Recycle 01: Ceremony

[Link removed 20 November 2012] (58 MB)

Ceremony
Factory Records FAC 33
Produced by Martin Hannett
March 1981/September 1981

Tracklisting:

1. Ceremony (1st Version)
2. In A Lonely Place (7" Edit)
3. In A Lonely Place
4. Ceremony (2nd Version)
5. In A Lonely Place (Alternate Mix)

Sourced from:
1: FAC 33 Italian 45 RPM 12" single
3: FAC 33 45 RPM UK 12" single (green sleeve, 2nd version of Ceremony on A-side)
4 and 5: current CD issue of Substance
2 edited from 3 to match B-side of FAC 33 Italy

Notes from the restorer:

Despite being spread out over the entire side of a 12" single, the Italian pressing of the original recording has loads of compression on it. I suspect this was applied at the mastering stage but I don't know.

Tracks 1 - 3 were transcribed at 33 RPM, de-clicked, and then pitch-shifted to 45 RPM in the digital domain at which point the remaining processing was done (20Hz highpass filter, convert from stereo to mid/side, noise reduction on side channel only, convert back to stereo, EQ and just a touch of limiting). The 7" edit of In A Lonely Place is nothing more than an early fade of the full-lengh first version.

Slight EQ and a touch of limiting on the tracks sourced from Substance. Nothing drastic.

New Order's first single was initially done during the brief period when the band was a trio, effectively being Joy Division minus Ian Curtis. The song itself was one originally performed by Joy Division. Soon after it's release, Gillian Gilbert joined the band, and the decision was made to re-record the song with her. This second version is much more common today, having been included on the Substance compilation. Personally, I prefer the first version, being much more upfront and having that delightful eerie sound that kicks in at around the 2-minute mark.

The original version is quite difficult to obtain these days, for it was not in print very long. Futhermore, the catalog number was not changed for the new version. The sleeve was changed, however there were still old ones left over, so these were re-used. To complicate things even more, the B-side was ever-so-slighly-remixed too, with the most notable difference being that the synthetic "thunder" noises occur at different times. So, depending when and where you got the record, it may have the first versions on both sides, the new version of side one with the old version of side two, or the new versions of both.

During the course of transcribing this single six distinct pressings/variations were identified.