Rapture Rupture

Some Joy Division mixes for you all.

31 years ago today, 23-year-old Ian Curtis hanged himself in his wife’s kitchen.

separated from her at the time, he was isolated and very much alone. he was a young poet prone to terrible epileptic fits, which, sadly, brought many people out to see gigs by his band: Joy Division. certainly the most influential band in the three decades since, they left behind but two albums and, mercifully, a host of unreleased material.

he’d largely been staying with his parents, bandmates, and at Tony Wilson’s house since their last gig, May 2 at Birmingham University, with the band set to embark on their first U.S. tour.
that night he had been listening to Iggy Pop’s The Idiot (made with Bowie after Iggy’d been released from a mental hospital), and had watched Herzog’s Stroszek, wherein a man leaves Berlin after being released from prison, to make a better life for himself in Wisconsin. before long, the promise of his new life dissipates - he loses his woman, his home, and is harassed into suicide by bankers and the police.
in this mindstate, young Ian Curtis ended his life.

for all the critical adulation Joy Division get, even most indie rock geeks i’ve known haven’t listened to them much. i think there was a decade-long gestation between my realizing this much-recommended band Warsaw were actually the same as the loved Joy Division, which i hadn’t heard hardly any of beyond “Love Will Tear Us Apart.” yet it took me quite awhile to more fully follow up. and then, upon listening to the albums, there was so much critical flotsam in my mind, i couldn’t get into more than a few songs at a time, mystified by the hype.
that’s where these mixes come in: a sort of learning curve with songs sequenced in an orderly manner. the Transmission mix is sort of a primer - if you like it, please in the name of the jesus, don’t stop there.

the “real” mix is Chronologic: 

part one starts with them as young punk rockers in 1977,

part two continues to the glory of their output in the winter and spring of 1980, before Ian killed himself. (and includes the phenomenal “Ceremony,” which they’d played as a band but never recorded a proper version with Ian’s vocals. so with Joy Division’s demo tape, there’s also the surviving trio’s version, recorded as New Order a year after Ian’s suicide.)

  there’s plenty of overlap between the mixes - the Transmission one only has one song the Chronologic series doesn’t. but the latter has many more songs that Transmission doesn’t - definitely recommend you go for the Chronologic mix if you’re already very familiar with Joy Division, and Transmission if you’re more of a newcomer.
also, i highly recommend the 2007 documentary Joy Division. even if you think you may dislike Joy Division, i’ve gotta say it’s extraordinary - if you care even a little about sociohistorical & cultural context for their music (which was an amazing time for rock, particularly in England), or just like rock and\or roll, please don’t pass it up. it’s a worthy addition to their aural catalog.

 Much love to Deborah & Natalie Curtis on this sad day.  R . I . P , Ian. 

Chronologic tracklisting:

01-Warsaw
02-No Love Lost
03-Interzone
04-The Kill
05-Shadowplay
06-Walked in Line
07-Novelty
08-Digital
09-Day of the Lords
10-The Only Mistake
11-She’s Lost Control
12-Disorder
13-Glass
14-Candidate
15-Insight
16-Transmission
17-New Dawn Fades
18-From Safety to Where…?
19-Chance (Picadilly Radio session)
20-Atmosphere
21-Dead Souls
22-A Means to an End
23-Sound of Music
24-Colony
25-Incubation
26-Isolation
27-These Days
28-Twenty Four Hours
29-Love Will Tear Us Apart
30-Atrocity Exhibition
31-Ceremony (rehearsal)
33-Passover
34-The Eternal
32-Ceremony

  Hello, Wisconsin.

 When Rap Goes Full Retard -

      a new article by Robbie from Unkut at XXL.