For me, the prospect of new music from Wire is always thrilling. Having released Mind Hive earlier this year, a compilation of unreleased or "evolved" material called 10:20 is scheduled to release June 19th after having been originally planned as a Record Store Day release. The nature of the 10:20 LP seems to loosely reflect that of 2013's Change Becomes Us , (also a Record Store Day release), which was a collection of material from 1979-1980 that had been revisited and revised.  As a taste of what to expect, you can check out the new video for "The Art Of Persistence."  A complete list of each track and its origins was provided by Stereo Sanctity. It doesn't look like a pre-order link has been activated. Via Stereo Sanctity: WIRE- Reschedule album '10:20’ A collection of “stray” tracks - To be released on June 19th via pinkflag - Hear “ The Art of Persistence " now WIRE have announced new release details for forthcoming album ...

New year, new singles. While mostly resistant to the "playlist," I'm also aware that singles are consumed this way and that mixes, though crafted and superior in every way, are a thing of the past. This is partly because I no longer curate and develop a year end mix. Inasmuch as I enjoyed making them for friends and family for many years, and disclosing details for reader enjoyment, it's expensive and impractical. So, I'm buying in and I've rethought the "New Selections" tag for single entries. Enjoy some new tunes and be sure and give a look to my expanding 2020 playlist on Apple Music, the simply titled 2020 Playlist , because playlists require no thought, cohesion, or imagination. But, at least the music's good. _________________________________________ Sightless Pit : "Kingscorpse" (via Thrill Jockey / Bandcamp) Album Preorder http://thrilljockey.com/products/grave-of-a-dog Grave of a Dog by Sightless Pit Sight...

'Twas the season...  Wire Nocturnal Koreans Pinkflag Released: Caught Wire 's Nocturnal Koreans mini-LP just before 2016 elapsed thanks to my wife who has, interestingly, managed to gift me one Wire album over the last (now) three Christmases.  I think I got the Document & Eyewitnesses compilation in 2014 and Wire's s/t LP last year.  I wouldn't call this a bad tradition. While I really liked the title track when the album came out, I'll admit this isn't my favorite of the band's recent output.  I may need to give it a few more listens.  I would never accuse the band of phoning it in so to speak, but maybe plateauing a bit.  Either way, I'm always happy to be expanding my collection of Wire LPs. Flying Lotus You're Dead Warp Released: 10.6.14 You're Dead by Flying Lotus slipped by me in 2014 and has been on the "I'll get to it someday" wishlist for the past couple of years.  I should've jumped on ...

Some recent purchases: 20 Buck Spin Sleep Vol. 1 Tupelo Recording Company / Very Small Records Originally released: 1991 Reissued: 2014 The 20 Buck Spin subscription service let it be known one fine day that Sleep 's Vol. 1 , (the band's debut album), was available to purchase on vinyl.  While interested, I didn't jump on the opportunity right away.  A mere day or so later, all copies were sold and the good ol' "ah shit" lament followed.  But, 20 Buck Spin restocked the LP and, once notified, I picked it up.  I think it was about $18.   The LP is stored in a glossy sleeve that picks up fingerprints without mercy and a download card was included.  On the strength of "The Suffering" alone I would recommend picking this one up if you haven't already.   The Vinyl Closet North Wales, PA I had a gift certificate to spend.  So, I perused and purchased. Hüsker Dü Land Speed Record SST Records Originally released: 1981 Reiss...

If you're not in the mood to work through a crowd while digging for albums, check the record store's events calendar.  Mind you I'm certainly not against bands performing in record stores.  I was at Siren Records last night, doing a little overdue perusal and happy at the fact that the store was packed.  If music fans are in the store, it's likely they'll walk out with worthwhile purchases tucked under their arms and the store will carry on another day.  However, it had been a while since I'd had the opportunity to hang out at the record store and casually survey the wares.  To facilitate the night's acts, half the store had to be blocked off by a raised platform and obviously a drum kit and sound equipment, which leaves the other half of the store available for the audience, the bands' gear and merch.  Consequently, I couldn't shop a good portion of the store.  I was able to hit the new releases, the indie/punk/hardcore/metal section and the jazz...

Wire at the Union Transfer, 7.13.13. Photo by Jenniah Janisheck Caldwell Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Q & A with Graham Lewis 2.2012 Photo credit: Joep Bruijnje No Ripcord interview Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Around August of 2011, news of Wire 's upcoming The Black Session - Paris, 10 May 2011 live album was posted .  Spin (unfortunately) is hosting a clip of "Drill," a live track featured on the album.  Information and links were provided by Terrorbird Media.  A review of Wire's 2011 release, Red Barked Tree , was posted at No Ripcord.   Wire To Release The Black Session - Paris, 10 May 2011 Download "Drill" At Spin Download: "Drill" via Spin Magazine On February 7 Wire will release The Black Session - Paris, 10 May 2011 . Previously only available as tour-exclusive recording, the album was recorded in front of a live audience in Radio France's Paris Studios last year. Spin has an exclusive premiere of “Drill” from The Black Session . The track is available as an MP3 to download and post. 2011 saw the release of Wire’s most critically acclaimed and fastest-selling album in recent years, Red Barked Tree . The band also embarked on its most amb...

