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Richmond Fontaine

Post To Wire (20th Anniversary Edition) (RSD24 EDITION)

    THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2024 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON SATURDAY APRIL 20TH ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

    IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 8PM ON MONDAY APRIL 22ND.






    Annie Anxiety

    Barbed Wire Halo - 2024 Reissue

      Punk pioneers Crass continue their vinyl reissue series, re-pressing their limited releases by adjacent artists through Crass Records. The series, including over twenty bands and solo artists recorded at the legendary Southern Studios and produced by Penny Rimbaud, continues with two more historic pieces from the Crass Records catalogue; ‘Barbed Wire Halo’ by Annie Anxiety and ‘Neu Smell’ by Flux of Pink Indians.

      “Trying to categorise Annie Anxiety is a futile task… [she] exudes a magnetic presence on anything she’s contributed to” The Vinyl Factory

      New York City musical maverick and performance artist Annie Anxiety, aka Little Annie aka Annie Bandez, began her illustrious career (including work with Adrian Sherwood, Coil, Current 93, and Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry) with Crass. They released her first solo single, 1981’s ‘Barbed Wire Halo’ alongside ‘Cyanide Tears’, an extraordinarily prescient piece of jagged electronics, samples, and skeletal rhythms, led by Annie’s nightmarish vocals.

      She tells us; “When creating this single with Penny I hadn’t heard the word ‘avant-guard’ nor could I spell it - I only got explained ‘concretism’ via an interview I did in Berlin regarding some of my work three years ago - My father was a printer so I grew up with sound of printing press and subway train beats and always heard melodies and cross rhythms within those beats - I was just making dance music / disco tunes to my mind and Pen heard those same tunes I was hearing - my first recording, in retrospect I guess, was pretty ‘out there’ at its release, but to us it was dance floor for a club yet to be invented- one day”.

      Penny Rimbaud expands; “Annie Anxiety is a total enigma, a passionate voice in the wilderness of consensual reason. Dada in instinct, Monroe in affection, Rambo in inflection, Annie rams it home with divine thunder. An instigator and innovator, she’s the bonkers angel of Yonkers, NYC. With no time to spare, Annie takes to the road with complete conviction, overtaking Kerouac halfway down 5th Avenue. Catch her if you can”.


      TRACK LISTING

      1. Hello Horror
      2. Cyanide Tears

      The Wire

      Issue 482 - April 2024 (+ The Wire Tapper 64)

        Darius Jones: The New York based composer and saxophonist draws connections between Fluxus and US avant jazz. By John Morrison

        Steve Roach: Synthesizer worship with the Arizona ambient musician. By Ned Raggett; [Ahmed]: Revolutionary grooves from the radically minded Anglo-Swedish-French quartet. By Stewart Smith

        Clarissa Connelly: The Scottish born, Denmark based multi-instrumentalist meditates on myth, memory and modernity via her singular songcraft. By Leah Kardos

        Shovel Dance Collective: The London avant folk ensemble balance the trad and the weird. By Lucy Thraves

        Invisible Jukebox: Ka Baird: Will the New York based artist lose their Bearings when faced by The Wire’s mystery record selection? Tested by Ryan Meehan

        Unlimited Editions: Industrial Coast

        Unofficial Channels: The Rest

        Arushi Jain: The India born synthesist humanises electronics. By Vanessa Ague

        Kulku: Berlin no-age ensemble prepare rare record release. By Oli Warwick

        Harmony Holiday: Backstage with the pioneers of Black music. By Kehinde Alonge

        Richie Culver: Outsider art and working class electronics. By Spenser Tomson

        The Inner Sleeve: Raji Rags on D’Angelo’s Voodoo

        Global Ear: Dublin DIY strategies against economic constraints. By Daniel Baker

        Epiphanies: Aura Satz heeds the siren’s song

        The Wire Tapper 64: A track-by-track guide to this issue’s free CD

        The Wire

        Issue 479 + 480 - January + February 2024

          Special bumper double issue. On the cover: Releases of the Year: We asked our contributors to vote for their top ten records, CDs, streams and more, then added up the votes; Critics’ Reflections: Our writers discuss their memorable cultural experiences of the year; Columnists’ Charts: Our specialist critics delve deep into their musical niches from noise to modern composition; Archive Releases of the Year: We asked our contributors to vote for their top ten archive records, CDs, streams and more, then added up the votes. Plus: Engineered Phantoms: AI for the masses. By Abi Bliss; Back to the Land: Strange as folk. By Louis Pattison; Rival Camps: Crossing the streams. By Britt Brown; Weapons of Mass Distraction: Artists and Gaza. By GAIKA. Also inside this issue: Invisible Jukebox: Linton Kwesi Johnson: The veteran reggae poet faces down The Wire’s mystery record selection. Tested by Gabriel Bristow; Laetitia Sadier: The Stereolab founder promotes community and healing with her new solo work. By Claire Biddles; Fred Frith: The Henry Cow co-founder returns to his groundbreaking 1974 album Guitar Solos with a reissue and a new album. By Clive Bell. Plus: Unlimited Editions: Bead Records; Unofficial Channels: Lanner Chronicle; Phil Geraldi; HUUUM; Lisa Ullén; Thomas Ignatius; Global Ear: Chicago; The Inner Sleeve by Vince Clarke; Epiphanies by Mariam Rezaei; many pages of reviews and much more.

