News
News
1999 archive
This page contains edited versions of all the news pages from 1999 that appeared on this site. WMO newsletters are not included here and can be accessed from the articles page. Please note that links to external sites may not work, but were active at the time of writing. Internal links should all still be active, but if you find a dead link please inform us by using the contact form.
December 1999
Welcome to the December issue of Wireviews! I've just a few brief notes before I hand over to Kevin Eden for the first WMO newsletter on the Wireviews site (this is now housed on its own page—Ed). First, Wireviews' first birthday came and went a few weeks back. It's quite amazing to think how the tiny fledgling site containing a dozen pages of reviews and very small 'A' List has managed to grow into the site you see before you now. I think it's fitting to bung in a few festive thank-yous to all you out there reading this, everyone who has contributed to the site, made suggestions, sent an 'A' List (which has now gained enough votes to support a 'Wire' top 40!), and in particular Andrew Westmeyer, Charles Snider, Colin Newman, Malka Spigel, Kevin Eden, Uri Baran, Miles Goosens, and Patrick Follon, whose support and innovations have helped the site immensely.
I've no idea what the future will bring, but I do have a few things lined up for 2000 including some new old reviews of various Wire related projects, along with various other items of interest!
On a more personal note, Veer Musikal Unit's Like This had its first good news—acceptance on to the peoplesound.com website. Hopefully, these are the first slight steps of a much longer journey. VMU's page on peoplesound.com can be found here.
Happy holidays everyone! See you in 2000!
Craig Grannell.
November 1999
Hello, and welcome to the November edition of Wireviews! There's not too much news this month as everyone waits with baited breath for Wire's Y2K performance in February. There is one new review though, the self titled Symptoms album from the Swim newcomer Klaus Ammitzboel.
Wire
As most of you are probably aware by now, Wire's much anticipated one-off gig at London's Royal Festival Hall has been put back due to an injury to Robert Gotobed. A new date has been set for the 26th February 2000 and Royal Festival Hall continue to sell tickets for the date (and have confirmed that they will honour all existing tickets and seats). Acts rumoured to make an appearance along with Wire are Immersion, He Said, and Michael Clarke along with 'surprise special guests'.
We will, of course, inform you when a finalised line-up appears and given the extra six months to play with, what this will finally contain is anyone's guess! Anyone who wants a ticket should contact the RFH box office on +44 (0)171 960 4242.
Wire Mail Order
After an unavoidable delay Yclept, the first Dome album for 15 years, is now officially out and those of you who pre-ordered should find their copies winging their way to you right now. For those of you that don't know, Yclept contains a compilation of Dome rarities from the late '80s, two versions of the He Said oriented Because we Must, an excerpt from 1983's Making a Meeting performance, and the very impressive VS series which was recorded over the last two years.
Swim~ Records
Symptoms, reviewed this month, has a provisional release date of January 2000. A 7" containing the noisy Silo-tinged Versus and the introspective ambient Bund is available now and is very much recommended.
Stereo Society
Mike Thorne's website continues to be of growing interest to the Wire fan and now contains a page about Outdoor Miner that includes the full story behind the release and some audio samples. www.stereosociety.com
Wireviews
This month sees a long overdue update of the A List (due to finally receiving some new ones!). Remember this is an ongoing list made up from your contributions so please send them in. Kevin Eden will be taking the bulk of the reigns next month on this page as the ex-WMO newsletter moves to this site.
Snub Communications/VMU
Both of the above sites have had something of a severe update over the last month. VMU, the Snub audio project, now includes three full length .AIFF tracks from the forthcoming release Like This, along with a dozen .MP3 excerpts. Snub Communications has had a facelift, and the main portion of the site, the Snub Console, has been Shocked, making it truly a website fit for the 21st Century!
Until next month, take it easy.
Craig Grannell.
October 1999
Hello, and welcome to the somewhat delayed October edition of Wireviews! There are two new reviews this month, Dome's Yclept and Immersion's Backflip. Both are very limited releases, so you'll have to be quick if you want to get a copy. 1000 copies of Yclept are available from WMO as you read this, and Backflip will be supplied with the first 2000 copies of Low Impact from Swim.
