Cuttings

GETTING L.A. WITH IT The first supergroup of the '90s or the latest in a long line of rich men’s follies? Despite the follicle-jangllng brilliance of their debut single 'Getting Away With It' the jury was still out on ELECTRONIC - thanks largely to a dearth of live ‘put up or shut up’ shows. That is until last week, when Bernard Sumner and Johnny Marr's Mane miracle took to the stage at LA's Dodgers Stadium - with THE PET SHOP BOYS! - as support to Basildon's finest DEPECHE MODE. DANNY KELLY was there-rubbing shoulders with Brit rock's homesick exiles THE CULT, 'hard working' ( sic ) HAPPY MONDAYS and 'im Out Of Simply Red - to declare Electronic rock-solid state of the art. Tattooed love boys: KEVIN CUMMINS Sunset Strip West Hollywood, is about eight miles from NWA's Compton. And a million light years away. This is the cash money part of town and, within 200 yards of one another, Sunset boasts three hotels simply oozing rock 'o'

WHEN Factory’s Tony Wilson offered Claude Bessey the job of 'Vee Jay’ at the newly-opened Hacienda, Claude was less than sure “Video?” he asked with the derisive emphasis that only a Frenchman can muster. “I wouldn’t know a video from an ironing board.” Nowadays it’s rumoured he can tell the difference nine times out of ten which, considering the state of most videos, is a reasonable success rate. “I still feel embarrassed about my occupation, especially now — if you say you’re involved in video, people in polite company assume you’re one of those idiots that makes advertising films in Egypt.” Nevertheless, if that most debased of media is to be used for anything more interesting than the videodrone detailed by Dessa Fox, it will be down to people like Claude Bessey. As administrator of Ikon, the video branch of Factory, Claude, although he’d almost certainly baulk at the description, is a prime figure in the small but expanding field of independent video. “Video,” he says wistfull

 

DURUTTI COLUMN: Say What You Mean Mean What You Say (EP) ( Factory ) A CERTAIN RATIO: Brazilia ( Factory Benelux ) Just the FACs, ma’am ... Vini Reilly's found himself a fine spar in percussionist Bruce Mitchell but his elegant, limpid mood music almost invariably either soothes me into a nice snooze or else makes me wonder if it’s time to do the washing up or take the rubbish out. Unfortunately this latest six-track marathon is no exception. A Certain Ratio weigh in with a light, fast, smooth groove dedicated to the joys of ‘sunshine music’ and blessed with some sparkling piano, even though the percussion break in the middle is somewhat heavy-handed. This probably tell you at least as much about my prejudices and assumptions as it does about ACR, but in its way this is one of the most pleasant surprises of the week.

NEW ORDER THE DAMNED THE SCREAMING BLUE MESSIAHS STIFF LITTLE FINGERS SUDDEN SWAY WILD SWANS The Peel Sessions ( Strange Fruit ) What an odd selection. Only The Damned and The Wild Swans could be described as classics of their time or genre: The Damned (recorded in 77) because it makes you realise how desperate your ears were back then to have surrendered so helplessly to speeded-up hard-rock grunge. The Wild Swans because of that time in '82 when the world discovered nouveau pop, Liverpool (again) and the properties of the acoustic guitar. New Order’s contribution from 1982 is alarmingly dull, swampy and meandering until '5-8-6' leaps to the rescue, hinting at the impending germination of 'Blue Monday'. 

  SATIS FACTORY (but no cigar) THE BRIGADE  PEPPERMINT LOUNGE  OBJECT ACTION  Manchester Hacienda WHATS YOUR favourite Hacienda bitch? The Greaseburgers? The famous 'booming sound'? The endless freezing alcoves where human life is rarely found? Whatever, the people have stayed away in droves leaving the misguided entrepreneurs from the upper regions of the Factory hierarchy in constant states of embarrassment and bitterness. This night, though, marked the return of the ‘good idea’. ‘The Hometown Gig’ is a weekly showcase for up to four bands to display their talent (or lack of), to mix and mingle and bring their friends and generally build a regular base from which the new breed of Manchester could, hopefully, use as the initial elevator. Sound unlikely? Maybe but the first night was a success with a sense of happening being the prevailing factor despite the various time wraps in which lay a fair percentage of the music. Object Action, ignoring the punky overtones of their nam

THE DURUTTI COLUMN 'domo origato' (IKON/Factory 144) A transglobal affair from Mancunian bedroom guitarist Vim Reilly and his eccentric sidekick, percussionist Bruce Mitchell - this concert (filmed at Tokyo's Kani-hoken Hall), at least manages to avoid the usual IKON hallmarks of bad sound/lighting/camerawork et al. Quite why we had to go to Japan to witness Vini's excellent guitar doodling isn't made dear, though one suspects the glamorous location (which we don't get to see), and the superior Japanese technical facilities, along with a misguided 'what we did on our hols' mentality, won the day. The music itself is presented in all its naked glory, Reilly struggling to play keyboards and guitar at the same time, Mitchell doing his damnest to do an 'Elton In Moscow' on percussion, and some simple but effective trumpet and viola contributions from a suitably baggy-trousered Tim Kellet and John Metcalfe respectively. Polite Japanese applause seems

 I BOUGHT a copy of the Durutti Column album ‘Without Mercy’ a few months ago only to find there was a crackling noise through quite a lot of it. This was particularly annoying as the album has several quiet passages, and I consider the LP to be one of the band’s best. I’ve now changed the album four times and still haven’t got a perfect copy, so I assume there is some fault in the pressing. Can you help? - Steve Langdon, Ipswich, Suffolk AS FAR as Factory Records, Durutti Column’s record company were aware, there was no problem with this album. But, if you are willing to be albumless for a while, send your copy off to Factory Records, 86 Palatine Road, Didsbury, Manchester 20, together with a covering note, and they will send you a new copy.