          The Wire

          Issue 477 - November 2023 (With Free Wire Tapper 63 CD)

            Irreversible Entanglements: With a new album in the can, the US quintet discuss freedom, community and dismantling the mechanisms of oppression. By Phil Freeman

            The Primer: Jazz & Poetry: A user’s guide to the ongoing conversation between mighty music and vibrant verse. By David Grundy

            Vanishing Twin: The London based art pop trio take a playful approach to retrofuturist psychedelia. By Claire Biddles

            Invisible Jukebox: Matana Roberts: The Chicago born musician and multidisciplinary artist faces The Wire’s mystery record selection. Tested by Teju Adeleye.

            Unlimited Editions: Gin&Platonic

            Unofficial Channels: Chocolate Monk Top Tens

            Carol Robinson: Clarinet results from the Paris based musician. By Louise Gray

            Tom Mudd: Getting algorithmic with the Edinburgh experimentalist. By Stewart Smith

            Hearsay: Chicago improvising trio turn the tables. By Bill Meyer

            Marina Herlop: Exploring otherworlds with the Catalan composer. By Miloš Hroch

            Global Ear: Oaxaca A mountain town’s brass ensembles celebrate Mexico’s Indigenous Mixe culture. By Juan San Cristóbal Lizama

            The Inner Sleeve: Val Wilmer on Henry Grimes’s The Call

            The Wire

            Issue 475 - September 2023

              Don & Moki Cherry: An 18 page special surveying the globe-trotting creative achievements of Don Cherry’s organic music family by The Wire’s crack writing team: Frances Morgan, David Grundy, Howard Mandel, Neil Kulkarni, Francis Gooding, Magnus Nygren, Gabriel Bristow, Bill Meyer, Marcus J Moore, Pierre Crépon, Matt Krefting, Phil Freeman, Emily Pothast, Clifford Allen, Clive Bell and Jo Hutton.

              The Pitch: The Berlin improvising collective connect the sonic with the social. By Peter Margasak

              Invisible Jukebox: GAIKA: Will The Wire’s mystery record selection reduce the London polymath to “Eternal Tears”? Tested by Ciaran Thapar;

              Feng Jiangzhou: Experimental rock gets down and dirty in the hands of the Beijing noise veteran. By Anla Li.

              Unlimited Editions: Pakapi Records

              Unofficial Channels: Ethio-Pain

              Aho Ssan: Networking with the Paris based producer. By Antonio Poscic

              Powerplant: UK-Ukraine synth punks touch grass. By Spenser Tomson

              Janneke van der Putten: Strange overtones from the Dutch vocalist. By Abi Bliss

              Global Ear: São Paulo: Tape against tradition in the Brazilian metropolis. By Romulo Moraes

              The Inner Sleeve: Suzanne Ciani on Glenn Gould/Johann Sebastian Bach’s The Goldberg Variations

              Epiphanies: John Butcher goes deeper underground

              The Wire

              Issue 474 - August 2023

                Includes The Wire Tapper 62.

                Annea Lockwood: Having explored the outer reaches of sound across a multi-decade career taking in burning pianos, animals and pulsars, the New Zealand composer turns her attention to love and loss. By Louise Gray

                Once Upon A Time In Maida Vale: In 1970s London, Spanish exile Miguel JM García García established a space where anarcho punk and industrial music would flourish. By Nick Soulsby

                Svitlana Nianio: The Ukrainian vocalist and keyboard player approaches folk song with an experimental ear. By Olena Pohonchenkova

                Invisible Jukebox: Gerald Cleaver: Will the US drummer and electronic composer Adjust to The Wire’s mystery record selection – or end up In The Wilderness? Tested by Collin Smith

                Kramer: From Bongwater and Butthole Surfers to Palace, Low and now Laraaji – the US producer, musician and Shimmy-Disc proprietor continues to produce prosthetic memories. By Emily Pothast

                Unlimited Editions: Guruguru Brain

                Unofficial Channels: Radio Amnion

                Coffin Prick: Moog and monotone from the Los Angeles synthesist. By Abi Bliss

                Ellen Zweig: The New York based composer speaks out. By Robert Barry

                Goat: Japanese rock gets polyrhythmic. By James Hadfield

                Ziúr: Digital to physical for the Berlin based producer. By Miloš Hroch

                Global Ear: Bucharest: DIY electronics vs minimal techno in the Romanian capital. By Steve Rickinson

                The Inner Sleeve: Abdullah Miniawy on Fela Kuti’s Fear Not For Man

                Epiphanies: Sunik Kim and the human nature of Conlon Nancarrow

                The Wire Tapper 62: A track-by-track guide to this issue’s free CD

                Calexico

                Feast Of Wire (20th Anniversary Edition)

                  In early 2003, Calexico released their seminal album ‘Feast of Wire’, the album that truly marked the duo’s critical and commercial breakthrough. Beginning in June, the band will play a series of headline shows across the year performing the landmark ‘Feast of Wire’ in full as well as a slew of beloved songs from the band’s full repertoire. In addition to the headline dates, the band will play a handful of festivals as well across Europe

                  TRACK LISTING

                  Feast Of Wire - LP1 (45 RPM):
                  A01 Sunken Waltz
                  A02 Quattro (World Drifts In)
                  A03 Stucco
                  A04 Black Heart
                  B05 Pepita
                  B06 Not Even Stevie Nicks...
                  B07 Close Behind
                  B08 Woven Birds

                  LP2 (45 Rpm):
                  C09 The Book And The Canal
                  C10 Attack! El Robot! Attack!
                  C11 Across The Wire
                  C12 Dub Latina
                  C13 Güero Canelo
                  D14 Alone Again Or (Bonus Track)
                  D15 Whipping The Horse's Eye
                  D16 Crumble
                  D17 No Doze