Wire
As most of you are probably aware by now, Wire's much anticipated one-off gig at London's Royal Festival Hall has been put back due to an injury to Robert Gotobed. On September 24, 1999, Wire issued to following Statement:
It is with great regret that Wire have to postpone their evening 'It's All In The Brochure' at the Royal Festival Hall on 30th October. This is due to the unavailability of Robert Gotobed who has sustained a shoulder injury whilst hay bailing.
To give Robert's shoulder time to heal and enable him to get fully fit the evening will be rescheduled to a date early in the New Year. Details of ticket transfers and the new date will be made available as soon as possible. Wire would like to apologise to all those who have bought tickets and made arrangements.
Bruce Gilbert, Robert Gotobed, Graham Lewis & Colin Newman
A new date has been set for the 26th February 2000. Although this is obviously disappointing, I hope you'll all join me in wishing Robert a speedy recovery. Hopefully, the increased 'run-in' to the gig will allow Wire to make it an even more memorable event.
Royal Festival Hall plan to honour all tickets purchased so far, so your investment will still be valid next year. Anyone who wants a refund should contact the box office on +44 (0)171 960 4242. We will inform you all as soon as tickets go back on sale for the revised date.
Claude Bessey
News has come through that long time Wire associate, Claude Bessey, sadly died on Saturday 2nd October 1999, following a long battle against lung cancer. As a French exchange student Claude went to USA in the late 70's. He jumped ship and stayed in California where he became editor of punk 'zine Slash. He also sang in short-lived group called Catholic Discipline. As Ronald Reagan came to power, Claude saw the writing on the wall and relocated to London where he worked in the press office of Rough Trade records. He finally decamped to Barcelona in the mid-'80's. Claude's last public appearance was providing the gruff voice on Wir's Naked, Whooping and Such-Like from The First Letter.
Graham Lewis kindly provided us with this text: 'I received a note from Claude a couple of weeks ago. He'd rallied a bit and was hoping to be strong enough to commit some reading to tape for the rescheduled RFH (February 26th 2000). He had been extremely ill and in a great deal of pain of late... but his death is still hard to accept. He is one of the rare people one has met who truly wished to LIVE. I feel honoured to have been able to count him as a friend. Our thoughts are with Philli, Claude's constant companion in love and in life.'
During the Summer of 2000 Philli will take Claude's ashes to the Greek Island where the spent many happy times together. His ashes will be laid to rest in his favourite spot.
Graham Lewis
Hox and Ocsid are available now through Wire Mail Order. For those of you that missed last month's reviews, they can be found in the Graham Lewis section of the site.
Graham has also written soundtracks for two new pieces. The first is Atomic, a butoh dance performance by Susanah Akerland. Susanah studied butoh for 6 years in Japan. The dance was premiered in Uppsala on the 16th and 17th of October. The second soundtrack is featured a week later in Susanah's short film with co-director Gunilla Leander, Universal Body. It is premiered at the Uppsala film festival on the 22nd of October.
Swim Records
The debut of Swim newcomer, Symptoms, is now scheduled for a January 2000 release. Expect a review of this release next month that reputedly 'mashes up guitars, beats, homemade samples and digital mosh into a lo-fi meisterwork'.
The Swim website continues to evolve, and in a shameless piece of self-promotion, Snub Communications (the umbrella 'organisation' of which Wireviews is a part of) is proud to announce Dorain. This movie was produced specifically for Swim Records, and attempts to follow the rhythmic feel of the Lobe track while pursuing some visual narrative overtones. Check it out at http://www.swimhq.com/videos/dorainvideo.html. You'll need Quicktime 3 or better to view it.
Wire Mail Order
Version II of Wire Mail Order is now up and running. The site is now primarily shop based, and you can purchase WMO, Origin, and Thousand titles on-line. Another new feature is the inclusion of a web version of the Wire Video FAQ. This all new video was produced earlier this year by Snub Communications.
