In 1976, in Salford, United Kingdom, a teenager by the name of Ian Curtis formed a band that would influence musicians until this day. Joy Division stemmed during the rise of punk music, led by bands such as Sex Pistols, and The Clash. After a few promising years for the band and having completed two albums, Ian Curtis committed suicide at the young age of 23. After his death, the remaining band members went on to form the highly influential and successful band known as New Order.

Photo by Frederic Sahyouni

Curtis possessed deep vocals that contained a natural reverb-like resonance. Aside for his lyrics, he often took a melancholic tone as can be heard in “Love Will Tear Us Apart“. He also had the ability to take on a wilder more chaotic punk sound in songs such as “Digital“.

That which makes Joy Division and Ian Curtis so distinctive is their irreproducibility. Few singers can replicate Ian Curtis’ bass-baritone vocals. The Killers covered Joy Division’s Shadowplay, with a bass line and drumming reminiscent of the early 80s post punk genre, all while adding a contemporary indie-rock sound with the band’s guitar riffs and frontman Brendan Flowers‘ vocals which are sung at a higher key than the original version. Radiohead covered the song “Ceremony” during a 2007 webcast. Although the song is officially a New Order release, as it was their first single, it was written by Ian Curtis and was performed only once in concert with Curtis as its singer. His death followed shortly thereafter in May 1980. New Order released the single in March of 1981.

Most of today’s indie rock bands are influenced by Joy Division, New Order, The Cure and The Smiths. But in turn, Joy Division has influenced bands from a whole spectrum of genres. With their cryptic yet dark lyrics and sounds, during an age where mainstream music was upbeat in likes of ABBA and the Bee Gees, Joy Division was one of the first bands ever to be called “gothic”. That is even though the goth subculture and music scene would only develop years after the death of the band. Today’s main indie rock lead vocalists that compare to the same singing style as Curtis include Paul Banks of Interpol, Tom Smith of Editors, Justin Warfield from She Wants Revenge, and so on.

Post-hardcore emo band Thursday have a song entitled “Ian Curtis” on their first album Waiting. Several songs of the debut album contain themes of suicide and depression. The song is in part a tribute to Curtis, showing how the decline of his mental health resulted in feelings of hopelessness. U2 as well as The Cure have also dedicated songs to the artist.

There have been two motion pictures about the band; the first being 24 Hour Party People which was mainly the development of Factory Records, the label with which Joy Division recorded its albums. The second film is a biopic, Control, depicting Curtis’ life during the formation and rise of Joy Division until his untimely passing.

The list of present day bands that were influenced by Joy Division and its frontman is a long one. Despite Curtis‘ life having ended so abruptly and at a young age, his complete uniqueness in style and musical delivery has been a source of inspiration for many bands until this day, and will continue to be just as influential for several musical generations to come.

As we told you earlier, Monday was declared a “Dotted Music Monday” here on DM, so today I’m free to speak about music as music, not a business. And today I will share some music that I discovered for myself last week.

STS9: “Atlas”

Sound Tribe Sector 9 is “a 5-piece electronic jam band fusing live instruments with electronic music.” It is releasing a new album entitled Ad Explorata on December 8th, and below is a free stream of “Atlas,” a track taken from the album.

Vaguely reminded me of early Orbital material, and that nostalgic feeling is wicked!

Heather Greene: “Moon Hangs Fire”

Oh guys, just listen to it… I’ve never heard of Heather before, but fell in love with this track.

The single is available as a free download on her website. It comes from Greene’s latest release, Sweet Otherwise, out now on Paved Earth Records. Described by Boston Globe as the “songs that evoke the defiant, giddy energy of musicians associated with John Hughes movies.”

Mirrorkicks: Anything Lip Dub music video

Not a free track, but still here. Loving the way iPhone is used in this clip. Plus, a bit of a Radiohead-alike vibe is never out-of-place.

Brim Liski: “Fight”

“Happy depression, electronic doom painted over with shimmering vocal layers and symphonic guitar tones – this is Brim Liski. Complexly self-described as electrogaze dreamhop, painted over with shimmering vocal layers and symphonic guitar tones.” Yay, kinda complex, but not too bad description. Grab the free MP3 here.

Bosques de mi Mente: “Inocencia” LP

This is my discovery of the past weekend (thanks to Jamendo iPhone app): album Inocencia by Bosques de mi Mente, released in October of this year… The act has four albums, and all of them are available online for free here!

Minimal, melancholic, beautiful. Also highly recommend is the Lo-Fi album (the production is better than the title suggests, trust me).

Atlantic Connection: “Westbay’s Pacific” promo EP

When I was talking about “my favorite music genre” in the post’s intro, I, of course, meant drum & bass. I will be dropping some bits of dnb here and there, but to not overload you – today I will just offer to download this free promo EP from LA’s Atlantic Connection (thanks for the link to Dubplatedigest.net). The track listing:

1. Moby – Porcelain (Atlantic Connection Remix)
2. Submorphics – Philly Dub
3. Brooklyn – Lightyears
4. Brooklyn – Lightyears (High School Crush Remix)

The EP is brilliant, from Brooklyn’s dubstep and house tunes to the remixed Moby “Porcelain,” the only straight forward drum & bass track (not the greatest one though) on the release, and a halfstep “Philly Dub” thing.