                  More Cowboys In Sweden - Live At China Theatre Stockholm, 25.04.2003 - LP3 (33 RPM):
                  E18 Pepita
                  E19 Across The Wire
                  E20 Quattro
                  E21 Dub Latina
                  E22 Sunken Waltz
                  E23 Not Even Stevie Nicks
                  E24 Woven Birds
                  E25 Güero Canelo
                  E26 Black Heart
                  E27 Alone Again Or

                  Wire

                  Not About To Die

                    Released on vinyl for RSD 2022 and now available on CD. The original Not About To Die was an illegal /bootleg, released at some point in the early 80s, by the dubiously named Amnesia Records. The album was made up of selections from demos recorded by the group for their second and third albums: Chairs Missing and 154. These demos had been recorded for EMI, with cassette copies circulated amongst record company employees. However, they were never intended for release. A typically shoddy cash-in, the songs on Not About To Die were taken from a second or possibly third generation cassette, with the album housed in a grainy green and red photo-copied sleeve. Compared with the high standards of production and design Wire have always been known for, it was something of an insult to band and fans alike.

                    Now, in a classic act of Wire perversity, the group have decided to redress the balance and reclaim one of the shadier moments of its history, by giving Not About To Die its first official release. All the tracks have been properly remastered, with the relevant recording details in place. As for the sleeve artwork, whilst it strongly references the original, it is decidedly more artful in its execution. Not About To Die emerges as a fascinating snapshot of Wire in transition with embryonic versions of classic songs such as ‘French Film (Blurred)’, ‘Used To’ and ‘Being Sucked In Again’, that the group would develop considerably for their epochal 1978 album Chairs Missing. Later demos such as ‘Once Is Enough’, ‘On Returning’ and ‘Two People In A Room’ would surface in radically altered form on 1979’s 154. Some songs, such as ‘The Other Window’, are virtually unrecognisable from their later iterations but the biggest prizes here may well be the tracks that were omitted from Wire's later studio albums... Highlights include ‘Motive’, which has an undeniable power.

                    Robert Grey’s drumming is crisp and minimal, and Graham Lewis’s bass runs are particularly ear-catching. Despite its distinctly un-Wire title, ‘Love Ain't Polite’ is also something of a gem. Meanwhile, the track which gives the album its title Not About To Die (officially known as ‘Stepping Off Too Quick’) possesses what Newman half jokingly calls “The best intro to any song ever”. The intro is so good in fact, that it takes up a third of the song’s entire time frame. These properly mastered tracks have never been available on vinyl before, and they provide an opportunity to hear Wire at a point in their development when they were bursting with fresh ideas and a will to communicate them. This is post-punk at its very finest. 

                    TRACK LISTING

                    Oh No Not So (Save The Bullet 4th Demo 
                    Culture Vultures 4th Demo 
                    It's The Motive 4th Demo 
                    Love Ain’t Polite 4th Demo 
                    French Film (Blurred) 4th Demo 
                    Underwater Experiences 4th Demo 
                    Stalemate 4th Demo 
                    Options R 4th Demo 
                    Indirect Enquiries V1 5th Demo 
                    Chairs Missing (Used To) 5th Demo 
                    Being Sucked In Again 5th Demo 
                    Ignorance No Plea (I Should Have Known Better) 6th Demo 
                    Once Is Enough 6th Demo 
                    The Other Window 6th Demo 
                    Stepping Off Too Quick (Not About To Die) 6th Demo 
                    On Returning 6th Demo / Former Airline 6th Demo 
                    Two People In A Room 6th Demo

                    Wire

                    Not About To Die (RSD22 EDITION)

                      THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2022 EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

                      Released as an illegal bootleg back in the early1980's Not About To Die were recordings made for EMI as demo's for 1978/1979 albums Chairs Missing & 154. Now Wire have decided to redress the balance and give the album it's first offical release on their own pinkflag imprint

                      Tom Williams

                      Follow The Leader

                        Celebrating 10 years since his first album, Tom Williams releases his most eclectic project to date. 'Follow The Leader' represents a departure from his previous output, and is comprised of a collection of songs which comment on pre- and post-lockdown life, providing beautifully crafted snapshots of modern Britain.

                        Having released six studio albums to date, Tom Williams has built a passionate fanbase of discerning music lovers since his first album, Tom Williams & The Boats Too Slow ten years ago. His 2017 album All Change was voted by BBC 6 Music Recommends as one of their Top Ten Albums Of The Year, and his last album 2019s What Did You Want To Be? which was produced by Tim Rice-Oxley, was described by The Guardian as surging, vintage pop-rock and championed extensively by Jo Whiley at BBC Radio 2, Steve Lamacq and Lauren Laverne at BBC 6 Music, Huw Stephens at Radio 1, Q Magazine and Clash.

                        Follow The Leader signifies a departure from Williams previous output. Self-produced, the album boasts rich orchestral sounds and full band performances, mixed with claustrophobic drum machines, synthesizers and deep sub bass sounds.

                        Wire

                        PF456 REDUX

                          The Wire album Send (pf6) originally released in 2003 was in fact a compilation of material contained on the releases Read & Burn 01 (pf4), Read & Burn 02 (pf5) & new tracks. The original plan had in fact been to simply compile the 2 planned Read & Burns but the unforeseen runaway success of Read & Burn 01 meant that in spite of the “band merch only” status of Read & Burn 02 there would be too much duplication if that plan was to go ahead so an extra 4 tracks were made and some Read & Burn material was dropped in order to come up with an acceptable track list for Send. As none of those tracks had ever been released on vinyl a creative solution was sought that would accommodate all of the tracks contained in those 3 releases (which unhelpfully equals 1.5 standard 12” vinyl records). While 2021’s solution was 2 X 10”s - 2003’s solution was a set of fairly brutal edits and the resulting release became PF456 REDUX . A “does what it says on the tin” title which basically lists the catalogue numbers and the process by which they were squashed into a single 12”.

