News
News
2001 archive
This page contains edited versions of all the news pages from 2001 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.
- November/December 2001
- September/October 2001
- August 2001
- June/July 2001
- May 2001
- April 2001
- March 2001
- February 2001
- January 2001
November/December 2001
Hello and welcome to the November issue of Wireviews. This month sees the start of the integration with the WMO website which closes on the 15th (more below). We hope to have the new look site ready sometime in January 2002, as time ran out on us to get it ready for this month! In the meantime, this isn't a particularly action packed newsletter, but there's something here for everybody.
Wire
We can confirm that Wire is piecing together new work at Swim studio for a new album. No time schedule has been set for completion or release but Bruce has told Wireviews that "it is finally going somewhere. I can hear stuff that sounds new to me."
Graham
Graham is also confirmed at Atomic Event II which will occur on November 18 in the hall containing the particle accelerator of the Svedberg laboratory during popular science week in Sweden.
As part of an open day for the public there will be a series of 40-minute tours of the Svedberg facility, including a 20-minute performance Atomic II, which is a collaboration between the Su-en Butoh company, Edvard Graham Lewis (soundtrack) and Richard Sprong (video). Tours commence at 14:00 and at 40-minute intervals after that until the final one at 17:20. There will be a reception afterwards at 19:30.
This is the second event at the Svedberg; the first was an installation of predominantly ambient qualities. Graham says that, "the second will be, lets say, a little more operatic in both content and scale!"
Ocsid is also confirmed to perform with Hazard on 22nd May 2002 as part of the 10th anniversary party for KREV (Kingdoms of Elgerland-Vargaland) at the Lyndmar Hotel, Stockholm.
On the recording front Hox has begun work on a new album and Lewis and Hausswolff are to finish a recording project originally conceived to include Andrew MacKenzie who retired from the project.
Swim Records
Swim Team #2 is now available in stores and from www.posteverything.com. A full review can be found here.
Work on Colin Newman's long-awaited solo album has been put on hold to concentrate on Wire, but he still had time to answer some questions about the posteverything website. Once again, Graeme Rowland provides an excellent interview, which can be found here.
Bruce
Bruce believes he has broken the back of the final part of the Latin Trilogy. After many false starts he says he has "found some new territory."
An impromptu duet between Andrew Jacques of These Records and Put Put fame called Piss in the Fun took place last month at a record shop in Hoxton, London.
Reading and listening corner
As part of our continuing series we have asked Bruce to provide us with some details of what has caught his eyes and ears in the last month.
First up is the Mike Nelson show at the ICA, London. For further details check the ICA website here: www.ica.org.uk/exhibition/nelson/?version=1
Bruce told Wireviews that it was "absolutely superb, I'll have to go back again."
On the day of our talk Bruce informed us he was going to see the Michael Clark Company's new piece at the Sadlers Wells Theatre. More info can be found here: www.sadlers-wells.com/whats_on/autumn2001/clark.asp
Bruce recently had chance to see ARE Weapons who he describes as the "new Suicide".
On the reading front, two 'charity shop' books that Bruce is reading are Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash, which seems to be a bit of a cyber-culture classic. The other is The Maul and the Pear Tree: The Ratcliffe Highway Murders 1811 by P.D. James and T.A. Critchley. Further info can be found here: dannyreviews.com/h/Maul_Pear_Tree.html
WMO
The WMO website www.wiremailorder.com, closes down on 15th November 2001. All remaining stock in the USA will be returned to the UK for continued distribution by Cargo.
WMO (UK) will continue mail order operations for the world. For the Merchandise List and details how to order please click here [since removed—Ed]. Full integration of back-issue WMO content and articles is planned for early next year.
Kevin and Charles would like to thank all patrons of the site over the years and we hope your support will continue. If anyone has any queries regarding mail order or merchandise please e-mail Kevin Eden at wmouk@yahoo.com, or write to PO Box 112, Stockport, Cheshire, SK3 9FD, England.
Atrecordings
In July 2001 atrecordings.com were declared bankrupt. A number of labels, including WMO and Origin, have stock held with them and are pursuing the receiver for the return of said stock.
In the meantime it is advisable that nobody places any orders with atrecordings as you are unlikely to see your money returned.