DURUTTI COLUMN Cafe Berlin, Liverpool TWO men arrive and make tentative notes and you wonder whether it's started. One of them plays a violin in a way that reminds you of Spanish holiday restaurant tables. The music reminds you of it too but that's because of the one playing electric guitar. Three songs later, even when a drum machine and keyboards are joined in, you're still wondering whether it's started. The music does little to hold the attention and you find yourself wondering some more. You wonder whether instrumentals are always boring and then remember some you could dance to. There doesn't seem much chance of that happening here. Durutti Column have got themselves known as making slightly ambient music and these new sounds don't alter that. But what's the ambience? There's an atmosphere that something clever and sensitive is happening (we'll forget about whether it's arty) but I'm not sure. There's technique of course, but there&

That was the bleak that was I say, I say! What do you call a band who embodied life without meaning where love is an illusory goal? JOY DIVISION Unknown Pleasures ■■■■■ Closer ■■■■■ Still ■■■□□ Substance ■■■ CENTREDATE/LONDON This is the way; step inside. Bearing in mind the crucial contribution of producer Martin Hannett, these records are essentially the work of five men. Of these five, two are dead; one by his own hand. Ian Curtis’ suicide one bright May day in 1980 casts a long, meaningful shadow over all of Joy Division’s canon. Listening to the songs of The Cure, whether we like them or not, we are always aware that these seemingly agonised tales of rejection and failure are the handiwork of a rich, successful, well-fed, happily-married English professional. When we hear the lyrics of Ian Curtis - fractured, oblique commentaries on a life without meaning, without hope, where love is an illusory goal fraught with disappointments, and shadowy forces beyond our understandin

FAC 227 AND THAT’S A FAC(T) Yes, it’s official! FRED FACT has itself now become something for Factory buffs to cherish. For this very chip-wrapping you are holding has been allocated the number FAC 227 in the Factory catalogue and is, therefore, instantly collectable, ranking alongside Factory’s 10th Agnniversary calendar (FAC 240), Factory Sellotape (FAC 136) and the NEW ORDER Manual Video Flickbook (FAC 235) as an item to be desired and far easier to store than either TONY WILSON’S flats (FAC 101) or The Hacienda, Manchester (FAC 51). Hang on to this page. It will shortly acquire a value far exceeding the fee you paid for this edition of the best rock paper in the world and then continue to soar. So don’t ditch it - ever! In case you need further proof here's Tony Wilson’s letter of authorization: A FACTUAL ERROR The FACTORY discography made an amusing read but I’m sure you’re aware by now that you missed out numbers FAC 152-175. Is there any chance of you printing the missing

Electronic Revenge! Barney's had his fling, Hooky's struck out alone and now the other two have become... THE OTHER TWO! Stuart Maconie corners New Order's home-loving half, Gillian Gilbert and Stephen Morris, and discovers they're playing happy families with the, erm, other two again. Duo-zone: Kevin Cummins Rob Gretton, mercurial manager of New Order and all-round 'character', returns from the bar with the round. Tomato juice for your diligent journalist, earnest pint of bitter for Stephen, vodka and tonic for Gillian. Stephen takes up a sip of bitter and I reflect, as you do, on those immortal words of Flaubert: "Be regular and ordinary in your life, like a bourgeois, that you may be violent and original in your work." Stephen toys with his lighter, Gillian nibbles her salt'n'vinegar crisps. Regular? Yes. Ordinary? On the surface, extremely. Bourgeois? Well, they do own a farm. Violent? I doubt it. But original? Oh yes. Stephen Morris

KING CURTIS In May 1980, Ian Curtis, singer with seminal post-punk band JOY DIVISION, hanged himself. As an (already miserable) generation mourned, the remaining three regrouped as New Order. BERNARD SUMNER, PETER HOOK and STEPHEN MORRIS recall the singer and his tragic end. Joy story: JAMES OLDHAM (words) The emotional impact of their music was shattering and irreversible, their records an icy collision of romance and alienation. Between 1977 and 1980, they recorded the two most affecting and influential albums of their generation - and on May 18, 1980 the lifetime of both the band and their lead singer Ian Curtis was tragically cut short by suicide, an appalling end to one of Britain’s greatest groups. In the aftermath of punk, Joy Division invented a glacial new sound which dramatically connected with a country lurching towards an unforgiving era of Thatcherism. A band capable of touching the outer reaches of human emotion, they were driven by the wired and spinning music created by