                          There was a limited run in 2003 and then the title was never re-pressed, living on as a digital product only. The item remains, nonetheless a curio. Born as much of creative curiosity as necessity and as the full tracks have found their ultimate expression as PF456 DELUXE, an expanded version with a book, it is perhaps fitting that PF456REDUX now finds its new home as a limited CD release. title PF456 Redux is both catalogue number and descriptor of the process.

                          TRACK LISTING

                          1. In The Art Of Stopping.
                          2.I Don’t Understand.
                          3. Comet.
                          4.Germ Ship.
                          5. 1st Fast.
                          6. The Agfers Of Kodack .
                          7. Half Eaten.
                          8. Being Watched.
                          9. You Can’t Leave Now.
                          10. Mr Marx’s Table.
                          11. Read And Burn.
                          12. Spent.
                          13. Trash Treasure .
                          14.Nice Streets Above.
                          15. Raft Ants.
                          16. 99.9

                          Wire

                          PF456 DELUXE (RSD21 EDITION)

                            THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2021 EXCLUSIVE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE INSTORE ON SATURDAY JUNE 12TH ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

                            IF THERE ARE ANY REMAINING COPIES THEY WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT 6PM ON THE SAME DAY (SATURDAY JUNE 12TH).


                            Full length versions on vinyl for the first time in a unique package

                            The Fall

                            Take It Down To The Wire (Live 1985)

                              Great live recording from a radio broadcast of The Fall live on Sunday 16th of June 1985 Clitheroe Castle, Lancashire. It was a free open-air concert. The set from 2 x 4 through Lay of the Land was broadcast on Steve Barker's "On the Wire," BBC Radio Lancashire. Organized by the station and Ribble Valley Borough Council. Bonus tracks on this CD version are from Sheffield 1981.

                              TRACK LISTING

                              Clitheroe 1985 -

                              2 X 4
                              Couldn’t Get Ahead
                              Petty Thief Lout, No Bulbs
                              Gut Of The Quantifier,
                              Spoilt Victorian Child
                              Barmy
                              Stephen Song
                              Lay Of The Land
                              Oh Brother 

                              Sheffield 1981 -

                              Lie Dream Of A Casino Soul
                              Leave The Capitol
                              C'n'C's Mithering / Hassle
                              Schmuck
                              Slags Slates Etc. 

                              Wire

                              10:20

                                Originally scheduled for RSD 2020 Pink Flag have decided to make 10:20 a regular LP/CD release. A glimpse into Wire’s working practices, when Wire play live there are different 3 classes of pieces that are performed, new songs, old songs and “new old” songs. The latter often involves taking something that existed on a previous release and re-working it, very often evolving a stage highlight from it. There also pieces that have never seen a major release but for some reason never fitted on an album. The best of these ideas were recorded in 2 sessions - one relating to Red Barked Tree but recorded in 2010 and another relating to Wire’s latest album Mind Hive released in 2020. Incidentally celebrating the decade Matt Simms has been with the band.

                                The album divides in to two halves - the 2010 side & the 2020 side - hence the title.

                                Tracks 1 to 4 were recorded in the latter part of 2010 and feature contributions from both Margaret Fielder (of Laika) – who had been performing guitar duties with Wire on live dates the previous year – and Simms, who was on the point of becoming an official member of the band.

                                Track 1 ‘Boiling Boy’ first appeared on 1988’s A Bell is a Cup… Until it is Struck. ‘Boiling Boy’ has gone on to become perhaps the most played Wire song ever. Throughout the ’00s, it became one of the acknowledged highlights of Wire’s live sets.

                                Track 2 ‘German Shepherds’ is another late ’80s Wire song that has developed a second life on stage. The recording is also notable in that it includes vocal contributions from Newman, Lewis and Fielder.

                                Track 3 ‘He Knows’ was developed back in 2000 when Bruce Gilbert was still with the band. It emerged in a reinvigorated form in 2008 when it became a staple of Wire’s live show. This is the only studio recording to have surfaced.

                                Track 4.’Underwater Experiences’ was demoed for the band’s sophomore album Chairs Missing, but in the end was omitted. Having lay dormant for a couple of years, the song later appeared in two fast, abrasive, contrasting versions on Wire’s notoriously confrontational live album Document And Eyewitness, and a fifth iteration surfaced on 2013’s Change Becomes Us. However, the song has never sounded quite as it does here .

                                Tracks 5 to 8 were recorded more recently with the long-established line up of Newman, Lewis, Grey and Simms.

                                Track 5 . ‘The Art of Persistence’ arrived fully formed when Wire reconvened in 2000. But it was previously only available as a rehearsal room run-through on long deleted EP The Third Day or as a live version on Legal Bootleg album Recycling Sherwood Forest.

                                Track 6 ‘Small Black Reptile’ originally appeared on the band’s 1990 album Manscape. Of all the reimagined songs on 10:20, this is the one that has traveled the furthest. Whereas the original was a skeletal and arch computer-driven pop song, this new version sees the composition retooled as a piece of melodic rock.

                                Track 7 ‘Wolf Collides’, with its warm synth tones and spindly lead lines, sounds as if it deserves to be sitting regally on side two of 1978’s Chairs Missing. In actual fact, it was written in 2015 and became a stalwart of that year’s live set. This version was recorded for inclusion on 2017’s Silver/Lead but was omitted due to lack of space.