Coda
Well, that's it until the New Year when we hope to be able to launch the new and improved site. If any news breaks before then we will keep you posted, but also remember to check out www.posteverything.com and the Ideal Copy email list via www.mindspring.com/~outdoorminer/wire. In the meantime we hope you all have a restful festive break and a not too hung-over New Year.
Editor: Craig Grannell
News editor: Kevin Eden
Contributor: Graeme Rowland
September/October 2001
What do you mean it's September already? Argh: late again! But then Wire is still in hibernation, so I guess it's not too big-a-deal! This is another two-month update for reasons that will become clear in the news. We'll be back sometime in November.
Wireviews
The times, they are a-changing; so said someone kind-of-famous. Long-time readers of this site (now charging headlong towards its third birthday) will have seen rather drastic changes&8212;some liked, some less so&8212;and it's time for another overhaul.
The reasons for this are varied. Firstly, the site has been adding bits over the last year that are in danger of falling off. Things need to be fixed; some visitors are finding that the site is doing odd things in browsers, and the current structure makes the fast addition of new pages a pain. So once again (and for the final time) the site is going under the knife and the whole look-and-feel is being totally gutted. As you might imagine, this is a pretty big task. Wireviews has over 200 pages, all of which need amending, and at the same time images and links are being updated. It is for this reason that editorial control of the news area of the site is now being handed over to Kevin Eden of WMO UK fame. The current editorial voice of Wireviews, Craig Grannell, will still write for the site occasionally, most often in a review capacity, but will now devote his energies to building the new site.
So what can you expect to find in two months? Well, the site will look totally different; it will be easier to find everything; and there will be a big WMO tab. Why? Read on and find out...
WMO
As you may be aware, WMO is soon to close operations in the USA. However, this is not the end of WMO, just a new beginning (or something). WMO on the Internet will resurface as an independent part of the Wireviews site; content will be controlled by Kevin Eden (WMO UK) and it will be investigating the possibilities of new, limited releases, along with containing the current merchandise list.
At this point, we'd like to say a huge thank you to Charles Snider for all his hard work over the years. It's safe to say that the Wire 'community'&8212;along with this very site&8212; ouldn't be what it is today without his help. In the meantime, go and buy, buy, buy at www.wiremailorder.com before it's too late.
The latest WMO newsletter (3.8) is now online for you to read. This will be the last newsletter available via the Wireviews website. Seeing as Kevin will be writing the news for us, there's not much point in compiling it and putting it elsewhere once every quarter. Those that still get the print version remain unaffected, but then they won't be reading this anyway...
Swim
Good news from Swim this month, which you will be aware of if you surf the message boards on the posteverything.com website: Swim Team 2 is coming soon! This sequel to the popular Swim Team 1 sampler looks to be even better value and contains 19 tracks (of which only three have been previously released). Five new artists feature, along with collaborations between Immersion and Flying Saucer Attack and Malka Spigel and Dictaphone (aka Host).
Once again available for the princely sum of five pounds, the compilation is set to be released in November, although posteverything customers should be able to order it by the end of September. Check out www.posteverything.com for more information.
The other snippet that turned up on the site was the revelation that although "about half" a Colin Newman album is complete, new Wire material is taking precedence at Swim this autumn. The Colin Newman tracks are a logical continuation of previous Swim work, but if the Wire tracks we've heard are anything to go by, the next Wire album is going to be totally unlike anything previously released by the band...
Finally, Silo is touring Germany with possible support by Symptoms for the November dates:
26/09 Gebaude 9, Koln (with Couch)
27/09 Maria Im Ostbahnhof, Berlin (with Opiate and Manual)
14/11 Dreikonigskeller, Frankfurt
15/11 Manufaktur, Stuttgart
16/11 Café Trauma, Marburg
18/11 Sonderbar, Feldkirch (A)
20/11 Club 2, München
21/11 Glashaus, Bayreuth
22/11 Hundertmeister, Duisburg
23/11 [TBA], Jena
24/11 Scheune, Dresden
25/11 Hafenklang, Hamburg
VMU
After looking very small and orange for nearly a year, the VMU website at www.vmuonline.com has had a severe revamp. The new site contains a wealth of information about the project including all lyrics for in-print CDs, free downloads and more.
