean for a few years before hand, but he'd already damaged his heart. He actually died moving house. So there hangs a moral for us all: don't move house."

Record Collector
June 2005
Issue 311
3.50 GBP

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27 May 2005
Joy Division in Embrace's Home Entertainment 
It's Embrace's turn to submit to The Guardian's Home Entertainment section and lead singer Danny Macnamara takes the opportunity to explain the influence Joy Division had during his formative years: "There's a song called I Remember Nothing that I listened to about 40 times in a row when I was 17. The conviction in his voice took music to another level for me, and there was no sense of spectacle with Ian Curtis. Music can be a deeply serious thing if you've got what it takes to pull it off. Joy Division inspired a lot of goth bands that didn't have that fear; that look in their eyes that Ian Curtis had."

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Fac 2.02 A Factory Sample Too - the design brief 
Mat Cook was the designer of the artwork for the Factory Too release Fac 2.02 A Factory Sample Too. This is the one which features the radiator with various shapes cut out of it. Here Mat explains the brief for the work (such as it was):

"Factory Sampler was an absolute classic, we have to do a double 7-inch + cd. Tony Wilson said 'I don't want to see anything till it's on the shelf and if it's shit then I'll tell you'. Free rein then. I'd also been working with 'Blood and Fire' the reggae label and making stuff I found out there was a machine that could sandblast computer generated shape thru anything ... it didn't work ... except thru the rad."

So what looks like some intricate work with a range of power tools is actually done on a computer.

Thanks to Mat.

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26 May 2005
The Durutti Column live @ Fabric, London tonight 
A reminder that The Durutti Column are on at Fabric in London tonight as part of The Taste of Sonar package to promote the forthcoming Sonar festival which takes place in Barcelona in June.

fabric
77 Charterhouse Street
London EC1
Thursday 26th May 2005
09:00 pm to 04:00 am
www.fabriclondon.com

Also, check out the official DC site for Cerysmatic's updated biography "From Dry to Oklahoma with an atlas: A Durutti Column Biography 1992-2005".

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25 May 2005
ACR live @ Nuits Sonores photo gallery 
Check out a new photo gallery on the A Certain Ratio Gigography of this gig on 7 May 2005. It's ACR by ACR! Don't know who that bloke at the end is though...

Thanks to Mike Mitchell.

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Peter Hook on DJing and New Order 
Peter Hook appeared on CBC's The Hour at 20:00 EST last night in a segment taped in a hotel during his Toronto Mod Club gig. The following responses are those Peter Hook gave to the programme's producer which were intercut with clips of New Order videos:

"The reason I became a DJ was because Mani of Primal Scream, the bass player told me it was a great way of getting paid to get pissed and it was great for awhile, but then I got into doing it for the music. This is very much me even though it can be quite uncomfortable. A friend of mine Andy Robinson, who's our tour manager was a DJ, and he said sometimes it's the loneliest place on earth and I've experienced that. But most of the time, with the help of the fans that you built up over the years, that are interested in the same things you are, you have a great time. You play a shit record, and you're gonna find no one's dancing."

- clip -

"We're driving down the road in Ibiza, and I said something feels wrong. Feels wrong somehow. He (Bernard) says Don't worry, don't worry, we're going on into the club. And we had these 2 kids from Stretford, that we'd picked up in the back 2 New Order fans. And we're driving down and I said there’s something wrong, something wrong here, I don't get it. Bang! Straight head into a taxi. We're on the wrong side of the road. We're on the British side of the road, not the Spanish side. So head on collision, these 2 kids came right over in the front, went straight back, they cut themselves all over. And I turn around and went you alright? "Head-on collision with New Order? Yeeeaahhhhh!!!!!". So we have had our moments but I wouldn't recommend it for life or limb. I think there's a few people from what I can gather deserve to be dead from the way they've acted like Iggy Pop, Bowie, Lou Reed but then again people like yourself say New Order, Happy Mondays, Shaun Ryder you know it's the same isn't it. So now I'm not very good with people like that, I always get very star struck. When we played in Japan last time Bernard we're on the train with Neil Young who's, I'm a mad Neil Young fan adore him, and Bernard says Come we'll go up and say hello. I'm not gonna go up and say hello to Neil Young what if he tells you to piss off I'd be devastated. What if he was an asshole, I'd be devastated. I'd prefer just to stay away".

