THE LINES – hull down – OUT NOW

All Posts,New Music,Old Music — Dan on May 16, 2016 at 11:22 pm

TheLines_hulldown_500px

 

As of this past friday, “hull down” by The Lines is available to purchase on LP or via digital, stream digital and soon on CD as well in limited quantities. I don’t need to go on and on about how cool this record is, about how surprising a mix of post-punk, new wave, krautrock, dub, electronics, acoustics, songwriting, tape-editing it is. I do want to share some more info about it from others, and maybe say a thing or two about it.

First, make sure you check out Rico’s blog Rico’s Reel where the latest post is a track by track run down of the LP with insights into the history and production of the material. Especially good reading for the gear nerds our there.

Second, make sure you tune into dublab this Wednesday, May 18th at 10am when Rico will join Ale (Alejandro Cohen of Languis, Pharaos and Psychic Powers) on the air. Interview? DJ? Talk Radio? Not sure but looking forward to it!

Third, there’s been some kind words written online that are worth checking out, like this review from Loud and Quiet, Tim Gabriele’s short but sweet write-up here, this extensive article with contributions from Rico at Cold War Night Life, Red Bull Music Academy’s interview going deeper into Rico’s 80s productions, or Andy Kellman’s review on Allmusic comparing hull down to Cabaret Voltaire and On-U sound and giving me official commendation for my work with Acute, which I initially read as condemnation.

Finally, just wanted to give a tiny bit of background about this release from our perspective. One of the most fun things about doing a reissue label is when you begin discussing reissuing a favorite artists recordings and they tell you they’ve got some unreleased stuff and would you like to hear that as well? I’m really proud of the various bonus-tracks and previously unreleased material that has been strewn throughout the small Acute catalog and this is another fantastic example.

I first got in touch with Rico as far back as 2003, around the time of our first releases. It took 5 years to get our Lines CDs out (Memory Span compiling the singles and Flood Bank the LPs for those not keeping track). At some point during that Rico first mentioned these tracks, sometimes referred to as just “the 1983 album”. Of course I was beyond excited to get to hear this stuff and when I finally did…what can I say, it blew me away.

It was clearly the Lines, many of the trademarks that made the singles and LPs so great, but was a clear development from that material, which only made sense as they were always moving forward. And it isn’t just a single direction but represented exploration in several directions, some of their most experimental music and some of their catchiest songs. Some of it exciting in it’s rawness and immediacy, some of it shocking in it’s sublime beauty. It was a no-brainer, Acute definitely wanted to release this, perhaps not long after the initial 2 CDs, so sometime around 2010?

Well things don’t always work out as planned. Rico found the time to get back to it and put it shape, then Acute got a bit quiet and continued it’s uniquely deliberate and thoughtful pace (read: slow). By the time we jumped on the lucrative and forward-thinking vinyl bandwagon hull down was definitely gonna be. By then still only a few people had even heard the material. A few friends and special fans of the band had the chance to preview it and of course were blown away. But as before, life and laziness gets in the way and for various reasons I decided it was time to put Acute Records to rest. But not before at least one last release, something that we had long been hoping to do and promising to do. Being that it’s an extension of 2 CDs that were GREAT Acute CDs from back then and being a great collection of unheard stuff really made it seem like an ideal and appropriate way to go out. All this essentially being written to say….sorry it took so long!

SOME RELEVANT UPDATES TO APPEAR RELEVANT

All Posts,event,New Music,Old Music — Dan on May 4, 2014 at 4:48 pm

Sorry it’s been so many months since a post. Acute’s been quiet since we knocked out three awesome vinyl releases right out of the park around the turn of 2013. We still exist and have a few releases we may get out there but have been been busy elsewhere. In the meantime just wanted to do a quick update to let you know about some news related to artists that have been or are of the Acute family. Where to start?