Coda
Well, it's goodnight from Wireviews III. Be here in November for the launch of the new site, a review of Swim Team 2, and hopefully some Wire news. Well, you never know...
By the way, now might be a good time to point out that the new site will require a DOM-compliant browser. If you're using Opera 5, Netscape 6 or IE 5 then just ignore that. If you're using something older then things are going to look very odd for you, although you'll still be able to view all content. Probably...
Bye! :-)
Who is to blame this month:
Editor: Craig Grannell
Contributor:
Kevin Eden
August 2001
Hello and welcome to this month's edition of Wireviews. It's been an odd few months, with responses being rather apathetic, so it's rather appropriate that this month's review is Symptoms' Apathy from Swim. And now: the news...
Wire
As Wire hurtles on, doing who-knows-what behind the scenes, it seems an American label is going to do their own 'Dugga'. We've recently heard that Minneapolis-based Words on Music is currently collecting artist's interpretations Outdoor Miner for inclusion in a CD to be released sometime in 2002.
This looks like being a compilation of original versions, rather than by the likes of Carter USM and Flying Saucer Attack, and interested parties should send their submission on CD or DAT by December 1, 2001. For more details, visit www.words-on-music.com/OutdoorMiner.html or email should@words-on-music.com.
Also looking back to the past, Ian Calder has put some photos from Wire's performance at the Garage online here.
As for the future, we can confirm that the Wire project is ongoing, with a view to releasing all-new material at some point in the future. Said material is likely to turn heads 180 degrees once again (far more than anything you've heard since RFH), but timescales are not forthcoming.
WMO
We got a great response to the Kevin Eden interview that was recently published on this site, so it seemed logical to get the views of the other side of WMO, that of US-based Charles Snider. Once again, Graeme Rowland of Cracked Machine took the challenge and produced the goods. Click here to read the interview.
Swim
One new release this month, the second album from Symptoms, entitled Apathy. As always, Wireviews has its say, and the review can be found here. The album will be out in mid-August, and is available immediately through mail order outlets such as Swim and Post Everything.
Post Everything
Hang on a minute... Apathy available from Post Everything? Surely, that's some mistake? Well, those of you with very long memories will remember news about this site appearing on Wireviews pretty much since the site gained its news section. There have been many delays, but the site finally went live in late July at www.posteverything.com.
Along with Swim and pinkflag.com, the site will contain a number of adventurous labels, all of whom share the aim of providing something different. The great-looking site also has a great innovation in PE radio. Click on the 'listen' button and you get a random selection of music from the labels on the site. Drill down into labels, artists, or albums, and the music you hear streamlines to match.
Graham Lewis
Graham played at the Norberg Festival on July 27. His work was described as a "conceptual piece in which we shall travel from Heaven, through the Universe, the Sky, and via the Norberg Mine Tower to Earth, through that via the Norberg Mine Shaft, to the Centre and onward to come out of the other side on Roy Plumley's island (probably somewhere in the Pacific). This usually takes a life time but for the convenience of those attending on the 27th, reality will be telescoped into a little over an hour or so."
Additionally, a lengthy Lewis interview, along with a Hox review, can be found on the [uzine] website at www.dma.be/p/ultra/uzine/0110.htm. To subscribe to the magazine, send an email to ultra@yucom.be with 'subscribe uzine your.email@address' in the subject line.
Coda
So we hit the end of the road for now. If there's anything Wire that you'd like to share with the readers of this site, be it reviews, interviews, or other essays/images, then send them to us @ wireviews@yahoo.com. See you next time.
Who is to blame this month:
Editor: Craig Grannell
Contributors:
Kevin Eden
Graeme Rowland
Graham Lewis
June/July 2001
Hello and welcome to another edition of Wireviews, your best source of dugga on the Internet. Without further ado, here's this month's news:
Wireviews
Regular readers will have noticed the Wireviews newsletters dwindling over recent months. While there is activity going on behind the scenes, nothing is ready for announcing yet. However, this does present a problem for us in that we end up putting out tiny newsletters, collecting ever more desperate information in order to fill space. The immanent closure of WMO and reduced solo activity of Colin, Graham and Bruce only increases this problem. Although the last reader's survey suggested that many of you wanted to retain the monthly format, we'd like to hear your views on whether you still think this should be the case. For the moment, we will be going bi-monthly until activity picks up, and may tie directly into the quarterly WMO newsletter depending on how things go.
