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Section 25 \ So Far [LTMDVD 2429]

Blackpool group Section 25 recorded for Factory Records between 1979 and 1987. Initially mentored by Joy Division, their best known albums are Always Now from 1981, produced by Martin Hannett and housed in one of Peter Saville's finest sleeve designs, and From the Hip in 1984, produced by Bernard Sumner of New Order, featuring classic electro single Looking From a Hilltop.

So Far gathers together rare live and studio footage from several stages of their career. The original post-punk trio are captured live at the ICA in London in June 1980, while the later five-piece electronic line-up were filmed at Minneapolis First Avenue in January 1985. In addition to these two complete concerts, extracts from shows at Chicago Metro (1985), Manchester Haçienda (1983 and 1984) and London Riverside (1984) are also included, as well as studio clips for several tracks including Looking From a Hilltop.

The DVD has a running time of 2 hours and 25 minutes. Region 0 (multi-region), NTSC format, with 5.1 sound.

DVD tracklist:

1. Knew Noise (ICA)
2. After Image (ICA)
3. Number One (ICA)
4. Friendly Fires (ICA)
5. Girls Don't Count (ICA)
6. Untitled (ICA)
7. Charnel Ground (ICA)
8. Haunted (ICA)
9. Dirty Disco (ICA)
10. Not So Real (SSRU 1981)
11. Warhead (Haçienda 2/1983)
12. Looking From a Hilltop (video clip)
13. Beneath the Blade (Riverside 8/1984)
14. Inspiration (Riverside 8/1984)
15. Program for Light (Haçienda 9/1984)
16. backstage footage (Metro)
17. Hilltop Megamix (Metro)
18. Dirty Disco II (Metro)
19. The Process (Minneapolis)
20. Looking From a Hilltop (Minneapolis)
21. Prepare to Live (Minneapolis)
22. Crazy Wisdom (Minneapolis)
23. Beneath the Blade (Minneapolis)
24. Inspiration (Minneapolis)
25. Reflection (Minneapolis)
26. Program for Light (Minneapolis)
27. Dirty Disco II (Minneapolis)
28. Bad News Week Minneapolis)

Available on DVD only. To order please first select correct shipping option (UK, Europe or Rest of World) and then click on Add To Cart button below the cover image.

So Far [LTMDVD 2429]
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Reviews:

"So Far charts the development of one of the most unjustly overlooked Factory bands. The ICA footage from 1980 offers dense, urgent yet opaque music, while the electro material from Chicago and Minneapolis in 1985 is nothing less than hypnotic and points to the future. One of the most welcome surprises all year" (Magic, 03/2005)

"Section 25 were always a difficult proposition, because they were really two bands. First, there was the late-1970s incarnation typified by the debut album Always Now, produced by Martin Hannett. At this phase of the band's career, the group wore the Factory uniform through and through, pumping out bleak, claustrophobic noise-rock. The other Section 25 began around 1983, after some personnel shifts and a complete 180-degree change in musical strategies. Instead of sour-faced, doomy boredom, the band embraced keyboard programming, synthesizers and the Roland 303, producing excellent, influential early techno that has held up surprisingly well through the years. For those who enjoy charting the connections between the proto-electro of Detroit/Chicago and the more stiff, angular white-boy dance and funk of the early 1980s Manchester scene, Section 25 are ground zero. This DVD contains both incarnations of the band, but leans heavily on the latter phase of their chronology, which is more than fine by me. The DVD begins with a nine-song set captured at London's ICA in the summer of 1980, and it's predictably faceless and largely uninteresting. Then there is a set of clips from various venues dating from 1981 to 1984, and things start to get interesting. A promotional video for Looking From A Hilltop is suitably retro and quite a lot of fun, even though the band is just miming to the recorded version of the song. The best material comes from two shows dating from 1985, one at Chicago's Metro Club and another at Prince's First Avenue club in Minneapolis. Section 25 is at the height of their powers here, unleashing addictively futuristic proto-acid techno with dual live drumming, breathy vocals, dramatic keyboard melodies and a galaxy of weird sound effects. Even at this stage, however, Section 25 were still performing more rock-oriented material, though it has now been retrofitted with banks of synthesizers, Human League-style. The video and sound quality varies wildly across the disc, but most of the best performances are watchable and enjoyable. At over two hours, this is a generous package and a must-have for fans of this nascent period of techno" (Brainwashed)