THE METHOD ACTORS
I should probably start here since I’m a few days late. Vic Varney from The Method Actors told me about Art Rocks Athens, a special exhibition running from May 1st through Dec 31 of artifacts related to the Athens music scene of the late 70s and early 80s. There will be displays, screenings, performances etc. Check out the website linked above and the facebook page here.

THE TRYPES
No Trypes news but plenty of action with Speed the Plough, the band the Trypes evolved into.  Late last year, Bar None released a beautiful retrospective, The Plough and the Stars, featuring a “best of” CD, a 12″ with 6 new songs and a live set, a large booklet and a digital download card with even more goodies. A great intro to the band or a great way to catch up with old favorites. Since then, they’ve been recording more new material and have a bunch of shows lined up, at the In the Pines festival in Beacon NY next Saturday the 10th, a gig at Tierney’s in Montclair NJ the following saturday the 17th, and a show in Brooklyn at the Fifth Estate on May 23rd.

IKE YARD
Ike Yard are working on a new album, “Rejoy” and also make an appearance on a fantastic new compilation from Factory Benelux called Of Factory New York, a benefit to assist Michael Shamberg, who ran Factory US. Lots of Factory favorites devoted tracks to this compilation, with iconic Lawrence Weiner artwork, including Ike Yard’s Kino. Do I have most of these songs already? Of course. Do I have them all in one place with killer artwork and for a good cause? Not yet. Vinyl has, along with Kino, such Dan Selzer dancefloor staples like ACR’s Do the Du, Quando Quango’s Love Tempo, 52nd Street’s Cool as Ice, Cabaret Voltaire’s Yashar (John Robie remix) a live version of New Order’s Your Silent Face, Konk’s Baby Dee, Section 25’s Looking From a Hilltop, Streetlife’s Act on Instinct, Marcel King’s Reach for Love, Thick Pigeon’s Subway, Arthur Baker’s Come On and Anna Domino’s Summer.

THE PREFECTS/THE LINES/THEORETICAL GIRLS
What a gig that would’ve been. Nothing that exciting! Following the release of the awesome book Punk 45: Original Punk Rock Singles Cover Art, edited by Jon Savage and Stuart Baker, Soul Jazz has started a series of punk 7″ compilations, organized by location/period/etc. Not unlike say, a Chuck Warner CD. The first volume is called Punk 45: Kill the Hippies! Kill Yourself! The American Nation Destroys its Young. Underground Punk in the United States of America, Vol 1. 1973-1980 and features U.S. Millie by Theoretical Girls, from the very first Acute release (and the Roir New York Singes Scene compilation before that). The second volume is Punk 45: There is No Such Thing as Society. Get a Job, Get a Car, Get a Bed, Get Drunk! Underground Punk in the UK 1977-81, Vol 2. and features no less (or more) than TWO Acute related tracks. The first LP ends with the cult-classic White Night by The Lines and the second LP (and whole shebang) ends with Going Through the Motions by The Prefects.

And speaking of the Prefects…lets talk about The Nightingales, the band the Prefects evolved into. They’ve got a new album out called For Fuck’s Sake, recorded at Faust Studio in Germany. Self-released, or as they say “No interference or outside opinions, no label, no distributor, no catalogue number, no bar code or logo shit, blah blah.” The record is killer and it’s getting great reviews and buzz. Once again and continuously they prove they’re not just some nostalgia act reunited to cash-in on those lucrative post-punk revival riches, but a living-breathing and evolving hard-working band just getting better and better. Killing it on tour and hopefully hitting the states soon. They’ve even got a proper video:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwQjkaeQhAw[/youtube]

But if you want a blast from the past…check out this old documentary on John Peel that’s been making the rounds, featuring a discussion with a younger Nightingales and a searing performance from them at the end of part 3.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bRi7nZBN9c[/youtube]

THE FIRE ENGINES
And talking about vintage footage…Innes Reekie, who contributed his Fire Engines notes to our Hungry Beat compilation, has posted “coming soon…” regarding the long spoken of documentary, The Sound of Young Scotland. So even though this teaser is from 2007,  let’s watch it again and cross our fingers that we’ll get to see it soon.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vK8hdl02H2o[/youtube]

I think that’s enough for now. I have to go update one of my other blogs then maybe try to get some actual work done.

