From The Jakarta Post Factory Records gets a 30th anniversary boxed set, Sunday, 11/23/2008 10:31 AM by Paul F. Agusta
Welcome back to Underground Hum, children. It's story time! So darlings, how about some rock n' roll fairy tales? Thank you for the lovely emails. Keep them coming. Let's get started with this week's Reverb.
If at this point in your life you haven't heard of Factory Records, you need to be flogged. The legendary Manchester imprint and music culture institution that is known for Joy Division, the late, great Tony Wilson, the infamous Hacienda club, and an astounding catalogue of great music is going to be memorialized in A Factory Box Set coming out January 12 in the UK, courtesy of Rhino (www.rhino.com).
Spreading some 63 Factory favorites across four discs in rough chronological order, A Factory Box Set indeed includes a healthy sampling of Joy Division and New Order, as well as representative offerings from New Order offshoots Electronic, Revenge, and the Other Two.
But the set also finds room for other post-punk heavyweights and lesser-knowns (Cabaret Voltaire, A Certain Ratio, Section 25, the Wake, Quando Quango), Madchester staples (Happy Mondays, Northside), and even a few folks who would go on to bigger things (OMD, James).
There through it all is perhaps the imprint's one true constant, the Durutti Column, who gets a track on each of the four discs. A Factory Box Set commemorates the 30th anniversary of Factory Records' 1978 founding.
Fresh off his band's appearance on "Desperate Housewives" Sunday night, Tokyo Police Club keyboardist Graham Wright has released EP he wrote and recorded last year and promised himself he'd release before the end of 2008.
Its title is "The Lakes of Alberta", and it's a low-key acoustic affair that would make for a nice evening by the fire. "The Lakes of Alberta" is available now through www.bandcamp.mu.
Lower quality MP3s are free, and the better quality formats cost five dollars. Otherwise, the Tokyo Police Club camp is silent as the band prepares for the "Jingle Bell Rock" tour in December.
This Christmas, the folks at http://hardtofindafriend.blogspot.com aren't making any lofty promises as to goodwill towards men and all that, but darn it if their Peace on Earth Vol. II compilation won't get you closer to such a thing than Santa ever could.
Coupling Christmas favorites and seasonal originals from the likes of Oxford Collapse, American Analog Set, Jason Collett, Pattern Is Movement, Karl Blau, Bodies of Water, Jennifer O'Connor, Marla Hansen, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, Via Audio, the Jealous Girlfriends, Laura Gibson, The Prayers & Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers, and others, the disc also features photography from Jamie Stewart of Xiu Xiu.
And if that ain't enough to make your yuletide gay, proceeds from the disc go to the Children of Uganda Fund. Got a stocking that needs stuffing? Hit Up their site, where Peace on Earth Vol. II is exclusively available starting November 18.
RANDOM WEEKLY TOP 5
Yes, my lovelies, you guessed it! A new feature has been added to your favorite music geek-out corner! What do us music geeks love more than new music and scenesters in skinny jeans? Lists! So we at UH have decided to start sharing with you the random music-related lists we have in our heads. We'll christen this baby with:
Top 5 So-Damn-Catchy-It-Hurts Tracks That Haven't Left Our Playlists For The Last Month (yes, this title is long):
1. Lykke Li -- "Let it Fall" from the baby-voiced Swedish songstress that has infected many playlists with her uber-catchy hit "Dance Dance Dance". This track is also infectious, in a subtler seep-in-your-skin way.
2. The School -- "I Want You Back" from the totally cute Welsh band that concocts the most perfectly super-melodic little pop ditties since Belle and Sebastian. This track will make you sway your head back and forth while smiling like an idiot.
3. The Killers -- "Human" I know this song's been all over the radio lately, but dammit people!catchy! The Killers have gone all out dancey on this one, and it suits them very well.
4. I'm From Barcelona -- "Paper Planes" is a happy little tune from this 30-member Swedish pop battalion. Totally finger-snap inducing
5. Herman Dune -- "123 Apple Tree". Get ready to have the chorus of this unabashedly silly love song stuck in your head after the first listen. This French duo knows what it takes to make a perfect pop song.
That about does it for this week's Underground Hum. If you have any questions, suggestions, praises, and curses just send me a note at undergroundhum@yahoo.com.
See you when I see you!
--
For all of you bands or artists out there, let us know if you have a gig coming up so we can include it in future editions of reverb. Be sure to include the name of the event you're playing, what other acts are billed, time, place, date, and entry fee if any.