- clip -

"I think you think the drugs help but ultimately they don't. And I've never bought into that I always found music impossible to make on drugs. I mean if I wanna get drunk I'd rather go down to the pub. If I don't hire a recording studio and get drunk in it, I'd hire a pub. It makes much more sense. I always try and teach my children or I always hopefully they can look at me and realize that it's not the way to do it. But I like to think that most of the enjoyment, most of the things I've achieved in this group, I've been sober. You know and I'm still enjoying it sober, as a recovering alcoholic, I'm sober and I enjoy it."

- clip –

"I've worked hard at what I do and and every record that I've made I've put my heart and my soul into it and then I work hard promoting it and I work hard playing that's the main thing. I believe in what I do, but I don't view myself as any different from anyone else. I still go to the toilet. Still wake up feeling knackered and cranky I just feel normal really. What does a legend feel like? I don't know, never met one."

--

There's (yet) another Hooky interview in The Globe and Mail which chiefly relates to the ongoing influence of Joy Division and New Order on modern bands. When asked what New Order makes of all this, Hooky, speaking from Oakland, California last month just before his band's first concert in three years, Hook said "It's an impossible situation to sit there and think: 'Oh, let's do a band that influences people.' People thank you all the time - it's very embarrassing. You don't need thanks. My God, I've had a fantastic time being in this group; I've had a fantastic time being a musician. And really, people buying your records, most of the time, is thanks enough."

Read the full article here.

--

Thanks to Paul.

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23 May 2005
The Adventure Babies: the very very very last gig 
The Adventure Babies are getting the band back together to play live for one last time. The gig is at Stafford Rangers Social Club (in Stafford) on Saturday 25 June and tickets are only two pounds.

According to Redspot.org, "this is to be the very very very last gig the adbabs will ever perform. This combination of Stafford and Manchester based musicians was the last ever band signed to the legendary FACTORY RECORDS. Tony Wilson is reported to have insisted on seeing the band practice in a living room somewhere in town.."

Stafford Rangers Social Club
Marston Road
Stafford
Staffordshire
ST16 3BX
Map
Sat 25 June 2005
Doors: 8pm
Tickets: 2.00 GBP
Tel: 01785 602430

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22 May 2005
Watching The Hydroplanes / Guessing The Way 
LTM is re-releasing LTMCD 2313 Guessing The Way by Tunnelvision as two newly-enhanced discs.

James Nice explains how and why: "Some of you already own 'Guessing the Way' which we released way back in 1998, mixing demos and live tracks. At that time, we did not have access to all master tapes (some were then lost), and the rights to the Factory 7" single were in dispute.

"Since then much has changed, chiefly that the master tapes to both studio demos from 1980 and 1981 were discovered (thanks Peter Hook!), and the 7" is also available. LTM and TV therefore decided to remaster and reissue 2313, and the decided that it would be better still to split GTW into two expanded full length CDs.

"So, we now have LTMCD 2409 Watching the Hydroplanes, which is essentially a studio CD with all the demo tracks (inc Hook mixes) and the Factory 7", in new artwork based on the excellent Fac 39 sleeve. And then we have LTMCD 2313 Guessing the Way V2.0, which contains the complete Blackpool and Bristol shows, both New Order supports and both mastered from the original sound desk cassettes."

More details of both CDs and the recent Tunnelvision CD single available direct from LTM.

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20 May 2005
Nights in White Denim and other stories 
The ever-entertaining Guardian G2 section contains a amusing dissection of white jeans and those who wear or wore them (including recently-lapsed devotee Peter Saville) whilst elsewhere Hooky, Jimi Goodwin and, er, Girls Aloud (and others) regale us with their ideas of the perfect summer songs.

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'I Remember Nothing - A Joy Division Video Night' 
Thanks to Ian for the following details of the video night in Blackburn:

After an initial introduction, Tony Wilson came in with his dog (a Weimaraner like the one in the Blue Monday 88 video) to say a few words. There then followed the first part was shown of the The Joy Division Film by Malcolm Whitehead (Fac 9). Other highlights included outtakes and actual Eindhoven / Manchester footage from 'Here Are The Young Men', live Granada TV clips, various interviews including ones with Ian Curtis, Martin Hannett and Rob Gretton, live performance from Plan K where Hook and Sumner swapped guitars and played Atrocity Exhibition, Bowdon Vale footage. As final bonuses there was the 7-minute short 'She's Lost Control' and the 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' promo.

Also for sale was the 'She's Lost Control' footage which came as a dvd in a seethrough case priced 5 pounds.

Ian says: "The night was great. A few sound problems where a wire came loose but apart from that a great night with lots of rare footage and interesting interviews. Would love to see this footage released officially." Here, here.

