25 July 2010

Administrator

Albums and Singles

Wire's sudden reactivation in the early part of the 2000s was quite a welcome one. While the sporadic live shows they played during that time were refreshing, the new material that appeared with the release of the first Read and Burn EP demonstrated a true "revival" of the band, which culminated with this album. Now, seven years later, it is reissued with a second disc of harder to find and unreleased material, and sounds just as vital as it did in 2003. It also marks the end of Bruce Gilbert’s tenure with Wire, and perhaps the period with his most significant contributions to the band.

Pink Flag

It seemed as if post-1977, Wire were doing all they could to escape "12XU," which endeared them to punk rockers who cared little for anything else they did during their first phase of existence.Most famously, they excised the bulk of the track from Document and Eyewitness, the audio documentation of the show that closed their first era of activity in 1980.Once it was finally released in full on 1996's Turns and Strokes, it was easy to hear the snide, sarcastic performance that was precipitated from obnoxiously yelling punks in the audience.Once into their second, more electronic pop tinged period in the 1980s, the song was all but forgotten, replaced by their then-signature song "Drill."

However, the track was once again embraced in 2001 with the "Twelve Times You" single.Presented here on the second disc, it appears in a deconstructed techno form "12 Times U" and a studio polished live take from 2000, "12 Times X."Both embraced the thrashy elements of the original, which arguably was one of the impetuses for hardcore punk, and used that energy as a blueprint for the two subsequent Read and Burn releases of new material.Not only that, but it almost seemed as if they embraced the full on adrenaline rush of Minor Threat's infamous cover of the song, as the subsequent material was some of the fastest and most dissonant material they have ever done.

Those first two Read and Burn EPs were a way for Wire to test the waters, with both being released in relatively small numbers and initially just direct from the band-run label, limiting their exposure to mostly just Wire’s core audience.Send, on the other hand, was culled from those releases, with a few tracks exclusive to its initial release.The electronic, dance oriented pop sound started with mid 1980s Wire and continued into the '90s as Wir was all but gone, replaced with a much spikier, aggressive approach that rivaled the energy of Pink Flag some 26 years before.

Most of the material here was borne out of direct collaboration between guitarist/vocalist Colin Newman and guitarist Bruce Gilbert, who both were polar opposites within the band.Geographically, this made sense, since both resided in the same city, while Graham Lewis was in Sweden, and thus contributed to a lesser degree via mail and occasional visits.Newman has never shied away from a pop song, as his solo work and Githead project clearly demonstrate.Gilbert, on the other hand, leans towards the abrasive and noise worlds, exemplified by his solo work such as In Esse, a disc that could easily be filed next to Merzbow when it comes to sound.The result is an album that shows the influence of both, and the domination of neither.The material is raw, aggressive and dissonant, but shaped into memorable, catchy songs.

Even the opening "In the Art of Stopping," which is one of the more pop-focused songs here, pounds along with a relatively simple over-driven three chord progression, Colin Newman's snide vocals, and the occasionally discordant electronic treatment, keeping it away from the traditional song structure.The superficially restrained "Mr. Marx's Table" is actually a mess of crashing digital guitars once Newman’s rather gentle vocal is pulled away.

The strongest moments are those where any sense of subtlety is ignored in favor of full on hardcore blasts.The infamous "Comet" is a simple, intentionally dumb slab of punk that belies the artistic depth of Wire, which is what makes it so great.How anyone could dislike a song about an apocalyptic event where the chorus is "And the chorus goes….ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-bang" is beyond me, and said persons will probably never be my friend.The following "The Agfers of Kodack" represents a thematic continuation of sorts, with Graham Lewis' vocals once again from the perspective of a war reporter (see Pink Flag's "Reuters" and "The First Letter" by Wir for other variations on the theme).The song has all of the heaviness of "Comet" but an entirely different vibe to it."Spent" is my favorite of all the aggressive tracks here, and on my short list of all time favorite Wire songs.Opening with Newman's snarling, vitriolic voice and layers of guitar slowly being placed, one atop another, until Robert Grey's drums fully kick in about a third of the way through the track.It comes across as so raging and disgusted, but with such intricate layering and processing to the sound, it’s far more than just pure aggression.

Not only are there the aggressive tracks, but those that are the thorny, abstract blobs that exist between the "songs"."Nice Streets Above," for example, is based on a loop taken from a live recording of "Drill" on which guitar that doesn't sound like guitar is piled, resembling a harsh electronic collage (with a beat).The painfully short "Half Eaten" has some extremely uncommon Bruce Gilbert vocals, heavily effected and buried in a swamp of nails and battery acid, resulting in a song that owes more to the work he and Lewis did as Dome than anything else on the album.The long closer "99.9" works nicely as a culmination of the album:initially building on the slow burn of a synthesizer and Newman’s vocals, which go from calm and restrained to fully unhinged when the piece brings in Grey’s pounding drums and even more pieces of spiny, distorted guitar.Traditionally, Wire albums had at least one long, difficult moment, and on this one it was "99.9."

