Martin Hannett - His Equipment and Strawberry Studios:
Chris Hewitt:
Softback A4 Edition:
175 pages:
OUT NOW:
Books about becoming a successful, imaginative and creative music-producer are one thing but a tome designed solely to reveal the secrets behind one man's unique work without spilling too many beans is another.
But here's one. Curated and compiled in an enthusiastic, wide-eyed and almost obsessive style, "Martin Hannett - His Equipment and Strawberry Studios" is a fly-on-the-glass scrapbook that follows on from various other Hannett artefacts such as the ".... He wasn't just the fifth member of Joy Division" DVD and a clutch of lo-fi compilations.
Over the course of its 170+ pages, no stone, mixing desk or reel-to-reel machine is left unturned by writer Chris Hewitt - if Hannett touched it, built it, re-built it or used the heck out of it, HEASS has them all.
The book begins with a fragmented history of Stockport's iconic Strawberry Studios, founded by 10cc's Graham Gouldman and Eric Stewart and whose Life is a Minestrone and I'm Not In Love were recorded there prior to being huge UK hits for the band. Then it's pretty much Hannett all the way with pictures of various machines and mixing-desks utilised by the intelligent, affable but occasionally tetchy creator during sessions with Joy Division, New Order, Section 25, The Names, Durutti Column etc.. during his time at Factory Records.
Various archived quotes come from Hannett himself, as well as from members of bands he worked with and engineers, peers and local luminaries from Factory and Rabid Records, plus there are marketing images taken from '70s adverts for ARPs and the like, plus rare unseen photos of the artists themselves, all of which makes for fascinating if somewhat disjointed reading.
Never mind the occasional grammatical hiccup, if you have any interest in retro recording methods and equipment or Martin Hannett's enormous contribution to UK punk and post-punk musical history, this book is an absolute must and every university with a musical-leaning should have one in its reference libraries.
9/10
Chris Hewitt:
Softback A4 Edition:
175 pages:
OUT NOW:
But here's one. Curated and compiled in an enthusiastic, wide-eyed and almost obsessive style, "Martin Hannett - His Equipment and Strawberry Studios" is a fly-on-the-glass scrapbook that follows on from various other Hannett artefacts such as the ".... He wasn't just the fifth member of Joy Division" DVD and a clutch of lo-fi compilations.
Over the course of its 170+ pages, no stone, mixing desk or reel-to-reel machine is left unturned by writer Chris Hewitt - if Hannett touched it, built it, re-built it or used the heck out of it, HEASS has them all.
The book begins with a fragmented history of Stockport's iconic Strawberry Studios, founded by 10cc's Graham Gouldman and Eric Stewart and whose Life is a Minestrone and I'm Not In Love were recorded there prior to being huge UK hits for the band. Then it's pretty much Hannett all the way with pictures of various machines and mixing-desks utilised by the intelligent, affable but occasionally tetchy creator during sessions with Joy Division, New Order, Section 25, The Names, Durutti Column etc.. during his time at Factory Records.
Various archived quotes come from Hannett himself, as well as from members of bands he worked with and engineers, peers and local luminaries from Factory and Rabid Records, plus there are marketing images taken from '70s adverts for ARPs and the like, plus rare unseen photos of the artists themselves, all of which makes for fascinating if somewhat disjointed reading.
Never mind the occasional grammatical hiccup, if you have any interest in retro recording methods and equipment or Martin Hannett's enormous contribution to UK punk and post-punk musical history, this book is an absolute must and every university with a musical-leaning should have one in its reference libraries.
9/10