All in all, it was an exceptional show, partly for the timeliness of this morning’s tribute. Nearly 25 years ago, on 18 May 1980, Ian Curtis committed suicide—right before Joy Division, the band in which he was the singer, was to embark on its first tour of North America. Shortly thereafter, the remaining members regrouped, calling themselves New Order. I played three songs from that tragic time. The first of them comes from the album that Joy Division would have been promoting, Closer. The second comes from the last live performance the group did (2 May 1980), while the last is one of the first singles recorded by New Order (the original version featured Curtis on vocals). It was pretty bracing music, lightly and not-so-lightly transformed by the production work of Martin Hannett. So, if you’ve got any lying around, give your Joy Division and early New Order recordings a spin tomorrow. And think about Ian Curtis....
The beginning of the show was inspired by my having seen Mercury Rev and Doves at the Vic Theatre last Friday night. I was (virtually) grinning from ear to ear when the lights dimmed for MR. As images started being projected on the screens behind the stage, I heard the familiar opening of “Lorelei.” Only after the entire track had played did the band members take the stage to perform “Secret for a Song,” the opening track on The Secret Migration, which after being available for a few months in England, Japan and elsewhere, will finally have a U.S. release today. The tracks I played by MR and Doves are ones that I wish that each group had played. On the way back to the South Side, I had a line from a Rolling Stones song repeating in my head: “You can’t always get what you want.”
Other highlights from this morning’s show include the Hector Zazou track, from an album that featured a number of arty rockers (e.g., David Sylvian, Ryuichi Sakamoto, John Cale, Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry) helping the leader to create musical interpretations of poems by the French Symbolist poet Arthur Rimbaud. Interesting as well was the track by the Twilight Babies: Mikey Brown (guitars), Adam Walker (programming) and Alison Lewis (vocals)—the first two have also been members of the 19.5 Collective. I have really fond memories of meeting Mikey and Adam through my friend Yasmine and hanging with them when I still lived in Michigan. The group has released two other albums since the one listed below, and they have become critically lauded performers on the Detroit scene. They’re definitely worth further exploration....
- 12:00–1:00 a.m.:
- Cocteau Twins, “Lorelei,” Treasure, 4AD
- Mercury Rev, “Nite and Fog,” All Is Dream, V2
- Doves, “Rise,” Lost Souls, Astralwerks
- Sublux, “Dirty Walls, Lonely Plates,” Nothing That Is Still, Selective Focus
- A Camp, “Silent Night,” A Camp, Stockholm
- Joy Division, “Means to an End,” Closer, Factory
- Joy Division, “Ceremony,” Still, Factory
- New Order, “In a Lonely Place,” Substance, Qwest
- Hector Zazou, “Hunger,” Sahara Blue, Tristar
- Cat Power, “Fool,” You Are Free, Matador
- M. Ward, “Fuel for Fire,” Transistor Radio, Merge
- 1:00–2:00 a.m.:
- Múm, “The Ghosts You Draw on My Back,” Summer Make Good, Fat Cat
- Joanna Newsom, “Sprout and the Bean,” The Milk-Eyed Mender, Drag City
- Stina Nordenstam, “Butterfly,” The World Is Saved, V2
- The Sea and Cake, “There You Are,” The Fawn, Thrill Jockey
- Twilight Babies, “Every Little Mistake,” If You Want Me to I Could Write It Down, (no label)
- Apostle of Hustle, “Baby, You’re in Luck,” Folkloric Feel, Arts & Crafts
- Feist, “One Evening,” Let It Die, Polydor
- Galaxie 500, “Summertime,” This Is Our Music, Ryko
- Pavement, “Fillmore Jive,” Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, Matador
- Dead Can Dance, “The Cardinal Sin,” Spleen and Ideal, 4AD
- Café Tacuba, “11,” Reves/Yosoy, WEA
- Gil Scott-Heron, “A Lovely Day,” From South Africa to South Carolina, TVT
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