New Retro Wave

Following the international success of the debut Scandroid album (Top 10 iTunes Electronic Album USA, Russia, Canada, Germany, United Kingdom, Australia & #5 Billboard Electronic Album), each vocal track from the eponymous release has received official remixes that take the synthwave epic to new horizons on "Dreams of Neo-Tokyo."

Arranged by Craig DeGraff, who claims, hopefully with tongue placed somewhat injuriously in cheek, "Not since the KLF has there been such a rock & roll swindle," Future Retro is a compilation from Rhino that sets up WEA-distributed hits of the early '80s (most of them new wave) with remixers…

Going by the title, the Retro: Active series from Canada's Hi-Bias label sounds like it could be a nightmare of new wave and '80s-alternative singles remixed by modern producers to put a new spin on old favorites. Thankfully, the label has simply plucked extended versions and remixes from previously existing 12" singles - like the ones you might have sitting in your closet, or the ones you heard in clubs or even on the radio.
A-ha, Erasure, The Cure, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Alphaville, Duran Duran, INXS, New Order, Peter Schilling and many more.

Yet another New Order compilation? Add Retro to the dizzying stack of New Order compilations and best-ofs. Actually, it was the second comp to come out in the last half of 2002 (International was released in October and contains nearly every song that is on Retro). With that said, Retro is probably the most expansive and interesting New Order compilation since 1987's Substance. Keeping an eye and ear on the amazing Joy Division set Heart and Soul, Rhino stepped in to publish this box as well (that alone will give Retro a bit more credibility). The packaging is more or less identical to Heart and Soul's four-CD orientation and comes complete with its own Peter Saville-directed artwork and 70-plus-page booklet. Unlike the Joy Division set, Retro makes no attempt to create a comprehensive or complete look at New Order's expansive catalog…

Yet another New Order compilation? Add Retro to the dizzying stack of New Order compilations and best-ofs. Actually, it was the second comp to come out in the last half of 2002 (International was released in October and contains nearly every song that is on Retro). With that said, Retro is probably the most expansive and interesting New Order compilation since 1987's Substance. Keeping an eye and ear on the amazing Joy Division set Heart and Soul, Rhino stepped in to publish this box as well (that alone will give Retro a bit more credibility). The packaging is more or less identical to Heart and Soul's four-CD orientation and comes complete with its own Peter Saville-directed artwork and 70-plus-page booklet. Unlike the Joy Division set, Retro makes no attempt to create a comprehensive or complete look at New Order's expansive catalog…

New Order's first compilation album, Substance (1987), finally broke the group through to commercial success in the U.S. Its second one, The Best of New Order, isn't exactly Substance II. The previous set was a singles collection, and Best Of does pick up that story, including a series of songs - "True Faith" (in a new remix), "Touched by the Hand of God," "Blue Monday 88," "Fine Time," "Round & Round" (in a new remix), "Run," and "World in Motion" - that were bigger hits in the U.K. than in the U.S. (Also included is the group's biggest U.S. hit, "Regret" as well as its charting follow-up, "World [The Price of Love].") But in addition, the compilers have included one song each from the group's albums - "Dreams Never End" from Movement, "Age of Consent" from Power, Corruption & Lies, "Love Vigilantes" from Low-Life, "Vanishing Point" from Technique, and "Ruined in a Day" from Republic…

Total: From Joy Division to New Order is a compilation album of material from Joy Division and New Order. It was released in the United Kingdom on 6 June 2011 by Rhino Entertainment and is the first album to feature songs from both bands in one album. It features five Joy Division tracks, including "Love Will Tear Us Apart", and thirteen New Order tracks, including a previously unreleased track, "Hellbent".

In the wake of early-'80s post-punk artiness, New Order must have seemed like a welcome return to the world of tunes. Those not blinded by Ian Curtis' pyre were certainly pleased with the direction of the band, while those that needed shades had been finding it increasingly difficult to ignore the melancholic hooks pervading even the most synth-laden dance singles coming out of the group. Which makes this live capture of New Order's divisive skill that much more appealing.
Recorded on June 19th, 1987, at Glastonbury, this live set includes everything from the band's major hits ("Temptation," "Bizarre Love Triangle") to the more undisclosed favorites ("Touched By the Hand of God") all with a raw, sometimes po-faced, interpretation of their studio-friendly talents…

New Order's third LP, Low-Life, is, in every way, the artistic equal of their breakout, 1983's Power, Corruption & Lies. Building on the genre-hopping brilliance of the two singles they released in between - the Arthur Baker-produced electro track "Confusion" and the dramatic synth rocker "Thieves Like Us" - Low-Life marks the point where the band's fusion of rock and electronics becomes seamless. It's heavily sequenced and synthesized, but with bravura work from Bernard Sumner on guitar and Peter Hook's plaintive, melodic bass taking a lead role. The record is filled with hooky, hummable pop songs, but just as important are the experimental techniques that the band and engineer Michael Johnson employ…

New Order had been so good at integrating synth and guitars (often on the same song) that fans who greeted 1986's Brotherhood with the realization that it was split into a rock side and a dance side couldn't help but be a little disappointed. Still, the songs and the band's production had reached such a high level that the concept worked superbly, without calling undue attention to itself. The rock side comes first, revealing more of the emotional side of Bernard Sumner's singing and songwriting, even leading off with acoustic guitar for one song. But Brotherhood was also a little harder than what had come before; Sumner often sang with a come-on sort of brio, matching Peter Hook's seething work on the bass…