About 92% indelibly unique

Section 25 are more chameleon than David Bowie, or anybody. I found them by the JD/Factory connection back in 1991. This is an essential disc for knowing Section 25. That's because of the times and environment it was recorded. Section 25 were very smart from the start, yet were punks limited in their performance skill around 1980. On this debut, Hannett's production took care of that; he amazingly turned the - in hindsight - limited live prowess of the band into pure strength on this disc. And the results are emotional, audible lead. There is so much space and atmosphere here, clashing with stark post-punk. It's like avant-garde, minimal Joy Division. For a quick immersion, I recommend having a seance to 'New Horizon' playback (the concluding track of the lp). (I will counter by saying) SXXV - although not perfect - have been much more artistically successful than some of their, wonderful, yet simply novel, peers such as A Certain Ratio.

My favourite emusic download so far

I initially came accross this band because of their association with Joy Division. I'm sure this is the case with many people. Clearly, they aren't as good as JD... who is? But for me at least that wasn't the point. I like the heavy rhythm section, the noisy guitars and the manic vocals. The rythms are fairly disco, and certainly have a groove. It seems as though this is the base upon which they build their melodies, noise and vocals. All of these tracks are pretty good, some stand out more than others (in particular Be Brave, Dirty Disco and Girls Don't Count) but as is often the case with expanded reissues stuffed with bonus tracks... it's a lot to take in in one listen. It's probably better to break the playlist in two. It's an amazing piece of work. I cannot believe this album hasn't received the critical attention it deserves in this current Joy Division crazy music world.

Section 25′s debut LP isn’t a patch on the finer moments of their more famous labelmates, but for those who thrill on some of post-punk’s late-’70s/early-’80s trademarks, it should go down with great ease. Skeletal instrumentation is the rule: detached vocals, guitar used mainly as hollow accent, undead bass, and driving mid-tempo rhythms with loads of high-hat. Martin Hannett’s production is fittingly heavy on the drums. Though the band was quickly accused of sounding much like the remainder of the Factory stable, their closest neighbor in sound was Public Image Limited, most notably their second album. Any comparisons to PIL were agreed with, but it was argued that some of these songs had been kicking around before PIL committed their material to tape. Truth be told, only “Be Brave” and “Dirty Disco” (not to be confused with PIL’s “Death Disco”) deeply resemble their brethren, with the latter sounding like a direct lift off Metal Box. (Also notable is that Larry Cassidy’s bass isn’t dubwise, unlike Jah Wobble’s — it’s duller.) Some of Always Now is prone to lifeless meandering. On the likes of “C.P.” and “Inside Out,” the band appears to be on the verge of nodding off; “Melt Close” suffers from a little too much slacking, too. Played at 45 rpm, it would sound really great. Regardless of its flaws (they might not even seem like flaws to some), it’s strong. As part of the Factory reissue campaign through Les Temps Modernes in the late ’90s, Always Now received a nifty facelift, including the Ian Curtis-produced “Girls Don’t Count” single, assorted compilation contributions, and thorough liner notes. – Andy Kellman