Opium - Clarisse

After the re-issues of the classics of his past (both reviewed here) with The Cat Club (One Last Kiss) and Opium (Atlantean), Alex Macpherson (former bassist of The Wake, one of the best bands at Factory in the golden age of new wave) is back with a couple of fresh songs in the same vein of perfect pop traced by his previous singles, with the same amazing quality.
Clarisse (which also appears on another version with an alternative acoustic intro) just shows Alex's talent for a flawless tune for a delicious female voice (and you can't resist when she whispers 'yeah' at the end of the track) over a sophisticated instrumentation is still intact. He also can find some powerful and infectious basslines.


There's a wonderful keyboard which recalls The Wake, and a fantastic guitar which could have been on New Order's Low Life, but the whole sound and attitude just make me think of Saint Etienne if they didn't care too much about being cool and cared more for passion and had better tastes in music. The overall feeling is of a band which actually sounds more contemporary than the very most of the other bands around today... and also of a pop tune which should work enough to top the charts.
Envious is the track which was originally planned as the A side for a summer release, but we find it here and we also find why Alex thought it could have been the leading track. Some emotional keyboard chords bring the chorus, while a fabulous saxophone enriches the track.
I was lucky enough to hear the tracks before the release, but the single will be available from November 5th.
For more info you can write Opium: neuropa@talk21.com

Gabrielles Wish - Here From The Neck Down

You can tell I've been busy from the fact I haven't had the time to write about this, always wanted to do it since I received this masterpiece nearly five months ago and now I can finally do it.
You know my opinion can't be neutral. When Gabrielles Wish split in 2003 and the web was left without a site dedicated to them, I just created a fan site. When they discovered it they asked it to become official and since they've reformed last year I'm so proud and happy to do their site... but I have my reasons to be such a fan, having discovered them when they supported New Order for their reunion show in Manchester in 1998 (being on the label of their manager, produced by their former sound engineer), I was totally blown away.

They'd have been perfect in the Factory Records of the early 80s, but they do their music in their own style, mixing the Joy Division influence and the vocals attitude inspired by The Fall's Mark E Smith with a contemporary edge, also experimenting with electronica.
What isn't contemporary about them is their passion, their intensity, the devastating power of their sound married with the touching sensitivity of the melody. You didn't get other bands like this in the 90s, and they just reminded us what music could make feel.
All is confirmed in this EP, the first to be released since they reformed last year and played some fantastic concerts of which I'm really lucky to have the recordings.
During these gigs they played some new fabulous songs which will make the next album, but while we wait for its release we have these three on Here From The Neck Down, and you can sample all of them on the official site, from two MP3 files and even a video.
Member comes all heavy and powerful with an epic guitar tune and an extraordinary chorus where the charismatic frontman Rob Corless shouts 'I will never - hate you! I will never - leave you! I will always - love you!', simple, ironic and effective.
Sherman is a storming number, noisy and fast like only the Pixies could do in their most glorious days. It has an evil atmosphere when Rob says 'I'm only here from the neck down' before the noise and rhythm explode again blowing you away in a furious punk ending.
Had An Accident (of which you can download the video, a wonderful clip created by Chesy, a member of another Manchester band, My Computer) brings finally some calm with a touching semi-acoustic ballad enricherd by a beautiful harp, something unusual from this tough band.
If you don't believe my words check the samples on the site, and then if you like them you can buy the EP from Piccadilly Records.
No other band is like them, and we'd need more with half of their attitude and talent. They'd deserve a much wider following than the bands which are currently promoted by the press, which just look so pale and weak when compared to Gabrielles Wish, simply the best band emerged in the last 15 years.

NEW ORDER and 808 State live at the TRAFFIC FESTIVAL - TURIN Saturday, 02 July 2005

Full gallery on Facebook (23 pics)

First, I must spend a few words in favour of the city of Turin.
It's not because they organised this Traffic Festival as a totally free event (they even gave you a card to go free on buses and into museums, what do you want more?!).
I think the idea behind this strategy was correct, because it's true we didn't pay a cent for public transport, museums, and concert entry, but it's also true my girlfriend Emma and I took the chance to have a short holiday in the city (which is not exactly known for tourism) and spent the money we saved from those free things for other things like hotel, restaurants, pubs etc. (just like many foreigners at the festival, from many countries).


Actually it's I have to apologise because I remembered Turin as a dead horrible city and in fact I discovered it's quite beautiful.
There are similarities between Turin and Manchester, after all New Order are coming here for their first date in Italy since 1986 to celebrate the twinning of the two cities, both formerly industrial glories trying to raise from the decline (appropriately enough last year the twinning was with Detroit and the legendary Iggy Pop came with The Stooges, a major influence on Joy Division).