                                Track 8 ‘Over Theirs’ is the climax of the continuing reassessment of Wire’s 1980s output. Although the song appeared on The Ideal Copy and has been an intermittent component of the group’s live shows since 1985, its true power had never been properly harnessed in the studio – until now.

                                10:20 is that rare thing: an album that not only serves as a must-have for long-term fans and completists, but paradoxically also the perfect introduction for anyone new to the band.

                                TRACK LISTING

                                2010 SIDE.
                                1. Boiling Boy
                                2. German Shepherds
                                3. He Knows
                                4. Underwater Experiences

                                2020 SIDE
                                5. The Art Of Persistence
                                6. Small Black Reptile
                                7.Wolf Collides
                                8. Over Theirs

                                Wire exhibit little inclination to look back - rather they remain resolutely focused on producing music which is smart, vital and defiantly modern. Mind Hive is the group’s first newly recorded material since 2017’s Silver/Lead. That album garnered rave reviews and career best sales. Yet, if Silver/Lead set the bar pretty high, Mind Hive seems to have no problem vaulting over it.

                                Be Like Them is a super-angular composition, utilizing a recently rediscovered Wire lyric from 1977. Colin Newman and Matthew Simms’ guitars constantly mesh and diverge, whilst the rhythm section ensures the song prowls forward with an unstoppable menace.

                                Cactused is the first of Mind Hive’s pop moments. The vocal is wide eyed and wired, with effects-heavy guitar work creating a bright web of noise, with the song’s stop/start moments providing a series of precise energy bursts.

                                Primed And Ready rides out on a tightly pulsing synth sequence punctuated by icy slivers of guitar. This is Wire at their most compressed yet propulsive.

                                Off The Beach is another prime pop song. With its breezy, optimistic melody, and blend of electric and acoustic guitars, the song initially sees the group seemingly celebrating the joys of everyday life but things are destined to turn a shade stranger.

                                Unrepentant explores the kind of bucolic soundscape early Pink Floyd would have been proud to call their own. Boasting one of the album’s finest texts, the song radiates out into a shimmering sonic heat haze.

                                Shadows pulls the classic Wire trick of placing a dark and cruel lyric in a musical setting of tender beauty. Never has the recounting of atrocity been so seductively pitched.

                                Oklahoma is the muscular and dramatic joker in the pack. Lewis’ dark vocal swims through a rich compound of guitar textures and synth tones, building into a masterclass of tension and release.

                                Hung is the album’s centrepiece. This 8-minute excursion matches a brief but evocative lyric with a dense, mesmeric guitar grind. Simms and Newman’s keyboards add a plaintive note, as the song moves through a series of sections, each with its own distinct atmosphere.

                                Humming is a beatless autumnal drift fashioned from delicate keyboard textures and rich soaring guitar tones. Newman delivers a state of the world lyric with a touching sense of innocence, whilst the piece ends with Lewis’ husky baritone listing locations and their difficult associations. An elegiac end to a supremely confident album.

                                Mind Hive arrives at a time when Wire are being cited as an influence by yet another generation of bands. A career spanning feature documentary called People in a Film is due for release late 2020. Quite how a group that has been operating for such a long period is still able to produce such exciting and essential work is difficult to understand. And yet here we are…

                                TRACK LISTING

                                Be Like Them
                                Cactused 
                                Primed And Ready
                                Off The Beach
                                Unrepentant
                                Shadows
                                Oklahoma
                                Hung
                                Humming

                                Tom Williams

                                What Did You Want To Be?

                                  Having taken a break from the music industry to teach in 2015, Tom was offered a week-long artist residency in the music department of Leeds Beckett University, and on the condition the university provided him with a band, Tom accepted the post and entered into one of the most creatively inspiring periods of his career, and resulted in the critically acclaimed album ‘All Change’. The new album ‘What Did You Want to Be?’ was recorded in January 2018 in East Sussex at Tim Rice-Oxley’s (Keane) home studio. Written under a year since ‘All Change’ came out, the album came from a series of intense, ‘20 song days’ that Rice-Oxley encouraged Tom to throw himself into.

                                  TRACK LISTING

                                  Run Down
                                  Rock & Roll
                                  Dawned On Me
                                  Graveyard
                                  Stay Afloat
                                  Keeping It In
                                  Early Morning Rain
                                  Some Time
                                  It’s Dark Now
                                  Crying At The TV
                                  Real Slow

                                  Wire

                                  Pink Flag

                                    Wire’s first three albums need no introduction. They are the three classic albums on which Wire’s reputation is based. Moreover, they are the recordings that minted the post-punk form. This was adopted by other bands, but Wire were there first. These are the definitive re-releases. Each album is presented as an 80-page hardback book – the size of a 7-inch, but obviously much thicker. After a special introduction by Jon Savage, Graham Duff provides insight into each track. These texts include recording details, brand-new interviews with band members, and lyrics.

                                    This stunning set of presentations also includes a range of images from the archive of Annette Green. Wire’s official photographer during this period, Green also shot the covers for Pink Flag and Chairs Missing. Promotional and informal imagery – in colour and black and white – is featured throughout the books. Most of the photographs have not been seen for 40 years – and many have never been published anywhere before.

                                    These special editions are something every Wire fan will want to own. It has been a number of years since these albums were readily available. The aim with these new vinyl and CD releases is to approximate the original statements as closely as possible, but with remastered audio. The vinyl releases have the same covers and inners as the originals (minus the Harvest logo). The digipack CDs have identical tracklistings to their vinyl counterparts. These versions should be considered Wire’s classic 1970s albums, pure and undiluted.