Wire
Well, once again the fans prove that they are capable of 'filling the gaps' between Wire 'movements'. Last month, Wireviews received a very odd package indeed from someone claiming to be 'Yak Records' (and, yes, we know who you are!) The 2CD set Strumpet includes a whole bunch of Wire covers and rarities that go some way to proving the following: 1. Bruce is really a very noisy bugger indeed; 2. It's a crime that Colin Newman's Masters of the Universe remix never made the stores; and 3. Almost no-one apart from some of those artists featured on Whore has any imagination whatsoever when it comes to Wire cover versions, which is very odd considering the original source material available. Maybe the likes of Elastica should be forced to listen to how to mash an original in the way Scanner and Resolution did!
Anyway, whether Yak Records will surface with anything else remains to be seen, as does their contact details.
Hopefully, some de-facto Wire news will be forthcoming soon...
WMO
The eponymous Michael O'Shea CD, which is the last WMO release, is now available to order. Packaged with extensive sleeve notes, this 11-track release provides a fitting tribute to a unique talent. As ever, Wireviews has its say&8212;click here to read our review.
The latest WMO newsletter is also now online for you to read, compiling a few tid-bits of information that got missed from this site over the past few months.
The WMO website, which put the Wire FAQ back online recently, has added another interesting curiosity piece, namely the 'lost' half of Dugga Dugga Dugga, including some very odd outtakes indeed. This is online in MP3 format, so unless you are surfing with a phone, you should have a player somewhere on your hard drive!
Finally, response to the Kevin Eden interview was very positive, so we thought it would be a good idea to get a reaction from the other side of WMO, namely Charles Snider. If any of you have something you'd like to ask Charles, then send your questions to the usual address, wireviews@yahoo.com, or use our contact form. Hopefully, the interview will be published in the August edition of Wireviews, so please get your questions in as soon as possible.
Swim
With all the expectations surrounding Wire, and the flurry of activity that became the closure of WMO, Swim has been conspicuous with its near-silence over the past few months. However, we are told things are happening regarding new releases from the label, with a new Symptoms album due in the not-too-distant, with other items due later in the year.
Meanwhile, Swim act Silo is in the current issue of Modern Dance (#34), which you can find at their new(ish) address of http://www.modern-dance.co.uk.
Additionally, we were recently pointed in the direction of the Robots and Electronic Brains fanzine at http://come.to/robots. This site contains a Colin Newman interview, with our swimmer commenting on the state of the British music industry and press in a rather cutting manner. The piece has been reprinted onsite here. The piece is the full transcript of Colin's interview for the Where Did It All Go Wrong? feature.
Veer Musikal Unit
The new release from VMU, Also, is now available in album form via Vitaminic at http://stage.vitaminic.co.uk/vmu. This self-styled rockdancepopstorynoisething has been getting a great response from a variety of sources, due to its eclectic, yet contemporary nature.
Coda
And so we come to the end of another Wireviews. As always, if there's anything Wire that you'd like to share with the readers of this site, be it reviews, interviews, tales of oddness, or other essays/images, then send them to us @ wireviews@yahoo.com. See you in sixty!
Who is to blame this month:
Editor: Craig Grannell
Contributors:
Kevin Eden
Jimmy Possession
May 2001
Hello and welcome to a another somewhat slimline edition of Wireviews, although we do have the final part of the Eden interview and a few other snippets of information.
Wire
The video for Wire's Ahead is featured on the Epitonic website at the time of writing. They trial the video with the following text: "Ahead comes from The Ideal Copy. The familiar edginess is there, but it's complemented by synths and dance rhythms that update the band's sound for the late '80s. The video is a dark, almost impenetrable montage of fragmented images of technology, alienation, and modern urban life, which gets more disturbing with each viewing."
To see the video, go to www.epitonic.com/video/wireahead.html.
