Wire / Wire
Artist Wire
Album Title: Wire
Album Cover:
Primary Genre Alternative & Punk: Post-Punk
Format CD
Released 04/13/2015
Reissue Date 04/21/2015
Label PinkFlag/Mutesong
Catalog No PF22
Bar Code No 5 024545 712223
Packaging Digipack
Tracks
1. Blogging (3:46)
2. Shifting (3:17)
3. Burning Bridges (3:17)
4. In Manchester (2:41)
5. High (1:53)
6. Sleep-Walking (7:30)
7. Joust & Jostle (2:12)
8. Swallow (4:17)
9. Split Your Ends (3:30)
10. Octopus (3:16)
11. Harpooned (8:23)
Date Acquired 04/28/2015
Personal Rating
Acquired from Amazon
Purchase Price 13.99

Web Links

All Music Guide Entry:
Discogs Entry:
Musicbrainz Entry:

Notes

US release date: April 21, 2015

Acoustic Guitar – Colin Newman (tracks: 1, 2, 8)
Art Direction – Jon Wozencroft
Backing Vocals – Graham Lewis (tracks: 1, 4, 9, 10)
Baritone Guitar [Electric] – Colin Newman (tracks: 1, 7, 8, 11)
Bass [FX] – Graham Lewis (tracks: 6)
Bass Guitar – Graham Lewis
Bass Guitar [High] – Graham Lewis (tracks: 3)
Drums [Drum Kit] – Robert Grey
Effects [FX] – Matthew Simms (tracks: 11)
Electric Guitar – Matthew Simms
Electric Guitar [12 Strings] – Matthew Simms (tracks: 2, 3, 9)
Engineer – Sean Douglas (2)
Keyboards – Graham Lewis (tracks: 8), Matthew Simms (tracks: 1, 2, 4, 6)
Lap Steel Guitar – Matthew Simms (tracks: 3, 6)
Loops – Matthew Simms (tracks: 8)
Mandola – Colin Newman (tracks: 6)
Mastered By – Denis Blackham
Mixed By – Colin Newman
Music By – Wire
Percussion [Water Tank] – Robert Grey (tracks: 6)
Photography By – Jon Wozencroft
Producer – Colin Newman
Recorded By [Additional] – Colin Newman
Synth [Modular] – Matthew Simms (tracks: 4 to 6, 8 to 10)
Text By – Colin Newman (tracks: 6, 10), Graham Lewis (tracks: 1 to 5, 7 to 9, 11)
Voice, Electric Guitar, Keyboards, Written-By [Song] – Colin Newman

Distributed By – Cargo Records
Distributed By – Redeye
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Pinkflag
Copyright © – Pinkflag
Published By – Pinkflag
Published By – Mutesong
Recorded At – Rockfield Studios
Recorded At – Brighton Electric Studios
Recorded At – Swim Studio
Mixed At – Swim Studio
Mastered At – Skye Mastering
Made By – www.keyproduction.co.uk

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foobar2000 1.3.6 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1
log date: 2015-04-28 20:15:57
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Analyzed: Wire / Wire
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DR         Peak         RMS     Duration Track
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DR6       -0.10 dB    -7.21 dB      3:46 01-Blogging
DR6       -0.10 dB    -6.87 dB      3:17 02-Shifting
DR6       -0.10 dB    -6.62 dB      3:17 03-Burning Bridges
DR6       -0.10 dB    -7.01 dB      2:42 04-In Manchester
DR5       -0.10 dB    -6.93 dB      1:52 05-High
DR6       -0.10 dB    -6.97 dB      7:31 06-Sleep-Walking
DR5       -0.10 dB    -6.06 dB      2:12 07-Joust & Jostle
DR7       -0.10 dB    -9.75 dB      4:17 08-Swallow
DR5       -0.10 dB    -5.67 dB      3:31 09-Split Your Ends
DR6       -0.10 dB    -6.81 dB      3:16 10-Octopus
DR5       -0.10 dB    -5.60 dB      8:23 11-Harpooned
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Number of tracks:  11
Official DR value: DR6
Samplerate: 44100 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 16
Bitrate: 1038 kbps
Codec: FLAC
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Reviews
All Music Guide Review:

Review by Heather Phares
Self-titled albums, especially those that aren't debuts, usually imply some sort of definitive statement. That's not necessarily the case with Wire, which feels more like an update than a manifesto thanks to its restraint. On first listen, it's not as bold as Change Becomes Us, which isn't surprising since those were songs the group abandoned three decades before. Instead, these shadings recall Wire's previous album of all-new material, Red Barked Tree, which tempered its explosions with more atmospheric evolutions of the sardonic, bittersweet post-punk-pop they pioneered in the '70s. "Split Your Ends" picks up where droning, implosive Tree songs like "Down to This" left off; "Octopus" jangles instead of jabs; and "Joust & Jostle," perhaps the most quintessentially Wire song here, adds a psychedelic glaze to its barbs. Wire also brings Red Barked Tree's political undercurrents to the fore, arguably with more finesse: though "Blogging"'s title could seem cringe-worthy, its acerbic melancholy regarding the digital age is a harbinger of the disconnection that runs through the album, as well as its mix of disquieting lyrics and droning sonics. On another album, the band might have blazed through a song like "Harpooned"; here, it's a slow burner. Similarly, "Sleep-Walking"'s plodding tempo enhances the ominous feel of lyrics like "the narrowest vision has the widest appeal." Even if Wire isn't the band at its most uncompromising, it requires closer listening than might be expected: is Colin Newman singing "on a mission/telling lies" or "an omission/telling lies" on the aptly named "Shifting"? Either way, it's a highlight that, like many of the album's other best moments, lets the band's melodic gifts shine. "Burning Bridges" and "In Manchester" borrow from '60s pop, but the insistent rhythm section is unmistakable; meanwhile, "High" boasts the kind of dreamy chords that launched a thousand shoegazing followers. The album borders on monochromatic at times (possibly because there are no songs by Graham Lewis, who provided some of Red Barked Tree and Change Becomes Us' finest tracks), yet its subtle subversions are thoroughly Wire, and thoroughly befitting the band at this stage in its career.
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