                                    Pink Flag was very much Wire's punk rock album, and while they fully embraced it's revolutionary spirit, they came at it from their own obtuse angle. unhindered by talent (any kind of prior musical schooling) they gleefully took a baseball bat to Rock's overblown torso with humour and irreverence, producing classic, unsurpassed razor pop brilliance and a joyful antidote to the pomposity of their forerunners.

                                    STAFF COMMENTS

                                    Martin says: From the naked aggression of "12XU" and the ominous chordless drone of the title track, to the playful artpunk of "Start To Move" and "Brazil", this is, beginning to end, pure, unadulterated genius. Nothing more to add.

                                    TRACK LISTING

                                    01/ Reuters
                                    02/ Field Day For The Sundays
                                    03/ Three Girl Rhumba
                                    04/ Ex Lion Tamer
                                    05/ Lowdown
                                    06/ Start To Move
                                    07/ Brazil
                                    08/ It’s So Obvious
                                    09/ Surgeon’s Girl
                                    10/ Pink Flag
                                    11/ The Commercial
                                    12/ Straight Line
                                    13/ 106 Beats That
                                    14/ Mr. Suit
                                    15/ Strange
                                    16/ Fragile
                                    17/ Mannequin
                                    18/ Different To Me
                                    19/ Champs
                                    20/ Feeling Called Love
                                    21/ 12XU

                                    Wire

                                    Chairs Missing

                                      Wire’s first three albums need no introduction. They are the three classic albums on which Wire’s reputation is based. Moreover, they are the recordings that minted the post-punk form. This was adopted by other bands, but Wire were there first. These are the definitive re-releases. Each album is presented as an 80-page hardback book – the size of a 7-inch, but obviously much thicker. After a special introduction by Jon Savage, Graham Duff provides insight into each track. These texts include recording details, brand-new interviews with band members, and lyrics.

                                      This stunning set of presentations also includes a range of images from the archive of Annette Green. Wire’s official photographer during this period, Green also shot the covers for Pink Flag and Chairs Missing. Promotional and informal imagery – in colour and black and white – is featured throughout the books. Most of the photographs have not been seen for 40 years – and many have never been published anywhere before.

                                      With "Pink Flag" Wire tapped happily into punk's energy and iconoclastic tendencies, "Chairs Missing" is, perhaps, a little truer to their own instincts. They didnt completely shed the past completely; the joyful "Sand In My Joints" and grinding "Mercy" have more than a hint of "Pink Flag" about them, but their 1978 offering is moodier and much more textured than its predecessor, the addition of swathes of electronic sounds moving them firmly into post punk territory, a genre they helped to spawn. There is pure pop beauty on here too, of which "Outdoor Miner"  and "French Film Blurred" being the most gorgeous examples. 

                                      STAFF COMMENTS

                                      Martin says: Their most varied L.P. and possibly their finest hour (or so). Straddling the fire of punk and the colder, darker charms of brooding electronic post punk, it also contains within its grooves moments of melodic magic. Worth buying for the outrageously amazing "Outdoor Miner" on its own.

                                      TRACK LISTING

                                      SE Tracklist: Disc 1 (Original Album)

                                      01/PracticeMakesPerfect
                                      02/French Film Blurred
                                      03/Another The Letter
                                      04/Men 2nd
                                      05/Marooned
                                      06/Sand In My Joints
                                      07/Being Sucked In Again
                                      08/Heartbeat
                                      09/Mercy
                                      10/Outdoor Miner
                                      11/IAmTheFly
                                      12/I Feel Mysterious Today
                                      13/From The Nursery
                                      14/Used To
                                      15/Too Late

                                      Disc 2 (Singles, B-sides & Studio Recordings)

                                      01/I Am The Fly (single Version)
                                      02/Dot Dash
                                      03/Options R
                                      04/Outdoor Miner (single Version)
                                      05/Practice Makes Perfect (single Version)
                                      06/Underwater Experiences (Advision Version)

                                      Disc 3 (Studio Demos) Fourth Demo Sessions

                                      01/Practice Makes Perfect
                                      02/OhNoNotSo
                                      03/Culture Vultures
                                      04/It’s The Motive
                                      05 Love Ain’t Polite
                                      06/French Film Blurred (version 1)
                                      07/Sand In My Joints
                                      08/Too Late
                                      09/I Am The Fly
                                      10/Heartbeat
                                      11/Underwater Experiences
                                      12/Stalemate
                                      13/I Feel Mysterious Today Fifth Demo Sessions
                                      14/ Dot Dash
                                      15/ French Film Blurred (version 2)
                                      16/ Options R
                                      17/ Finistaire (Mercy)
                                      18/ Marooned
                                      19/ From The Nursery
                                      20/ Indirect Enquiries (version 1)
                                      21/ Outdoor Miner
                                      22/ Chairs Missing (Used To)
                                      23/ Being Sucked In Again
                                      24/ Men 2nd
                                      25/ Another The Letter
                                      26/ No Romans 

                                      London quartet, PIANO WIRE announce their debut album ‘Dream Underground’ via their own Hanging Houses label. To celebrate the occasion, here’s ‘Cherry Coma’, a relentless hybrid, fusing rock’n’roll, pop sensibilities and their distinctive lopsided song-writing. It’s another tale from the darkside, a place all too familiar to the band: "The hallucinations of a dark, neurotic sycophant lost and lonely in his addled obsession". The video is directed by their visual collaborator, Steve Gullick, filmed within the fruity confines of London’s notorious Flying Dutchman.