WMO
The final part of the Kevin Eden interview, "Who were WMO" is now online, and brings us up-to-date. Click here for this final installment and once again, thanks to Graeme Rowland for doing such a good job and, of course, Kevin for giving such a thorough account.
WMO's final release, the O'Shea reissue, is due out on May 28. We expect to be able to bring you a review in next month's edition of Wireviews.
According to WMO, the CD has been beautifully re-packaged with a 16-page booklet that includes extensive sleeve notes by Kevin Eden and previously unseen photographs from the O'Shea family archives.
The CD is a limited run of 1000, so order now to avoid disappointment.
Veer Musikal Unit
The new release from VMU, Also, is now available. This new slice of self-styled rockdancepopstorynoisething has been variously (and contradictorily) described as a "4AD 1981 time warp" and a "stowaway on the back of '90s underground". Both prettier and more aggressive than before, Also provides an eclectic mix of old and new and recently gained April's 'album of the month' slot on spotted.radio. The album can be purchased from LerningKerv Productions, and single tracks are available from the VMU Vitaminic page at http://stage.vitaminic.co.uk/vmu. Info, background and MP3 downloads are available on the VMU website at http://www.vmuonline.com.
Monomania
Sometimes Wire-philes Monomania, first mentioned on this site way back in March 2000, have announced their debut single on Ugly-man Records, including the tracks In Your Element, Ehrich Weisz, and Anton Kingsway. This will be released on May 14. For more info and MP3s, visit the website.
Coda
Short but sweet, again! As usual, if there's anything Wire that you'd like to share with the readers of this site, be it reviews of albums that we currently don't have, live shows, or other essays/images, then please send them to us @ wireviews@yahoo.com.
Who is to blame this month:
Editor: Craig Grannell
Contributors:
Graeme Rowland
Kevin Eden
April 2001
Welcome to the slimline April edition of Wireviews. Hopefully no news is good news as nothing has been forthcoming from Wire this month, but we've still got some items of potential interest including part two of the Kevin Eden interview and a Wire buyer's guide.
Wireviews
As mentioned, this month sees the unveiling of a fledgling Wire buyer's guide [since removed—Ed], which is linked from the info section. Note that at the moment this is mostly UK-biased, so if anyone can provide any information regarding purchasing any of these releases in other countries (or can supply any additions), then please contact us. Also, this is intended as a rough guide and may not be accurate as releases go out-of-print without warning.
Wire
Wire's involvement with the summer Disobey events went official recently. The Whitechapel Gallery website has the following information about the event:
"Continuity Disobey (Late June-Early July 2001): The Whitechapel is working closely with Mute Records to create an exhilarating and challenging programme of contemporary art, music and dance. Collaborators include renowned choreographer and dancer Michael Clark, artist Cerith Wyn Evans teamed with Wire, Finnish band Panasonic working with Carsten Nicolai, and many others."
The other piece of news this month is Web-related. Mark Prindle's Record Reviews now has a page dedicated to Wire releases, along with Wir's The First Letter. Typically, it seems the EMI period is rather more in favour than anything post-1985...
WMO
Part two of Graeme Rowland's in-depth interview with a certain Kevin Eden is now online. Entitled 'The Butterfly's Been Pinned', it covers Eden's motives and methods regarding the Wire biography, Everybody Loves a History, along with the formation of the WMO label. Click here to read it.
Graham
Graham Lewis recently contributed to a Rune Lindblad tribute. The press release states:
"In 1953, Rune Lindblad composed his first work of 'musique concret': Party. With this work, he wrote himself into music history as one of the first composers in the world to employ electronic music, taped music and sampling. Between 1953 and his death in 1991, Lindblad composed over 200 sound works. In the late 1990s, Pogus Productions of New York released a couple of CDs of Lindblad's music, after which his work is being increasingly talked about. In Sweden he remains a relatively unknown figure.
Fargfabriken have collaborated with Firework Editions in producing an LP, a CD and a booklet. As well as two compositions by Lindblad, the LP and CD include a series of tributes to Rune Lindblad by different musicians and composers. Parts of Lindblad's sound works have been used in new compositions. The contributors are: CD: Kent Tankred, Leif Elggren, Edvard Graham Lewis, B J Nilsen, CM von Hausswolff; LP: Jean Louis Huhta , Brommage Dub. The booklet contains a recent text by Magnus Haglund, a Gothenburg music critic."
