RFI: New Wire releases

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TRACKLISTING

CD ALBUM (PF22CD)

1- Blogging
2- Shifting
3- Burning Bridges
4- In Manchester
5- High
6- Sleep-Walking
7- Joust & Jostle
8- Swallow
9- Split Your Ends
10- Octopus
11- Harpooned

"Joust & Jostle" is availabe here: http://noisey.vice.com/blog/premiere-wire-joust-justle

While I loved "Red Barked Trees", "Change Becomes Us" fell a bit flat for me. I heard a couple of these new tunes as they were developing on their last tour - I live in hope.

The new album is fantastic.

I'm not completely sold on it and prefer Silver/Lead - what might be a good way in? From what I can tell, the closing section might be stronger

Generally speaking it gets more like Silver/Lead as it goes along, I guess.

I stopped keeping up after the eponymous 2015 album -- too many damn albums! Guess I should give it a try?

Silver/Lead is a really strong album, I'd start there... Short Elevated Period, Diamonds in Cups, Sleep on the Wing all lovely.

IME Mindhive has a benefit over the s/t and Silver/Lead in that the songs are relatively distinct from one another, so that the album feels more substantial as a whole despite being on the brief side (34 minutes).

i love the classic trilogy so much i've been frightened of trying any later stuff for some reason. better to pretend it's a different band?

there's no wire fan born who won't say that some of the later stuff measures up, but alas we'd all disagree on the best period

imo the read & burn 01-03 & send era is just as good as classic wire if not even better, and v much the same band (with modifications in sound/approach)

I concur, though I will rep for almost their entire output. The Manscape-First Letter period is the weakest but still has its moments.

"Too many albums"!? Man, I can remember when the feeling was we'd never have any more Wire. I will happily bathe in their entire catalog and side projects for the rest of my life.

this is pretty good on first listen. but as someone who only knew their 70s stuff the relative thematic/emotional clarity & straightforwardness of these songs comes as a bit of a shock. are newman & lewis using autotune here, is this a new thing? not that I mind particularly

I've flirted with giving the Gilbertless Wire a chance but, on re-reading the Wire biography "Read and Burn", I don't think I'll bother, purely on the grounds that Colin Newman comes across so appallingly.

What does he do or say that's troubling?

He comes across as a relentlessly miserable and insecure egomaniac and control freak who is dismissive of anyone in Wire who isn't Colin Newman. As Bruce Gilbert says, he (Newman) thinks only he knows what Wire is, and he more or less confirms it later on by saying Graham Lewis' songs are Graham Lewis songs and his songs are Wire songs. When he said "Red Barked Trees" (I think) was the first time Graham Lewis had contributed two songs to an Wire album that were both pretty good, I almost threw the book across the room. Admittedly, it's probably irritating when you just want to be in a rock band and write songs and play gigs and record albums and you've got Bruce Gilbert in the same band talking about 'making pieces' and musical sculpting and performance and whatnot

The way he talks about the band, post-Gilbert, is that it's his band - he writes the songs, he produces and mixes the material, he runs the label that puts out the records, if Graham Lewis deigns to write a song it's his task to arrange it so it has a chance of being a Wire song etc.

Hey, Wire was the last band I actually was able to see live before the current isolation period. Good show.

I got the impression (not just via the gig) that the balance between Newman and Gilbert was responsible for the overall direction in the past when they were both in the band, and the current version is very much a Colin Newman-led project although they're more cohesive as a band without that tug of war going on.

I'd have to check the setlist, but I think a lot of the songs with Lewis vocals performed live were still from the founding era. They sounded great, though.

Don't get me wrong, Colin Newman was and is obviously the best songwriter in the band, I think the guy is super-talented. If he was putting out Colin Newman albums instead of Wire albums though he knows they wouldn't sell in anything like the same numbers. Graham Lewis just likes being in Wire and playing in a band and has other avenues for his musical talents.

Hang on, the common understanding as far as I understood it, is that Colin writes the music, and whoever writes the "texts".

The newly divided writing credits seemed to indicate that Col wrote things like "Mr Suit" and Graham wrote the more abstracted things like "Practice Makes Perfect"

He did write "Mr. Suit" but I thought Bruce Gilbert wrote the words to "Practice Makes Perfect" and Newman wrote the music.

There's a lot of songs he wrote the words and music for.

Yeah, he's included in the "whoever"

And that's how Colin Newman views it, "whoever"!

I'm not sure when the interviews for the biography were conducted tbf, it's possible he might have mellowed a bit, though I doubt he's relaxed his grip on the band. It's possible stuff was a bit raw, his obsession with/resentment of Bruce Gilbert seems a bit much though, given that he 'won'.