                                      Formerly of Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster, Sym Gharial and Andy Huxley split the duties thusly - Sym on bass and crafting those unique lyrics; Andy singing, writing the music and playing guitar. Their 2015 EP, ‘The Genius Of The Crowd’ set out the band’s stall, discharging 8 blistering pop songs in 20 minutes.

                                      ‘Dream Underground’ shows a giant leap forward in song-writing and approach, realising their aim to make a huge and satisfying rock album that could rattle the ribcages and fuel the imaginations of as many people as possible. It begins in style with the Gil Norton-produced ‘Get A Life’, a riff-fuelled punch in the gut, which serves as a delicious warning of what is to follow. It’s a down and dirty juxtaposition of dark and light, grit and sweetness, grinding riffs and explosive melody - a theme that continues throughout the record. The idea of hedonism and its consequences is often at the heart of their songs. Sym and Andy’s experiences have provided a lifetime’s worth of inspiration, powering the weirdly wonderful tales of the ‘Dream Underground’ and beautifully realised in Jude Wainwright original oil paintings, commissioned for Loose Collective.

                                      The literary influence is strong in Piano Wire’s approach. Lyricist Sym draws succour from the likes of Oscar Wilde and Chuck Bukowski and the parallels can be seen in a number of places across ‘Dream Underground’ – “I thought I found romance in drinking and hard drugs but realised I had been fooled and was fooling everyone,” he says. “I like Oscar Wilde a lot. The lyrics to the tracks are about fucked up, twisted love and being a loner and going mad. The tragedy of old fashioned Romance. Wanting what you can't have. Feeling detested. And Fear. Strong experiences.” Despite the darkness that undercuts many of their tracks, Piano Wire’s exuberant aesthetic is uncontrollable on the record’s monstrous peaks and choruses.

                                      TRACK LISTING

                                      1 Get A Life
                                      2 Cherry Coma
                                      3 Outline Of A Massacre
                                      4 Hooligan In The USA
                                      5 Glass Elevator Music
                                      6 Weird Heroes
                                      7 All Roads Lead To God
                                      8 Red Electric Flower
                                      9 Liquorice Junkie
                                      10 Fifteen Year Comedown
                                      11 Slip Inside The Shadow
                                      12 Gangs

                                      After releasing ‘Easy Fantastic’, his acclaimed third LP with The Boat on Moshi Moshi Records last year, Tom Williams jumped ship to explore a stripped back solo venture that focuses entirely on the charming intensity of his lyrical songwriting and the minimal arrangements provided by a close circle of friends. The “New House” mini-album follows “New Guitar” (released in March this year) and both feature seven new songs each, all written over the past two years and put to tape at 2kHz Studios in Crouch End, London with Ian Grimble (The Fall, Manic Street Preachers, Siouxie And The Banshees). The collection of songs give an intimate insight into Tom’s transition from band to solo artist, his relocation from Tunbridge Wells to St Leonards and eventually settling in the new house which became the central point to the stories tying all these songs together. Playing with Tom on many of the tracks and also on stage is Ant Vicary from The Boat as well as Sarah Maycock, Fiona Keeler and Catherine Black on piano, vocals and cello respectively. 



                                      After releasing Tom Williams and The Boat’s acclaimed 3rd LP ‘Easy Fantastic’ on Moshi Moshi Records, Tom is jumping ship to explore a stripped back venture called ‘New Guitar’, one that focuses entirely on the charming intensity of his lyrical songwriting and the minimal arrangements provided by a close circle of friends.

                                      The first single ‘New Guitar’ is revealed here in the form of a live performance at Replay Acoustics, the place where Tom found the Guitar that “all kinds of new songs fell out” of. The first song that did, is about moving down to the sea and serves as a perfect introduction to the project. The mini-album features more songs written over the past two years and studio versions (available upon release) were put to tape at 2kHz Studios in Crouch End, London with Ian Grimble (The Fall, Manic Street Preachers, Siouxie And The Banshees). Footage from these sessions was captured to create The Making-of “New Guitar” Mini Album Documentary directed by Jake Cunningham, giving a insight into Tom’s transition from band to solo artist, his relocation from Tunbridge Wells to St Leonards and the pivotal instrument that ties all these songs together.

                                      This release see’s Tom accompanied by Ant Vicary from The Boat as well as Sarah Maycock, Fiona Keeler and Catherine Black on piano, vocals and cello respectively. It is released on Tom’s own Wire Boat Recordings label.

                                      TRACK LISTING

                                      1. New Guitar
                                      2. Oh Boy
                                      3. Tuesday Morning
                                      4. Open Mic
                                      5. She's Everything
                                      6. I've Been Thinking
                                      7. 1992

                                      Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin

                                      Fly By Wire

                                      Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin returned to the attic where they made their debut full-length Broom. Phil Dickey, Will Knauer, and Jonathan James spent up to twelve hours a day working on the songs that would become Fly By Wire. With James assuming the role of engineer, Dickey and Knauer wrote lyrics and guitar parts on a third floor windowsill and recorded vocals in the staircase. This laid-back approach to recording is clearly evident in the album’s warm, welcoming sound.

                                      TRACK LISTING

                                      1. Harrison Ford
                                      2. Young Presidents
                                      3. Cover All Sides
                                      4. Lucky Young
                                      5. Ms. Dot
                                      6. Loretta
                                      7. Unearth
                                      8. Bright Leaves
                                      9. Nightwater Girlfriend
                                      10. Fly By Wire

                                      After five years as a band, encompassing five EPs and two albums, Kent-based six-piece Tom Williams & the Boat might appear fully-formed but, with the release of their second album, ‘Teenage Blood’, they’re only just beginning to reveal their true colours.

