Some Songs Considered - Posts Tagged 'factory records'

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Written by Brian Wall

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January 23, 2010

[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

“Atmosphere” – Joy Division
(Words/music: Bernard Albrecht/Ian Curtis/Peter Hook/Stephen Morris/Bernard Sumner, available on Substance, Qwest 1988 / Factory Records single 1980)

If Ian Curtis’ suicide dominates Joy Division’s general reputation, most of their catalog does little to refute the gloomy associations. Whether it’s dark overtones in the lyrics or the general tautness of their sound, most would find bleakness in their music before finding beauty. Even their most famous song frames love as a destructive force. As with any generalized reputation, Joy Division’s reduced biography paints the band as completely one-dimensional. Songs like “Atmosphere” show the band putting a twist on their sound, foreshadowing the more nuanced emotions New Order put into their records.

“Atmosphere” frames the iciness of Joy Division’s sound in a different context. It still sounds cold and barren, but it feels like the peaceful quiet of a chilly pre-dawn morning. The humming synthesizer and huge drum sound feels like a busy street before everyone wakes up. It’s this setting where Curtis and his second party find a sort of public privacy while the rest of the world sleeps. Whether Curtis, who sings in a deep and rich tone, intends his plea as a final desperate act or just as a reaction to a disagreement, his request for this person to remain and talk rings through the emptiness. Where emptiness in other Joy Division songs might signify isolation or loneliness, this emptiness creates a sense of intimacy only available in these very early (or very late) moments. As the hum of the rest of the world builds, Curtis feels increasingly sincere and urgent. In a scene with few other signs of life, we’re given a glimpse into the kind of private moments we never know about. Out of this emptiness comes a sense of warmth, largely from the same ringing arpeggios and “Be My Baby” beat that “Just Like Honey” would use a few years later. Just as the song reaches its climax – the moment where the rest of the world wakes up – “Atmosphere” fades out. Even without resolution, it’s a rare glimpse into a side of the band that rarely gets mentioned.

More on Joy Division: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm

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August 17, 2009

[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

“Kinky Afro” – Happy Mondays
(Words/music: Shaun Ryder, Paul Ryder, Mark Day, Paul Davis and Gary Whelan, available on Pills ‘n Thrills and Bellyaches, Factory 1990)

I’ve used this space to do a number of different things – including my not-so-shocking admission that I have weak dancing abilities. This is directly related to my aversion to dance clubs, which directly influences my pedestrian knowledge of dance music. For example, I know everything I know about the late ‘80s / early ‘90s Madchester scene from a handful of things I’ve read on the internet and 24 Hour Party People. I don’t have all of the details down, but I do have a general timeline and some key names, so a flag went off in my head when Factory Records’ Tony Wilson came up in conjunction with the Happy Mondays. It’s also worth noting that I only sought out some of the Happy Mondays’ music (aside from “24 Hour Party People,” which I enjoy a lot) after seeing the movie. I didn’t know that the first three Mondays’ records were produced by (in order), John Cale from the Velvet Underground, Paul Oakenfold, and Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz of the Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club. That’s enough historical context for me to start digging a little deeper.

What I found (to be fair, I’ve mainly gone through the singles / best of) sounds terrific. “Kinky Afro” in particular captures this liveliness and electricity in the music. It manages to blur the line between my concept of “dance” music and guitar rock, and I hear all of those things mixed in there. There are elements of the Brit Pop I loved as a teenager as well as some of the post-punk that preceded the Mondays on Factory. Similar to Primal Scream’s early ‘90s output, “Kinky Afro” surprised me with how fresh it sounds – I might have expected this to sound dated, but it reminds me of a lot of stuff from the past few years. In particular, Shaun Ryder and James Murphy from LCD Soundsystem are joined in my mind. Ryder doesn’t sing in the conventional sense (and I imagine that is a dealbreaker for a lot of people), yet he sings enough to let his personality shine through the track. He’s uncompromising and kind of funny, especially during his most curmudgeonly points on “Kinky Afro.” His brash and unforgiving persona here laid the groundwork for the snarky persona Murphy cultivated on the early LCD Soundsystem singles. Still, I have to think that Ryder, the center of the storm, might be the reason why the Happy Mondays are nonentities in the United States and Jesus Jones topped the charts here (while stalling in the 30s in the UK). On this one, the Brits had it right.

More on Happy Mondays: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm

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