the of mirror eye

* Joy Division: Disorder (6.5 mb) | Love Will Tear Us Apart (6.0 mb) | Insight (6.0 mb) | Shadowplay (6.5 mb)
From Les Bains Douches 18 December 1979 : NMC Music : FACD 2.61

I’ll have to say, the first time I heard Joy Division, I wasn’t really into them. Maybe their reputation for playing to ashen faced cry babies colored my time spent listening to them. I slowly grew to like their music, but was never as enamored with them as most of my friends. And then I heard some live recordings of them and was immediately blown away! Now here was some primal, raw music that I could listen to with gusto. The band sounds like a fire was lit under them and they were desperately trying to beat it out. If the live recording I’ve heard are any indication, their live shows must’ve been absolutely incredible.

These songs are nothing if not tough. Everything is sped up. It’s loose and raw. There is a primal passion in the music that matches the intensity of Ian Curtis’ singing. On “Disorder,” when he cries, “I got the spirit, lose the feeling, let it out somehow,” it is not sterile and haunted like it is on Unknown Pleasures but has the kick of man who is exorcising something un-namable. On “Insight,” after Curtis barks “I’m not afraid anymore,” and that cheesy laser beam keyboard part kicks in, it’s not really cheesy. The rapid synth pings are coupled with a prominent, dissonant base riff which creates an off-balance, atonal kind of noise, which is equally appropriate and disorienting. (fakejazz)

If you’ve never heard any live Joy Division tracks, than I’m sure these will come as a complete surprise to you. In fact, to me, they play with such fury they sound almost like a punk band to me. At any rate, these tracks are from a radio broadcast of their performance at Les Bains Douches on December 18, 1979. I hope you enjoy them.

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