The first disc is the exact same, content wise, as the original issue from 2003.This is not a good thing.Surprisingly, that album had a noticeable share of mastering issues, specifically a lot of digital clipping from being mastered too loudly.The bass swells in "Nice Streets Above" is one of the best examples of this:on Send it clearly becomes distorted from clipping, while the recording on Read and Burn 2 does not.I was hoping that this (and other related issues) would be fixed on this newer edition, but they linger.

The second disc, in addition to the aforementioned "Twelve Times You" single, compiles the Read and Burn songs that didn't make the cut for Send, but none of which are lacking."I Don't Understand," from the first EP, is cut from a similar cloth as "The Agfers of Kodack," but with the disgusted thrust of "Spent."How this ended up on a Victoria's Secret commercial still baffles me some three years after the fact."Trash/Treasure" was left off the album because it is far too pretty of a pop song to fit in with all the dissonance and thrash.From a melodic perspective, it owes a great deal to A Bell is a Cup era Wire, but with the ambience of Send.The short "Raft Ants" is one that could have fit nicely on there, however, with its machine gun pace and noise guitar.Given Newman's free association lyrics, it does sound like Motörhead covering "Kidney Bingos."

The newly released material shows gives some good insight into the development of what became the album."Artificial Gravity" is an instrumental (with the exception of Newman growling the title sporadically like a German Gabber DJ) that sounds like the nascent idea behind "Nice Streets Above" but more repetitious with a bit of the melody of "Trash/Treasure" thrown in.This ended up being reworked into "You Can’t Leave Now" on the album, which is a drastic change."DJ Fuckoff" is a 2000 performance of "Drill" mutilated into a sample collage with a techno beat.It's understandable why it never really evolved past what it is, but that doesn't stop it from being entertaining.

Two songs that eventually appeared on the post-Send Read and Burn 3 EP were in their demo form at this time:"Our Time" is a more rudimentary mix with a bit more breathing room than the final take, but is almost fully formed."Desert Diving" has a similarly complete feel, though it appears here with more of an ambient techno synth backing.It doesn’t drastically differ from the completed take, but I still prefer the final one.

I do wonder what spurred this project on, considering the relatively relatively recent appearance of Send, at least compared to other albums in Wire’s discography. To their argument Send did slip out of print however the aforementioned mastering issues weren't addressed.Extremely devoted Wire fans will probably already have almost everything here.I personally missed the 7" and Read and Burn 2 due to being completely broke when they were released, and not being able to track them down reasonably priced since then, so I was glad to have good recordings of them.Personally, I'd really like to see some of those rarities from the 1970s made available again, such as the singles/B-sides that were pulled off the recent remasters of those albums, or perhaps some unreleased 1980s material.As it stands, Send is still a brilliantly acerbic disc and, although the more pop oriented Object 47 has grown on me in the two years since its release, I still favor the more challenging material here.

samples:

• Spent
• Raft Ants
• Artificial Gravity

 

25 July 2010

Administrator

Albums and Singles

This album is a study in restraint. Opening with a libidinous blast, the duration is spent in an attempt to reign in on the passions released during the initial cacophony. These improvisations have been placed within a context of specific boundaries, allowing the musicians to explore particular modes of operation without being overwhelmed by the unlimited possibilities that sometimes stifle free form music.

Other Electricities

Male is a Chicago based ensemble revolving around Jonathan Krohn (electronics) and Benjamin Mjolsness (guitar). Fluttering about this dual core is a cadre of other fine instrumentalists including vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz, Dave Rempis on sax, and cornet player Josh Berman, among others. On this, their sophomore album, more time has been taken adding to, or subtracting from the original improvised recordings, which were an attempt to capture the feel of the past few years live shows. The chosen process has resulted in a very listenable collection of tunes.

"M. Wilson, American" opens with virulent strains of atonal sax, a battery of drums, soft vibraphone, and grating guitar. All sound like they are wrestling each other, screaming, trying to bury each other alive. Somewhere along the way they learn to regard one another, gathering around a water cooler of pre-amp distortion and fuzzy drones to work things out. This song and the rest are essentially expressionistic; vast territories and blurred landscapes are painted in quick strokes of hazy reverb. Glorious washes of echo and delay meld together to give instrumental snippets that seem to have been reproduced verbatim from the bands dreams. Subjective moods swirl around like Midwest cyclones.

"The Tase (One)" is just under two minutes long and is a copasetic sketch of what can be done to coax out some refracted tones from the guitar. Gently picked, and nearly subdued, it is minimal and hypnotic. Late in the album a live version, "The Tase (Two)," gives a longer expanded take on the piece. In the live setting it takes more time to develop, but reveals further nuances and subtleties. The lush organic drone that accompanies it adds a nice rinse.

