On this day, 45 years ago, Joy Division recorded their very first EP, 'An Ideal for Living'!
On this day, 14th December, it is exactly 45 ago that Joy Division recorded their very first EP An Ideal for Living (14.12.1977). In fact by the time of these recordings the band was still called Warsaw. It was released the year after on 3rd June 1978 by the band's own label, Enigma, shortly after the group changed its name from Warsaw to Joy Division. The EP was recorded at Pennine Studios in Oldham and self-financed by the band on a budget of £400 (+/-€ 450).
The original 7" version of An Ideal for Living (1000 copies) was sold out by September 1978 and was subsequently followed by a 12" version on 10th October on the band's own Anonymous Records label. All four tracks were re-released on the 1988 singles compilation, Substance.
The cover has a black-and-white picture of a Hitler Youth member beating a drum, which was drawn by guitarist Bernard Sumner. The cover design, coupled with the nature of the band's name (Joy Division was the name from the sexual slavery wing of a Nazi concentration camp mentioned in the 1955 novel House of Dolls) fuelled controversy over whether the band had Nazi sympathies. When the EP was re-released on 12-inch vinyl, the original cover was replaced by artwork featuring scaffolding.
The EP has an overall more punk-rock sound than towards the post-punk/new wave sound that their future releases would get. Founding members Hook and Sumner acknowledged forming the band inspired by and after witnessing a Sex Pistols concert.
An Ideal For Living (Track listing)
- "Warsaw" – 2:26
- "No Love Lost" – 3:42
- "Leaders of Men" – 2:34
- "Failures" – 3:44
Today, the original 7" pressing has become an expensive collectors' item and copies have been traded on the internet for over € 2,700!
On the fourteenth-of-December 1979 The Clash reached the pinnacle of their creativity with a release which still echoes not only in music but in society, a sprawling double-album which is still relevant as the band crossover the divide between Rock and Punk.
Joe Strummer channels the chaos of the apocalypse directly into the snarling opener, his venomous-vocal line, with a solid belief in every phrase he spits out;
“London calling, now don't look to us
Phony Beatlemania has bitten the dust”.
This is the perfect opener, the mindset and mood is laid out from the start, Strummer uses an almost clairvoyant warning to us of the decay that is coming;
“The ice age is coming, the sun is zooming in,
Meltdown expected, the wheat is growin' thin”.
Following this with the psycho-billy rampage of “Brand New Cadillac”, a cover of the Vince Taylor classic and used here as a two-minute bolt of energy.
The new-found reggae and dub sound The Clash started to experiment with found its way onto the album in “Rudie Can’t Fail”, whereas “Spanish Bombs” takes the bombing of hotels in the Costa Brava combined with echoes of the Spanish Civil War and in Strummers hands it becomes the setting for an all out rocker.
A very varying scope on society appears throughout the record, themes of consumerism and over-commercialism is attached on “Lost In The Supermarket”, the divide in social standings all come under appraisal, alienation and the effect on the human psyche. Similar to this is “Clampdown”, the effects of economic-capitalist ideas on the youth, The Clash never lost their punk-spirit, their ideals, all was very much intact even if the music became more refined:
“We will teach our twisted speech
To the young believers
We will train our blue-eyed men
To be young believers”.
Even the Paul Simonon composed and sung “The Guns Of Brixton” is a classic, the reggae-fused song pre-dated the Brixton Riots but already took its story from the movie ‘The Harder They Come’ which dealt with the Brixton-born son of Jamaican immigrants who gets gunned down by police.
There is a cut at the older generation of rock-stars in the incendiary “Death Or Glory”, those rockers who swore they’d rather die than get old, whereas the rock-steady based “Revolution Rock”, which was originally the albums closer is an exuberant number of pure adrenaline;
“Everybody smash up your seats
And rock to this brand new beat
This here music mash up the nation
This here music cause a sensation”.
The closing album-track “Train In Vain” after release as a single became the first Clsh song to break the U.S top-thirty, the Mick Jones sung track with a title which is slightly obscure, more to do with the rhythm sounding like a train, although it got the added on (Stand by me) title on that American single.