For 2011, Wire released their album Red Barked Tree around the beginning of the year and toured. A lot. Big year for the band to say the least. A live album recorded last May as part of a radio series for Radio France, The Black Session — Paris, 10 May 2011 , is going to be released in February of 2012. All the info below is courtesy of Terrorbird Media. Wire's Red Barked Tree was reviewed at No Ripcord . Wire To Release The Black Session Paris, 10 May 2011 Live Album On February 7 2011 saw the release of Wire’s most critically acclaimed and fastest-selling album in recent years, Red Barked Tree . The band also embarked on its most ambitious tour to date, embracing four continents and dozens of cities, many of which Wire had never played before. The final leg of the tour saw Wire performing in front of UK audiences for the second time in a year, something not undertaken for more than three decades. In celebration of this extraordinary year, pinkflag presents a special ke...

So, this is merely a video of Wire playing “Adapt” from their latest album, Red Barked Tree , which was reviewed on No Ripcord earlier this year . Otherwise, news of a live album and a European tour has sprung up. The live album is going to be treated as tour merch until the tour is over, so us over on the stateside will have to wait until December if we want to hear it. All info is courtesy of Terrorbird. Wire Announces Huge UK Tour for November Live Album on Pinkflag Will Be Sold as Exclusive Merchandise Download: "Two Minutes" via Pitchfork Watch: "Adapt" via YouTube After spending the first half of 2011 on an extensive world-tour in support of Red Bark Tree , Wire's Colin Newman , Graham Lewis , Robert Grey and live guitarist Matt Simms have decided to head back on the road in the UK. Twice as long and covering several cities the band hasn't played since the 70's, the November tour will be a fitting wrap-up to a whirlwind ...

Wire Red Barked Tree Pink Flag Released: 1.11.11 No Ripcord review Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Via Terrorbird Media: Wire New Album Red Barked Tree Streaming on NPR; North American Tour Dates Announced (Photo Credit: Adam Scott) LISTEN: Red Barked Tree (full album stream) (via NPR) + DOWNLOAD: "Two Minutes" (mp3) (via Pitchfork) On January 11, 2011 Wire will release Red Barked Tree , the follow up to 2008's critically acclaimed, Object 47 . The full album is streaming now on NPR. 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 just might 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 ...

Wire will be releasing a new album entitled Red Barked Tree in January 2011 because they’re fucking awesome. I managed to find their new single, “Two Minutes,” via Altered Zones . Loud, rambunctious and still a dominating post-punk presence that remains untouchable, Wire carries on amongst the charlatans, aging gracefully and continuing to matter. Old punks are mostly embarrassing, but Colin Newman is the most relevant curmudgeon to spring forth from ‘77. After you listen to “Two Minutes,” check out my review of their last album, Object 47 , listen to “The 15th” from their underrated masterpiece 154 and then check out a couple tracks from the post-Wire project of Bruce Gilbert and Graham Lewis , Dome . Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

154 really doesn't get the credit it should. Preceded by the seminal Pink Flag and Chairs Missing , 154 is considered Wire 's break-up tape and was apparently developed under the stress of creative differences and pressure from EMI to produce an album's worth of accessible singles. "The 15th" was intended to be the bullet and I could imagine it appealing to a more generalized public, more so at least than "12XU" or "I Am The Fly" may have. But, Wire refused to release it as such because the song wasn't performed by the full band. In essence, 154 was Wire's White Album , its entire being shaped by individuals as opposed to band members. They broke up the year after its release in 1980. Out of their initial phase, 154 has two of my favorite Wire songs: "The 15th" and "Two People In A Room." "The 15th" could've been the inspiration behind My Blood Valentine 's Loveless , it's sensitiv...

Wire Object 47 Pink Flag Released: 7.15.08 Rating: 8.75 out of 10 Between Wire ’s Object 47 and Bauhaus ’ Go Away White , this year has seen some solid releases from the post-punk elite, standouts among imitators and validation among skeptics. As far as shaping the modern music soundscape, Wire is one of the most important bands of the present-day and probably the most thoroughly picked for ripe inspiration. With the seminally charged Pink Flag , Chairs Missing and 154 , all of which were released within the first three years of the band’s existence, Wire seems almost as ingrained into the current musical construct as The Beatles , though they get maybe a quarter of the recognition. Object 47 is the 47th piece of recorded output they’ve released over their thirty-one years since 1977’s Pink Flag and it exhibits a band still fully capable of bold minimalism. Now a trio, guitarist Bruce Gilbert sitting this one out, singer/guitarist Colin Newman , bassist Graham Lewis a...

Wire Johnny Brenda’s Philadelphia, PA 10.10.08 Photo by Malka Spigel We were well into Wire ’s set when an overwhelming sense of self-righteous indignation fell over me like a blanket of barbed wire. This trio of 50-somethings, (them and the unnamed female rhythm guitarist in the background), geezers basically, having packed the venue almost beyond comfortable capacity, basically wrote every categorically Indie or Post-Punk song regurgitated over the last thirty years. Generalizing? Maybe, but listening to those guys play, you do realize that their first three albums, the seminally charged Pink Flag , Chairs Missing and 154 , laid it all out for any up-and-comer in the Indie crowd. And, yes, other bands matter, too. But, for now, fuck them: Wire cannot be denied. That being said, Wire was the sole act at Johnny Brenda’s last Friday, towing the line between polite and aggressive. Aside from an initial issue with singer/guitarist Colin Newman ’s microphone not wanting to...