Label: Deep Elm Records Released: August 27, 2007 Anything with any post-punk influence is bound to be pretty angular, but Free Diamonds take it to a new level. They focus on rhythm to the point that everything, voice included, is a rhythm instrument, giving the entire album a very polyrhythmic effect along the lines of Sound Affects-era Jam and the… Read more »
Label: Red Headed Stepchild Records Released: July 1, 2007 In listening to A Second, or Ten Years Later, two influences kept cropping up: New Model Army and Joy Division. There really couldn’t be two things more different than New Model Army’s warm, human, folky anger and Joy Division’s cold, stark, dark emptiness, yet the Sailplanes manage to work both into… Read more »
Label: Tigertrap Records Released: October 29, 2007 Unbridled. Unrefined. Uninhibited. Those can be the qualities of great rock and roll or a complete disaster. Untitled Musical Project is like a band with Keith Moon as every member, so they’re clearly the former. Don’t get me wrong, they don’t play at Moon’s technical level, but they do have his complete sense… Read more »
Label: Deep Elm Records Released: November 13, 2007 Dartz! mix agitated math rock with a punk edge and British quirkiness (or is it quirky Britishness?). They produce songs whose layers are the many moving parts of an efficient machine. The parts feel loose and rambling when they’re really quite tight if you concentrate. But that’s not the point. They’re meant… Read more »
Label: Vacuous Pop Recordings Released: October 29, 2007 This two song limited edition white vinyl 7″ features two songs that straddle post-punk and indie pop. “You Are Wrong” contrasts quick rhythms and grating guitar with the low-key melancholy of indie pop vocals. At times, it has shades of Joy Division, but doesn’t fully tap into the cold emotion that characterized… Read more »
Check out this documentary about the making of the Joy Division film Control at XFM in Manchester, UK.
Label: self-released (available through CD Baby and iTunes) Released: September 2007 The whole idea of rehashing the 80s never quite sat well with me. Now that it’s been redone to death by so many hipsters with more fashion-sense than creativity, I’m even less receptive. That being said, Brian Buta must be doing something right, because he is almost completely stuck… Read more »
Label: self-released Released: May 23, 2007 After releasing a free internet only EP earlier in the year (which you will get on the CD that accompanies this 7″), London trio, Pocus Whiteface returns with this two song 7″. Both songs draw from loose garage rock and tight, angular post-punk. “But It’s Home” is a bit catchier and more instantly likable…. Read more »
I posted a few days back about the upcoming Joy Division releases from Rhino. It all sounded great until I saw the price of the box set: $200! The individual LPs are only $18 each for the single LPs and $50 for the double LP (Still), so they want an additional $114 for the box? Frankly, even limited to 2000… Read more »
To mark the 30th anniversary of the formation of Joy Division, Rhino will be re-issuing Joy Division’s two studio albums as two CD sets, the first disc being the remastered album and the second being unreleased live recordings. These will be available beginning October 30th. As if that wasn’t enough, they will also be issuing a vinyl box set exclusively… Read more »