I have to admit that I’m an unabashed New Order fan and being able to write about them at any point is a great thrill. Now as you already know, in the 35 years or so since […]
Tag: New Order
Last night, I learned that JOVM has had readers and viewers from over 117 countries across the world — this year. 117! I’m honored, flattered and incredibly humbled that my childhood obsession with music and my labor of love have become a part of so many people’s lives. With 2015 coming to a close, I want to thank you, dear friends for letting me come into your screen and hopefully bring a little bit of joy, wonder and meaning into your lives. And if I’ve done that, I’ve been wildly successful in ways that I never would have dreamt.
This month’s playlist comes a couple of days early, but don’t let that faze you much. In typical JOVM fashion, the December playlist is wildly eclectic — and touches upon several decades of artists and songs both known and obscure. You’ll come across Eric B. and Rakim, R.E.M., Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, The Posies, Foo Fighters, The Smiths, JOVM mainstays The Black Angels, Johnny Cash, June Carter Cash, Patsy Cline, Nancy Sinatra, The Fixx, Pearl Jam, INXS, The Verve, New Order, Big Daddy Kane, Pink Floyd, Peter Gabriel, Michael Jackson, Los Angeles‘ Line & Circle, shoegaze pioneers RIDE, the club-rocking sounds of Neon Indian, Cameo, Twin Limb, the fantastic Charles Bradley, Black Sabbath, and a tribute to Motorhead‘s Lemmy Kilmister. And that’s just off the top of my head. Enjoy!
As an unabashed child of the 80s, Depeche Mode holds as much of a place in my heart as New Order; after all, so much of their material has managed to be part of my life’s soundtrack. More than enough ink has been spilled throughout the act’s influential career, so delving into their biography is largely unnecessary. Interestingly, over the past 20 years, an in impressive and growing number of artists have covered, remixed and reworked Depeche Mode including Smashing Pumpkins, Deftones, A-ha, Monster Magnet, Scott Weiland, The Cure (yes, seriously, The Cure!), Tori Amos, Nada Surf, Linkin Park‘s Mike Shinoda, Breaking Benjamin, Royskopp, Placebo and more.
Comprised of Paris-born and London-based duo Axel Basquiat (composer, vocals, bass) and Vincent T. (production, sound engineering and keys), The Penelopes are an indie electro pop act, production and DJ duo who have developed a reputation for propulsive, Giorgio Moroder-like remixes of Lana Del Ray, Pet Shop Boys, We Have Band, Night Drive, The Ting Tings, Alt J and a growing list of others, and for their own original material — which critics internationally have compared to Daft Punk, M83 and Air, among others. The Parisian-born, London-based duo add their names to a growing list of artists, who have covered Depeche Mode with their rendition of “Never Let Me Down Again,” which turns the slow-burning and moody industrial/goth song into a shimmering and anthemic, club-banger with a sinuous bass line and propulsive drum programming with Basquiat’s breathy baritone. And although The Penelopes uptempo rendition is warmer and dance floor friendly, it retains the original’s sense of longing and desire.
Check out how The Penelopes cover compares to Depeche Mode’s original below.
New Video: The Sensual, Surreal, Dream-like New Video for The Harrow’s “Feral Haze”
Deriving their name from the name of a device used to torture and punish prisoners in Franz Kafka’s “In the Penal Colony,” Brooklyn-based band The Harrow can trace their origins back to 2008 when founding member Frank […]
As I’ve said countless times on this site, more than enough ink has been spilled over the course of New Order‘s 35 year history, so delving into their background isn’t necessary; but what I will maintain is that throughout the band’s history they’ve managed to balance that rare and difficult tightrope of being both critically and commercially successful. And as a result they’ve also managed to be incredibly relevant, as a growing number of bands have cited them and their sound as a major influence. Certainly, if you’re a child of the 80s as I am, Duran Duran, Guns ‘N Roses, Def Leppard, Run DMC, New Order and a lengthy list of others will likely hold a very dear place in your heart. So it wouldn’t be terribly surprising that a number of artists have covered New Order over the years — with an increasing frequency of late. . .
