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Nov 21, 2012 By Mike Hilleary Joy Division

In 2006 engineer Drew Crumbaugh was tasked with the cleanup and mastering of various Joy Division performances that would become part of a series of deluxe double-album reissues released in 2007.

In a blogpost reflecting on his work, Crumbaugh says the act of listening of what he had done now makes him “essentially cringe. Not because it’s bad, because it’s not, but with where I’ve advanced to today my 2006 work sounds amateur to these ears. And while it’s out there for the world to enjoy (and the two sets I did, for Closer and Still, all got great reviews), I can no longer listen without wishing for a mulligan.”

His dissatisfaction leading to a self-imposed do-over, Crumbaugh has come forth with a new remaster of a Joy Division performance recorded at the University of London Union on Feb. 8, 1980, featuring material that would eventually make its way onto Closer, the group’s last studio album, released two months after frontman Ian Curtis took his own life.

Available as a free download on Crumbaugh’s blog, Crumbaugh says “They are spectacular. Not to toot my own horn, but these now simply crush what was used on the 2007 releases. Even the most hearing-challenged of listeners can tell the difference, and not just by minutiae. Cymbals ring, drums go THWACK and not ‘thwop,’ guitars slice through the murk.”

JOY DIVISION

8 February 1980
University of London Union
Mastered in November 2012 by Analog Loyalist, from Duncan Haysom’s master recording

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- encore break -
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Digital