John Foster takes music packaging very seriously. He has deconstructed the design of the recording industry through his personal work and his books, Maximum Page Design (HOW), New Masters of Poster Design (Rockport) and the upcoming For Sale: Innovative Solutions in Packaging Design (HOW) as well as a monograph of Sub Pop’s Art Director, Jeff Kleinsmith, slated for publication by the label in 2008.
He will be poking and prodding various albums on a weekly basis so please be sure to keep an eye out!
This week’s victims:
New Order “Movement”
Is it worth listening to no matter what it looks like? Let me be upfront; almost (I reserve that caveat) all New Order is essential. The early releases sound, in many ways, better now than they ever have. This would be their first album proper following the suicide of Ian Curtis and the official end of Joy Division. After the classic single Ceremony/In A Lonely Place, the band set up shop once again with troubled producer Martin Hannett and continued their dark territory mapped out previously adding the icy keyboards of drummer Stephen Morris’s girlfriend, Gillian Gilbert. Although the band viewed this as a low point in their output it is an amazing view of a band in transition. Following the loss of Curtis you can hear in every song the emergence of the individuals (perhaps in an effort to fill the immense void left behind) and their idiosyncratic way of playing their instruments. One need only hear Peter Hook’s distinctive bass riff joined by Morris’s busy drumming (more live than programmed to the astonishment of many attendees of New Order shows) and one of the most underrated rhythm guitar players in Bernard Sumner locking in to “Dreams Never End” to start the proceedings to know they are in for something special. Hannett’s sonic tinkering is evident in the claustrophobic mix at every turn (be sure to listen to the primitive stereo effect on the drums for “Senses” which veers towards Tones on Tail territory) to keep things familiar. This would be the last record he would produce for them, as the band would soon take those reigns, further finding their unique sound.
The record is fascinating for the growing pains only evident because we know the heights they would soon reach following this release. The vocals still tentative (both in delivery and melody) with Sumner especially laid bare on the Gilbert keyboard wash of “Truth.” The disco dalliance of “Chosen Time” and its sound effects and chicken scratch guitar. Soon this sound would be perfected and top the charts – but here it is a mess of Hannett’s pings over a shuffling muddy funk exercise. Followed by the most Joy Division like tracks “ICB” and “The Him” with still more odd effects, one can almost hear the band running out of patience with Hannett’s tweaking. (Let the record show that I am an enormous fan of Martin’s work but New Order needed to shed his sound for a tighter sheen to properly shake some ass on the dance floor as they soon intended to accomplish.) The end result though is an amazingly dark record in it’s own right and a fascinating look at a band dealing with it’s past while racing towards it’s future.
Credit: “Designed by Peter Saville and Graphica Industria”
Any signs of creative interference in the design process by the artist? The band certainly had some say, but Saville was entrenched as a partner in Factory and the label always embraced his visions (and quirks.)
Does the look fit the sound? Not really. Looking at the simple layout it is hard to imagine that this would be one of the most controversial covers in post punk history. Saville had made his name with his clean, classic sensibilities perfectly reflecting the coldness of industrial Manchester while at the same time embracing the thoughtful artiness the bands and label strived for. By the formation of New Order he seemed determined to streamline even further but to take his naughty streak in a different direction. After noticeably lifting from an Albertus type specimen designed by Berthold Wolpe for the band’s first single, he would directly mimic the layout of Futurismo, a journal designed by Fortunato Depero for Movement. There is drawing direct inspiration (something Saville would commonly do sometimes with a generic item like a map key and other times with a famous piece of design) and then there is lazy and potentially illegal copying. By this point the band fully trusted Saville to do what he pleased and he at times did so to the detriment of the group (see brilliant design for the Blue Monday single that ended up costing more to produce then they sold for – and it ended up being the highest selling 12” of all time!) Here he would make them pay for that trust as well.