Now if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past three or four weeks, you might recall that I’ve written about the San Francisco-based indie pop artist Mike Deni’s solo recording project Geographer. The project has developed a reputation for crafting a thoughtful and deliberate sound that meshes blossoming synths with precise orchestral arrangements. And with the release of his critically praised, third, full-length effort, Ghost Modern through Roll Call Records earlier this year, Deni has expanded his profile towards greater national attention.
Interestingly, while taking some time off to write new material over the summer, Deni had worked on a cover/reworking of Arthur Rusell‘s “This Is How We Walk On The Moon,” and the cover was so inspiring to the San Francisco-based electronic music artist that he decided that he should work on an entire effort of covers — and the result was he recently released Endless Motion EP, which features reworking and covers of songs by New Order, Kate Bush, Paul Simon and Felix Da Housecat.
The EP’s latest single is a cover of New Order’s “Age of Consent” that seems fairly straightforward as Deni has retained all the familiar elements of the song with an exacting verisimilitude; however, Deni’s vocals have a swooning and plaintive quality that pulls the song’s heartache and despair front and center. And although it’s an incredibly subtle and nuanced interpretation, the Geographer cover should remind listeners that New Order wrote a number of songs that wound up becoming remarkably timeless. Check out how it stands up to New Order’s original below.
Over the past couple of months I’ve been experimenting with a monthly Spotify playlist that covers the songs I’ve reviewed over the course of the past month, along with the songs I’ve referenced. And although some songs almost always seem to be missing during the initial compilation, I think it still manages to be a fairly comprehensive look at the past month on JOVM. (Just an early world, December will be pretty interesting as there will be a monthly playlist and I will be doing a Best of List primarily through Spotify as an additional experiment. But we’re jumping ahead here.)
November’s playlist continues the eclectic and tasteful curation that this site has long been known for and includes Aroc!‘s collaborations with Eric Bellinger, the gorgeous sounds of Floating Points, the socially conscious psych rock of Brazilian superstars Boogarins, JOVM mainstays Rene Lopez, Escort, Shabaam Sahdeeq, Pr0files, White Reaper, Beacon, New Order and Freddie Gibbs and others among a lengthy list. You’ll catch new singles from the Houston, TX-born, New York-based indie soul artist Melany Watson, several singles off Coke Weed‘s excellent Mary Weaver, two singles off The Giraffes kick ass, stoner rock album Usury, a new single from Swedish psych rock sensation Caviare Days, anthemic singles from Brandi Carlile‘s powerhouse country album, The Firewatcher’s Daughter and Canadian trio Red Moon Road, a few singles off Neon Indian‘s club-friendly VEGA Intl. Night School and more. There’s quite a bit of funk on this list as I make references to The Whispers, The Gap Band, Kool and the Gang, Chic, Rick James, and others. And there’s quite of synth pop including Tears For Fears, Depeche Mode, The Human League and more. Check it out and tell your friends while you’re at it!
British indie rock sensation Escapists can trace their origins to when Simon Glancy (vocals) relocated to London to concentrate on his songwriting, and as soon as he moved he asked the only musician friend he knew to help him record his musical ideas, Oil Court (guitar). Court then quickly recruited his friend, composer Max Perryment to play bass. And as the story goes, the trio spent a week of intensive songwriting sessions before deciding that they had enough musical and creative simpatico to continue collaborating together. Court’s former schoolmate Any Walsh (drums) was recruited to finalize the band’s lineup, and the newly formed quartet began writing and recording material inspired by Arcade Fire, The National and Broken Social Scene.
The quartet’s debut single received airplay from XFM‘s John Kennedy and within that year, they were touring with Imagine Dragons and played sets at Reading and Leeds Festivals. Continuing to build upon the buzz they received nationally, the quartet spent 2013 writing and recording the material that would comprise their 2014 debut, Only Bodies, which was released to critical praise from the blogosphere.