Well, I think it’s enough for today. Enjoy the music!

Check out his top 10 below.

10. The last 3 minutes of “All Within My Hands” (St. Anger, 2003)

God, St Anguish is a shit album, but skip almost all the way to the end and you’ll hear an unexpectedly awesome outro on the last song, the otherwise dire and embarrassing “All Within My Hands.” It’s basically a three-chord doom riff with a thrash metal drum pattern, always a winning combination, and James’ vocals consist solely of the words “Kill, kill, kill!” What’s not to like? Apart from everything else on the record, of course.

09. “Fight Fire With Fire” (Ride The Lightning, 1984)

Kill ‘Em All was a fast album, but a year later Metallica upped the ante in spectacular fashion by writing this pulverisingly speedy song about nuclear warfare, gods crushing us like flies and so on and so forth. The acoustic intro caused some metalheads to worry that Hetfield et al had sold out for a minute, but once that fades and James’ brain-mincingly fearsome riff takes over, it’s fun fun fun all the way to the end – a fucking massive explosion.

08. “Dyer’s Eve” (…And Justice For All, 1988)

The first hint that all might not be tranquil inside Hetfield’s skull, “Dyer’s Eve” explored his Christian Scientist background in no uncertain terms, as well as providing a triumphant close to the album which kickstarted progressive thrash. Yes, the production sounded obsolete within weeks of AJFA‘s release and poor old Jason Newsted was mixed out almost completely, but what killer songs, eh?

Photo credit: egvvnd on Flickr

07. “Breadfan” (Garage Inc., 1998)

Yes, it’s a cover. Yes, it’s not properly produced. Shut up. This frankly gobsmacking upgrade of a hoary old NWOBHM tune was so far ahead of any other metal cover version you can think of at the time of its release (as a B-side on an AJFA-era single) that it would have been tragic if it wasn’t so funny. It’s so fast. It’s so heavy. It’s so good. Etc. Etc.

06. “Trapped Under Ice” (Ride The Lightning, 1984)

“No release from my cryonic fate” has to be one of the most metal lines ever written, and the fact that it comes as part of this aneurysm-inducingly nippy song from the band’s early days is another massive bonus. Rarely played in concert but often cited as one of the finest Metallica songs of all, “Trapped Under Ice” is still almost impossible to beat.

05. “Sad But True” (Metallica, 1991)

The Black Album‘s opening one-two (“Enter Sandman” and this song) is hard to beat if you’re a fan of MTV-era Metallica, but “Sad” surpasses “Sandman” for me because a) it’s so satisfyingly heavy and b) I haven’t heard it on the radio eight million times. You can see James recording the rhythm part (in straight D, as I recall) in the video clip. Watch and learn.

04. “Damage, Inc.” (Master Of Puppets, 1986)

Every song on Puppets is a stone cold classic, a claim that no other thrash metal album can match apart from Slayer’s Reign In Blood, but I’ll point to “Damage, Inc” because it’s so fast and mean. You have to admire the way that James’ lyrics don’t bother addressing politics, drugs, the environment etc: he just sings about wanting to fuck you up.

03. “Helpless” (Garage Days Re-Revisited EP, 1987)

Yes it’s another cover. Stop whining! If any proof were needed of Hetfield’s insane right-hand precision, listen to the tremolo picking in the chorus of this song. I’d also list Jason’s super-fat bass tone and Kirk’s awe-inspiring solo as reasons to listen to this tune, especially considering that the entire EP was recorded in a garage smelling of cat piss.

02. “Motorbreath” (Kill ‘Em All, 1983)

The lyrics are puerile but I think we’ve established by now that this is the entire point, right? Anyway, there is no clearer statement of intent (OK, maybe “Whiplash” qualifies too) in the Metallica catalogue. “Motorbreath” is fast, dumb and violent – and although I’m glad that the band grew up and wised up as the years passed, songs from this era are still indispensable.

01. “Disposable Heroes” (Master Of Puppets, 1986)

My favourite Metallica song of all time. Why? It’s probably a combination of that E/G/F# chord progression which the band used so much back then, plus the song’s insane speed, plus Hetfield’s fabulously aggressive lyrics about getting killed in a war. And it goes on for ages too. Listen to this (or even better, watch them play it live) and you’ll be left reeling. Songs like this kinda put “Mama Said” and “The Memory Remains” into perspective, don’t they?

Joel McIver’s 2004 bestseller “Justice For All: The Truth About Metallica” has just been updated and reprinted. See www.joelmciver.co.uk for details.

Have a sneak peek at The 10 Metallica Songs You Must Hear Before You Die (turn off plugins disabling ads to see the widget):

Anything you can add? Tell us in the comments!