Review: New Order - 'Power, Corruption & Lies' (1983)

Somehow, I'm again reviewing an album released in 1983. A coincidence, seeing as the two groups in question (see my previous review on Pink Floyd's 'The Final Cut') have little in common, except being British and having lost a lead singer, completely re-directing the group.

Alright, more than a little in common.

Power, Corruption & Lies is one of my favourite albums of all times. It someone manages to go from slightly grungy post-punk in it's opening song, Age Of Consent, before stripping right back to the thudding synth guitar of, We All Stand. I always find the combination of these two songs quite jarring. Age of Consent is filled with life, it's like a teenage road trip, with laughs, booze and good times on the beach. We All Stand seems to be the reality at the end of the holiday. Or the hangover. The guitar seems to slide slowly across the track, meandering softly and almost painfully in it's juxtaposed pace to the previous track. The repeated phrase of 'three miles to go' emphasises this journey through the album.

My favourite track on the album is 5-8-6. It's bouncy synth is addictive and infectious. The theme with the album seems to be experimenting with tempo and mood through the pace and timbre of the synth. The result really is a turbulent ride of mixed emotions, being pulled between sluggish bass and upbeat party anthems punctuated with the classic 80s sound of snare driven drums machines.
The use of repitition of lyrics - 'I see danger - danger - danger' and the often, not quite timed nature of these, with the previous syllable of a word getting tacked on, creates an authenticity to the album, which is missing in so much modern music. These days little errors of this nature would be re-recorded or edited into oblivion. The album is also noted for it's drum timing errors, which the band members describe as giving it a certain quirkiness and individuality.

The album is now viewed as a link between disco and the house scene, which would develop in the late 80s. When disco became a dirty word, New Order took an old sound and made it their own through technical innovation and their own sound developed from the Joy Division days.

What more to say. The album really does pull together as a whole and showed New Order's ability as a group to find their own style and shake off the pressure of creating a Joy Division album or writing music and lyrics in the style of Ian Curtis. The first New Order album, Movement had been their bridge to a new beginning. A must listen, the album has something for a range of music tastes. I can see it remaining one of my favourites for a long time yet.


References:

http://www.neworderonline.com/
Image scanned by:
http://www.niagara.edu/neworder/graphics/pcal.jpg

Street Photography

I took to the street yesterday, for the first time in... let's say 3 or 4 months, to take some digital street photos.
More recently, I've been shooting film on the street, so it was nice to have the benefit of auto-focus and to instantly review the photos. Despite these luxuries, I think the past month or two of shooting film have done me some good. I had a few shots I was quite pleased with, and felt more confident with shooting quickly.
There are some pretty classic 'Melbourne' images here. Very basic post-processing. However, I don't feel they really need a lot. It all seems to be there. Perfection in street photography just doesn't sit right.

I'm still looking forward to the purchase of a new camera, 10MP can become a bit restrictive when shooting the street, especially as the sensor on my current camera is far from stunning. Until, then, I make do.

For more photos from this day, go to:
http://redbubble.com/people/jyve