Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Zero | A Martin Hannett Story, 1977-1991

Martin Hannett was a musician and producer of the original post-punk era. He is a legend largely due to his stint as house producer for Factory Records where he helmed the desk for the seminal recordings of Joy Division, ACR, New Order and Section 25 among others. There are brilliant stories of his insane genius and studio ingenuity, often involving that insanity - see the movie 24 Hour Party People, read Simon Reynolds' Rip It Up..., and if you click on the links above you will find more stories. Zero | A Martin Hannett Story, 1977-1991 is a brilliant new compilation. It is a great set of music he produced that bear all of his sonic trademarks - spartan dub ambience. As you can see from the tracklisting below, it is a veritable who's-who of post-punk. It is brilliant. I know I've already said that, but it's true. It balances well known songs (Pretty In Pink) with lots of not-so-well known songs (Basement 5's fab The Last White Christmas). From the better known stuff you get one of my favorite OMD songs, Electricity, with it's memorable bass riff and keyboard melody. On the lesser known side enjoy an absolutely bitchin' alternate take of the Magazine classic The Light Pours Out Of Me (Second Version). Then get thee to your music mart and get your own copy!

1 Buzzcocks - Boredom
2 Slaughter And The Dogs - Cranked Up Really High
3 Jilted John - Jilted John
4 John Cooper Clarke - I Don't Want To Be Nice
5 Pauline Murray And The Invisible Girls - Dream Sequence 1
6 U2 - 11 O'Clock Tick Tock
7 Joy Division - Transmission
8 Durutti Column - Conduct
9 Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - Electricity
10 Magazine - The Light Pours Out Of Me (Second Version)
11 New Order - In a Lonely Place
12 The Only Ones - Oh Lucinda (Love Becomes A Habit)
13 The Names - Night Shift
14 Basement 5 - The Last White Christmas
15 The Psychedelic Furs - Pretty In Pink
16 Section 25 - Friendly Fires
17 Wasted Youth - Rebecca's Room
18 Nico And The Invisible Girls - All Tomorrow's Parties
19 Kitchens Of Distinction - Quick As Rainbows
20 Happy Mondays - Wrote For Luck
21 World Of Twist - She's A Rainbow

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