Both Manchester and Turin, if you're in a usually unsafe suburb and it's raining, can be quite sad. But hey, this inspired musicians in these two cities and some great bands came out. Subsonica from Turin (unfortunately not playing at the festival, though some members are DJing at related events) just did the right thing when they helped in the creation of this festival and called New Order from Manchester. And both cities have wonderful centres, rich of art and culture. When the sun is shining and you're in the right place it won't be like London or Rome, but Turin and Manchester can be fabulous.
From Piazza Castello you can walk Via Po, one of the many beautiful and large streets of the centre which brings to the longest river of Italy, check the Mole Antonelliana with the Cinema Museum, cross the bridge and see the amazing Gran Madre church, the legend says there's a statue which could point to the Holy Graal (it's one of the many mysteries of Turin), and then you look back and enjoy a breathtaking view of the city, with the Alps mountains raising from the roofs and then admit that it's not really as horrible as I remembered, not at all. Quite beautiful in fact.

But it's time to wear my New Order T shirt, self made in 1997 (celebrating the 20 years since Warsaw, the early name of New Order's previous incarnation Joy Division, began their career and listing the side projects too) because I was going to see Monaco and I hadn't any true New Order T shirts back then, now I have but I kept on the tradition of wearing it, now enriched by a badge of The Vikings, the gang of hardcore English New Order fans (mostly members of the NewOrderOnline.com forum too) following the band around the world, a kind gift from Al Jarvis when we met in Paris in 2002.
Now that I'm ready we can go to the festival at the Pellerina Park, where I meet with Manuel and Stefano from Rome.
My mate Manuel and I went together to all the previous concerts of Monaco and New Order in England and France, having always managed to meet the band and legendary persons like the late manager Rob Gretton, former label founder Tony Wilson, new manager Andy Robinson and producer Arthur Baker you can see why we share special memories.
This time we were with other persons and just took it with a more relaxed attitude, so we didn't arrive in time to try to get the soundcheck or meet the band or anyone around them.
Maybe we should have, because longtime New Order fan and Gabrielles Wish mate Alex Staszko will later swear he saw New Order performing Warsaw at the soundcheck! A track from, right you guessed it, Warsaw the band, quite unlikely we will hear it during the proper concert, but would have been great to catch it at the soundcheck.
Before the concert begins we have also the pleasure to meet Marco, another fan from Rome who has brought his son Matteo, which is growing up very well, not only because he's almost as tall as me at only 13 years old, but also because he's a true New Order fan too (born just before Regret was released) and danced and sang all the words during the gig like a true hardcore Viking, so most respect to the kid!

My sister Serena just arrives when 808 State are begininning to play.
There's still a small audience, not even 1,000 persons I think, and I was worried about this. July 2nd was also the Live 8 day, and New Order are still a cult band in Italy. There's no other support band so it's entirely up to them to bring people to the festival since 808 State are unknown outside a small circle of DJs.
My sister had been at the festival on June 30th, when Aphex Twin headlined. Though not exactly a pop act, he is very known and appreciated in the alternative area, and yet he didn't get more than 3,000 persons. The performance of June 29th in the former foundry by Throbbing Gristle must have been a cult event too. We didn't see Carmen Consoli but she's very popular in Italy, anyway it seems overall 100,000 persons went at the various events in the four days.
While 808 State play their fabulous performance they conquer more and more people. It seems that everyone was just wandering around the park, but once they heard 808 State they just came to dance in front of stage. At the end it was a great success for the band, playing their pioneer techno classics with a live band, my sister just looked like she was at the Hacienda club in Manchester in 1989 and she was not alone. Many were amazed by 808 State. I already knew they were great, but I didn't knew they were so cool in concert. They almost look older than New Order but still can spark a rave from nothing.