Saville had decided to perversely take the band’s name and draw inspiration from Futurist works of art and design to frame their early work. Later he would lift imagery in more inventive manners but in this case when he took a known piece of design and moved very little around with no conceptual payoff – well, people took notice. Saville showed no shame in doing so and chalked it up to the cheeky appropriation founded in many of the art school modes of thinking in England at the time (this was a label founded on Situationist principles after all) but legal had different ideas. By the time the disc was released in the U.S. it would carry a credit for “After A Poster By Fortunato Depero” on the back sleeve.
Saville would commit an even more dire crime than the direct lift of Depero’s work though. He would produce a boring and dull sleeve for the sake of making an abstract reference to the band’s name. Luckily for all of us he would return to his former glory soon after (see the next 50 sleeves he would design…)
Final score (out of 10): 1.0 design 9.0 for the music
This record was recently shown in the British Library’s exhibition of European Avant Garde print culture, Breaking the Rules http://www.bl.uk/breakingtherules, alongside other contemporary examples of popular design borrowing from Constructivist and Futurist works, including some Franz Ferdinand business. In additon to rehashing something that already looks cool, the band positions itself in some sort of Avant Garde lineage. I’m usually a total sucker for this.
April 16, 2008 at 12:30 pmTotal agreement on your assessment of the sleeve. When he was good, few can touch him:
http://www.btinternet.com/~comme6/saville/O_M_D_Maid_of_Orleans_b.jpg
When he was bad, few are worse:
http://www.btinternet.com/~comme6/saville/Salvation_soundtrack.jpg
And though it’s a nit-noid complaint, New Order’s recording sessions with Hannett are far less clear than you portray it here. We know that the first session was in Manchester in June 1980, trying out a new singer for the surviving members with local singer Kevin Hewick. The only document we have of that session is one song, “Haystack.” They then recorded at Cabaret Voltaire’s Western Works Recording Studio in July 1980, resulting in a 4-song demo, including the unreleased track, “Homage.”
What happened next is a matter of some disagreement among New Order fans.
We know that New Order went to New York City in September 1980 to play their U.S. debut mini-tour (the original trip called off days before they were scheduled to leave due to Curtis’ suicide). Factory Records bought a block of studio time at EARS Studio in East Orange, New Jersey, and A Certain Ratio recorded their debut album there, called To Each. When ESG opened for A Certain Ratio at a gig during these sessions, the Ratio invited ESG to use some of their studio time to record their debut single with Hannett.
I believe that New Order also recorded at EARS during these sessions, from September 22-25. This is also where New Order laid down the tracks for the first version of Ceremony and In a Lonely Place (released in January 1981). Now, the ESG and New Order singles were perfect. However, and here’s where the controversy arises – I think Movement was recorded here as well, and that it suffered the same fate as the A Certain Ratio album. See, there’s the famous story where a studio employee zeroed (irony!) all the levels for To Each one night when the band and crew were out of the studio. It makes sense to me, hearing both albums, that this happened to Movement as well.
Hannett then took the tapes for BOTH albums (not just To Each) back to Manchester to try to rescue them from obvious disaster. Wilson then put Hannett under some pressure to deliver product, and To Each was released in April 1981. Movement would wait for another seven months while the band returned to the studio, this time in Manchester, to try to salvage the record. In the end, Hannett, aided by Flood (he of the Lines and later a famous producer in his own right) and the ever-stalwart Chris Nagle, were unable to rescue the album from its horrid muddiness, and the result is the Movement album we know.
New Order would re-record Ceremony in Manchester (well, Cheshire, in December), this time with Gillian Gilbert, Stephen Morris’ girlfriend, on synths. This inferior version (though, as the one on Substance, is the one most people are familiar with) would see release in July 1981. I don’t know where the unbelievably good Everything’s Gone Green, Procession, Mesh and Cries and Whispers were recorded – but they could have been recorded in New Jersey as well. Both Cries and Whispers and Mesh appeared in their setlists during their mini-U.S. tour. Their New York trip left an indelible impression with the astonishing dance-inflected Everything’s Gone Green, which, for my money, is more forward-looking and influential on dance electronica than Blue Monday or Temptation.