Stereo Society
Mike Thorne's website, Stereo Society, continues to expand. Check out their Wire section at http://www.stereosociety.com/wire.html for some interesting insights as to the real story behind Outdoor Miner, an all new interview with Bruce Gilbert, and a lengthy piece about 'Wire 1977-79' by Kevin Eden. Major changes are also due to the site in the middle of this month, but the fine details are still under wraps.
Until next month, take it easy.
Craig Grannell & Kevin Eden.
September 1999
Hello and welcome to the September edition of Wireviews!
Well, it's certainly been an interesting couple of weeks as a flurry of Wire related activity ensued behind the scenes. Now, at last, some official announcements can be made—and some of these will certainly surprise you (Ideal Copiers excepted who've already heard a lot of this!!)
Live
The most important announcement for all you Wire fans is this: Wire is reforming! To quote Bruce, "We are taking the old banger out for a run round the block". Apparently, this is a 'one night only' thing, and it's not only Wire on the bill: it also includes Duet Emmo (Dome collaboration with Daniel Miller), Colin Newman and Malka Spigel's 'Swim Live' project, Michael Clark and Dome, Graham Lewis with Andreas Karperyd, Susan Stenger and Robert Poss, and Robert Grey. Note that final name that proves this is Wire with an 'e', rather than the later incarnation of Wir. As if this wasn't enough, other surprise guests are planned.
The event is due to take place at London's Royal Festival Hall on October 30th at 7:30pm. Tickets will cost between £14 and £18 depending on how well you want to see (South Bank venues are notorious for sticking you near the ceiling if you go for the low priced tickets, so beware).
Bruce has a live solo appearance on September 25th at London's ICA as part of its Nervous Systems season. Whether his shed will also be there is unknown.
Releases
Plenty of new releases this month! New reviews on this site include both of Graham Lewis' new projects, Hox's It-ness, and Ocsid's In Between, along with the long awaited new album from Immersion, Low Impact. Graham has also created a remix for Touch for a forthcoming Chris Watson CD. Another Touch compilation, Antitrade, marks Bruce's first output this year with a track called The Book. The initial sounds were offered to him by Daniel Menche. Bruce then constructed his piece from the sound sources. He also provided 'samples' for the new Simon Fisher Turner album Oh Venus, out now on Mute.
EMI celebrates the 30th Anniversary of Harvest Records with a 5CD box set called Harvest Festival. Wire get four tracks: Reuters, I Should Have Known Better, A Touching Display, and I Am The Fly. There's also the re-release (again!) of 154 at budget price.
Expect this momentum to continue into October when we should also see the release of Dome's Yclept on WMO, and the debut from Swim~ newcomer Symptoms. Hopefully, full details of the Immersion box-set will also emerge. This is planned for an autumn release and will contain Low-Impact, Oscillating, and an Immersion video.
Web
Mike Thorne's excellent website now includes its own Wire pages with details of Mike's involvement with all three EMI Wire releases and the Live at The Roxy album. Also featured is a new interview with Bruce along with other amusing and interesting anecdotes. Go to http://www.stereosociety.com/wire.html to see for yourself.
Patrick Follon's I am Wired site continues to improve. The Real Audio concerts are now provided in Sure Stream format which should allow most of you out there access to these live Wire rarities.
Last, but certainly not least, is some rather sad news. WMO has decided to wind up operations. The reasons are varied, but basically boil down to a lack of viable releases, finances, distribution problems, and the fact that they feel that they have achieved what they set out to do.
Dome's Ycelpt will probably be the final release from the label, and the website will exist solely in a mail-order capacity selling all WMO, Origin, and Thousand titles only from December 1999 until all stock runs dry. The only exceptions are Pacific/Specific, which has been deleted, and Coatings, which will be deleted in October 2000 when the licensing deal with Mute Records expires.