After 808 State I meet with Alex Staszko who makes me happy like winning the lottery because he has brought the recordings of a couple of concerts by Gabrielles Wish for me. I discovered them when they supported New Order in 1998 and I just know how great a concert by them can sound, as a reviewer wrote, the closest thing to see Joy Division, in their own way. Actually I made a fan site which became their official site so you can see I'm a fan. I just miss seeing them live so these recordings make me so happy.
To make me even happier there's Al Jarvis who notices the Vikings 2002 badge on my shirt and gives me the 2005 one. The two of them look great together...
It's with this spirit I go back to the stage while Tony Wilson is introducing New Order, remembering how they changed the face of music for three times.
Emma is thankfully taking all the pics so I'm free to dance, as many do around me right from Crystal, the first song of this wonderful New Order concert.
The audience has become even bigger. The place is almost packed. The square of the town where I live takes 5,000 persons, the audience area of the park was much wider, from what I've seen I was guessing at least between 7,000 and 10,000 persons came to see New Order, which would have been a really huge success already. Now newspapers are reporting we were 30,000... amazing! I was glad to be surprised to see many teenagers, people born at the time of Technique or True Faith at most, I'm saying late 80s here, so it's great to see another new generation of fans is growing up, you can see a difference of almost 40 years between fans at gigs now.
People really enjoyed Regret, a live classic everywhere.
Love Vigilantes was another great moment of the show, a different and less popular song. I knew there were a lot of Joy Division fans. Actually, the triumph of tonight is a sort of revenge on the stupid goths who turned their backs on New Order when they started experimenting with electronic sounds and dance rhythms in the early 80s, looking at awful stuff like The Sisters Of Mercy. Bands like that are virtually disappeared today, while New Order's legendary status is not only mantained, but increased.
I'm not surprised by the great response to Joy Division's Transmission, which is indeed a fabulous performance.
I'm surprised an uplifting single of this year, Krafty, had got an almost equally positive reaction before. I'm happy to see the audience is grown up a lot, and can appreciate such different songs. Barriers have fallen.
There's a fantastic moment when the people clap their hands to the rhythm of Atmosphere.
But the best is yet to come: New Order play Everything's Gone Green for the first time after 18 years! It's a great experience to hear this favourite pioneering electro classic, it was planned for Hyde Park a week earlier, but they got it ready only for Turin and it was a honour to have this great comeback in Italy...
This makes it a bit weirder when the title track of the new album, and forthcoming single Waiting For The Sirens' Call is not exactly greeted with the same excitement, but with a curious silence. Actually I think people didn't recognize it at first, it's still not very known, the final response was good anyway.
Always good to hear the new live version of True Faith, based on the Perfecto remix. I think a part of the audience heard it for the first time because they were excited about the difference from the original.
I wasn't aware that Bizarre Love Triangle has become a classic in Italy too, as the huge roar from the audience says.
Almost as huge as the one for the timeless Joy Division classic Love Will Tear Us Apart and again I'm happy people can like two songs that are so different. Both songs are performed excellently, in New Order's own way. This means they can make errors playing and Bernard Sumner can spike up the vocals with whoops and silly dancing, but when we think about it we like all this stuff, that's what makes them great, with Hooky's godlike bass playing, Steve's perfect and powerful drumming and Phil's precious work at keyboards and guitar.
Another fabulous electro classic, Temptation, ends the concert. Wonderful to hear it the same night we also get Everything's Gone Green
An ecstatic audience welcomes back New Order for their encore, which starts with Your Silent Face, another great different song in the vein of Love Vigilantes. Barney does his best to avoid mistakes when playing the melodica but thankfully he just can't help it and we like it.
There's a dramatic mood swing with She's Lost Control, a touching and frightening song from Joy Division, the lights follow the devastating power of the rhythm and you can almost see the ghost of Ian Curtis dance behind Bernard Sumner. One of the most perfect moments of the concert, if Gabrielles Wish live is the closest thing to Joy Division, this IS Joy Division.
With Blue Monday there's the great 'gran finale' announced by Bernard. Again some people seem amazed they mix the initial part with Can't Get You Out Of My Head by Kylie Minogue. This year they're always doing it as a return to the homage Kylie did when he played an amazing version of her hit mixed with Blue Monday, aknowledging the influence. There's also the keyboard of a song by (I think) Durutti Column thrown in the mix. A unusual extended keyboard final ends this fantastic performance.