                                      ‘Teenage Blood’ is made up of ten tracks that Tom says reflect a new sense of focus for the band. After becoming obsessed with the idols of pop-rock’s history, such as Tom Petty, Teenage Fanclub, The Band and Loaded-era Velvet Underground, Tom decided to write songs that take the traditional song structures of that genre – repeated choruses, catchy hooks – and fill them with a subversive lyricism, touched upon in the debut release.

                                      The result is a tight, narrative set of tracks that don’t so much form a concept as a series showing the progression of doomed love affairs – moving from youthful naïveté in ‘Too Young’ into ‘There’s A Stranger’s gut-punch realisation of the death of a romance (‘the best song I’ve ever written’, says Tom) and finally the ‘rolling credits’ of ‘Emily’, a depiction of the (re)birth of a new relationship. Teenage Blood’s consistent focus and narrative drive make for a more cohesive album than Too Slow; a mixture of the black and white polarity of their debut that explores new, captivating shades of grey - the spaces in between pop and alternative music, love and hate.

                                      Tom Williams & The Boat

                                      See My Evil EP

                                        Tom Williams and the Boat return following a summer that has seen them play across the UK at various festivals including five sets at Glastonbury and high profile sets at Latitude and Lounge On The Farm with an EP of new material recorded throughout August. The band are currently putting the finishing touches to their debut album, due for release in Spring 2011.

                                        Lead track "See My Evil" has been raising eyebrows amongst fans, who now number the likes of Huw Stephens, Steve Lamacq and Tom Robinson, taking their well known ear for a melody into new and darker musical territory and saw The Fly rapt with ‘an unexpected dark dynamism, and an all-round righteous fury’ whilst Likesounds thrilled to a track so ‘massive and loaded with hooks’ when they caught the band live at the Buffalo Bar. Coupled with "Get Older", a bluesy confessional burning with the anger of a young Nick Cave, the two tracks further demonstrate Tom Williams and the Boat as one of the most inventive songwriting teams around. With the dark mood persisting into the groove of "Strong Wheels", threaded gossamer like with a sinewy guitar line there is still space for the release of "Kick the Cat" and the warped confessional of "In Love".

                                        STAFF COMMENTS

                                        Laura says: This EP is all over 6 music at the moment, and deservedly so - it's ace!

                                        TRACK LISTING

                                        1. See My Evil
                                        2. Get Older
                                        3. Strong Wheels
                                        4. In Love
                                        5. Kick The Cat

                                        At a time when back catalogue outsells fresh creativity and newcomers achieve fame by adding a lick of paint to their parents’ record collections, it’s unusual to find a band who, despite plying their trade for decades, are willing and able to make new work that’s as vital and relevant as their own illustrious past recordings. Wire are such a band, and with "Red Barked Tree" they have succeeded in making a statement that will sound as strong in 30 years as their celebrated historical oeuvre does today. "Red Barked Tree" rekindles a lyricism sometimes absent from Wire’s previous work and reconnects with the live energy of performance, harnessed and channelled from extensive touring over the past few years. "Red Barked Tree" was conceived, written and recorded mostly during 2010 by the pared-down lineup of Colin Newman, Graham Lewis and Robert Grey - with no guests.

                                        Ranging from the hymnal "Adapt" to the barking sledgehammer art-punk of "Two Minutes", the album encompasses the full range of style and nuance that has always endeared Wire to pastel-tinged pop aficionados and bleeding-edge avant-rockers alike. Whatever Wire make is Wire music: this is the band’s enigmatic guiding axiom. While Wire remain agnostic about the nature and identity of their aesthetic essence, it’s always been instantly recognisable, manifesting itself throughout their heterogeneous work. This enigma waits be revealed among the "Red Barked Trees" …


                                        TRACK LISTING

                                        01. Please Take
                                        02. Now Was
                                        03. Adapt
                                        04. Two Minutes
                                        05. Clay
                                        06. Bad Worn Thing
                                        07. Moreover
                                        08. A Flat Tent
                                        09. Smash
                                        10. Down To This
                                        11. Red Barked Trees

                                        Capitol K

                                        Notes From Life On The Wire With A Wrecking Ball

                                          Having recorded albums for labels such as XL and Planet Mu, Capitol K returns with full length number six, this time on Faith and Industry. The first track unfolds gradually in classic Capitol K style with the beat-poet driven, nostalgic rave of "Diamond Skys", the energy rises with the deconstructed bossa-nova of "Go Go Go", again influenced by the early days of Beat poetry. Things slow down a little for Steve Lamacq ROTW single "Libertania". Next up, "Acid Favela" takes the gigantic baile funk "Rambo" anthem and mixes in some acid lines and shoe-gazing riffage like only Capitol K can. "Freak" is a progressive hyper-funk freak out over a cut up 2-step rhythm. "Impression", is part two of "Freak", reflecting on a love with a sense of stillness and calm, musically revisiting K's penchant for revealing serene melodies from dictaphone tape cut ups.

                                          The Red Onions

                                          Live Wire

                                            A brand new EP from Southern California's explosive Red Onions. A hyper-charged blast-out of Stooges-fueled punk rock, delivered with tight rhythms, powerful riffs, tons of adrenaline, and plenty of destruction in mind.

                                            Get Up Kids

                                            On A Wire

                                              The Get Up Kids are simply one of the best emocore outfits on the planet, they helped define the style and "On A Wire" is prepared to redefine the band again. It's mellow, even soppy at times but the emotion content is too high to ignore and they're not afraid to wear their hearts on their sleeves. Fulsome vocal harmonies, subtle acoustic melodies, poppy basslines - the Get Up Kids have taken emo one step further from core.


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