by Bill Meyer There's a hell of a lot of history in Cleared's music. When you hear Steven Hess's uncluttered drumbeats looming over Michael Vallera's churning guitar, the instrumental passages of Joy Division and early Echo & The Bunnymen records come to mind. When they shift from one stark groove to another... Read More

*The Vaccines* (http://www.absolutepunk.net/thevaccines)' debut album has been announced as the Xfm (http://www.xfm.co.uk) "New Music Award" winner. The award was decided by a panel of judges featuring Peter Hook (Joy Division/New Order), Dom Howard and Chris Wolstenholme (Muse), Tom Smith...

Sun In Winter is a bedroom recording project of Finn Gilroy, a university student from Dunedin, New Zealand. Heavily influenced by Lo fi, shoegaze, drone, doom, indie rock, post rock/metal and inspired especially by acts such as ‘The Cure’, ‘Joy Division’, ‘This Will Destroy You’, ‘Year of No Light’, ‘Rosetta’, ‘Have a Nice Life’, ‘Isis’, [...]

There's being eclectic and then there is Contingencies , the forthcoming debut full length (out February 21st) from Toronto band Boys Who Say No .  The band seem to have a never-ending stream of influences that they  incorporate onto this record. What they do best is the pop.  The 1-2 punch of the hook-heavy "Ms Lee" and the bouncy "56K" will put a smile on even the most sour face. The album has it's darker moments, like the opener "Atonement", and the Morrissey -esque woe-is-me "(untitled)".  "You Used To Get Along" is strangely trapped in the middle, hanging out in ...

It takes all but the hardest heart not to be swayed by the Twilight Sad. Armed with a trademark wall-of-sonics and James Graham’s cathartic vocals, they’re three albums into a career as one of Scotland’s most important bands. The latest, ‘No One Can Ever Know’, sees them turn their back on familiar ways to experiment with glassy synths and a new lyrical stand-point – resulting in a sparser, darker record with traces of Cabaret Voltaire and Joy Division around the edges. Clash caught up with singer James Graham to learn more about this unexpected change of direction. - - - So ...

There I was a few nights ago trolling around the “Baltimore” tag of Bandcamp…and WOW.  Ragdoll.  Intense intense overdrive punk fury.  Loved every ounce of fuzz dripping from their newest S/T release. mp3: Ragdoll – Cowboy Killer and a explosive Joy Division cover for good measure: mp3: Ragdoll – She’s Lost Control Much more on [...]

This week's "Albums That Changed My Life" contributor is Mike Hranica of The Devil Wears Prada! The band are currently touring across the UK in support of their new album, "Dead Throne" and have recently announced they will be spending their summer on the Rockstar Mayhem Festival. Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures The work of Joy Division serves as a huge inspiration to what I try to incorporate into my own music, and for the most part, I lend "Unknown Pleasures" predominant credit for being most relatable in song and lyric. Minor Threat - Out of Step Something I find most ...

Black Marble is Ty Kube and Chris Stewart, who produce somewhat minimalist synth music. With a synth drum beat, a synth melody, and deep, dark vocals, “Pretender” is a song that is one part Joy Division, one part Craft Spells, and one part its own thing. The song can be found on the band’s new EP via Hardly Art. It’s called Weight Against The Door and it’s out digitally now and on vinyl Valentine’s Day. Download: “Pretender” by Black Marble.

Mark Lanegan Band Blues Funeral 4AD Records [2012] Fire Note Says: Mark Lanegan makes a solid addition to his solo catalog with the grooving Blues Funeral ! Album Review: It really doesn't seem like it has been that long since we have heard a record from Mark Lanegan considering he has been very musically active with the Greg Dulli combo of the Gutter Twins and Twilight Singers">The Twilight Singers, laying down vocals for Soulsavers and Queens Of The Stone Age plus releasing records with Isobel Campbell. So, it was quite surprising to acknowledge that it has been 8 years ...

This is a truly wonderful free exhibition of photos on display in Glasgow until 27 February. From the accompanying website:- Harry began his photographic career in his Glasgow home town, standing outside the Apollo, flogging gig-goers newly-developed shots from bands' Edinburgh shows the night before. Harry's impulse to guerilla lensmanship swiftly drew him to London: from 1979 to 1984 he was a staff photographer for the music weekly Sounds, providing countless front covers. During those five years, Harry's photographs covered the post-punk waterfront, from Blondie to David Bowie; the Associates to Devo by way of Joy Division, Bryan ...

Back in the summer of 2007 I ended up working in Toronto for four months. It was a fantastic experience and I've loads of great memories inclduding musical highlights thanks to great live gigs. I of course took the i-pod with me on the adventure but I also threw about 20 CDs into the suitcase to keep me going as well, including the debut from a littkle-known but critically acclaimed band from Scotland called The Twilight Sad . Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters will always be part of the soundtrack of my summer in Canada. Many was the late night ...

Choir of Young Believers from Denmark is sci-fi pop with 80s/Joy Division undertones. The beats are muted and the synth is prominent on “Patricia’s Thirst.” “Nye Nummer Et” takes a wholer, more cinematic tone, swelling with a violin and minor-key falsetto, bordering on Active-Child indie-opratic. Their sophomore album Rhine Gold will be released March 20 on Ghostly International [...]

I never listened to a New Order album after this. They were now careering out of control down the path to electronic dance techno-pop nightmare (or wherever). Dance music has never been substantial enough to base a career on - by its very definition it is ephemeral even more so than any other modern music - and New Order had succumbed to the false promise that it held out, promises of fame and wealth, neither of which really came their way to the extent they had hoped for. I suppose this was a sad end to a glittering opening few tracks of ...

This is a mixed album of a live set, which is appallingly recorded, but nonetheless contains some of their greatest tracks, and a studio album including outtakes and material that had not been issued but which was intended to form the nucleus of a new album before Ian Curtis committed suicide. The album was issued a year after that suicide and was intended to provide a kind of wrapping up of all things Joy Division by releasing all that was unreleased. In retrospect, I am not sure that was a good idea. It was probably too soon to take such ...

Die englischen Dance-Urgesteine Orbital präsentieren den Track "New France", der in Kollaboration mit Zola Jesus entstand. Das dazugehörige Album "Wonky" wird im April erscheinen und ist bereits ihre achte Platte ( motor.de berichtete ). Es handelt sich hierbei um die zweite Veröffentlichung des kommenden Langspielers, die erste erschien als Video "Never" schon Mitte Januar. Die Liedermacherin liefert dem Song die Vocals auf einem eher poppig-minimalistischen Klangteppich. Überzeugt euch an dieser Stelle selbst: Orbital - "New France" (feat. Zola Jesus) Inzwischen ist es acht Jahre her, dass das britische Duo Orbital sein letztes Album herausgebracht hat. Die kommende Platte wurde von Mark Ellis ...