Mar 262010
Is there really a need for a set up beyond the title of this post? I really like Joy Division. I’ve liked them since I first heard them in college. I really dislike just about every band that was considered a contemporary of Joy Division (eg, Killing Joke – ugh!) and that has since followed in their wake. I did, however, like the first New Order ep and one of their hit songs from a year or two later, that one about a range of eye colors.
I can’t shake feeling a little weird whenever I find myself digging my old Joy Division albums, as I’ve been doing this morning. Is there an artist for you who is such an anomaly to your tastes that you kind of feel the need to duck from yourself?
Good question. They bore me to tears, the groups with ex-members bore me to tears, and without being able to name too many, I am sure any group influenced by them bores me to tears (going out on a limb there, but, momma, that’s where the fun is–or something like that). They reside in a large bin labeled “Tell Me Again, Why Am I supposed to Give a Damn About This, I Keep Forgetting, So Tell Me Again?” Like I said, it’s a large bin.
But to answer your question. I pretty much hate ska and reggae, but I love my best of Desmond Dekker cd and The Harder They Come soundtrack. So does my son, but fortunately he hasn’t asked yet why we don’t listen to more music like this, ’cause it would be hard to explain.
Funny you should have that limited appreciation for ska and reggae, misterioso. That was my experience for years: The Harder They Come soundtrack or bust! Then one friend burned me a Toots and the Maytalls comp, and since he was already a key player on that soundtrack it was easy to warm up to his old stuff. Then another friend bought me Bob Marley’s Burnin’, which I LOVE. I’ve since bought/been given a couple more Marley albums, all of which have their merits, but none of which match Burnin’. (A pre-slicked up version of his next album, which BigSteve burned me, is the next best thing I’ve heard from him, but the slick version that Chris Blackwell had him re-do is only fair.) I now own a few dub collections as well, because I always liked when The Clash did that stuff. I’ll probably never be a “reggae guy,” but at least now when I hear reggae or ska music I don’t feel like pulling out an AK-47 on all the Deadheads and Parrotheads with whom I used to associate that stuff:)
Did Carl Jung really say, “God save me from Jungians”? Or is that apocryphal?
One might view Joy Division the same way. What I liked least about Joy Division (back in the day), was their fans. They really did live up to the hype – humorless, gloomy, obsessive.
But somewhere along the way I realised that the band were much, much better than I remembered then. The first record, Unknown Pleasures, is an absolute gem. Powerful and ambitious that records these days, and most then, rarely are. Curtis could be a great lyricist and, going by the footage, hypnotic up front. Once he fell over and Bernard Sumner took the reins lyrically, boy, they just fell off a cliff. It’s like comparing Dostoyevsky to Dan Brown.
PS, Mr Mod – was that listening “this morning” in the wee small hours or before lunch? Tough round your way over Corn Flakes!
mikeydread, I was listening to them on the drive into work, at 8:00 am.
i think it’s because Joy Division are SOOOO much better than everything that gets lumped in with them. Killing Joke?!?
yuck indeed! Even Wire, who are terrific, don’t hold a candle to the band that defined post-punk.
Just as Desmond Dekker, Toots, ‘Harder’era Jimmy Cliff, and Bob Marley & the Wailers are miles above their nearest contemporaries.
The same is true for Bitches Brew. How can it be that the only listenable record in a whole genre is the first one?
Punk? The Stooges, The Ramones, and The Clash. Nobody did it better. Not even close.
We’re not even gonna get into how much bad rap there is here on earth.
Hi ! I agree so with you that I angrilly decided to continue the interrupted work of Joy Division. Well, all that I can say is that it is all but easy. If you know to play instruments or if you know someone able to, and unpolluted by the afterwards era, please join me. Usually I am on mast fm, name bertrand-escaff . I make rythms only for now (more some odd sounds) : no bass, synth. First project with no voice (as a rule), open to other similar projects with voice (… even if I doubt about the value of such an option for reasons you can understand). See you, have a nice ‘Factory’ day 😀
(not mast fm, last fm. My eyes are like fried eggs or what lol ?)
Welcome aboard, Zuhurbelea. I’m checking out your work here:
http://zerutalur.bandcamp.com/album/theorical-distances-2
I’m sure others will be interested. You actually manage to pull on the influences of Joy Division in a GOOD way! Bravo!