Did we ever talk about their Record Store Day release, "10:20"? I've been meaning to do this since it came out, the first half of which is from a bonus EP called Strays which came out with Red Barked Tree in 2010. Of the new versions on 10:20, they've previously appeared on a number of studio releases. I'm skipping live versions but including radio sessions. Here's my thoughts on them all:

Boiling Boy
A Bell Is A Cup... - the original version from the 80s, still captivating; I'm not someone who complains about 'dated' production - what does that even mean? Doesn't the way the 60s dinosaurs sound dated, too? It does.
It's Beginning To And Back Again - ups the atmosphere to 11, pushes the vocals up in the mix and adds a danceable beat; a cool version but not necessarily an improvement
Coatings (Peel session) - a more stripped down version, unsurprising given the way Peel sessions usually pull back songs to their essence. I like the more prominent floaty synth line, Colin's echoey vocals, and the strummy guitar bits. Still not superior to the original.
Strays EP / 10:20 - this really stretches out the groove and takes some of the best bits from the previous two versions: the atmospheric vibe and the echoey vocals. I especially dig when the heavier beat kicks in and then they add a fuzzbox. You can tell this is the result of touring this song for 30 years. This may better the original, it's close!

German Shepherds
Silk Skin Paws single - the original b-side; this feels slightly incomplete, like a rough mix, with its gated drums and Colin's somewhat disinterested vocals. Graham's vocals are more prominent throughout.
It's Beginning To And Back Again - Colin changed "three dogs fucking" to "three dogs flying". Better drum sound, more confident vocals from Colin and Graham's are only in the chorus. I love the melodrama of this version.
Coatings (Peel session) - Same edit as above plus "spitting in a bin" instead of "pissing in a bin" (radio play, after all). Different guitar vibe, less atmospheric, cool Graham spoken word interludes. An improvement over the original but not as good as the IBTABA version.
Strays EP / 10:20 - Much brighter and a bit faster than the other versions, Colin's vocals are double-tracked as is his wont these days. Graham's vocals are minimal, Malka does whatever backing is here. This is too chipper for me, I'm going with the IBTABA version as the winner.

He Knows
BBC session 2008 (officially unreleased) - you probably never heard this, I grabbed it from the web at the time. It's possible this was one of the first times they played it, Colin sounds tentative and plaintive and there's a few duff notes. Not a very strong song in the first place, it goes nowhere.
Strays EP / 10:20 - Much better double-tracked vocals from Colin but the same meandering vibe. Clearly a finished product compared to the sessions version but, again, not a great track.

Underwater Experiences
Behind The Curtain - This is a Chairs Missing outtake. Spindly guitar and vocals and a sudden punky ending, it builds really nicely and would've fit in well with that album.
Change Becomes Us (retitled "Attractive Space") - I need to listen to this album again, it was the first Wire LP that disappointed me on first hearing. Colin's vocals are run through a vocoder and the vibe is much more dramatic with a drawn out ending. A more mature version but not necessarily better.
Strays EP / 10:20 - A manic, cacophonous version, unexpected for the band at this late date. Fun, but I think I'll pick the original outtake - it captures the spirit of the tune best.

The Art Of Persistence
The Third Day EP - self-titled as "first draft", it prefigures some of the Read & Burn material, if a bit toned down in comparison. Solid tune but clearly a work in progress.
10:20 - more mannered vocals, an extra (more memorable) guitar line, this version loses something I can't quite explain from the original version, but adds more dynamism. Ultimately not a significant addition to their canon in either form.

Small Black Reptile
Manscape - I have softened on this album over the years, accepting its sound and enjoying it on its own terms. But this wasn't one of the better tracks in the first place, with odd herky-jerky sounds with weird vocals.
10:20 - Transformed into a proper Wire pop song! Much, much better. Sometimes it's better when Wire eschews the weirdness-for-weirdness' sake.

Over Theirs
The Ideal Copy - My first Wire LP! A sparse sound with the occasional guitar shard, great dark drama and vocals (Graham's offset backing is perfect). The almost false ending is key, too. Gonna be tough to improve this one!
It's Beginning To And Back Again - Almost 9.5 minutes long! A long 1 minute intro, then the intense atmospheric guitars come in. Clearer, more insistent, vocals, and choppy guitars gives this a spookier vibe. It hardly feels as long as it is, a rare case where an alternate version is just as good as the original in completely different ways. IBTABA is very underrated in their catalog.
10:20 - Similar length as the last version albeit a bit slower and heavier. The vibe has been altered as well, it's not as dark. Colin's new pop-style vocals don't serve this song as well as the other versions and there's no Graham in the background. The last 3 minutes of droning are fine but this doesn't better either previous version.

ordered 10:20 on a whim, have really been enjoying it. I knew in general terms it was reworked old material, but I don't know Wire's career that deeply. for me, it holds together as an album well, feels coherent, other than the Read and Burn era track was pretty easy to identify.

thanks for the rundown, really informative!

The IBTABA "Over Theirs" is notable for the guitar arpeggio hook that really brings it to life.

The mention of "Small Black Reptile" reminded me that it is described in Wilson Neate's book as "Wire does cruise-ship reggae", which would actually be more interesting than what it is.

I think this is the only thread in which we ever really discussed 2020's Mind Hive.

Every time I return to it I think "there's a reasonable case to be made for this being the best/ultimate Wire album". It's like 154 reimagined as a concise and clearly-etched collection of pop songs.

Also the lyrics are typically excellent and really um paradigmatically 'Wire' - like photographs that are blown up and framed on a gallery wall at 5% off vertical.

I love the albums that precede it as well but I return to this one more often.