New Order ‘Furoshiki’ Box Set

SDE’s man in Japan, James Eldred, reports on a fascinating and unique box set edition of New Order’s Music Complete album…

It appears that New Order quietly released a new box set last week, this one exclusive to Japan.

Made only available at their pair of shows in Tokyo, as well as a pre-concert promotional event, the New Order Furoshiki Box Set, which takes its name from the traditional Japanese cloth it comes wrapped in, is an interesting set full of unique content that can’t be found anywhere else…

Inside the box is the Music Complete album on white cassette tape, marking the album’s debut on the format, alongside CD singles for Restless, Singularity and Tutti Frutti. These versions of the CD singles are unique to this box set, and all include an additional track. The Restless single includes the Agoria Dub, while Singularity comes with the JS Zeiter Instrumental, both of which are exclusive to this box set. The Tutti Frutti CD features a mix by Japanese electronic music maestro Takkyu Ishino, a wonderful remix of that was previously only available digitally or on the Japanese twelve-inch single. A Japanese lyric sheet taken from the original Japanese CD release is included as well.

While the inclusion of a cassette tape (sans download code) is little more than a novelty, the CD singles and the overall presentation of the box set are lovely, and certainly leaps and bounds over the shoddy Music Complete super deluxe box set from last year.

The box retailed at the concerts for 6,000 yen, roughly equal to about $54 USD. That may sound like a lot, remember that CDs in Japan routinely cost at least 3,300 yen (about $30 USD), so two and a half hours of New Order remixes on CD, as well as a complete album on tape, all literally wrapped in a box, isn’t that bad a deal.

No official news on whether or not the box set will be made available outside the show, but given its intricacy and rather niche appeal, it doesn’t seem likely.

Review by James Eldred for SDE. James lives in Tokyo, Japan and writes about music, pop culture, and existential dread at Mostly-Retro.com and lostturntable.com

Photos all copyright James Eldred

Restless

1. Restless (Single Version)

2. Restless (Extended 12″ Mix)

3. Restless (Agoria Remix)

4. Restless (xxxy Build Up Mix)

5. Restless (RAC Mix)

6. Restless (Andrew Weatherall Remix)

7. Restless (Agoria Dub) (Exclusive to the Box Set)

Singularity

1. Singularity (Single Edit)

2. Singularity (Extended Mix)

3. Singularity (Erol Alkan’s Stripped Mix)

4. Singularity (Mark Reeder’s Duality Remix Edit)

5. Singularity (JS Zeiter Remix)

6. Singularity (JS Zeiter Remix Instrumental) (Exclusive to the Box Set)

Tutti Frutti

1. Tutti Frutti (Single Version)

2. Tutti Frutti (12″ Extended Mix Two)

3. Tutti Frutti (Hot Chip Remix)

4. Tutti Frutti (Tom Trago’s Crazy Days Remix)

5. Tutti Frutti (Richy Ahmed Remix)

6. Tutti Frutti (Hallo Halo Remix)

7. Tutti Frutti (Tom Rowlands Remix)

8. Tutti Frutti (Takkyu Ishino Remix) (First appearance on CD)