Of course, the closure of WMO creates many questions, some of which I will try to answer here:
The newsletter will continue as long as there is a demand for it. It will still be posted to those that request a printed copy, and Wireviews is pleased to announce that this site will host both the current newsletter, and the archive as of December this year. Hopefully, Kevin Eden will also be able to provide an updated Wire FAQ for that month's update. Other elements of the WMO resource will also be available—the discography via The Wire Page, and the audio clips via The Wire Sound Archive.
Of course, there are several releases on the WMO catalogue that have yet to see the light of day. Their fate is as follows: Colin Newman's Vox-Pop may eventually surface as a Swim CDR, but this is not likely to happen anytime soon, as Colin is concentrating on Immersion and his new solo album. The Ex-Lion Tamer's Flap King was never intended for release—as WMO points out, two tribute albums are enough for any band and there's no need for a third. Bruce Gilbert's The Haring 2 may appear as a custom CDR as some point in the future. gilbertposstenger's machesterlondon is still a possible release candidate for sometime in 2000—watch this space. MZUI and O'Shea were shelved due to low sales projections. The later may appear over the coming months in a very different form. Again, watch this space.
The final WMO newsletter closes by thanking many people for their support of WMO, and I hope you'll all join be in returning the thanks to a label that's worked hard these past five years in keeping Wire alive and allowing us all to peek behind the scenes.
As someone once said, "It's just for now—even if it makes you happy..."
Until next month, take it easy.
Craig Grannell.
August 1999
News
Last month was the bastion of the excuse here at Wireviews, but this month has seen something of a flurry of activity. Swim has several tasty treats lined up, the most anticipated of which must be Low Impact, the new album from Immersion. Reports from Swim suggest that it will be like nothing you've ever heard in an electronic album, taking the organic nature and loose structures of Oscillating to the extreme, and is one hundred and eighty degrees from My Pet Fish and Live, the two most recent releases from Colin Newman and Malka Spigel. Hopefully, there should be two versions of Low Impact available this autumn. In September, the album will be released as a 2CD pack for the price of a single album. The second CD will contain six previously unheard Immersion rarities and pieces of interest. Later in the autumn, we should see the release of a box-set which will contain Low Impact, Oscillating, and an Immersion video. Little is known about this project at present, particularly the video element. More news as and when!
Colin and Malka have also confirmed their US dates in August: Thursday 12th @ The Khyber, Philadelphia; Saturday 14th @ The Knitting Factory, NYC - The Knitting Factory; Tuesday 17th @ The Middle East, Boston; Thursday 19th @ The Marquee, Halifax; Friday 20th @ Lee's Palace, Toronto. A London UK date is possible in September. Check the Swim~ website for latest news.
Also coming soon from Swim are the first two releases by newcomer Symptoms. A 7" is due within the next few weeks and a full album will be released early autumn.
Lastly, there are rumours of a new Colin Newman album in the making. The release date is still not confirmed (likely early 2000) but it may surprise quite a few of you, most notably as this is one album that is going to rock!
Hox and Oscid continue to be elusive. The official reason for the delay is that there have been some distribution problems, but both are likely to ship some time this month. The preview I heard of Hox seems to suggest that fans of He Said Omala will lap up the release, although it has a slightly harder edge that may increase its appeal to those that preferred Graham's earlier work.
Dome's Yclept on WMO is still on course for a September release. Despite Dome 'disbanding' circa 1984, Bruce Gilbert and Graham Lewis have continued to record together whenever the opportunity has arisen. The most notable of these occasions was a commission from Michael Clark, used in the Channel 4 broadcast of dance piece Because we Must in 1989. Two versions of this piece are included on the CD along with another nine unreleased tracks. Can the post-industrial chain smokers still cut it in the late 1990s? Time will tell!
Wire on the Web
Post Everything continues to make progress and should be online sometime in September. The site is aiming to be a site collecting together releases from several independent labels, including Swim, and will eventually provide online ordering and possible MP3 catalogues.
A new Wire website, I am Wired appeared quietly last month. Based in the Netherlands, the site provides one of the main missing puzzle pieces to WIre's on-line presence—that of live material. Currently online are some set-lists and, more importantly, several Wire and Colin Newman concerts in RA format.