The CD/LP/booklet costs 200 SEK. To order a copy, contact Catti Lindahl on +46 8 645 26 90 or via mail: Fargfabriken, Lovholmsbrinken 1, S - 117 43, Stockholm.
Coda
Short but sweet. As usual, if there's anything Wire that you'd like to share with the readers of this site, be it reviews of albums that we currently don't have, live shows, or other essays/images, then please send them to us @ wireviews@yahoo.com.
Who is to blame this month:
Editor: Craig Grannell
Contributors:
Graeme Rowland
Kevin Eden
March 2001
Hello and welcome to this month's edition of Wireviews. Due to massive time constraints because of things happening in VMU-land, things are quite brief this month, but hopefully there's enough to tide you over for the next 30 days or so...
Wireviews
New reviews on the site this month:
- IBM: The Oval Recording
- Colin Newman: CN1
Wire
Well, it seems Wireviews is great at bad timing! Last month's mention of exciting announcements that we weren't allowed to mention at the time came just before a certain Mr. Newman let several cats out of the bag on his radio broadcast for Totally Radio, so those of you on the Ideal Copy will already know most of this.
The first piece of Wire news is that the band is to play the Venice Biennale. This is something of a rarity and could be considered an honour, as they will only be the second band to do this (the first being Pulp). Another major happening will see Wire curating a fortnight of art-oriented events in Whitechapel, London during the Autumn, as part of the Disobey season.
As ever, the possibility of new releases was discussed, although as you might imagine, it's all 'ifs, buts and maybes' right now. Another 7" is likely to appear fairly soon, although the contents have not yet been revealed, and those pining for the Albini sessions will be happy to know that the release has not been scrapped, merely postponed. If it does see the light of day, it will probably appear on a CD alongside 'alternative' recordings from the Garage. A more exciting prospect is that of totally new material, something that is in the works, but not likely to appear for some months yet, although Wire, as always, will be as unconventional as ever.
As always, we'll keep you posted regarding any official developments.
WMO
The March WMO newsletter is now online for you all to read, compiling Wire-related news from the last few months. Click here for your quarterly fix, which includes some live Wire reports and more information regarding future WMO releases.
Additionally, some of you have been asking about an insight into those within the Wire story, so Wireviews begins the first of a series of interviews with Kevin Eden this month. Part one, Former Punk Mine, by Graeme Rowland, can be found here (and will be archived in the articles section).
Swim
The new Silo album and 7" should hit the shops this month. Other Swim projects on the go at the moment include the next set of Symptoms, the album debut of S.Gears (first heard on the Swim Team #1 compilation) along with the ongoing and long-awaited Colin Newman album. A sneak preview of the latter can be heard on the aforementioned Totally Radio broadcast.
Graham
As mentioned last month, It-ness by Hox has now been reissued by Apollo/R&S. The sleeve and label are identical to the original Origin release (except for logos). Anyone who missed this excellent Edvard Graham Lewis/Andreas Karperyd CD the first time round should make sure they don't make the same mistake twice.
WMO (UK) has stock, WMO (US) will have shortly. The price is £12 plus 60p P&P for UK. P&P for Europe is £1.20 and £3 for ROW. (Consult WMO (US) for their prices.)
Bruce
The IBM Oval Recording is still available via WMO. This combination of LP and 7" rhythmic noise has finally been given the Wireviews once-over here.
Veer Musikal Unit
The Veer Musikal Unit, audio offspring of Snub Communications, continues to work towards the release of Also. This self-styled rockdancepopstorynoisething should be available for purchase in late March/early April. In the meantime, a two-minute MP3 clip with extracts from four pieces can be found on the Also page of the VMU website.
Coda
That's it for this month. Remember, if there's anything Wire that you'd like to share with the readers of this site, be it reviews of albums that we currently don't have, live shows, or other essays/images, then please send them to us @ wireviews@yahoo.com.
Who is to blame this month:
Editor: Craig Grannell
Contributors:
Graeme Rowland
Kevin Eden
February 2001
Hello and welcome to the February edition of Wireviews. There are a few new additions this month, so without further ado, here's this month's news...
