“On a thousand islands in the sea, I see a thousand people just like me”

Like lots of people, much of my early musical tutelage came from the record collection of my brother. He was quite a bit older than me, at work, and so after school I would invade his stereo and play his vinyl. He was a big ska fan, and I would bounce on his bed listening to Madness and their kind. One day though, there was a new record in his collection, housed in a highly unusual sleeve, black with hints of color, blocks cut away to resemble a floppy-disk. It looked too exquisite not to be played, and so I gave it a spin. And then I listened to it again, but much, much louder. I scoured the sleeve for information on the band, but there was nothing, no pictures, just this object of beauty. Continue Reading

Note: these reviews are not about the sound quality of the re-mastered albums - they are solely concerned with the quality of the music. If you want information on the re-mastering, www.neworderonline.com have a number of threads on their forum.

“Each way I turn, I know I’ll always try, to break this circle that’s been placed around me.”

You have to admire the original three members of New Order. Leaving the cashing in duties to their record label, the decision (based on a long standing pact made before Curtis’s death) to re-name and reform shows great boldness and tenacity. Another bold decision was to carry on with all new material, taking just two songs (written with Curtis but not yet recorded) into their new incarnation. The shutters came down, the band retreating into near media silence, angered by the same old questions. But to be honest, what else were they going to do? The day-jobs were long since behind them, and let’s remember one thing - this was always Hook and Sumner’s band. They were there at the beginning. Curtis was recruited as a vocalist. Morris also came later. This was their group, and with that comes their right to do whatever the hell they pleased. Continue Reading