Maybe it's not been their best gig ever. In fact it can't be compared to their best gig ever, their comeback at the Manchester Apollo in 1998. And I've heard the Hyde Park concert, and maybe it was slightly better, with better sound. The sound mix in Turin was a bit messy. Still good, but a bit messy.
And yet, I know it's been a fantastic gig. A truly great concert. I have possibly the best confirmation when Al Jarvis tells me he thinks this is actually the best gig they did this year. I don't know if it's true, but if someone who has seen so many concerts says this, there must definitely be some truth at least.
Marco and Matteo unfortunately must leave just after the concert, as they have their return train soon the following morning. But the rest of us just joins the English fans at the bar and have a great time. I'll later discover some members of the Italian mailing lists were at the festival, it's a pity I read it only when I came back. Anyway Al Jarvis has got once again the set list so we can make one of the best pictures ever made together with the list which marked the comeback of Everything's Gone Green in the concert, and everyone's so happy of this.
I've also the pleasure to meet Nick King, a couple of fans from Southampton and other mates from England.
It seems New Order went away from the backstage right after the concert. We were just expecting that. Manuel and me know how this kind of things go, and just knew Bernard and Steve would have gone to the hotel, but the indestructible party animal that's Peter Hook would have moved at Giancarlo, a venue in the Murazzi, near the central bridge of the river Po, right in front of the Gran Madre church, where the aftershow party is taking place.
Happy Mondays singer Shaun Ryder and Tony Wilson are DJing, and Peter Hook has arrived even before ourselves... He also spins some records! The music is great, Factory classics from Joy Division, Section 25, A Certain Ratio, mixed with hip hop, funky, punk and stuff. I just meet Hooky for a minute, not even enough to take a picture, but I'm happy he's friendly as ever and he remembers me, or so he says.
Anyway it's getting late for Emma and me, but it couldn't have been a better experience for us. Not a bad start for the summer holidays!

Opium - Atlantean / One Last Kiss

When bassist Bobby Gillespie left The Wake, one of the best Factory bands, to join The Jesus And Mary Chain as drummer before launching his new band Primal Scream, Alex Macpherson replaced him on bass in 1983-1984, the period many believe to be the best of the band's history, with the release of the Talk About The Past single and the recordings of the Here Comes Everybody album.

After leaving The Wake, Alex joined The Cat Club which released the cult house classic One Last Kiss in 1987.


In the 90s Alex launched a new project, Opium, and released the single Atlantean in 1995, excellent keyboards, fabulous rhythm and divine female vocals by Jane Jardin Love. Basically it sounds like Saint Etienne at their best if they were produced by New Order's Bernard Sumner and remixed by Soul II Soul. We're lucky Opium re-released the single last year on the smartly named Neuropa label. The B sides are TransSaharan (a beautiful instrumental with more fantastic keyboards and a slightly exotic feel) and Olympian, which is actually the instrumental of Atlantean.

Opium are back this year with a new single, it's a re-working of The Cat Club's One Last Kiss. No more JJ Love on vocals, but it seems Alex can always find excellent female vocalists as Katrina Docherty's voice is equally splendid. The single is made of four different mixes of One Last Kiss (the best being The Last Days Of Disco), which is as good as Atlantean. 90 seconds into the song a solemn and touching keyboard appears, and you hear echoes of not only The Wake, but New Order at the heighth of Your Silent Face as well. A magnificent piano duets with Katrina's voice for the whole song.
Opium are about to release their new single, Envious, this summer.
For more info you can write Opium: neuropa@talk21.com
Also check the Opium pages on the Cerysmatic Factory site, from which the scans of the covers were taken.

New Order - Jetstream

Been busy again with the Gabrielles Wish site, which is now on a new server (fast and ad-free) and some updates for La Skarnemurta.
But a new New Order single, Jetstream, has been released, so it's a good chance to be back here posting, hoping to have more time in the near future.
For detailed info about all the formats of the release and the remixes available only on the Internet you can check NewOrderOnline.com (from which the cover scan is taken). Basically CD1 and the 12" just include edits or the same of some of the remixes on CD2 (code NUCDP14, of which you can see the cover on the right), so my comments are just about this release.


This enhanced CD includes the video (which is not as special as the one for Krafty, but it's funny at least for Bernard's dance) and the U Myx software which allows you to make your own remix of Jetstream (featuring Ana Matronic from The Scissor Sisters), which is a catchy funky pop gem with a killer chorus and a wonderful production (see also my review of the album Waiting For The Sirens' Call).
There are also four remixes, and all of them are great.
Jaques Lu Cont loops some vocals (though I'd have certainly looped the J E T spelling moment, it was just born for remixes and nobody got it...) on a soft but powerful base and makes good use of Hooky's bass.
Richard X starts with the drum machine from an old New Order cult track, Video 586, and then basically replaces the original base with a harder and wonderful one (going from True Faith-ish to disco) keeping the surface of the song similar to the track.
Tom Neville makes an excellent hard electro version of the track, good for the dancefloor, sounds a bit like Kraftwerk remixing acid house...
The best remix comes from our good old mate Arthur Baker, with his splendid space techno remix, fabulous keyboards and great rhythm... gives also space to a section of Hooky's bass which virtually can't be heard on the original...
The quality of these remixes is amazing, such above the average you can usually expect, this makes Jetstream a special single you can't miss.