VIVA RADIO-SCATTERED

All Posts,Old Music — Dan on June 9, 2013 at 10:44 pm

Viva show. Pyjamarama. Archives. Scattered.

Scattered
1. Fleetwood Mac – Albatross
2. Neu! – Neuschnee
3. Stereolab – John Cage Bubblegum
4. Electrelane – On Parade
5. Sensational Creed – Nocturnal Operations
6. Blanche Blanche Blanche – Mercantile Rugs
7. David Bowie – So She
8. Tom Verlaine – Kingdom Come
9. Total Control – Love Performance
10. Wet Hair – Color and Shape
11. The Offset – The Loop Swing
12. Wire – Culture Vulture (Joakim Edit)
13. Roy Montgomery – Above All
14. Nocturnal Projections – Difficult Days
15. Regal Degal – Winning and Breaking
16. Tirez Tirez – Scattered

VIVA RADIO-TOMORROW IS ALREADY HERE

Old Music,Radio — Dan on November 26, 2012 at 11:17 pm

I’ve got a new Viva show. Airing tuesday at 1pm. If you miss it, or I’m wrong about when it’s airing, it will be in the archives. That’s how I started my last post about my last Viva show, which also started with Pye Corner Audio. Sorry I’ve been slacking on this blog and on Viva, a lot going on these days. Have some ideas for some blog posts that I just haven’t gotten around to. Some Acute releases. Other news. But for now, some sounds.

Tomorrow is Already Here
1. Pye Corner Audio – Sleep Games
2. Beak> – Said It All
3. Stereolab – Tomorrow is Already Here
4. Sam Willis – Weird Science
5. Broadcast – Sixty Forty
6. Pink Industry – Don’t Let Go
7. Tropic of Cancer – Be Brave (Richard H. Kirk Mix)
8. Gist – Clean Bridges
9. Walter Jones – Made in Holland
10. Some Bizarre – Don’t Be Affraid
11. Forma – FORMA339/333
12. Grimes – Oblivian
13. Luke Abbott – 2nd 5th Heavy

VIVA RADIO-INTERPLANETARY MUSIC AND TOTAL DROP

All Posts,Old Music,Radio — Dan on August 27, 2012 at 11:23 pm

I’ve got two new Viva shows…one ran last week or something, the other maybe today, maybe next week, I don’t know. Just keep checking the archives and tuning in every tuesday. I’ll have a follow-up post soon with some reissue recaps and news about next weeks Ike Yard/Xeno and Oaklander/Led-Er-Est show that I’m DJing. In the meantime, here’s the latest playlists, which you can, or maybe can’t, listen to. In any case, you can still appreciate the selections phonetically. Two very different shows. One makes a bit more sense than the other.

Interplanetary Music
1. Burundi Black – Burundi Black (Rusty Egan First Remix)
2. Discodeine – Falkenberg (Pilooski Edit)
3. Massara – Margherita
4. Mickey Moonlight – Interplanetary Music (Riton Remix)
5. I/0 (Black Dog Productions) – The Clan
6. Sandoz – Armed Response
7. Bab Lee – Tropical Mix (Sous Les Cocotiers)
8. The Lift Boys – Liftvooyzzzz
9. Idjut Boys & Laj – Whoktish

Total Drop
1. Abba – The Visitors
2. The Damned – Grimle Fiendish
3. Laser Boy – It’s Your Train
4. The Red Crayola – Transparent Radiation
5. Ici La Bas (The Homosexuals) – Total Drop
6. L Voag – Kitchen
7. Slapp Happy with Henry Cow – A Worm is at Work
8. Henry Cow with Slapp Happy and Robert Wyatt – Bad Alchemy/Little Red Riding Hood Hits the Road
9. The Work – Houdini
10. The Ex & Tom Cora with Catherine Janioux – Propadada
11. Bilders – Alligator Song
12. Alastair Galbraith – Hawks
13. John K. – New Addition
14. Social Climbers – Palm Springs
15. Skeleton Crew – Second Rate
16. Squeeze – Is That Love

