Search and Destroy: Colin Newman

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I like what I've heard from Bastard and A-Z, but A-Z seems pretty hard to find (ie Amazon don't have it). Is any of the stuff in the middle worthwhile?

― Ferg (Ferg), Monday, 3 March 2003 19:24 (twenty-three years ago)

All of them are at least quite worthy. Though I think you certainly need "Provisionally Entitled The Singing Fish" and "Not to", which I believe are both on one CD. A lot of Colin tracks from the "Document and Eyewitness" era of Wire end up being fleshed out in the studio here.

― donut bitch (donut), Monday, 3 March 2003 19:28 (twenty-three years ago)

Not To is great, features "Lorries", "Safe" and "Indians!" which are up there with anything the reformed Wire did in the mid 80s.

― Chris Ott (Chris Ott), Monday, 3 March 2003 19:31 (twenty-three years ago)

A-Z and Not To are the ones I really like...

― Douglas (Douglas), Monday, 3 March 2003 20:38 (twenty-three years ago)

The CD with "Provisionally Entitled the Singing Fish" and "Not To" is fantastic and I think still in print. I think "A-Z" is great as well, especially if you think that only the first three Wire LPs are worth anything. I don't... I find myself listening to "It Seems" a lot more often. "It Seems" is a great preface to the amazing, fabulous Oracle "Tree" CD. "Commercial Suicide" is unlistenable to my ears.

― fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Monday, 3 March 2003 22:36 (twenty-three years ago)

A-Z is getting reissued shortly IIRC

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Tuesday, 4 March 2003 05:57 (twenty-three years ago)

one month passes...

"Unlistenable" is a bit harsher than what I'd say about Commercial Suicide (which I've just listened to for the first time in years) but yes, it is somewhat more unsatisfying than I remembered. My impression of it, with its chamber-like instrumentation and arrangements, is as a sort of transitory album between the still-Wirish, guitar-based (of sorts) first albums and the intricately-sequenced (almost baroque) electronical approach of It Seems -- which can probably be pure hell in some moods, but right now sounds very fine. Also, this appears to be where a marked change in lyrics and -- especially -- vocal delivery takes place; all snarkiness and "attack" is gone, replaced by an approach which seems almost "Eastern" to me (I'm obv oversimplifying here) in being more meditative and abstract. Or something.

I dropped off after It Seems, though (probably due to him not using his own name on the following records), and what Hazel says above is interesting. Can someone tell me more about the records he has made (apart from Wir[e] stuff) after this? I'd be especially interested in more on the Oracle thing Hazel mentions, but also whatever else is out there (Sundar to thread?).

― OleM (OleM), Saturday, 19 April 2003 13:03 (twenty-three years ago)

'A-Z' might as well be the fourth Wire record. Most days I like it better than 'chairs' and '154' even, and I love those records. the CD bonus tracks are essential esp. 'dont bring reminders'.

'not to' and 'singing fish' have moments too. but I don't like what he does with sequencers without the rest of wire to flesh it out, so the rest of the solo career I don't revisit much...

― milton, Saturday, 19 April 2003 22:51 (twenty-three years ago)

damn sent early: yes also very interested in anyone who checked out the later stuff that wasn't under his own name.

the malka spigel record 'rosh ballata' he co-wrote and produced in 1993 is quite lovely actually, more than a handful of great songs. and I fell for their song 'hide' as well. 'bastard' didn't catch me.

― milton, Saturday, 19 April 2003 22:56 (twenty-three years ago)

A-Z is great! Can't recall the other ones. Loved the 1st 4 Wire records though...

― John Bullabaugh (John Bullabaugh), Monday, 21 April 2003 00:33 (twenty-three years ago)

God, I love Immersion's Low Impact so much and it gets so little attention. It means so much more to me than Wire (and I really like 154). My roommate and I were just listening to it over dinner. I don't know that I can describe it any better than DV did and I'd attempted to earlier in 102 Beats This. "Days Under the Sun" is one of my favourite pieces of music. It's minimal IDM based on repeating melodic fragments, drones, and sparse beats that just has this sort of clear-eyed gazing-in-serentiy kind of loveliness to it. It's not that it's anything necessarily radical or hugely ambitious but it's just realized well. It's also reasonably accessible in that I can play it for people or lend it to them and they get into it. It's minimal and perfect in its architecture. I'd love to find more music that feels like that album.

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Thursday, 24 April 2003 23:46 (twenty-three years ago)

how does it compare to 'bastard'? I've always wanted to hear those immersion records but then 'bastard' left me cold

― milton, Friday, 25 April 2003 00:40 (twenty-three years ago)

me too

― gaz (gaz), Friday, 25 April 2003 00:53 (twenty-three years ago)

I've never heard Bastard. There is a second CD included with Low Impact that contains a bunch of older Immersion stuff, which isn't as good.

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Friday, 25 April 2003 01:41 (twenty-three years ago)

will hunt down 'low impact'. 'bastard' seemed like a weird attempt to get the guitars back into the mix, it seems like that wasn't as much a concern with the Immersion stuff. thanks sundar.

― milton, Friday, 25 April 2003 03:24 (twenty-three years ago)

There are absolutely no guitars on Low Impact.

