New Order:Miscellaneous:Back to Mine

Q: How did these tracks influence New Order?
A: From the liner notes:

Big Eyed Beans From Venus: A sci-fi blues freak out from the variable genius Van Vliet with spine tingling slide additions from Zoot Horn Rollo. Quite obviously the inspiration behind "Confusion"
Higher Than the Sun: A bit from the Orb's compressed pop mix and the stratospheric end bit from Weatherall's dub symphony with the metronomic Jah Wobble providing an unwavering backbone. Who could miss the similarities between this and "Bizarre Love Triangle"?
The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly): Timbaland's twitchy rhythms versus the cranky observations of the lady in the inflatable space suit. This was massive on the Joy Division tour bus.
Venus in Furs: The sleazy cool reflected in the distance between Peter Hook's feet when he used to wear those leather trousers is perfectly encapsulated in Lou Reed's pervily sublime steal of a famous mucky book and the sound of John Cale sawing a cello in half. Which somehow perfectly leads us beneath a motorway bridge near Northenden.
M62 Song: You can hear the trucks and cars on this dark lullaby recorded in the dead of night. And the mic is passed to a feller in a sparkly jacket and greasy hair.
In Every Dream Home a Heartache: Simultaneously sinister and hilarious this love song for an inflatable lady friend was the kind of thing that the responsible young citizens that went on to make up New Order would twist their impressionable minds with.
Was Dog a Doughnut?: A peak time classic at Jellybean's Funhouse when New Order first alighted in electro land NY. Chick Corea is playing keyboards on this. On paper it might seem ridiculous, in reality it is perfect.
Bassline: Before narrow-mindedness set up a fence between house and hip-hop, this was the kind of record that filled the floor with ease at the Hacienda. Lyrically it's all but irrelevant, but its frantic edits and undeniable energy still make it special.
Cherry Red: A psychotic energy flash from a much misunderstood abstract blues band who, while their contemporaries sang of pixies and hobbits, traversed the same idiosyncratic route as Joy Division did almost ten years later. Peter Hook would probably tell you that Tony McPhee says more about his life than JG Ballard.
Energy Flash: Downright demonic, during the creation of this mix, shards of this devilish techno masterpiece appeared to replay in other rooms in the building for no good reason. Also features the word "Ecstasy" which, though now ridiculous, at the time had a certain frisson.
I Feel Love (patrick cowley mix): Edited down from its original 15-minute glory in order to keep it burning here, this record still sounds incredible in any form. What could they have been thinking/drinking in Munich back then?
Mushroom: Krautrock underpinned by the inspirational drumming of Jaki Liebezeit who appears to have studied under James Brown while the rest of the band kept busy sellotaping bits of dark Velvet to Stockhausen's arty pants. And Explosions as a bonus- what more could you need in any piece of music?
The Dance: Almost 15 years old and still peerless in all it's skeletal glory. Let's leave some intellectuals to draw a line between this and something off "Power Corruption and Lies".
E=MC2: Acknowledged on more than one occasion by Bernard Sumner as a transitional influence on the fledgling New Order, this celebration of machine music is the only place to end.

Back to Mine - New Order

September 2002