Time: 8pm for 8.30pm including a 15 min break. Finisshed about 10:30pm
Tickets: 5 pounds on door
Barzooka
70 Victoria Street
Blackburn BB1 6DN

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Joy Division: Transmission - the archives 
If you didn't get to tune in to any of the 18 May 'Transmission' programmes on BBC 6Music you can catch it via the BBC's Listen Again service as follows:

- Paul Morley on Ian Curtis:
- Gideon Coe talking to Tony Wilson
- Peel Sessions on Andrew Collins
- Joy Division cover versions on Vic McGlynn
- Steve Lamacq talking to Anton Corbijn
- Jane Gazzo's Dream Ticket [Les Bains Douches, Paris 18 December 1979]

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The Boys Are Back In Town 

Happy Mondays play their first Manchester show in 5 years on 29 October at the Manchester Evening News Arena. Tickets have just gone on sale as of 9am BST this morning. The Farm, Stereo MCs and guest DJs provide support. They will also play dates in London and Glasgow.

Saturday 29 October
Doors: 19:30 - 01:00 (special late licence)

Tickets: 28.50 GBP
On sale: 09:00 Friday 21 May
www.seetickets.com
SJM: 0871 2200 260
www.gigsandtours.com
M.E.N. Arena: 0870 190 8000
Piccadilly Box Office: 0161 832 1111

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19 May 2005
A Tale of Two Cities 
Industrial Music for Industrial People: Cleveland vs Manchester. Alan Licht writes for Issue Magazine.

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18 May 2005
Deeply Vale 2006 - Glastonbury's Lost Sister 
The Rovers Return at Manchester's Granada TV studios played host to a press conference today announcing the return after thirty years of the (in)famous Deeply Vale Festival.

Chris Hewitt, organiser of the original Deeply Vale and Leigh festivals of the late seventies, is hoping to rerun the festival in July 2006 on part of the original site.

Read the full report here.
Ian Curtis remembered 
A quick, non-exhaustive digest of how the anniversary of Ian Curtis's death has been reported in blogs around the world: Le Mythe de Sisyphe, 45RPM, Afixe, Dollev Deviates, Lagowski Electronic Music Projects, NYC Scribbles
The Magnetic Fields live show broadcast on NPR 
From The House of Tomorrow newsletter:

We are pleased to announce that a concert recording of last November's Magnetic Fields show at Carnegie Hall will be broadcast on NPR as part of its "Creators at Carnegie" series.

Airdates and times will vary widely across the country so we recommend that you visit NPR's website to check your local listings. NPR will also have the show available from its website at the end of the month.

NPR 2005 Show Schedule

For those of you in the New York City area, WFUV (90.7 FM) will be broadcasting the show Wednesday, 18 May at 21:00 EST.

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Love Will Tear Us Apart 
Today is the 25th anniversary of the death of Ian Curtis of Joy Division. Here is how the sad news was reported back in 1980 under the headline "Rock singer dies on eve of tour".

"Ian Curtis, lead singer with the Manchester rock band Joy Division died at his home on the eve of their planned tour of several American cities. Curtis, aged 23, a member of the band since its formation about three tears ago, was found at his home in Barton Street Macclesfield. A police spokesman said: "A rope was round his neck but there are no suspicious circumstances."

An inquest will be held.

Joy Division, without a major record company deal, are widely regarded as one of Manchester's most influential new-wave groups. They are the best known of several groups on the local independent Factory label, one of whose partners is Granada TV personality Tony Wilson. He said today: "Ian found life a bit complicated. It's a tragedy. He was a very talented boy."

And the band's manager, Rob Gretton, said: "We are absolutely stunned."

There were high hopes that the group's first American tour - they were due to cross the Atlantic yesterday - might have been a major step to commercial success."

[Manchester Evening News, 21 May 1980]

--

Ian Curtis's death is being commemorated today in a series of events across the country.

BBC 6Music is featuring Joy Division throughout the day including music and interviews.

Manchester City Centre's big screen (Corn Exchange) is screening a number of films, videos and interviews in an event called Transmission from 7pm.

Slightly later in the evening (8pm) Barzooka in Blackburn plays host to 'I Remember Nothing - A Joy Division Video Night' featuring a rare chance to see The Joy Division Film by Malcolm Whitehead (Fac 9) not seen for over 20 years and his new 7 minute short She's Lost Control plus rarely seen Ikon/Factory footage.

