Peel Session - 1979 - BBC    *squee!*

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It's the album cover that has inspired possibly the coolest t-shirt in rock music history.

Peter Hook is taking Unknown Pleasures out on the road with his band The Light, and the ten tracks on the album will do for those of us reading this website what a reunion of Pink Floyd doing Dark Side of The Moon would do for our parents, aunts, and uncles. Unfortunately, due to dissolving relationships of his own and many other problems, there is no Ian Curtis to moan into the abyss this time -- but Hook has had experience in both JD and the follow-up band made from its ashes-phoenix, New Order, and is throwing in some tracks from original punk band Warsaw besides.

Can you believe all this live music revival goodness will be happening in Seattle next week, December 7, at the Showbox at the Market? There are some people who grumble about the "playing the whole album live" business, but I'm sure even they are intrigued. Especially them, actually. Unknown Pleasures is an album's album, great single tracks regardless, due to its uniformity of sound and over-plus of existential intensity, which these music fans are probably all up in. Unknown Pleasures is the album where the post-punk strip-down happened first, best, and the most -- it is to rock music what Wagner is to opera (and Hook's bass is to alternative dance music as Jimi Hendrix's guitar was to hard rock).

Chris Ott of Pitchfork in his 33 1/3 devoted to the LP called it "the end of pop ... ." The late Tony Wilson, famous for founding the Manchester-based label and club that would give Joy Division their boost into history, is quoted in Simon Reynolds' new book Totally Wired as saying about the "crazed (but) deliciously clever" producer, "Martin Hannett is the kind of man who could hear the sound of the moon moving around the earth." He also claims the band hated Unknown Pleasures due to it being created fully out of absolute hardship and creative suffering, and "if they'd had their way it never would have been released."

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Bad Lieutenant, the new band formed by frontman Bernard Sumner (Joy Division, New Order), guest drummer Stephen Morris (Joy Division, New Order), guitarist Phil Cunningham (New Order), and guest Alex James (Blur) has released "Sink or Swim," the first single off of Never Cry Another Tear on their MySpace page.

The song will be made available as a free download beginning August 28th and if you sign up as a member of the Bad Lieutenant mailing list at www.badlieutenant.net, you will receive the track as part of a mass mailing. The download will only be available for a limited time, and the album will not be released until October, so act quickly if you like it and you want continued access to it.

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Please, help me make the best Hallowindie Mix EVER!

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I'm not sure what the impetus for stealing the tombstone of a dead rocker is, but I guess if all the original 45s and a tattoo just aren't enough...

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The Music Nation blog reports on the top 10 winners of UK mag Music Magpie's reader's poll for the top album covers ever. The #1 winner, shown above? Joy Division's 1979 LP Unknown Pleasures.

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I'm not sure if seeing 24 Hour before seeing Control is a good or a bad thing.

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Control," the biopic of Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis, opens tonight at the Egyptian.

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Former one hit wonders and current power pop darlings (btw, can you be a "former" one hit wonder?) have announced not only will they be releasing a new album in 2008 called Lucky but they'll also be touring.

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I think we're all thinking about this marketing thing the wrong way ...

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