Performer Notes

This is the third time Martin Hannett's production work has been anthologized. Martin, released by Factory in 1991 (shortly after Hannett's death), and And Here Is the Young Man, released by Debutante in 1998, are quite similar to this set (they're also shorter), but they've both gone out of print -- perhaps this disc will slide out of circulation within seven years as well, only to be replaced with a slightly better and more thorough representation. The three discs share a lot of the same material and have some similar faults, and they each provide demonstrative looks into Hannett's career, even if you already have half the material on each one. Zero: A Martin Hannett Story contains 21 tracks and lengthy liner notes from LTM's resourceful James Nice. It rolls through a lot of key moments, beginning with Buzzcocks' "Boredom" (Hannett's first job) and concluding with World of Twist's cover of the Rolling Stones' "She's a Rainbow." (You can almost sense the former sneering at the very idea of the latter, but that's another story.) The average music fan won't hear the imprint of singular production work until the seventh track, Joy Division's "Transmission," where Hannett truly began to use the studio and new effects to alter the sound of the instruments. As Nice says, Hannett used "anything, indeed, that created space, weirdness, and 'sonic holograms.'" His creativity peaked during the post-punk era, and a lot of that had to do with the moods and themes explored by the bands he worked with at the time. New Order's "In a Lonely Place," Magazine's "The Light Pours Out of Me," OMD's "Electricity," and Pauline Murray & the Invisible Girls' "Dream Sequence 1" are other central inclusions, while some less-known tracks -- the Names' "Night Shift," Basement 5's "The Last White Christmas," Kitchens of Distinction's "Quick as Rainbows" -- are just as important to the story. "Quick as Rainbows," recorded in 1990, actually indicates Hannett's slide into indistinguishable work, especially if you compare it to Hugh Jones' production of the same song. ESG, A Certain Ratio, Minny Pops, and maybe even Crispy Ambulance and the Stockholm Monsters are the significant missing bands from this roundup, but they all have compilations or in-print albums that are worth finding. The disc is filled to capacity, so it's not as if they would've all fit anyway. ~ Andy Kellman

Professional Reviews

Rolling Stone (p.59) - "Hannett was crucial in the birth of art from noise on seminal wax by the Buzzcocks, U2, Joy Division and New Order, all of whom are represented on ZERO..."

Uncut (p.128) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[E]mbracing everything from three-chord thuggery to baggy-trousered '90s psychedelia."

Magnet (p.91) - "[It] works both as an introduction to his sound as an ace mix tape....It's fun to spot the sonic similarities between Hannett's spiky early work with the Buzzcocks..."

Mojo (Publisher) (p.118) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "There was definitely a trademark Hannett patch: strong melody lines overlaid with drums saturated in delay and echo, heavily treated synthesizers and the very latest in synthetic percussion."

Album: Zero: A Martin Hannett Story
#	Song Title	Time
1)	Boredom
2)	Cranked up Really High
3)	Jilted John
4)	I Don't Want to Be Nice
5)	Dream Sequence 1
6)	11 O'Clock Tick Tock
7)	Transmission
8)	Conduct
9)	Electricity
10)	Light Pours Out of Me, The
11)	In a Lonely Place
12)	Oh Lucinda (Love Becomes a Habit)
13)	Last White Christmas, The
14)	Pretty in Pink
15)	Friendly Fires
16)	Rebecca's Room
17)	All Tomorrow's Party
18)	Quick as Rainbows
19)	Wrote For Luck
20)	She's a Rainbow

Album: Zero: A Martin Hannett Story
#	Song Title	Time
1)	Boredom
2)	Cranked up Really High
3)	Jilted John
4)	I Don't Want to Be Nice
5)	Dream Sequence 1
6)	11 O'Clock Tick Tock
7)	Transmission
8)	Conduct
9)	Electricity
10)	Light Pours Out of Me, The
11)	In a Lonely Place
12)	Oh Lucinda (Love Becomes a Habit)
13)	Last White Christmas, The
14)	Pretty in Pink
15)	Friendly Fires
16)	Rebecca's Room
17)	All Tomorrow's Party
18)	Quick as Rainbows
19)	Wrote For Luck
20)	She's a Rainbow