Time: 8pm
Email: ikonand @ yahoo.co.uk
Tickets: 5 pounds on door
Reservations on request

Barzooka
70 Victoria Street
Blackburn BB1 6DN
Tel: 01254 55607
Map

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16 May 2005
ACR reissues now available from LTM 
Two new albums by A Certain Ratio are now available direct from LTM ahead of store release. They are LTMCD 2438 I'd Like To See You Again, a reissue of the classic third album, now replete with extra tracks and LTMCD 2443 A Certain Ratio Live 1980, a never-before-released live album featuring the original quintet of Donald Johnson, Jeremy Kerr, Martin Moscrop, Simon Topping and Peter Terrell (the same as on I'd Like To ...).

Tracklistings

I'd Like To See You Again

Touch, Saturn
Hot Knights
I'd Like to See You Again
Show Case
Sesamo Apriti - Corco Vada
Axis
Guess Who
Knife Slits Water (7")
Tumba Rhumba
I Need Someone Tonite
Guess Who (Remix)
Knife Slits Water (12")

Live 1980

Felch
Oceans
And Then Again
Loss
Forced Laugh
My Spirit
Winter Hill
And Then Again (b side)
Felch (compilation lp)

--

LTM catalogue and biography.

Don't forget that Melodic has also also reissued 'Live in America' and that ACR themselves are due to make the Fac 511 show available as a download 'soon'.

Thanks to James Nice.

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14 May 2005
Young Offenders Institute single: additional 
A further update from the Young Offenders' mailing list:

If you want to buy The Young Offenders Institute's debut single We're The Young Offenders, send a cheque or postal order for 4 GBP (including post and packing), MADE PAYABLE TO NUXX LTD to:

Nuxx
12 Stoney St
London SE1 9AD

Remember to include your name and address.

The single is also available from Amazon, HMV.co.uk and presumably other online sellers.
13 May 2005
Happy Mondays Live in Barcelona 
It's already been out a month but check out 'Happy Mondays Live In Barcelona' the new live dvd. Features the complete gig plus special features including an extensive interview with Shaun Ryder, sound check, photo gallery, biography. Sound options are Dolby Digital 5.1 / 2.0 (stereo).

Tracklisting

Kinky Afro
Loose Fit
Reverend Black Grape
Bob's Yer Uncle
Step On
Donovan
Hallelujah
Mad Cyril
WFL (Wrote For Luck)
Stinkin' Thinkin'
24 Hour Party People

Title: Happy Mondays Live in Barcelona
Release date: 11 April 2005
Catalogue number: SMADVD209X
Label: Snapper

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New Order live on Jonathan Ross 
New Order are the musical guests on Friday Night With Jonathan Ross, performing new single 'Jetstream' with guest vocals from Ana Matronic out of Scissor Sisters. Other guests include David Hasselhoff, Kelly Osbourne, and The League of Gentlemen.

Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
BBC One
Fri 13 May
22:35 - 23:35 BST

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Young Offenders Institute live 
The Young Offenders Institute play Club Fandango at the Dublin Castle in London this Tuesday 17 May, onstage 9.45pm. Go to www.clubfandango.co.uk and click on the "need a flyer? print them here" button in the top left - this will get you in for 5 quid.

Club Fandango
The Dublin Castle
94 Parkway
London, NW1 7AN
Map

The debut single We're The Young Offenders is released on 30 May on F4 Records on CD. It's available for download now from www.f4records.co.uk

The single features three tracks:
We're The Young Offenders (Cleaned Up Version)
We're The Young Offenders (Fucked Up Version)
Having A Party (Live in London)

To buy a copy, send a cheque or postal order for 4.00 GBP (including post & packing), with your name and address, to:

Acid Management & Productions
12 Stoney St
London SE1 9AD

--

Thanks to the Young Offenders Institute newsletter
www.youngoffendersinstitute.com

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12 May 2005
Joy Divison: unknown still 
There is an appropriately reverent and detailed article by Mark Sawyer about Joy Division in the 11 May edition of the Sydney Morning Herald. He explains how he "could rave on forever about the near-demented power of songs like Day of the Lords and Dead Souls (which compelled me to buy the "mad" Russian writer Gogol's 19th century novel of the same name)."

Read the full article here.

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'8vo: On The Outside' almost ready to go to press 
Further information on the long-awaited 8vo book from founder member Mark Holt:

"After three years in the making, '8vo: On the Outside' is almost ready to go to press. Written and designed by Mark Holt and Hamish Muir, the book is to be published in Autumn 2005 by Lars Muller.

At over 500 pages, the book is an extensive survey of 8vo's work from 1984-2001, including Octavo, the international journal of typography and its influence in the emergent typographically-led design movement in the UK during the late 80s and through the 90s. The book's emphasis is on process; trying to reveal how our designs got made rather than simply showing finished jobs. We tell it how it was, some of the everyday struggles of working with clients, typesetters, printers, and later on computers. Like many of our contemporaries, 8vo were working during a period of considerable change within the design industry – the book also places the work within the context of this revolution; from paste-up to desktop."

