A couple of weeks ago, Analog Loyalist (aka Drew Crumbaugh) put his remastering skills to work and posted his own remasters of Joy Division's Warsaw and followed that up with a remaster of Joy Division's 1980 concert University of London Union. The Warsaw remaster didn't get much attention from the big music sites, but the live concert did - it was mentioned in Pitchfork, Consequence Of Sound, Spin, and a zillion other sites. Turns out the publicity didn't help - Analog Loyalist received two notices from Mediafire (the site hosting the free FLAC downloads) stating the Joy Division files for the University of London Union were taken down due to DMCA complaints. Most likely it was Rhino who filed the complaints - the 1980 concert is available commercially as part of the label's 2007 reissue of Closer.
Analog Loyalist has made comments in the past that the remaining members of Joy Division were aware of his remasters and seemed to offer consent. After the files were pulled down this week, Peter Hook contacted Analog Loyalist by email and offered up the following statement suggesting he go "legit" and urging him to do things the legal way:
"From my point of view you must stop this now. If you want to help us and your listeners let's submit it to Warners get permission off the band and let people download it OFFICIALLY even if it's for a nominal sum, this is a much better way of doing it. You get the job done and the recognition and do not get the aggro! They are clamping down on people like you. I suggest you go legit, your hooky"
The story appears far from over, but for now it looks like ALL the Joy Division/New Order files Analog Loyalist has posted have been removed. Let's hope Analog Loyalist can work things out with the band and Warner, because he's stated previously that he has some other interesting JD demos/material he's working on that I'm sure fans would be interested in hearing and purchasing.
If you're interested in hearing Analog Loyalist's version of the 1980 London concert you might want to head over to You Tube.