Between now and January, New Release Tuesday will focus on 2007 reflections and music news related to both this year's releases, the holidays and 2008's potential. The standard NRT posts will resume in 2008. It will also feature the opinions of the author, who does not represent the Ist network as a whole. What a damn shame.

The holiday season is tough for music lovers shopping for other music lovers. This is mostly because discriminating tastes are always so goddamn discriminating, and it only gets worse when obsessives are both listeners and collectors. For the shopper, impulses to introduce friends to what I think they should enjoy is overwhelming.

One of the best gifts I can think of, and one that appeals to both artistic types and music lovers of all varieties, is the Factory Records: Complete Graphic Album book. It's a hardcover collection of extremely rare record sleeves, club flyers, and posters from the '70s-'90s era of Factory Records when designers and musicians mingled like thick thieves. The label's co-founder, Peter Saville, is one of the most brilliant designers of all time, and his iconic work is often imitated but never duplicated. The hardcover also features the work of Factory designers Den Kelly, Mark Farrow, 8VO and Barbara Kruger and is the best Christmas present ever for music and designer geeks.

And besides, what says "Happy Holidays" like Joy Division's Closer?

Continue reading and looking at art below the cut.

One of my favorite releases this year, Studio's Yearbook (Information), led me down a path of bread crumb nostalgia and resurrected my fascination with Factory Records, their design and the musicians behind the art. Right off the bat, Dan Lissvik and Rasmus Hagg (Sweden) make no bones about their influences. Two parts Sumner and one part Kraut-rock, the rhythms, swells and catchy melodicism are complete and total throwbacks.

The tracks with vocals ("No Comply" and "Self Service (Short Version)" in particular) take the spotlight, but the instrumental pieces are equally astounding, playing on repetition and space smartly. The meditative drones, thick low-end production and angular guitars hearken new new wave and kraut pioneers of the early '80s, but the pop affections and beachy atmospheres clearly distinguish the album from its ennui-afflicted predecessors.

Studio "West Side" (mp3)

Part of the reason a record like this is so exciting is because the approach is completely different from all the other big-hitter dance records this year. Studio's album doesn't call on well known samples, it doesn't have synths that sound like lasers, and it isn't self-parody. It's subtle dance music, and it isn't toying with the tongue in cheek hipness that other "dance" bands (LCD, Fujiya & Miyagi) do. That might be a sign of old age, but I prefer to consider it a testament to the staying power of Factory Records and the larger than life shadows their artists cast.

The first record I remember choosing for myself (after what seemed like lifetimes filled with lectures on Chicago and Donny Hathaway) was New Order's Power, Corruption & Lies, and to be honest, I mostly picked it because the album art was appealing. Peter Saville's sleeve design looked like nothing else on the shelf (up against Hootenanny, Murmur, and 1999), and the title sounded subversive enough to be intriguing to a little kid that just graduated from eight-track to little turntable.

Henri Fantin Latour's flowers, some kind of decrepit pink, cuddled by dark shadows, folds and grey were alluring, and both masculine and feminine. The contrast between the depth of the painting and the stoic color blocks on the album's edge only heightened the intrigue. I was too young to consider the improbability at the time, but as I've grown older and listened to more records, I've realized how rare it is to leave the strongest track for last. "Leave Me Alone" has always seemed to typify the album's design elements perfectly: stark but emotional and meditative.

Because Bernard Sumner was my first introduction to the genre, I learned about the forefathers afterwards, discovering Joy Division and Section 25 (and more) only after falling in love with "Blue Monday." New Order epitomized the new wave dance movement of that era, rejecting the disco, but stopping just short of Ian Curtis resentment and disdain.

Sumner's lyrics were just as stark, but the lyrical landings were softened by a certain vocal frailty that defined New Order's sound as much as their post punk angst. They were also the first band that ever really demonstrated the connection between design and sound, and that was a huge leap. Factory's design, Seville's in particular, was monumentally influential and continues to produce homages today. Case in point: the other perfect holiday gift, Yearbook*.

Before the holidays come and go, and before you get bogged down with your annual mixtape full of "hip" holiday tunes, go look through the Factory catalog, order the book, or pick up Studio's Yearbook -- they're all solid purchases, and each offers a rich visual experience along with its auditory one. Also worth trying for yourself or a loved one: Studio's new "Information Mix", the West Coast 2x12", and Saville's Estate, which archives a great deal of his work.

*The album was import-only for awhile, but is now available through Amazon. There is no information available (that I can find without making calls) as to whether or not the record is in stock anywhere in town, but I bet you can order it if you'd prefer to shop locally.