VIVA RADIO-WHAT USE IN A VISION BABBLE MULTI-TRACK SUGGESTION

All Posts,Old Music,Radio — Dan on December 22, 2011 at 2:37 am

So a week or so ago there were quite a few events (and posts) about Happy Refugees visit to NYC, which I will be re-capping soon, including clips and links and all sorts of fun. In the meantime, I realize I never told you (the internet) about my last 4 Viva Radio shows, all of which are currently available to stream in the archive for my show, Pyjamarama. Just click there, select a show from the pulldown menu and hit start! Here’s the shows in reverse order, and boy are they awesome.

What Use
1. Tuxedomoon-What Use
2. Can-Spoon
3. The Lines-Nerve Pylon
4. Colin Newman-We Means, We Starts
5. Robert Rental-Double Heart
6. Clock DVA-Resistance
7. The Box-Water Grows Teeth
8. Moebius-Countramio
9. The Fakes-Look Out
10. Metropak-OK Let’s Go
11. Visitors-Moth
12. Marc Riley-Favourite Sister
13. The Fall-Leave the Capital
14. Thomas Leer & Robert Rental-Monochrome Days
15. Simple Minds-I Travel
16. Throbbing Gristle-AB/7A
17. Ultravox-Hiroshima Mon Amour

In A Vision
1. Virgo Four-In A Vision
2. Psyche-Elements
3. Julio Bashmore-Ribble To Amazon
4. PIRI PIRI-Disgo
5. Underground Resistance-Amazon
6. Oni Ayhun-Oar 003-B
7. Omar S-Psychotic Photosynthesis
8. Reel by Real & Shake-Serene
9. Yellow Beach Balls-Like Ecstasy Comes Down Like the 66

Babble
1. Neu!-Neuschnee
2. John Maus-Believer
3. Rema Rema-Rema Rema
4. The Yummy Fur-Colonel Blimp
5. Felt-Birdmen
6. David Bowie-Teenage Wildlife
7. The Associates-When You Were Young
8. Robin Gibb-The Worst Girl in this Town
9. The Who-See My Way
10. 21-645-Babble
11. La Dusseldorf-Geld
12. Faust-Lauft..Heisst Das Es Lauft Oder Es Kommt Bald..Lauft
13. Harmonia-Watussi

Multi-Track Suggestion
1. Vangelis-Multi-Track Suggestion
2. Severed Heads-Lamborghini
3. Vogel-Guten Morgen
4. Plus Instruments-Paradise
5. Kevin Harrison and Steven Parker-Distant Truth of English Dreams
6. Harmonia-Deluxe (immer weider)
7. Harald Grosskopf-Emphasis
8. Robert Görl-A Ist Wider Da
9. Food Pyramid-Last Shuttle to the Red Planet
10. Ryan Garbes-Boys are Back
11. The Beach Boys-Let Us Go On This Way
12. Bron Area-You Would Be Amazed
13. An Bene and Pierre Lambow-Celestial

BLANKS NYC MIX

All Posts,mp3,Old Music — Dan on November 20, 2010 at 1:13 pm

Blanks NYC is an art collective of sorts, a bunch of friends who are artists, animators, designers etc that host parties throughout New York City. They invited me to take part in Blanksgiving 2.0, their first anniversary party, in which they invited a ton of people to make mix CDs and come DJ. The idea was to make 20+ copies and bring them to the party, where they’d be collected in batches so everyone would leave with a stack of mixes. We would also all DJ. Being 5-10+ years older than most of the people involved I was given one of the prime DJ slots. I have to say if I had to choose between working a party from 10pm till 4am, or just going on at 11:30 on a thursday night, killing it for a half-hour, then going home at a reasonable hour, in my advanced age the latter is sounding really great.