--

'8vo: On The Outside' on Amazon.co.uk [a little out of date as publication date is given as 1 April 2005]
Mark Holt Design

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11 May 2005
The Durutti Column @ Rhaaa Lovely 
Check out Ronald klein Tank's review, complete with excellent photos of The Durutti Column's gig at the splendidly-named Rhaaa Lovely Festival held in Belgium at the beginning of April.

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New single by Opium 
Opium's new single 'One Last Kiss' was released on 5 May 2005 on a CD single with 4 different mixes. Opium is Katrina Docherty on vocals and Alexander Macpherson writing the music. Alex (or Mac to his friends) used to be in Factory band The Wake.

After leaving The Wake in 1984 he signed to Jive Records with The Cat Club; then Opium were formed in 1995 as Alex's "vehicle for free expression; without record company. 'One Last Kiss' is the latest single. It was preceded last year by 'Atlantean' which was originally released in 1995.

Both CDs are being sold on eBay. Check the user ID 'opium23'. They are also available by contacting neuropa @ talk21.com

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Factory @ Traffic Turin Free Festival 
From NewOrderOnline.com

"After the success of the first edition, Turin will be again protagonist of an event unique for its features and totally free, which means to place the city at the centre of the contemporary youth culture: Traffic Turin Free Festival, from Wednesday 29 June to Saturday 2 July.

Amongst the exclusive events in the bill there is a day dedicated to the musical scene of Manchester which will peak with the concert by New Order, Saturday 2 July on the stage at Parco Della Pellerina."

Manchester, or, if you will, Madchester is represented by 808 State, Shaun Ryder (ex-Happy Mondays) and Hacienda DJs Mike Pickering and Graeme Park (or Parks and Pickering as they are described on the official website), who all play in one form or another. Tony Wilson will be your Master of Ceremonies. And the movie which told his story (or at least a version of his story), 24 Hour Party People (dir. Michael Winterbottom) will be screened on the afternoon of 2 July at The Cinema Museum.

--

Thanks to C.

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10 May 2005
The official John Metcalfe website 
Check out Factory Classicist and one-time Durutti Column member John Metcalfe's new official website which contains biographical information, details on and reviews of his work, material on his various collaborators and free audio / video downloads.

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RAW-T live PA @ Battle Scars 
Street poster in Manchester:

DATE: SAT 14TH MAY
BATTLE SCARS
The Manchu Warriors pt II

20 of MCR's finest lyrical warriors come together to battle to the death with support from BATTLESCARS' own band - The Crown Prosecution Service.

Also on the night...
DJ POGO [En4cers / DMC Champion]

Plus live PAs from
RAW-T [F4 Records]
DABBLA [London Zoo]
DJ Konny Kon [Skullsnap Records]
Time: 10-3am
Price: 7 pounds + b.f. adv, MOTD

See flyer for Ticket Outlets or alternatively call Box Office 0161 832 1111 or log on to www.battlescars.co.uk

Music Box, 65 Oxford Road, MCR City Centre

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9 May 2005
Sean O'Hagan on Love Will Tear Us Apart 
In an article entitled 'Hear his song' Sean O'Hagan analyses the impact of the classic Joy Division song 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' which was released 25 years ago.

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8 May 2005
ACR live @ Les Subsistances, Lyon 
A Certain Ratio and James Chance and the Contortions played a special concert last night to celebrate the end of Nuits Sonores 2005 in Lyon. The splendid setting was Les Subsistances, the arts and cultural centre on the bank of the River Saone which had also played host to the Central Station Design exhibition during the previous month.

The lighting and particularly the sound were excellent both excellent given the cavernous setting in an indoor cobblestone courtyard. ACR played a good set (see full listing below) to a decent crowd which was enthusiastic despite most of them probably being unfamiliar with the material.

The full six-person line-up was employed: Jez Kerr (bass, vocals), Tony Quigley (sax, keyboards), Martin Moscrop (guitar), Donald Johnson (drums), Denise Johnson (vocals) and Liam (occasional effects and keyboards).

Highlights included a great 'Wonder Y' (which also marked Denise's appearance on stage), the house piano-tinged 'Won't Stop Loving You', 'Shack Up' (which got everyone dancing) and traditional encore 'Si Firmi' featuring everyone hitting or shaking something and, towards the end, a new backing tape which drew to a crescendo. And then the end.

