Joy Division: Grant Gee documentary (2007)

Beautiful and dark, both in tone and subject matter, Grant Gee's 2007 documentary Joy Division is a must see for rock fans and pop culture enthusiasts.

The film traces the group's development back to its roots in decaying, post-industrial Manchester and the punk scene that grew from its bleak, urban center.

Of course, as we now know, 1977 became 1978 and punk soon morphed into post-punk. Joy Division were at the vanguard of this new style and, following the death of lead singer Ian Curtis in 1980, have been forever ingrained as the leading light of the post-punk period.

As Tony Wilson explains:

"Punk had enabled you to say, "Fuck You." But somehow it couldn't go any further...

...Sooner or later, someone was going to want to say more than fuck you. Someone was going to want to say "I'm fucked". It was Joy Division who were the first band to do that."

Now in the early part of the 21st century, Joy Division are seen as one of the most influential and important groups since the Sex Pistols. This is the story of how they got there, and how the world we live in has changed since that time.

ESG - Moody (Remix)

ESG - Moody (Remix).



So, it turns out I'm not the only one who thinks of ESG and Liquid Liquid in the same frame of reference.

Although I've only really known a handful of either group's songs, it turns out these 99 Records labelmates have enough in common, sonically, to have been paired together in Volume 2 of The Perfect Beats series (thanks for that heads up, Andy Kellman).

Early on in their career, Bronx natives ESG also caught the eye of Factory Records magnate Tony Wilson, who brought the group over to Manchester to gig and record their first 3 song single with the legendary Martin Hannett.

You can hear the original version of "Moody", recorded with Hannett, here. Enjoy!

Do It Yourself: The Story of Rough Trade

Here's a cool BBC documentary on the history of Rough Trade Records and the rise of the do-it-yourself (DIY) musical ethic, entitled Do It Yourself: The Rough Trade Story.

As I watch this, I find it interesting to note that Rough Trade seemed to share a very similar Marxist/collectivist ideology with their northern counterpart, Factory Records.

In fact, if you watch the part about 23 minutes in where one of the label founders reads Rough Trade's basic business agreement with its artists off a handwritten note, you'll probably notice the remarkable similarity between the two labels' mission statements (RT's was essentially a cleaned-up version of Factory's guiding principle: "The artists own all their work. The label owns nothing. Our bands have the freedom to fuck off...").

The concept is/was a wonderful step forward for musicians and their labels, but a lack of business sense or any sustainable alternative business model seemed to prove fatal for both Rough Trade and Factory.

So can artists and labels find a way to work together as equal partners while embracing the benefits of capitalism? That might be the crucial question for musicians and whoever/whatever comes along to take the place of the major labels in the future.

Anyway, on with the show. Enjoy the documentary, and I promise we'll post more along these lines (perhaps next, a look at American DIY) in the near future.