Wire
There has been a fair bit of feedback winging its way to Wireviews over the last couple of months, mostly to do with 12 Times You. The general consensus of opinion is that yes, it's a great track and yes, the faux-techno remix is a good laugh, but the worry is that Wire is going headlong down the 'remix of the past' route and some think this is going to be 'it' from the band.
Although I cannot reveal what's going to happen with Wire in the future, I can at least mention for now that some potentially very exciting announcements are just over the horizon. Also (as anyone who saw the Edinburgh show knows) Wire are working on new old material and new new material. Mind you, if you were surprised at some of the output of Edinburgh, what's upcoming is really going to knock your socks off.
For now, though, you can still get the MP3s of 12 Times You at pinkflag.com. News on further releases should appear in the not-too-distant future.
WMO
The track listing for the Michael O'Shea CD reissue has been finalised. The April/May release, WMO 12CD will contain the following: No Journey's End, Kerry, Guitar No.1, Voices, Anfa Daa Sachtach (Turbulent Storm), along with extra tracks: Séance of a Kondalike (with Stano), A Dead Rose (with Stano), Easter Island (with Larry Cosgrave), Séance of a Kondolike (solo backing track), A Dead Rose (solo backing track).
The CD will also contain extensive sleeve notes by Kevin Eden and previously unseen photos of Michael and collaborators.
Swim
Silo's new album, Alloy, is out on the 26th of February and is available by mail order right now! The album will be preceded by a 7" comprising of K2/Prime Movers (boss remix by Colin Newman) and will be the only 4:4 timing from the band this time round! As usual, Wireviews has its say on the new release here.
New releases from Symptoms and Colin Newman are penned in for later in the year.
Speaking of the latter, there has been a lot of speculation regarding the availability if Colin Newman's Crammed albums (namely Commercial Suicide and It Seems) recently on the Ideal Copy and via feedback forms to this site. We can confirm that both albums are indeed out of print, despite what the Crammed website may state. It's still fairly easy to find vinyl copies of both at various online record stores (check the list in the Wire Page links section), but the CD versions of both are difficult to find and should be snapped up if you see them.
Those harking for a reissue should contact Crammed, not Swim as the latter label does not get involved in rereleases of non-Swim material.
Graham
Those of you who missed the very brief run of Hox (shame on you) will be glad to know that the Belgian label R&S are to reissue the CD this month. It will come in exactly the same packaging as before and both WMO UK and US will be holding stock.
Long-term readers of Wireviews will remember the gushing praise this released earned in the original review and this still holds true today: Hox really is a great CD and one of, if not, the best Lewis-oriented project to date. Make sure you don't miss it this time round.
Bruce
The IBM Oval Recording is available via WMO. This combination of LP and 7" rhythmic noise will be given the once-over next month on this site, but is sure to appeal to Gilbert and experimental noise fans, especially those who were into Ab Ovo and In Esse.
In the meantime, one of Bruce's earlier collaborations, Orr, has finally got the Wireviews treatment.
Snub Visual Arts
Wireviews' host, Snub Communciations, released a new site in late January. Snub Visual Arts contains movies (including Lobe's Dorain) and various Shockwave toys, including a new version of WordThing.
Coda
That's it for February. Hopefully some Wire news will wing its way to us for next month. But until then, take it easy. Remember, if there's anything Wire that you'd like to share with the readers of this site, be it reviews of albums that we currently don't have, live shows, or other essays/images, then please send them to us @ wireviews@yahoo.com.
Who is to blame this month:
Editor: Craig Grannell
Contributors:
Graeme Lamour
Kevin Eden
Tim Robinson
January 2001
Hello and welcome to the first Wireviews of the 21st Century! It looks like it could be a busy year for the reformed Wire, with many solo projects also in the pipeline. So, without further ado, here's this month's goings-on in Wireland:
Wire
We have received quite a few comments regarding Wire's latest release, the vinyl-only 12 Times You, reviewed on this site last month. The bulk of the feedback has been very positive, with Colin's lo-fi techno-oriented version going down particularly well. The most common negative theme was that a quite considerable slice of you couldn't actually play the thing, due to not owning a record player! Well, Wire's gift for the New Year is that they have released both tracks as downloadable MP3s via the pinkflag.com website. Hurry if you want a copy of the original 7", though, as there aren't that many left!