I was excited about the mix idea as it’s been a few years since I’ve recorded any kind of proper mix. As a “DJ” I should be recording mixes every day but I’m really lazy. I have a couple ideas for mixes that I’ve been planning for years but never getting around to doing, and in the last year or so that I’ve gotten my little letterpress studio set-up, the idea of recording good mixes and printing neat covers has been an obvious goal, just one I keep putting off. So this party at least gave me the push I needed to do such things. Sure, I waited till the day before. Woke up, recorded the mix, went to the dentist for a few painful hours, came home, edited the mix, set some type, printed the black, cleaned the press, set some more type, printed the red, cleaned the press, burned 20 copies, and off to bed at a totally unreasonable hour. Note to amateur printers–remember to print black last so you don’t have to be so anal cleaning the lighter ink off the press.

So I consider this a dry run. The mix is kinda sloppy, drags here and there, filled with forced transitions. I thought it was going to be more poppy, but some of the transitions were so off I just edited entire songs out. But there’s some pretty cool stuff, some kind of weird stuff. Certainly not the most fun, dancey or poppy mix I’ve ever recorded, but it has it’s charms. The cover was done quickly with some hand-set type on some leftover stock pulled from the recylcling bin, using way more impression then is healthy.

Dan Selzer – Blanks NYC Mix
[audio:http://danselzer.com/sounds/danselzer_blanksnyc.mp3]
control-click/right-click to download

Download hi-res cover art here.

Tracklist:
Ultramarine – Stella
Housemaids – Je T’aime
Long Ago – A Relic
Eric Random and the Bedlamites – Hardcore
The Naughtiest Girl Was a Monitor – To Love Nuclear
The Associates – The Associate
Stephen Mallinder – Cool Down
Psychic TV – She Was Surprised
The Dragees – Shoot To Kill
Simple Minds – New Gold Dream (Bottin Remix)
Repetition – A Full Rotation
Japan – Life in Tokyo
Up! – Spiritual High
The Associates – Theme from Perhaps
Les Rita Mitsouko – Marcia Baila
Durutti Column – The Together Mix
Sweet Exorcist – Track Jack
400 Blows – Men of Divine Wind (The Kamikaze)
Renegade Soundwave – Pocket Porn Dub

KEVIN DUNN/KIMBERLEY REW/STUART MOXHAM

All Posts,mp3,Old Music — Dan on May 26, 2010 at 12:49 pm

KEVIN DUNN
Another chance to check out some recent reissues, not stuff we’ve released but stuff we would’ve loved to have released, and in some cases stuff we almost got to! For instance, and appropriate in other ways, is No Great Lost by Kevin Dunn out on the Casa Nueva label. Keven Dunn started out in the seminal Atlanta new wave band The Fans in the mid 70s. I first heard the Fans on a mixtape (not CD, tape) made for me by Jonathan Marx, the same 2 volume tape compilation where I first heard the Lines. He made me a UK volume and a US volume. (looking now, the UK volume was the George Harassment LP on one side, The Tea Set, the Table, The Jets, The Cigarettes and the Lines on the other, while the US mix included Monitor, The Twinkeyz, The Fans, Plastic Idols, who’s second single I’m still looking for, The Molls, Man Tit, Monitor, Doodooettes, Dennis Duck, Le Forte Four and Human Hands…quite the education.) Anyway…I started collecting The Fans records (all 3 of them) and Kevin’s later solo stuff. Also got in touch with a journalist who was working with Dunn who sent me CDs…a potential Fans compilation featuring some unreleased stuff and a potential Kevin Dunn compilation. Unfortunately for the latter, the tapes had been lost in a fire years ago so what I heard was transferred from vinyl. I thought it sounded good but they weren’t happy with it and I dropped the thread. A few years later they realized they had the original multi-track tapes. So instead of remastering from vinyl like lazier labels (cough), they went ahead and re-created the original mixes from the multitrack. This stuff isn’t “remixed” in the sense that they did anything different. Instead, with constant comparison to the original vinyl, they matched the mix that was originally done and ended up with something that basically has the same decisions and sound of the original vinyl releases, but better sound quality, a great job by folks at Casa Nueva and the engineers.