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Friday, 25 April 2003 03:38 (twenty-three years ago)

what do you think of the malka spiegal stuff sundar?

― gaz (gaz), Friday, 25 April 2003 03:54 (twenty-three years ago)

ten months pass...

low impact: wow.

― toby (tsg20), Wednesday, 17 March 2004 22:04 (twenty-two years ago)

Low Impact = brilliant, probably one of the best records Colin has been involved in.

Oracle's "Tree" is a decent ambient album, but I don't find myself listening to it much. I would recommend the last Malka Spigel album, "My Pet Fish", a merging of his love of techno/ambient with the more detached pop of his early solo records. "Bastard" has some really great basslines.

Colin has just started a new band called Githead with Malka and Robin Rimbaud (of Scanner), and supposedly it's going to be more on the pop end.

Colin's record label ~Swim has also released some great records, like the ambient krautrock drones of Symptoms, The precisely metallic post-rock of Silo, and the melodic solitude of Lobe. You can hear plenty of soundfiles at www.posteverything.com

― Michael F Gill (Michael F Gill), Thursday, 18 March 2004 01:12 (twenty-two years ago)

The Lobe I've heard is fantastic, but they want like $16 for a CDR of the album I like... I don't think so.

― fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Thursday, 18 March 2004 02:54 (twenty-two years ago)

finally got 'low impact' and it is extremely listenable and good. more sheen than depth, but expert sheen. much much better than 'bastard', go malka.

― (Jon L), Thursday, 18 March 2004 03:03 (twenty-two years ago)

three months pass...

Discovered Singing Fish/Not To on a used store... Very good stuff. "Fish" is ambient-y but not boring, while "Not To" is almost like a Wire LP... Me like.

― JP Almeida (JP Almeida), Monday, 21 June 2004 17:02 (twenty-one years ago)

At this late date, I'll step to the plate for "Commercial Suicide." Because it wasn't as overtly Wire-ish as AZ or Not To (or even Singing Fish), it took some sinking in, but its synthpop chamber sensibility really grew on me. It probably has a bad rep among hardcore Wire fans, but since it was on Enigma & commonly available in the US, I bet there were a lot of non-Ex Lion Tamers who heard it and liked it.

I wouldn't want every Newman project to sound like this (and none of the others really do), but there are a lot of strange little beauties like 2-Sixes, Metarkest, I Can Hear Your... I'm gonna dig this out & play it tonight!

― briania (briania), Monday, 21 June 2004 18:02 (twenty-one years ago)

I can't think of anything he's done that isn't at least worth a listen, to be honest ... although I haven't heard Githead yet.

and a plug for Malka's album My Pet Fish, while I'm here.

― coco, Monday, 21 June 2004 18:11 (twenty-one years ago)

>>It probably has a bad rep among hardcore Wire fans,

Actually most who have heard it on the Wire list really enjoy it. It is "Bastard" that gets most of the criticism - if only they'd turn up the bass on the sucker!

― Michael F Gill (Michael F Gill), Monday, 21 June 2004 21:15 (twenty-one years ago)

certainly, there's nothing from bastard on Another The A List ...

― coco, Monday, 21 June 2004 21:24 (twenty-one years ago)

one year passes...

the two Githead records are excellent--way better than any of the recent-ish Wire.

― nerve pylon (flat_of_angles), Monday, 30 January 2006 16:53 (twenty years ago)

Odd I didn't say much on this thread. "Alone" is a tremendous song.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 30 January 2006 16:56 (twenty years ago)

eight months pass...

Can't believe how dismissive people are of 'Commercial Suicide'. The 2nd side is pretty stark and mysterious, yet completely hummable. AND it's got Patrick Codenys from Front 242 playing on it, FFS!

― Baaderonixx in the year of the locusts (baaderonixx), Wednesday, 4 October 2006 09:41 (nineteen years ago)

It's definitely better than "It Seems" (barring "Better Later Than Never" which is one of his best pop tunes of the 80s.)

― Michael F Gill (Michael F Gill), Wednesday, 4 October 2006 10:18 (nineteen years ago)

apparently some (all?) tracks on ...Singing Fish were originally planned as full songs. does anyone have the demo versions with vocals? (Ivo?)

― Paul (scifisoul), Wednesday, 4 October 2006 12:11 (nineteen years ago)

i didn't know codenys was on that ! must re-investigate. pronto.
i really like 'it seems'.

― frenchbloke (frenchbloke), Wednesday, 4 October 2006 12:36 (nineteen years ago)

He's listed as providing "digital treatments"...

― Baaderonixx in the year of the locusts (baaderonixx), Wednesday, 4 October 2006 12:46 (nineteen years ago)

But then again, Newman has half of the 80's Brussels scene playing on that (I understand he was living there at that time), on top of being released on Crammed.

― Baaderonixx in the year of the locusts (baaderonixx), Wednesday, 4 October 2006 12:48 (nineteen years ago)

Colin's 80s demos and such were supposed to be released on a CD comp called "Vox Pop" for the Wire Mail Order label. It was long delayed/postponed, and now that the label has been effectively shut down, the compilation/demos have been shelved indefinitely.

― Michael F Gill (Michael F Gill), Wednesday, 4 October 2006 13:03 (nineteen years ago)

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