Joy Division - Martin Hannett’s Personal Mixes

Early mixes offer up more intrigue

The subject of intense debate among Joy Division aficionados, these recordings, taken directly from Hannett’s mixing desk, have languished dustily and unheard for a quarter of a decade. Their emergence, be it through opportunistic circles, has been largely welcomed.

They are a collection of ‘sample noises’, which precede alternative versions of 24 Hours, The Eternal, Heart & Soul and From Safety To Where...?, each hanging precariously between demo and completion. To those who hold Joy Division’s two albums close to their hearts, these unexpected new angles on known material offer an intriguing insight into Hannett’s successful quest to carry a rock band over into a state of ethereal experimentation.

Sounds such as the clanging of the lift at Strawberry Studios or band manager Rob Gretton attempting to smash a bottle all have the ring of familiarity. Likewise, snippets of keyboard doodling carry with them the basic framework of Joy Division’s curiously simplistic dynamic. Here you will discover how Hannett marries that holy Curtis voice to an icy synth that, although dated, has worn rather better than most of Joy Division’s contemporaries.

Rather than demystify beloved recordings, these clunky sounds and outtakes make the puzzle of Joy Division’s sound all the more bewildering.

3 stars 3 stars 3 stars

Interstate | B 0000 VL 766

Reviewed by Mick Middles
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