If you haven’t already gone back and read what I wrote about the Fans in a previous post, it’s worth noting that The Fans and Kevin Dunn were heavily influenced by the smarter side of british art rock of the Eno type and pioneered new wave in Georgia which within a few years would give birth to B-52s and Pylon, both of whom’s first releases were produced by Dunn, and of course R.E.M. and a little band you may have heard of called The Method Actors. It’s hard to describe Dunn’s music, he released much of it under the name Kevin Dunn and the Regiment of Women but it was mainly a one-man project. Thin drum machine rhythms like you’d hear in any number of early 80s pop new wave bands but absolutely killer guitar playing vacillating between the kind of GA rave-ups you’d hear from Vic Varney, Peter Buck, Randy Bewley and Ricky Wilson and more elaborate and processed leads of Robert Fripp. Some keyboards where appropriate and some of the most goddamn catchy “how is I’ve never heard this before” pop music committed to vinyl in the 80s and forgotten by too many.  The timing is really good for this reissue, coming out just after the DFA‘s release of the two Pylon CDs and our own Method Actor’s CD. The CD is really a treasure of awesomeness, especially the opening song 911, which oddly enough is one of the reasons I stopped listening to my earlier version for a few years after being pretty obsessed with it for a few years around the turn of the decade. In the chorus he sings 9 11, 9 11. Living in NY during the attacks on the Word Trade Center, listening to that song suddenly had this weird resonance. It’s still my favorite song, though many others come close, including this one.

Kevin Dunn-Saturn [audio:http://acuterecords.com/blog/audio/Kevin Dunn-Saturn.mp3] control-click to download

OK, I’ve got two more to mention and I’ll try to make them quick.

KIMBERY REW
I have wanted to hear this one forever. I’ve been a big Soft Boys fan since High School. At some point in college people started telling me what an awesome pop album Kimberley Rew’s solo record from the early 80s The Bible of Bop was, but I simply never saw it anywhere. Now it’s finally getting a CD reissue. I didn’t realize that it wasn’t a proper solo album but actually a compilation from a few sessions and releases, 1/3rd of which recorded with the Soft Boys, which strangely enough, sounds like the Soft Boys but without Robyn Hitchcock singing, 1/3rd recorded with the dBs, who were fans, and 1/3rd recorded with the Waves, who would shortly become Katrina and the Waves with whom Rew would see fame of the like The Soft Boys never would! And while the different parts sound a bit different, they’re all great, smart, punky power-pop of the highest order. This song, with Katrina on co-vocals I assume, is the first song on the CD and is as simple, catchy and awesome as rock-n-roll gets.

Kimberley Rew-The Nightmare [audio:http://acuterecords.com/blog/audio/Kimberley Rew-The Nightmare.mp3] control-click to download

STUART MOXHAM
Gonna make this quick because my server ate my first attempt. To quote the liner notes, “I chose my favourite tracks from thirty years of post-Young Marble Giants recordings; unreleased obscurities by the Gist and highlights from solo albums of the 90s; some unheard gems from my American adventures, a couple of fin de siecle rarities and the best of current and new material. Inevitably it’s a very mixed bag but I think it gives a fair overview of my attempts never to write the same song twice.”

One thing I love about his music is the echoes of those very unique and iconic Young Marble Giants qualities that remain. The music and songwriting, experimentation and arranging has matured, but aspects of YMG’s simplicity and basic building blocks remain.

This is coming out on Stuart’s own Habit Records label, for more information check out his myspace page or the Young Marble Giants fan page.