Wire played Queen's Hall, Edinburgh, for their final gig of 2000. Supported by Life Without Buildings, they continued to edge slowly towards a set of new material, whilst retaining their 'post rock' stance. Some regular Wireviews contributors sent in their take on the proceedings: Graeme Rowland with a diary-like missive and Paul Rabjohn, who provided a report and some images from the event. Both are available via the live reviews page.
Another of Graeme's texts has also been reproduced on Wireviews this month: the full transcript of the Wire interview conducted in a cupboard-like room near the stage of The Garage, London in May 2000. Originally appearing on the Cracked Machine website, the interview can be found here.
Finally, a quick note snatched from the Ideal Copy: as Jeffrey Norman says, "Wire fans owe it to themselves to investigate: www.itwinc.com", if only to raise a smile. Who says in-jokes are dead?
Graham
A new release to mark the New Year: that of Opening Sweep from the Ocsid project. This 75-minute journey of noise, rhythm and overstepping the mark is reviewed here and available via WMO and Ash International.
WMO
Plans are underway to release the Michael O' Shea solo album soon, hopefully in April or May of this year. Aside from the Lewis/Gilbert produced album, WMO currently has an extra four tracks. Two of these were recorded for Stano's Content to I Dine Weathercraft album in 1983. The other two are the same tracks but without Stano: just pure O'Shea. WMO are also trying to locate recordings made with fellow Irish musician/artist, Larry Cosgrave. The CD will also include unseen photographs courtesy of O'Shea family archives, and extensive notes courtesy of Kevin Eden.
This CD should be a fitting tribute to a rare musical talent and will definitely be the last WMO offering on general release. Plans for Bruce Gilbert's The Haring 2 are still in the pipeline but as a mail order subscription release only.
Swim
Swim's non-space has received an update. The front page now previews the various projects via QuickTime snippets and a new piece by Nina Walsh is also online. The previous projects, Dorain by Craig Grannell and Motion Sickness and An Ideal Copy by Malka Spigel also remain on show.
Speaking of the latter, Graeme Rowland had this to say:
"Before we drown due to the recent UK floods, we can all cheer ourselves up by taking a peek at the Ideal Copy pictures some of us made for Malka's project!
Stephen Sheen's struck me as a very clever idea, and Paul Rabjohn's really cracked me up: passing out under the sheer weight of Wire records!
I think the contributions could be divided into the minimalist approach, which is in keeping with Wire's own visual aesthetic, and the collage approach which is more a reflection of the sheer diversity of their art perhaps.
Five of the pictures would work well as Wire sleeves (Nik, Stephen, Dave, Alister, Fergus).
Craig's sequence works really well if you click through it quite quickly.
I also thought it was interesting that the fifth Craig square had the word Gilbert at the centre with all the other names crossing it (an astute observation&8212;notebooks out numerologists) and that my collage also put Bruce in the middle. After all, it was Bruce and Colin who started the band, Bruce who insisted that Robert had to be a part of any Wire activity and Bruce who Colin regards as a philosopher/guru figure. At the Festival of Drifting Bruce referred to his DJing as the glue between the acts. I think it would be quite fair to describe him as the glue in Wire too."
Quote of the month
No, this isn't going to be a regular feature, just something from Ideal Copy that proved too much to resist putting online: Mark Bursa's response to Mark E. Smith saying Wire looked like old buggers in Wire magazine.
"At least Wire have their own teeth."
Dugga, indeed! :-)
Coda
Well, that's it from the first Wireviews of 2001. A little late, and possibly a little blurry (blame New Years Eve) but enough to chew on for the next few weeks! Remember, if there's anything Wire that you'd like to share with the readers of this site, be it reviews of albums that we currently don't have, live shows, or other essays/images, then please send them to us @ wireviews@yahoo.com.
Who is to blame this month:
Editor: Craig Grannell
Contributors:
Graeme Rowland
Kevin Eden
Paul Rabjohn
Jeffrey Norman
Mark Bursa