Welcome back to Underground Hum, children. It's story time! So darlings, how about some rock n' roll fairy tales? Thank you for the lovely emails. Keep them coming. Let's get started with this week's Reverb.
If at this point in your life you haven't heard of Factory Records, you need to be flogged. The legendary Manchester imprint and music culture institution that is known for Joy Division, the late, great Tony Wilson, the infamous Hacienda club, and an astounding catalogue of great music is going to be memorialized in A Factory Box Set coming out January 12 in the UK, courtesy of Rhino (www.rhino.com).
Spreading some 63 Factory favorites across four discs in rough chronological order, A Factory Box Set indeed includes a healthy sampling of Joy Division and New Order, as well as representative offerings from New Order offshoots Electronic, Revenge, and the Other Two.
But the set also finds room for other post-punk heavyweights and lesser-knowns (Cabaret Voltaire, A Certain Ratio, Section 25, the Wake, Quando Quango), Madchester staples (Happy Mondays, Northside), and even a few folks who would go on to bigger things (OMD, James).
There through it all is perhaps the imprint's one true constant, the Durutti Column, who gets a track on each of the four discs. A Factory Box Set commemorates the 30th anniversary of Factory Records' 1978 founding.
Fresh off his band's appearance on "Desperate Housewives" Sunday night, Tokyo Police Club keyboardist Graham Wright has released EP he wrote and recorded last year and promised himself he'd release before the end of 2008.
Its title is "The Lakes of Alberta", and it's a low-key acoustic affair that would make for a nice evening by the fire. "The Lakes of Alberta" is available now through www.bandcamp.mu.
Lower quality MP3s are free, and the better quality formats cost five dollars. Otherwise, the Tokyo Police Club camp is silent as the band prepares for the "Jingle Bell Rock" tour in December.
This Christmas, the folks at http://hardtofindafriend.blogspot.com aren't making any lofty promises as to goodwill towards men and all that, but darn it if their Peace on Earth Vol. II compilation won't get you closer to such a thing than Santa ever could.
Coupling Christmas favorites and seasonal originals from the likes of Oxford Collapse, American Analog Set, Jason Collett, Pattern Is Movement, Karl Blau, Bodies of Water, Jennifer O'Connor, Marla Hansen, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, Via Audio, the Jealous Girlfriends, Laura Gibson, The Prayers & Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers, and others, the disc also features photography from Jamie Stewart of Xiu Xiu.
And if that ain't enough to make your yuletide gay, proceeds from the disc go to the Children of Uganda Fund. Got a stocking that needs stuffing? Hit Up their site, where Peace on Earth Vol. II is exclusively available starting November 18.
RANDOM WEEKLY TOP 5
Yes, my lovelies, you guessed it! A new feature has been added to your favorite music geek-out corner! What do us music geeks love more than new music and scenesters in skinny jeans? Lists! So we at UH have decided to start sharing with you the random music-related lists we have in our heads. We'll christen this baby with:
Top 5 So-Damn-Catchy-It-Hurts Tracks That Haven't Left Our Playlists For The Last Month (yes, this title is long):
1. Lykke Li -- "Let it Fall" from the baby-voiced Swedish songstress that has infected many playlists with her uber-catchy hit "Dance Dance Dance". This track is also infectious, in a subtler seep-in-your-skin way.
2. The School -- "I Want You Back" from the totally cute Welsh band that concocts the most perfectly super-melodic little pop ditties since Belle and Sebastian. This track will make you sway your head back and forth while smiling like an idiot.
3. The Killers -- "Human" I know this song's been all over the radio lately, but dammit people!catchy! The Killers have gone all out dancey on this one, and it suits them very well.
4. I'm From Barcelona -- "Paper Planes" is a happy little tune from this 30-member Swedish pop battalion. Totally finger-snap inducing
5. Herman Dune -- "123 Apple Tree". Get ready to have the chorus of this unabashedly silly love song stuck in your head after the first listen. This French duo knows what it takes to make a perfect pop song.
That about does it for this week's Underground Hum. If you have any questions, suggestions, praises, and curses just send me a note at undergroundhum@yahoo.com.
See you when I see you!
--
For all of you bands or artists out there, let us know if you have a gig coming up so we can include it in future editions of reverb. Be sure to include the name of the event you're playing, what other acts are billed, time, place, date, and entry fee if any.