Setlist*

Intro
Do the Do
And Then Again
Flight
Wonder Y
Turn Me On
Wild Party
Shack Up
WSLU
Wannabee
--
Si Firmi

* - all spellings from Mr Moscrop's handwritten list

Transcript of ticket

Arty Farty presente:
Festival Nuits Sonores
Les Subsistances - 69001 Lyon
James Chance and The Contortions
A Certain Ratio
Concert Special / Subsistances
Samedi 7 Mai 2005
A partir de 21h30
www.nuits-sonores.com
www.les-subs.com
www.acrmcr.com

--

Salut Christophe, Richard, Cedric, Violaine, Vincent, Cecile and the TLM video crew.

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7 May 2005
Vini Reilly @ Oklahoma, Manchester, Sun 8 May 
A quick reminder that Vini Reilly of The Durutti Column will be performing a special live acoustic set tomorrow at Oklahoma in Manchester.

Doors open 7pm-8pm
Starts 9pm
Tickets: 10 pounds

All ticket sales go to Willen Macmillan Cancer Hospice, Milton Keynes. Tickets limited to 100.

Oklahoma Cafe
74-76 High Street
Manchester M4 1ES

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6 May 2005
New Order, New York City, Thurs 5 May 
Last night's New Order gig at the 4,200 capacity Hammerstein, New York City started with the wholly unexpected 'Love Vigilantes' and included 4 Joy Division songs.

Here's the setlist:

Love Vigilantes
Crystal
Regret
Hey Now What You Doing
Krafty
Transmission
True Faith
Run Wild
Jetstream (with Ana Matronic)
Waiting for the Sirens' Call
Bizarre Love Triangle
Love Will Tear Us Apart
Temptation
--
She's Lost Control
Atmosphere
Blue Monday

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Playing Hooky @ Return to New York, Toronto 
Mike Doherty talks to Peter Hook for www.eye.net just ahead of Return to New York tonight in Toronto:

"I like the edginess of it," he says of DJing, "that sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Reading the crowd -- sometimes it's very, very lonely up there because you've not got your guitar to hide behind. Fucking hell, it does get a bit traumatic."

Read the full article here.

Friday 6 May
Return to New York
The Mod Club Theatre
722 College
Toronto

Hooky also talks extensively about his bass playing in the current issue of the imaginatively titled Bass Player magazine (the one with the scary-looking airbrushed cover).

--

Thanks to Paul and C.

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A Durutti Column message from Phil Kooky Cleaver 
Phil Cleaver, who runs Kooky Discs and handle official merchandising for The Durutti Coulmn, writes:

Hi everyone !

I just wanted to post a few things which may interest people, I hope, and also apologise / grovel / pull out hair / feel embarrassed about the subscription group newsletter...

ok.... that first

The subscription group idea was really to get some of Vin's old, interesting and new work in progress at that time stuff out on CD to those who were interested in it. In addition I did say that we would do a newsletter and discount / give priority for forthcoming releases .This is still the same HOWEVER I will probably not do more than the one newsletter this year, and then perhaps not again at the renewal!

The newsletter will be out during May. I have started it on three occasions and then ended up with either the band or myself getting caught up in other things. Incidentally I am still open to offers on any items or articles that people feel may be of interest. I am not sure whether or not it is a good idea.... firstly it is hard to keep up with the pace of the net and this sub-group is a point in case. Ironically I found out here about the F4 deal at the same pace as everyone else. I'd heard rumours but nothing further.... so what chance has a piece of mailed paper got ! I also guess that we did the most important thing ie got the CD's out which is the reverse to most of these things where you get the piece of out-of-date paper and wait for the CD!!!

OK all said... I'M V V VERY SORRY for the delay in the letter being so late and i will do as follows:

1) Post newsletters out end MAY 2005
2) Give discounts as noted below to those who bought the first CD
3) Never want to do a newsletter again ;-)
4) Have info of next CD summertime

Charity gig 08/05/05

Vini is playing a charity show in Manchester on Sunday 8th May 2005 . This is for a Cancer Hospice Charity. It is a charity he has personal reasons for supporting and I hope that loads of you well the allotted 100 will all dontae generously.

We will be selling some stock at the show and everything we take will go towards the sum raised.

