In an exclusive in ELLE’s May issue, Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon talks candidly about her next chapter, and what really happened between her and Thurston Moore.

It was time for some gossip on On Almost Every Topic: the breakup between Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon. I’ll listen to a couple of songs by Sonic Youth during my flight tomorrow. And some Alice Cooper songs of course.

Although the band have not issued any formal statements about breaking up, I think there is not much change that Sonic Youth will be playing live any time soon. To my surprise Lee Ranaldo recently issued a rather traditional album with pop songs. Contributors to the album include former Sonic Youth members Bob Bert and Jim O’Rourke, Wilco guitarist Nels Cline, and keyboardist John Medeski.

Control by Spoek Mathambo directed and shot by Pieter Hugo & Michael Cleary. The song is a great darkwave township house cover of She’s Lost Control by Joy Division. Some additional information at Dazed Digital.

Saw the video this weekend at the Pieter Hugo exhibition at GEM in The Hague. The exhibition is a must-see for those  interested in photography. You can watch a trailer here.

Interesting New York Times article about the South-African rap crew Die Antwoord:

I feel sorry for people who need to ask us: Is it real?” Ninja told me. Changing identities is the point — the more total, the better.

Thurston Moore performing at De Duif in Amsterdam (December 12, 2011).

Sample page of From Heaven to Heaven by Dec Hickey

This upcoming book by Dec Hickey documents the formative years of New Order. With previously unpublished pictures and texts, Hickey documents New Orders gigs between early 1981 and June 1984. In these years New Order issued the singles Ceremony, Procession, Everything’s Gone Green, Temptation, Blue Monday, Confusion, Thieves Like Us, Murder and the albums Movement and the brilliant Power Corruption and Lies, still one of my personal favourite records of all time.

In these years Hickey followed the band and managed to attend all the gigs, often armed with a camera and a tape recorder. From Heaven to Heaven will be published in January 2012. Copies are available for pre-order here. When you pre-order the book you will receive a signed and numbered copy.

On YouTube you can watch New Order performing Temptation, Age of Concent and Blue Monday at BBC Radio 1 studios in August 1984. If you are interested in their music, you can find all New Order (and Joy Division) singles carefully restored at Recycle. On the blog Joy Division Bootlegs you can also find a lot of New Order concerts including concerts from the period covered by the book.

Video for Bull in the Heather by Sonic Youth from the album Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star (1994). Also starring musician and writer Kathleen Hanna.

Finally some gossip on On almost every topic! This is the statement from their record label’s representative:

Musicians Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore, married in 1984, are announcing they have separated. Sonic Youth, with both Kim and Thurston involved, will proceed with its South American tour dates in November. Plans beyond that tour are uncertain. The couple has requested respect for their personal privacy and does not wish to issue further comment.

Section 25 “Looking from a Hilltop” (Version 2)

Recently I have been listening to quite a few Section 25 tracks and I am surprised how good some of these tracks are. I once bought a second hand copy of Always Now, but I didn’t like it at all. I kept the record though because of the great sleeve design. For me the tracks where too minimalistic and Larry Cassidy was not very convincing as a singer.

This is a track from their best album From The Hip (1984). Where Love and Hate from 1988 sounds dated, From the Hip sounds fresh and modern. Apart from the rather dull song Prepare to Live it is a classic album with a great atmosphere. 

Some tracks from the last known Joy Division studio recording. The tracks are mastered by the Analog Loyalist and available in lossless FLAC. Tracks included are Ceremony and In A Lonely place that were later recorded and published by New Order with vocals provided by Bernard Sumner. According to the Recycle Project the Analog Loyalist originally mastered the material for the band. The Recycle Project aims to restore the Joy Division and New Order recordings. I wrote about this project in an earlier post.