April 16, 2008 at 12:41 pmIpod > Artists > New Order > All Songs > Shuffle > GO!
April 16, 2008 at 12:54 pmThanks for the additional info William. I know the ACR tales (although I love the sound of To Each… now) but all of this time period is glazed with Hannett’s heavy heroin usage, and the soon to come complication of his lawsuit against Factory. I don’t know that anything that would have been recorded at EARS by New Order for Movement was used in the end. There is video of the sessions in Manchester somewhere with the awkwardness palpable. I do know that neither band (especially ACR) were happy with the final result of working with Martin in 80-81. The mix is muddy in places but crystal clear in others and I think in the end Hannett’s pushing of the drums and bass in front of the vocals (something he would do effectively before and after) only exaggerated Barney’s tentative singing and vocal melody. Hannett had pushed some mighty talented vocalists in the past but here he seems to be covering up the deficiency with massive reverb.
Totally agree on Everything’s Gone Green (and which version of Ceremony to enjoy.) Without Everything’s Gone Green and it’s Moroder by way of Manchester influence who knows what white people would have danced to all these years…
April 16, 2008 at 1:24 pmHaha – glad you included those links as well as it reminded me to visit the Saville site – he has a section where you can download each font that he used for the cover of each New Order record. Perfect.
April 16, 2008 at 1:29 pmThanks for this piece, John! Looking forward to what you have up next.
In terms of whether recordings were made in the U.S., did anyone ask Peter Hook when he was here djing???
Q: “Without Everything’s Gone Green and it’s Moroder by way of Manchester influence who knows what white people would have danced to all these years…”
A: Prince and Michael Jackson.
April 16, 2008 at 5:28 pmA: Prince and Michael Jackson.
I have danced without shame to both quite a few times over the years. Still, I have shaken this lily white behind to New Order far more often. I think it has to do with my early preference for pale women.
April 16, 2008 at 5:55 pmOh and Hooky’s quote on the sessions (not from his time here in the dj booth) was that the only good thing about making the album was they finally watched what Martin was doing with the mixing board so they could then make the records themselves.
April 16, 2008 at 6:02 pmRe: my early preference for pale women.
I thought you said you preferred New Order over Michael Jackson… ZING!
April 16, 2008 at 6:03 pmPS. you guys are New Order nerds.
April 16, 2008 at 6:03 pmI hate laughing at posts – especially Cale’s. Crap.
PS. you guys are New Order nerds. – Guilty all around. (Maybe Anne gets off just being a design nerd.)
April 16, 2008 at 6:11 pmAccording to the book by Mick Middles, New Order may’ve been in New York during that time, but they were not recording.
I think that movement is highly underrated and it’s unfortunate that New Order (and a lot of their fans) have pretty much dismissed it as transition work. If you watch footage from their performance @ the Ukranian National Home in the East Village, it’s pretty stunning how well these songs all translate live. Considering how sensitive those old synths and drum machines were, it’s rather incredible that they were able to hold it together on stage. Furthermore, no one can come close to touching Peter Hook’s bass tone. It’s like a futuristic Lemmy. All that treble + reverb + chorus. The version of “Senses” from that show is fantastic.
April 17, 2008 at 9:56 amI like the sleeve and I think it sticks out amongst bins today and also fits along the look/inspiration of other Factory releases.
April 17, 2008 at 11:29 amI could not disagree more regarding the writer’s opinion on the cover matching the music it contains.
I think Saville hit the nail on the head layout-wise. Even the color conjures up the gloomy post-ian curtis shroud that covered the band at the time of recording. It was a very cold and processed album that was making an attempt to look toward the future without completely severing ties to the past.
April 22, 2008 at 2:40 pmI am at a loss how anyone is complimentary to the cover – do you think Depero did a wonderful job of thinking what would be good for New Order more than 30 years into the future? I think a band as innovative as this deserves more than straight plagiarism (as much as it pains me to come from someone as talented as Saville.)
