Finally: a Slate music piece that doesn't allude to EMP or rockism

No one's written much about this quiet Hua Hsu essay on New Order, which is a pity; the rockcrit world needs another attempt to define rockism like it needs another Village Voice Corporation purge of editors. Near the essay's conclusion we find a succint, perfect description of what made New Order sui generis:

New Order's music described new feelings, new possibilities of experience: lost in thought at a club, Godlike (or bored) on drugs, anxious about nothing in particular, hesitant to say anything too direct, alone but unafraid of modern life.

Among other points: NO's obsession with packaging and compiling their catalogue, as if they themselves recognize that they're "a set of signifiers" in need of frequent recontexualization. Watch for: "Age of Consent" played over the trailer for Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette.