Just when you thought that you couldn't possibly take the Joy Division comparison any further, Hotmix Radio found a way. They got three members of a band that have consistently been painted with that darkest of the dark brushes, and then actually have a question that uses one of JD's songs during an interview. They are played excerpts from 4 songs and they have to choose their favourite, and the selection feels...calculated.
The Killing Moon - Echo and the Bunnymen
Transmission - Joy Division
R.E.M. - The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite
The Strokes - Last Nite
If you've been around Editors fandom long enough then you know that 3 of those bands have been cited as influences, while only one has been used to denigrate the band on a regular basis since they first started getting press. They all choose The Killing Moon as their song, and it is an excellent tune, but I just wonder why Joy Division have to be brought up again? It's a bit sad to think we're we still living in a time when you catch an Editors song, hear "baritone" and immediately make the leap to Ian Curtis. It's so tired as a reference now, having served its purpose as an answer to the question "Editors? Who do they sound like?" back in 2005 or 2006. Surely we've moved past this now? It's a lazy, lazy comparison. By the way, I say this as someone who loves Joy Division/New Order. This is not to put them down, only to question if we really need to keep trying to bridge a gap between two bands where there isn't one. Enough, already.
What was I saying?
The interview! That was it. The interview is conducted in French but there's an interpreter in the room to facilitate smooth, cross-lingual satisfaction. There are a few times when the conversation is stilted by the translation happening in the middle of sentences (see Justin talking about drinking wine), but otherwise it's just fine. I suspect that if you're the kind of person that visits the Archive then you're not that bothered about the imperfections anyway. You're addicted, and you'll take your Editors fix wherever you can get it. With that in mind...
brought to you with lots and lots of lemming-love :) x