April 22, 2008 at 5:43 pmThere’s nothing new under the sun.
April 23, 2008 at 5:36 pmplease increase the line-height. it drove me crazy to read this article.
April 24, 2008 at 5:08 amTaking it at face value, without having had any background knowledge, I don’t agree with John’s take on the sleeve.
As far as visual plagiarism: an interesting argument; but not sure that I agree about its relevancy.
October 17, 2008 at 12:58 pmIs it that difficult to come up with a name that isn’t used on this site day in and out? I’m tired of having to use that BYT thing to differentiate myself.
Now John is going to accost me in a bar somewhere and demand an argument and, had I not happened to see the above, I wouldn’t know what in the hell he was saying.
October 17, 2008 at 1:13 pmMichael, there is obviously a much easier solution to the problem.
October 17, 2008 at 1:17 pmWhich is?
October 17, 2008 at 1:29 pmi think you should call yourself eyeliner michael. that’s how most people differentiate you in the real world anyway…
October 17, 2008 at 1:41 pmVR – only people who’ve known me longer than 5 years.
Curious what Cale’s solution is.
October 17, 2008 at 1:44 pmAccosting people in bars isn’t really my style – much like calling records “album of the year” – rarely done via my hands.
I did think heavily about yelling some nonsense at “Michael” from 14th while I was edging along on my way home from Wire but I could see that he was out front trying to make some time (dapper fella that he is.)
October 17, 2008 at 2:03 pmspeaking of Madchester and design — http://www.blanka.co.uk/Design/Farrow/Hacienda/15th_Birthday_poster_reprint
October 17, 2008 at 2:18 pmsort of what Ms. F said – change YOUR name. Problem solved.
October 17, 2008 at 7:48 pmDone
October 17, 2008 at 8:50 pmno, see, I have a weird name, you have a common name, I shouldn’t have to change mine.
October 18, 2008 at 1:20 amI have a common name that is quite frequent. Anyone who paid the least bit attention would see that. I think that’s what bothers me the most – how astoundingly apparent it is that people simply don’t pay attention.
October 18, 2008 at 7:17 amSure, but here is the thing – someone new just stumbles on to the site and wants to comment, you can’t expect them to spend an hour “catching up” on comment history and realizing we have an official commenter named Michael. If you just made it slightly different… like M!c4@3L… jk
October 18, 2008 at 10:58 amMay I cast a vote for your new name?
Guyliner Michael
October 18, 2008 at 12:24 pmdude, just ID yourself as gay cowboy. i always do.
October 18, 2008 at 3:30 pmwho gets up at 717am on a saturday?
dood, always, ALWAYS use the byt bubble and you’ll have no problem. make it the only way you log on, you silly freak. the other way is no longer an option. say it. the other way is no longer an option. you can be so brave, your name you will save with some rifles and grenades and some help from god.
or just go by ‘mikey’. you never see that.
October 18, 2008 at 7:25 pmeddie, we could give him the benefit of the doubt that maybe he was still UP @ 7:17 on a saturday. much like i’m still up @ nigh on 5am on a sunday.
somehow though, i don’t really believe that.
October 19, 2008 at 4:46 amExcept at work I can’t use the “remember me” option (I can, it’s just disabled) so I have to re-log on every time I close the window. (I know I told you this last night after you came over and woke me the fuck up, but I just wanted everyone to know your idea is dumb.)
October 19, 2008 at 8:59 amHa, I haven’t stayed up until 7 am in, like, 2 months. I was in bed at 7:30 friday night. I also didn’t pay you last night, Chad, because eddie made me leave early so he could go get some nookie with his “girl” friend.
I’ve got a fiver with your name on it.
October 19, 2008 at 11:47 am
Funny…after having browsed through the Factory Graphic book that was published a couple of years ago, I actually agree with you. But art aside, I think it was a pretty cool way to reintroduce the group to the world.
April 16, 2008 at 10:34 am