Back catalogue: Indie/Alternative

Review: In January 1980, Joy Division toured Europe as they prepared to enter the studio to record their second album Closer. This recording from Amsterdam's legendary hippy hangout Paradiso catches them right at those crucial musical crossroads, building on the success of the hulking rhythms of Unknown Pleasures and heading towards the proto-electronic influences that would shape that second album (and the even more seminal career of New Order beyond that). As well as pre-studio outings for Closer tracks like 'She's Lost Control', 'Atrocity Exhibition' and 'A Means To An End', there's also a relatively rare airing of what would become their sonic talisman, 'Love Will Tear Us Apart', alongside the - as ever - frighteningly heavy debut LP material.

Review: Originally known as Stuff Kittens, then Warsaw, the legendary U.K. post-punk band Joy Division emerged from Manchester in the late 1970s, their middle moniker chosen in honour of a David Bowie-Brian Eno track, "Warszawa. This album, recorded at the time but never released, includes five bonus demo tracks recorded at Pennine Studios in Manchester on July 18, 1977, featuring Steve Brotherdale on drums. The first 11 tracks were laid down during a recording session in early May 1978, shortly after 'Interzone' and 'Transmission' - later to become Joy Division classics - had been incoporated into their set, the formere emerging from a cover of Northern Soul classic 'Keep On Keepin' On', the band adding original lyrics to create a unique sound. 'Transmission', written during the final rehearsal week, begins with a line from Alistair Crowley's The Book of Thoth, adding to what is already a fascinating collection of early takes of songs that would later gain iconic post-punk status.