Over the past year or so, the band has reportedly gone through a change in sonic direction with their sound inching towards dance-floor-leaning post-punk. “Pyramid Scheme,” the first single off the band’s Eat You Alive possesses enormous, anthemic hooks, shimmering and angular guitar chords, thundering drumming, sinuous bass lines, and swooningly plaintive vocals. Structurally speaking there are some playful changes in tempo in a song that sounds as though its indebted to the likes of U2, Editors, The Killers, New Order and others.
Certainly, with such an enormous hooks and a dance-friendly sound, I think we’ll be hearing quite a bit from them over the next few months.
New Video: Coke Weed’s Early 1980s-Influenced Video for “I Could Be So Real”
If you’ve been frequenting JOVM over the past month-month-and-a-half or so, you may come across a couple of posts written about the Bar Harbor, ME-based psych rock quintet Coke Weed. Comprised of founding members Milan McAlevey (songwriting, guitar) […]
New Audio: Geographer’s Dreamy Lullaby-like Cover of Felix Da Housecat’s “Ready 2 Wear”
Renowned Chicago-based DJ, producer, electronic music artist and label exec Felix Da Housecat has a long-held reputation for producing and working on an eclectic mix of sounds and sub-genres within the larger umbrella of electronic […]
Live Footage: The Charlatans on The Late Late Show with James Corden
Although they’ve gone through a number of lineup changes since their initial formation in 1989, The Charlatans (known Stateside as The Charlatans UK) currently comprised of Tim Burgess (vocals), Mark Collins (guitar), Martin Blunt (bass), and […]
New Video: Coke Weed’s 80s Post-Punk Leaning, New Single “Dead Man Walking”
You may recall that last month, I wrote about the Bar Harbor, ME-based psych rock quintet Coke Weed. Currently comprised of founding members Milan McAlevey (songwriting, guitar) and Nina Donghia (vocals), along with Caleb Davis (guitar), […]
New Audio: New Order’s House Music-Leaning New Single
Formed in the aftermath of Ian Curtis‘ suicide, much ink has been spilled throughout New Order’s lengthy and influential career. So what I will say is that New Order may arguably be one of the most […]
Comprised of Mikkel B. Jakbosen (vocals and guitar), Morten Hansen (drums and vocals), and Steffan Petersen (guitar and bass). the Copenhagen, Denmark-based trio The Foreign Resort have received international attention for a sound that meshes elements of new wave and post-punk in a way that’s dark and moody and yet possesses an upbeat infectiousness. In fact, “Under Bright Neon Stars” the first single off the Danish trio’s soon-to-be released The American Dream EP is a swooningly Romantic and anthemic song consisting of shimmering guitars, a tight motorik groove similar to New Order‘s “Blue Monday” and “5 8 6,” paired with urgent and plaintive vocals that float over the propulsive mix. If you can’t image a club full of concertgoers shouting along to the song’s hook, there’s something wrong with you.
After listening to the song a number of times, the song seems to evoke the swelling hope and crippling fears of newfound love and in a way that should remind even the most jaded listener of their own foolhardy youth with a wistful smile.
The band is embarking on a fall tour. Check out the out dates below.
Tour Dates
10.22 • recordBar (Kansas City, MO)
10.23 • 3 Kings Tavern (Denver, CO)
10.24 • Lot 1 (Los Angeles, CA)
10.25 • Alex’s Bar (Long Beach, CA)
10.26 • The Merrow (San Diego, CA)
10.27 • Fulton 55 (Fresno, CA)
10.28 • Hemlock Tavern (San Francisco, CA)
10.30 • Kelly’s Olympian (Portland, OR)
10.31 • Substation (Seattle, WA)
Interview: A Q&A with Painted Palms’ Chris Prudhomme
If you’ve been frequenting JOVM over the past year to about 18 months or so, you likely came across a post or two on the cousin duo of Reese Donahue and Chris Prudhomme, best known […]