IN ADDITION.... Vini kindly gave Nicola (my wife) and I a song to use on our wedding day which was 6-9-03 ( hope i got that right for my own well-being). Basically, it was a completely different version of Salford Harmonics with a lead guitar part which sounds v v different to the Tempus Fugut album version. I pressed these onto a CD with a colour CD artwork in a walletie printed NOT home-done CDR's ie similar to sub-group CD's. These were for the guests and left on each table at the wedding breakfast. I have about 10 or so left and I only pressed 90 - 80 for the wedding and these spare 10 or so. If anyone is interested I am looking to sell them for the charity passing 100% on. If you want to bid please email me no later than SAT 7/5/05 21.00 BST Minimum bid is 10 GBP. PLEASE DO NOT BID IF YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO PAY - i have to say this from bitter experience..... If you think 10 pounds is steep do not bid - it is a unique track and v v rare - It is for charity and any unsold will go to Manchester on the Sunday and I can sell them there. Email me at kookydiscs @ btinternet.com if you are happy to support.

I have to go now - have some news to post about a new release album and an Amigos em Portugal re-issue which i will do in the week !
your suffering claret and blue friend (outclassed again)

et allez metz aussi

Phil kooky Cleaver ( no me neither)

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Thanks to Phil for all info.

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5 May 2005
More New Order live reviews 
New Order's US tour is in full swing with Coachella followed by Chicago. Here's an extract of the Billboard review by Jonathan Cohen, Todd Martens and Brian Cohen (or one of them at least) of the Coachella show:

"Sure, frontman Bernard Sumner needs a teleprompter to remember lyrics and dresses like a high-school math teacher, and bassist Peter Hook feels the need to occasionally scream into his microphone like a man possessed. But New Order conjured some truly magical moments during its Sunday set, as complex-sounding a symphony as any Coachella band could hope to create."

Love Vigilantes
Crystal
Regret
Hey Now What You Doing
Krafty
Transmission
True Faith
Run Wild
Jetstream (with Ana Matronic)
Waiting for the Sirens' Call
Bizarre Love Triangle
Love Will Tear Us Apart
Temptation

(Encore)
She's Lost Control
Atmosphere
Blue Monday

Read the full review here:

Meanwhile, check out the video of 'Jetstream' and 'Atmospere' as performed at Coachella here

Here's another review extract, this time from a 4 May piece entitled 'New Order is a joy undivided' by Joshua Klein of the Chicago Tribune on the Aragon Ballroom, Chicago show on Tuesday 3 May:

"New Order, for its part, has gradually shifted from being almost confrontationally aloof to grudgingly accepting, and perhaps even being proud of, its legacy. That's noticeable from the number of Joy Division songs the group now regularly and enthusiastically sticks into its set."

Read the full review here

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Thanks to Paul.

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Peter Saville @ Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh 
Many thanks to Andrew James for the following recollections of the recent Peter Saville talk in Edinburgh:

"An evening in which Peter, unusually decked out in black polo neck and black trousers, lounged urbanely on a red velvet sofa and talked about his life and career, prompted by questions from the host. The questions themselves were accompanied by visual aids concocted by the organisers, namely slides of Peter's work (taken from his monograph), with the questions rendered in various versions of Saville typefaces; this was either an ironic comment on appropriation, or the result of a deadline and some DTP software.

For the most part, the stories covered familiar territory, but there were a few new revelations (for me, at least). That he was paid the princely sum of 20 pounds for producing FAC 1, for instance. That the designer who famously told him that his ambition was to make fish finger packaging 10% better was Michael Peters. That the most he was paid for a record cover was for Peter Gabriel's 'So' (20,000 pounds. By comparison, the initial budget for The Music's last cover was 3,000 pounds). That he once took twenty lines of coke with a Factory band who must remain nameless here (GYAC, it wasn't The Royal Family and The Poor) while waiting for them to do a gig at LA's Universal Amphitheatre in 1988. And that he went back to the venue with the band to do the same thing again the next day. In this louche raconteur mode, he'd be a good guest on Parkinson, sandwiched between, say, Nicholas Lyndhurst and Nicole Kidman.

We also saw hints of the world-weary character that he has become in the last 12 years. He said that in the mid-90s, he mooched CDs off various Los Angeles record companies so that he could then sell them at Aron's Records to pay for food. He said that his latest New Order cover was a response to the band's request that he work for them, i.e. No. He said that he wasn't interested in music, let alone MP3s. That he didn't want to do graphic design. That he'd spent thousands on pornography. As my friend Belinda said, it was like listening to someone sitting on the psychiatrist's couch. And, indeed, you could have viewed the evening as a very cheap form of therapy.

The lack of time precluded any questions about his post-LA career, and some in the audience were disappointed. However, I suspect that many audience members (myself included) were perfectly happy to hear the tale of the Factory years recounted by one of the few survivors from the era. At least it'll have to do until Alan Erasmus finally gets round to telling us his side of the story."

