Cuttings

The Hard Sell INDESIT MOON You'd need to know New Order's back catalogue with McWhirter-like obsession to realise that the soundtrack to the Indesit Moon washing machine commercial is Hey Now What You Doing from the 2005 album Waiting For The Sirens' Call. New Order and white goods - let's Hoover up the irony. I once asked bassist Peter Hook if drugs were ever a problem with the band, and he replied; "Yeah, sometimes we couldn't get hold of any for days.” With its round window and centred, circular dial, the curiously-named Moon resembles an Apple creation: it's an iPod that'll soak your big, baggy Eddie Yates underpants. It costs £280 at one large supermarket and comes with an A+ for energy saving, A for wash efficiency and B for its spin. That’s all well and good, but is Indesit now targeting the potentially lucrative market of students and football hooligans? The word on the Mane grapevine reckons the Italian kitchen appliance giant may be perilousl

Dominic Utton is man enough to admit he likes bloke music The idea of an album of songs dedicated to “blokes” might sound like a nightmare — the musical equivalent of an evening spent watching Ray Mears with a six-pack of real ale and a DIY magazine. Something Jeremy Clarkson might compile. Something involving the Eagles. But ’Ave It!, a new compilation of “blokes’ songs" out on Monday, manages to do what it says on the tin — and still remain a cracking good collection of tunes. OK, so it includes Oasis, Slade and Thin Lizzy... but it’s also got tracks by the Clash, the Ramones, Suede, Hard-Fi and Underworld. And the Monkees theme. And if it ends up being one of those compilation albums you’d actually buy, it’s not only because the music’s good (although, be honest — if you’re familiar enough with the songs to want to buy it, chances are you own them all already anyway), but because the very idea of what a bloke is has changed. Bloke used to mean Jeremy Clarkson. He was someone in

ORIGINAL ARTICLE -  https://www.theguardian.com/film/2005/jan/15/popandrock Johnny Sharp hopes an Ian Curtis film won't tear fans apart Despite existing long after the advent of colour photography, Joy Division are a band who seem to have only ever existed in black and white. Maybe that’s because their beautifully bleak music often sounded like it was recorded in black and white. But it’s probably more to do with the fact that all the best-known images of the band are stark monochrome portraits. And while Joy Division became the considerably more colourful New Order, one of their number was left behind, forever frozen in those images. Since his suicide in 1980, Ian Curtis has looked down from many thousands of college room walls, a grey icon of alienation. So it’s kind of appropriate that a film of his life is to be directed by Anton Corbijn, whose pictures (along with those of Kevin Cummins) did so much to make Ian Curtis an icon. He captured the vulnerable, troubled look Cur

FACTORY FLAW THIS FRIDAY. IAN BROWN PLAYS MANCHESTER WITH SUPPORT FROM ALL CORNERS OF THE MANC MUSICAL HERITAGE INDUSTRY. BUT, ASKS MADCHESTER DENIERS' BLOG FUC51. ISN’T IT TIME THE CITY GOT OVER ITSELF? When people say “Manchester”’, many immediately think of its musical legacy: a romantic, wistful notion of slate grey skies pelting down with rain, melancholic romantics in trenchcoats listening to Unknown Pleasures for the 51st time that day. And if it’s not these imagined industrial dreamers, then the other Manchester image that dominates is one of Oasis-esque thick-skulled lads bowling about in loose-fit jeans, out on the scam and skinning up cheap hash. Of course, such stereotypes are not true of a place as diverse and great as Manchester. However, Manchester can be its own worst enemy and this is how our blog FUC51 was bom. By sheer fluke, we rolled it out just as Peter Hook opened a temple to Manc revivalism in the old Factory offices. The nightclub, Fac25l, is ostensi

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/may/10/1 A trocity Exhibition. Dead Souls. Love Will Tear Us Apart. Do any of these songs sound even vaguely summery? Yet Joy Division, the band that produced such Frappuccino-unfriendly listening, are back in the public eye just as the UK gets its first serious sunshine of the year and teenagers across the land find it too hot to mope in their bedrooms. A documentary about the band is out, and Simon Armitage - a poet as likely to strum a tennis racquet in front of a mirror as he is to pen an ode to the Prison Service - has been on Radio 4 this week talking about the greatness of lead singer Ian Curtis. How very unseasonal. On the other hand, here is an opportunity to rescue Joy Division from the lazy tag of wintry miserabilism; they were more visceral than that. Listen to the classic song Transmission: its defining element is Peter Hook's bass. Isolation and She's Lost Control sound like Kraftwerk on a jolly in Salford. No wond

From US television Sesame Street meets REM Last week, Sesame Street in the US (brought to you by the letter B and the number 19) featured a guest appearance from REM. Here is the full shooting script and transcript, revealing the stadium rock stars’ contribution to cognitive emotions and early learning Title : REM Song: Furry, Happy Monsters Goals : Emotions, happy/sad Music/Lyrics : B Berry, P Buck, M Mills, M Stipe Scenic : Limbo Talent : REM, Monsters, Two-headed monster Music : Track to song Shiny Happy People [As REM starts the tune, we see a group of happy, laughing monsters and the two-headed monster. Their joy is over the top. They skip, jump, run, whoop and high-five each other. Music: track to song Shiny Happy People ] REM sings : Furry happy monsters, laughing... Monsters having fun, happy, happy, See them jump and run, happy, happy Laughing all the while, cheerful, cheerful, Flashing a big smile, that’s a perfect sign That they’re feelin’ fine!

The Guardian - 'Suddenly the reality hit me' https://www.theguardian.com/film/2007/sep/22/periodandhistorical How does it feel to watch the life and death of your father being re-enacted on film? Natalie Curtis, daughter of Joy Division singer, Ian Curtis, went on set, camera in hand, to find out Natalie Curtis First published on Sat 22 Sep 2007 03.00 BST I was about three when my mum first told me that my father, Ian Curtis - who died when I was one - was a singer, but it just seemed normal, like having an uncle who was a tradesman or whatever. I remember hearing Love Will Tear Us Apart on the radio and realising he was known in some way, but I never thought of him as famous. When I was growing up, neither myself nor my mother were in the public eye, and Joy Division were more cult than mainstream. The first time I heard their album Closer, I thought it was out of this world. I assumed all music was done with that level of style and intelligence. As I gre