Stuart Moxham-Autumn Song [audio:http://acuterecords.com/blog/audio/Stuart Moxham-Autumn Song.mp3] control-click to download

UPDATING

All Posts,event,New Music,Old Music — Dan on May 18, 2010 at 11:52 am

THE RETURN AGAIN OF DAZZLE SHIPS
The monthly party I hosted with Tropical Jeremy for 3 years is now back after a year long respite with new resident DJ Ben Gebhardt, which means I get to carry less records, show up later and leave earlier. We return tomorrow night, Wednesday May 19th with guest DJ Steve Silverstein of Christmas Decorations and Wodger Records. It’s also Jeremy’s birthday! And it’s the day after the 30th anniversary of Ian Curtis’s death, so I’ll be bringing plenty of moody Martin Hannett-produced post-punk and a few Joy Division gems along with the usual randomness. Dazzle Ships takes place from 9 till 1-ish (or later) at Heathers, 306 east 13th st at Ave. A in Manhattan and we now have an exciting new website to present such information, but as usual, facebook rules for this sort of thing.

IKE YARD NEWS
Ike Yard’s new EP, Öst came out recently on the Phisteria label. It’s a great 10″ (for those of you new to vinyl, that’s a bit bigger than a 7″, but smaller than a 12″) featuring two new tracks and two remixes. The late-night atmosphere, the dubbed out synths, the  post-punk bass, the spoken vox all remain on the A-side Oshima Cassette, while the flipside Citiesglit is an altogether more ambient and textural affair. Phisteria will follow this up with a full-length soon.

In other Ike Yard-related news…the post-Ike Yard deconstructed hip-hop project Death Comet Crew, featuring Stuart Argabright and Michael Diekmann of Ike Yard, Shinichi Shimokawa and DJ High Priest (legendary hip-hop DJ, partner with Vince Gallo in “Trouble Deuce“) are making a rare live appearance in New York this saturday at Public Assembly in Williamsburg with Beans, Crunc Tesla, Plasticity and Toboggan. Details here.

METHOD ACTORS PRESS
We have had nothing but awesome press from all corners. Here’s some of it…

Last Days of Man On Earth

Pitchfork

The Music Critic

Simon Reynolds Blissblog

BBC Music

Allmusic Guide

Cybore

Dusted

Artrocker

Gigjunkie

Critical Mob

Prefix Mag

Drowned in Sound

Spectrum Culture

The Big Takeover

FINALLY, IAN CURTIS
I said plenty about Joy Division in my epic Acute Blog post around the time of my work on some Viva-Radio playlists tied-in to the release of the movie Control. I beg you to read it again.
One thing that’s always been funny about my passion for Joy Division is how every few years, every few months, different songs plant themselves in my head as a new favorite. For the last few months, I simply cannot stop listening to Digital. Historically, the idea that this is where the big change took place, that no matter how much you love the Warsaw material, that it wasn’t until they recorded this session with Martin Hannett that they started to truly show that they were something really special. But it’s the energy, simplicity and repetition of Digital that totally kills me. Even without Hannet’s touch, it’s somehow a great deal more modern then the material on An Ideal for Living. There’s almost a krautrock quality in it’s stilted rhythm and motorik/mechanic beat. Like Wire and the Fall on MORE speed. Imagine that. Here’s the video clip from the Here Are the Young Men video (I still have the Ikon VHS). Not the best audio or video quality, but even that just adds to the power of this performance.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btzIdZpln6k[/youtube]

THE METHOD ACTORS – THIS IS STILL IT

All Posts,Old Music — Dan on March 9, 2010 at 3:31 am

Acute’s 12th CD (in just 10 years!)–This Is Still It, by The Method Actors–is out today! The Method Actors were among the earliest bands to emerge from the same fertile Athens punk/new wave scene that gave the world The B-52s, R.E.M. and Pylon. Acute Record’s new CD This Is Still It–which R.E.M.’s Peter Buck describes in his liner notes as “a kind of secret history of the Athens scene”– revisits the essential early years of the trailblazing duo. Free downloads, pictures and more information here.

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