quite a terrible day
someone i know very very ill
but no longer a blogging matter….
then last night watch “control”
the film about ian curtis
strange
sam riley looks like curtis
only better looking i guess
he wouldnae have even been born when ian hung himself
back in 1980
anton corbijns black n white is just like his photos
moody stark etc
manchester seems bleak…..(seems?)
the other guys are cartoony versions of themselves
hooky is aggressive
barney is a bit wimpy
stephen is silent for the most part
rob gretton is foul mouthed manager
tony wilson is suave n slightly posh
etc
but…..
um
it doesnt ever amount to anything
yeah ian had epilepsy
yeah ian had a wife n a girlfriend
but….
i dunno
maybe ians narrow shoulders werent big enough
to hang a 2 hour movie off of
sam riley does a great ian when hes singing n performing
those strange movements when things really got going
but
in the end
ian hangs himself
(you keep hoping he wont…
that the film will re-write history
but it cant….n it doesnt..!)
it seems like youve just been through
a load of black n white nothing
it was all there
but for me
it failed to coalesce into a decent film
yes
i love joy division
its impossible to overestimate their importance
the words n singing
the drumming
the bass playing
the guitar
the production n aesthetic
all were breathtakingly original in their day
curtis was a rivetting performer
he was truly unlike anybody else
ok
heres a little quibble for trainspotters
in the beginning of the film
curtis is shown listening to drive in saturday from aladin sane
by david bowie
but the needle is on the second last track of the record
whereas i remember d.i.s. being 1st or 2nd on the vinyl…
gotcha!
by the way
i think interpol are rubbish (yer gotta be kidding me)
and some of new orders stuff has been brilliant
(get ready for example)
but some of the stuff from the eighties
with syn-drums was pure schlock
and barneys lyrics and singing
often leave a LOT to be desired
he is no ian curtis thats fer sure
sometimes he gets away with it
sometimes
(nk just bought the best of new order)
its amateur hour n laughably outta tune
hooky remains one of the greatest bass players of all time
and unknown pleasures n closer are masterpieces forever
meanwhile….
the church play a place on nsws central coast on sunday
that they wont be making a doco about
and highly unlikely to reach legendary status
such is life n death
is it better to burn out than to rust?
anyway
in 1990
the church were touring europe
promoting the abysmal gold afternoon fix record
losing 200 grande but still getting commissioned by
our loathesome greasy manager
who happened to fix us up
with his latest brainchild
to open up for us
a cuban rock band called nuclear valdez
who were remarkably unremarkable
one of their roadies
claimed to have worked for joy div
when he found out i was a huge fan he cornered me
at a bar in munich
and said in an orrible bleeding whining voice
that sounded like someone from coronation street
on ritalin
“i’ll tell you the fuckin’ joy division story, kilbey
once there was 4 twats who liked to drink a lotta lager
n get pissed
then one of em necked hisself
and then there were 3 twats
who liked to drink a lot of lager n get pissed..
end of fookin’ story…!”
anton corbijn shoulda been there
the guy could helped him make ‘is fookin’ film

kilbey…over n out