Live and Loud!!: Bridgehouse Tapes (Live)

It’s a bit like Motown and Stax, Rubinstein and Horowitz, Miles Davis and John Coltrane: while many view the Sex Pistols and The Clash as twin bands, they’re actually more like opposites. Johnny Rotten’s gang and Joe Strummer’s band may well have been on the forefront of the punk movement, and yet everything divided them. Or almost everything.

In the twilight of the ’70s, as the shrapnel of the punk explosion was still settling, the movement was already inspiring new groups. As New Wave unfurled, the post-punk movement represented a tortured, even radical turn. From pioneers Joy Division and The Fall to current bands Shame and Fontaines D.C., here’s a close-up on the landmark albums that electrified the entire music world and continue to fascinate the rock’n’roll underground.

It’s been about forty years since the singer from Joy Division took his own life, but the shadow of his death still hangs over post-punk, new wave and rock history. In just two albums, the cult band from Manchester turned grey skies, depression and urban industrialisation into beautiful music thanks to their charismatic leader, who is just as influential today.