Coda
So, until next month take it easy. If you have any comments about the site or suggestions for content/improvements, or want to submit an article, then the contact details are here.
July 1999
It's just for now
Releases from Wire and its various members are often very, very different from each other in content, style, intent, and more or less anything else you might care to mention. However, there is one thing that they have often had in common over the years: a penchant for being heavily delayed!
And so it is good to hear that Oscid and Hox should finally be released within the next month. Honest. Check the August edition of this site for reviews of both (unless, of course, Mr Eden was just toying with me!)
According to the fine folks at Swim the new Immersion release, Low Impact, is almost finished. Expect a release and review soonish of this organic selection. Also due is the debut 7" from newcomer Symptoms.
Dome's Yclept (pronounced Icklept) on WMO is still on course for a September release. Despite Dome 'disbanding' circa 1984, Bruce Gilbert and Graham Lewis have continued to record together whenever the opportunity has arisen. The most notable of these occasions was a commission from Michael Clark, used in the Channel 4 broadcast of dance piece Because we Must in 1989. Two versions of this piece are included on the CD along with another nine unreleased tracks. Can the post-industrial chain smokers still cut it in the late 1990s? Time will tell!
The other anticipated release from WMO, gilbertpossstenger, has been removed from the release schedule until next year. More news about the final fate of this disc should surface in September.
Shopping for many of these releases should also become a tad easier as WMO opens its online store at the end of July. Full credit-card ordering will put their catalogue at your beck and call for just a few mouse clicks (oh, and some dollars!)
Post Everything remains shrouded in mystery, but should also appear this summer. Swim, of course, continues to offer mail order services in the meantime.
Looking at me
You lucky Americans you. Colin and Malka have now confirmed their US tour with the following dates in August: Thursday 12th @ The Khyber, Philadelphia; Saturday 14th @ The Knitting Factory, NYC - The Knitting Factory; Tuesday 17th @ The Middle East, Boston; Thursday 19th @ The Marquee, Halifax; Friday 20th @ Lee's Palace, Toronto. Check the Swim~ site for latest news.
Silo's live shows in London, supporting Lydia Lunch and playing at Union Chapel as part of FOD have resulted in a support spot for Godspeed You Black Emperor on their short UK tour. The dates are July 13th @ Hope and Grape, Manchester; July 14th @ Fleece and Firkin, Bristol; July 15th and 16th @ Union Chapel, London.
For those that don't know Union Chapel is just that: a church, and is a rather wonderful venue. I was fortunate enough to see the final FOD gig where after a nervous beginning (and some incredibly bass-heavy mixing) Silo pulled the cat out of the bag to produce a pretty good gig, most notably the live take of Templates which was great! A little more attention to the pre-recorded stuff (I say again: turn down the bass) and Silo will be a real force to be reckoned with on the live circuit.
Coda
So, until next month take it easy. If you have any comments about the site or suggestions for content/improvements, or want to submit an article, then the contact details are here.
June 1999
Welcome to Wireviews! Thanks to all those who have given positive feedback since the site revamp. If you have something you feel I should know, or suggestions on how to improve the site then don't hesitate to fill out the feedback form. And now, this month's news...
Release news
The new Dome CD, Yclept, is set for release this September on WMO. The track listing is: 1. Virtual Sweden (V.S. #1); 2. Plosive Pluck; 3. Because We Must (version 1); 4. Carpo; 5. Vertical Seeding (V.S. #2); 6. Crossh; 7. Making a Meeting (excerpt); 8. Gerba; 9. Virtuous Speed (V.S. #3); 10. Liver & Lungs; 11. Because We Must (version 2).
Hopefully, this period (or before) will also see the surfacing of the new Immersion album, Low Impact, along with a few other surprises from Swim~.
Oscid and Hox, the latest from Origin, remain elusive. They should be out 'soon'.
Site news
Snub Communications, which hosts Wireviews, has received a severe revamp this month and now included three full pieces from the VMU project, along with several on-line videos, CD-ROMs, and texts.