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More info including a transcript of the talk itself at www.longlunch.com

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The Occasional Keepers 
The Occasional Keepers is the brand new collaboration between fellow ex-members of The Wake, Carolyn Allen and Caesar, and Bobby Wratten of Trembling Blue Stars (ex-The Field Mice and Northern Picture Library). An album titled 'The Beauty Of The Empty Vessel' is set to come out on LTM after the summer.

Tracklisting

1. The Bracken.
2. Rose Scented Fire.
3. J Carpenter Kid.
4. Of Nightingales.
5. Concrete Music.
6. In Quiet Isolation.
7. Desire.
8. North Sea Rig.
9. The Crackle Of Debris.
10. The Last Lighthouse Keeper.

The album's running time is about 50 minutes 24 seconds. Production is by Ian Catt and The Occasional Keepers. Everything was recorded and mixed by Ian over nine days in London. All compositions are by Carolyn, Caesar and Bobby.

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Martin O'Neill JD Bowdon Vale launch party 
The posh suburbs of Altrincham (itself a posh suburb of Manchester) were reminded of their gritty rock past (!) on Saturday night (30 April) as one-time Sale & Altrincham Messenger photographer Martin O'Neill opened his solo exhibition of photographs at Hale Library. The photos depict local Manchester band Joy Division's sweaty black and white gig at nearby Bowdon Vale Youth Club, some twenty-six years prior.

Not strictly in keeping with the spirit of the original alcohol-free gig, wine and beer was available on the night, though supplemented with free Vimto (one of Martin's photographs famously depicts drummer Steve Morris supping a can of this local fizzy beverage - other members of the band seeming to prefer the more sophisticated 'soda pop' 7UP experience).

Martin's guests on the opening night included a number of the original attendees of the gig itself including Nick Wraith and Andy Wake, along with local celebs Martin Moscrop (ACR etc), Lindsay Reade (Factory etc), Alan Hempsall (Crispy Ambulance), Karen Mason (Hacienda etc), various 'Fast Cars' and a special guest appearence of the original promoters of the gig itself: chiropodist Bob Jefferson and his wife Carol (owners of once-local record shop 'Streets Ahead').

Though the exhibition lasts only one week, plans are afoot to move it into Manchester proper in time for the 18 May anniversary of Ian Curtis' suicide (tbc).

Highlight of the evening was the lady who had diarised her early gig experiences, selectively quoting them at random : "Valentine's Day, 1979. Went to see The Fall. Wore red leg-warmers..."

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Thanks to Moist.

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3 May 2005
Review of New Order live @ Coachella, 2 May 
Here's a snippet about New Order from a review (entitled 'Embracing the Random') of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival by Kelefa Sanneh which appears in today's New York Times:

"[2 May] The legendary new wave band New Order played a set that included a handful of songs by its even more legendary precursor, Joy Division; it was odd (but not unpleasant) to hear the group bounce through a fast, peppy version of 'Love Will Tear Us Apart', arguably one of the most unpeppy songs ever recorded."

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2 May 2005
It's not only rock 'n' roll - it's art, literature and theory 
The Postpunk Panel, convened at the Boogaloo to celebrate the launch of Simon Reynolds's new book 'Rip It Up and Start Again', saw Richard Boon (ex-Buzzcocks manager), Gina Birch (ex-The Raincoats), Paul Morley (journalist and Zang Tuum Tumb founder) and Jon King (Gang of Four) join Simon for an hour or so's mostly decorous discussion of everything postpunk. Proceedings began with a completely unwatchable due to technical problems "screening" of a probably quite good music video with The Fall, New Order, Joy Division, The Pop Group, Dexy's Midnight Runners and many others.

A few highlights of the discussion itself:

Pretentious, moi?

In talking about the book, Paul Morley said that it was "odd to read it as it was" and, in responding to Simon's accusation, that "I reject your accusation of pretention, yet I accept it."

Mini-gangsters

Richard Boon explained how the first recordings by Buzzcocks came about: "it's not that difficult to press 1000 vinyl... you just need to borrow some money!"

Jon King explained why Gang of Four signed to EMI: "Small labels were generally run by mini-gangsters who didn't pay. It was entirely obvious (that we should sign). Fast Product was not a good idea. We never got paid. It was incredibly funny." King also explained how it helped that GoF owned outright all their recordings and that this enabled them to licence them to all and sundry.

Gloomy Blackpool Disco

Paul Morley put forward the notion that all records should be wrapped in sandpaper ("why isn't the new Rolling Stones wrapped in sandpaper?") and explained how he had been banned by the NME from writing about releases from Factory Records after endless reviews of "gloomy Blackpool disco".

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Hi to James (thanks for the dvd), Graham and Andy.

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