Across the ‘London Calling’ album there are nineteen-tracks of killer without filler, an accomplishment for an album of its length, with the instantly recognizable cover it became an instant success which still reverberates thirty-nine years later.
Tracklist
London Calling
Brand New Cadillac
Jimmy Jazz
Hateful
Rudie Can't Fail
Spanish Bombs
The Right Profile
Lost In The Supermarket
Clampdown
The Guns Of Brixton
Wrong 'Em Boyo
Death Or Glory
Koka Kola
The Card Cheat
Lover's Rock
Four Horsemen
I'm Not Down
Revolution Rock
Train In Vain
DISCOGS
Industrial band unitcode:machine's classic 'Tyranny' album remastered & reissued
After revisiting the master recordings of their cult classic, 2019 album, Tyranny, Texas-based industrial band, unitcode:machine proudly drops a fully remastered 2022 version! "This version fully grasps the original vision I had for the album and meets my expectations" says unitcode:machine mastermind, Eric K.
Tyranny is a mostly blatant political album that touches on gun violence, political corruption, and the lack of mental health care.
The album is re-issued under the codeviolationmedia imprint; unitcode:machine's personal label where they release music from various side projects as well.
Tyranny is available in digital and limited CD formats via Bandcamp!
Finally! The wait is over! Belgian contemporary, uncompromising and hard hitting electro band The Juggernauts strike hard again! Six years after their renowned debut album “The Juggernauts Are Coming” the helmeted rejuvenators of the classic Electronic Body Music sound unleash their brand new six track EP FEAR! Six great unreleased tracks driven by pounding drum machines, rumbling low frequencies, rousing sequencers, Industrial noises and bittersweet synth melodies accompany head and voice BORG while he shouts all the anger, cynicism and social criticism out of his system. Six tracks of which four brand new songs and two breathtaking remixes of the title track. Make no mistake, the Fear C-19 EBM remix by BORG and pumping Fear Club remix by True Zebra can truly be considered as genuine standalone songs!
Most songs on these EP were tried, tested, fine-tuned and approved by their fans thoroughly during the band's recent live concerts and now these songs are finally available to enjoy at will!
Just like their previous releases these tracks blast from the speakers like an unstoppable destructive force, hence the band's name! While The Juggernauts still share the spirit of bands like Front 242, Nitzer Ebb or even Portion Control, they still manage quite well to steer away from the retro-trap and copycat syndrome, providing the epitome of underground dance music with a refreshingly harsh and modern approach.
It's clear The Juggernauts are determined to continuing the renaissance of Electronic Body Music!
FEAR [EP] (BBR 001 - Digital/CD/12")
Tracklist:
1. Fear V2K18 (12” Mix) 05:19
2. End Of Time 05:39
3. Shrinking Brains 04:29
4. Fear V2K20 (C19 EBM Remix) 05:01
5. Snitch Bitch 05:26
6. Fear V2K22 (TZ Club Remix) 04:58
UK goth rock band, Sirens Of Light have just unveiled their latest release; the full length LP, Nullus Margis Gothica MMXXI.
Resurrected from the recently discovered, dusty multi-track master recordings Nullus Margis Gothica MMXXI was originally conceived as a concept album dealing with three main themes; the power of the feminine, belief systems and how the individual constructs their reality around these concepts.
Putting these ideas against a dark, moody and theatrical musical soundscape seemed a natural progression. The album was designed to be listened to from beginning to end to take the listener on an emotional journey through the record rather than a set of unrelated songs....hence the release of an album and not an endless procession of singles
The inspiration for the songs is varied. "Justine", "Maria", "Siren Of Light" and "Succubus' Requiem" are explorations of the feminine, it's power and influence. "Flames Of Kane" looks at organized religion and it's inherent violence. "Rearrange" and "The Prayer" deal with the loneliness of the human condition.
Nullus Margis Gothica MMXXI is a dark, emotional, thought provoking, sometimes bleak, sometimes macabre but always intense journey for the listener.
Available on limited edition CD and digital formats via Bandcamp. The album will be distributed globally beginning on 20th January via Code 7 Music.
