Isolation - 2007 Remasterby Joy Division

Joy Division released Closer on this day in 1980! "Isolation" explores synth pop and electronic music, based on an electronic drum beat by Stephen Morris, accompanied by a thin, trebly keyboard part by Bernard Sumner.

"Isolation" explores synth pop and electronic music, based on an electronic drum beat by Stephen Morris, accompanied by a thin, trebly keyboard part by Bernard Sumner.

A considerably atypical track for Joy Division - "Isolation" was the closest the band ever got to synth pop. Here, Ian Curtis sings poetic lyrics that illustrate an abstract portrait of the titular subject.

Joy Division released Closer on this day in 1980! "Isolation" explores synth pop and electronic music, based on an electronic drum beat by Stephen Morris, accompanied by a thin, trebly keyboard part by Bernard Sumner.

The song harbors atypical song structure and vocal delivery. Its musical arrangement employs a false ending where the band abruptly ceases, only for the recording to suddenly return with noisy feedback of a snippet before coming to a blunt end. "Isolation" is built on harsh electronic drums and a rolling, stabbing bassline. In place of a guitar melody, a cascading high-pitched synth line runs throughout the entire composition as its driving instrument. Curtis sings poetic lyrics that illustrate an abstract portrait of the titular subject. According to critic Ned Raggett, the "chilling" vocal lines express a sense of a connection and yearning after the impossible: "But if you could just see the beauty, these things I could never describe." Bassist Peter Hook said the ending came as the serendipitous result of Martin Hannett's efforts to rescue the original master tape from a botched edit by a junior sound engineer. tinyurl.com

A slightly atypical track for Joy Division! "Isolation" is perhaps the closest the band ever got to synth pop. Here, Ian Curtis sings poetic lyrics that illustrate an abstract portrait of the titular subject.

A slightly atypical track for Joy Division! "Isolation" is perhaps the closest the band ever got to synth pop. Here, Ian Curtis sings poetic lyrics that illustrate an abstract portrait of the titular subject

#91.... --- "Closer" is the second and final studio album by Joy Division, released on July 18, 1980, exactly two months after the band’s charismatic vocalist, Ian Curtis, committed suicide.: www.thisisdig.com

A slightly atypical track for Joy Division! "Isolation" is perhaps the closest the band ever got to synth pop. Here, Ian Curtis sings poetic lyrics that illustrate an abstract portrait of the titular subject

Released on this date in 1980, Joy Division's second album featured the late Ian Curtis' songwriting, but he himself regarded the album as a disaster. He wrote," “Judged purely on my own terms, and not to be interpreted as an opinion or reflection of mass media or public taste but a criticism of my own esoteric and elitist mind of which the mysteries of life are very few and beside which the grace of God has deemed to indicate in a vision the true nature of all things, plus the fact that everyone else are a sneaky, japing load of tossers, I decree that this LP is a disaster.” Signing it off, “I K Curtis”.

On this day in 1980, Ian Curtis English singer-songwriter and musician (Joy Division) committed suicide at 23 years old. Closer is the second and final studio album by English rock band Joy Division, released in 1980. - www.kexp.org

A slightly atypical track for Joy Division, though a partial predictor of the band's New Order future, "Isolation" is perhaps the closest the band ever got to synth pop, but it would be more accurate to see it as the cousin to the all-electronic compositions of Kraftwerk and Suicide. That said, the song structure and delivery is all Joy Division and as such makes the song an intriguing twist on a style and a highlight of the excellent Closer album www.allmusic.com

Ian Curtis was born today in 1956. He would have been 65. On July 18th, 1980, Joy Division released their second and final studio album, Closer. The album was released posthumously through Factory Records, following Ian's suicide two months earlier.

A slightly atypical track for Joy Division, though a partial predictor of the band's New Order future, "Isolation" is perhaps the closest the band ever got to synth pop, but it would be more accurate to see it as the cousin to the all-electronic compositions of Kraftwerk and Suicide. That said, the song structure and delivery is all Joy Division and as such makes the song an intriguing twist on a style and a highlight of the excellent Closer album www.allmusic.com

This Friday, January 15, you can watch a streaming one-off event featuring a Peter Hook & the Light show from 2014! The show celebrated the Mexican holiday The Day of the Dead, and included a special tribute of "ofrenda" to Ian Curtis. The show is being hosted across multiple time zones, including 8PM GMT in the UK and Ireland and 8PM PST for the US West Coast. The link to buy tickets the West Coast concert is on the Dice.FM site -- dice.fm Proceeds go to support the band while they can't tour. For tickets for other time zones, you can search for "Peter Hook" directly at dice.fm