24 Hour Party People

One of the most important building blocks of the post-punk movement was Manchester-based Factory Records, founded by legendary entrepeneur Tony Wilson. Wilson's story is recounted in the film 24 Hour Party People, along with the story of the pioneering artists he nurtured. The film's soundtrack offers a few vintage cuts from the punk movement that inspired Wilson and his entourage (including the Sex Pistols' mission statement "Anarchy in the U.K." and the Clash's rousing "Janie Jones"), but the rest of the album charts the development of what became known as the Factory sound.

The most seminal of all Factory bands (and the definitive post-punk group) Joy Division is represented by four moody, atmospheric cuts, including their signature song, the bittersweet "Love Will Tear Us Apart." After Joy Division singer Ian Curtis's suicide, the rest of the band went on to make electro-pop history as the synth-driven New Order, who get an equal number of songs here. The Factory story didn't stop there, however, as evidenced by the gloriously hedonistic sound of Happy Mondays (the title track and "Stay Fit") and the less popular but equally important Durutti Column ("Otis"). The film documents a vital piece of pop history, but this disc embodies that history.