"Jungle Boys" takes to flirting with the wilder, noisy end of the contemporary audio spectrum again; even so, the song still gives off an aura of self-control. Drummer Steven Hess is the main attraction at this event. Building up with a pitter patter of random rain splashes across his kit, things gradually escalate into an abstract onslaught, accompanied by the ricocheting splatter effect achieved with old reverb units, and some unnerving oscillations. My personal favorite is "House of Ride": a short melancholy drone. I listen to it on repeat up to two or three times in a row, like my teenage daughters do with their favorite pop songs. This is the centerpiece of the album, the logical zero point and the calm at the center of the storm.

German for Shark is a vinyl (& digital) release that comes with four downloadable MP3 remixes, from the likes of Anthony Child, Jon Minor, and Jim Schoenecker. All are very enjoyable, most following the blueprint of the originals closely, while elaborating on the textural elements. Dan Bitney of Tortoise, however, moves the music in a refreshingly different direction with "Japanese for Yes," making it positively danceable. It's a deep bass dream that makes my head swim with visions of sub-tropical vistas, Jamaica’s neon nightlife.

By the way, hai or haifisch is German for shark.

samples:

• M. Wilson, American
• Jungle Boys
• House of Ride

 

25 July 2010

Administrator

Albums and Singles

After being unavailable for nearly a decade, this sprawling celebration of Andreas Martin and Christoph Heemann rarities and collaborations has finally been given its long-deserved reissue. Drawing from early solo material, H.N.A.S. releases, various compilation appearances, and unreleased pieces recorded between 1987 and 2000, this compilation offers a very eclectic and oft-fascinating window into the creative evolution of these eccentric and mysterious brothers.

Robot Records

The first disc of this two-disc set contains the entirety of Heemann's 1992 solo debut, Über Den Umgang Mit Umgebung Und Andere Versuche along with a handful of Martin/Heemann collaborations that hint at a mid-'90s fascination with minimalism and early electronic music.The two-part "Die Drei Wege Ins Unbekannt" and "…Und Schritt Rücklings Ins Wasser, Der Aussicht Wegen" are superficially very different from one another, but all three pieces deconstruct and loop their source material into strong, pulsing repetition.The shimmering second half of "Die Drei Weg" is probably the best of the three minimalism-inspired works, but the first part features some charmingly aggressive use of water noises.

The solo Heemann material, unsurprisingly, gets quite a bit stranger.It begins with a chorus of chirping birds, descends into ominous ambiance, startlingly launches into some jangling disco guitar, slows into some Reich-ian drone, derails into a kooky percussion theme, and (most bafflingly) plunges into something that could be played during a figure-skating routine without anyone raising an eyebrow.Also, of course, there are some jarring jump-cuts, blasts of static, a rooster, and the requisite nightmarishly tweaked synthesizers thrown into the mix. It makes for quite a perverse, unpredictable, and satisfying listening experience—its inclusion is probably the most compelling argument for this reissue's existence.

The second disc begins with Andreas Martin's complete 1994 EP, Doppelpunkt vor Ort.I had never heard any of Martin's solo recordings before (there are not many of them), but based upon my hazy recollection of the one time that I saw him perform, I was expecting his work to be very acoustic guitar-based.Aside from "Bärenluder" and "Fahrradmusik" however, he tends to venture into some unpredictable and counter-intuitive places.For example, "Wurstfinger" is built around a repeating accordion phrase, some sort of pipe, and something that could be a xylophone (none of which are listed as having been played in the liner notes).Then "Hirschemöhre" seems to be almost the exact same thing, only played backwards.Generally, it is the actual substance of Heemann-related releases that is bizarre, but in this case it is the mere existence of the release itself that has me mystified: I don’t understand why Andreas has only released one commercially distributed solo work or why he would choose to fill it with brief sketches that seem to purposely avoid showcasing his guitar playing.The rest of the disc, fortunately, is filled-out by two significantly more impressive and fully formed pieces: Heemann and Martin’s "Die Nachbarn" (which sounds like a logical evolution from Andreas’s solo work, yet actually preceded it), and the lengthy opening piece from H.N.A.S’s hard-to-find Ach, Dieser Bart! album (which is quite warped and wonderful).

This reissue also features a couple of extra songs that were not included on the 1999 release.The first is "Fussgänger," a simple, reverb-drenched acoustic guitar piece that first appeared on the 2008 Brainwaves compilation.The other addition is an untitled work that was previously only available on the 1999 Memoirs of a Lepidopterist 10" picture disc.Despite being a mere bonus track, it is actually one of best songs on the album, featuring some ghostly drones and a beautiful and (rare) unadulterated acoustic guitar performance by Andreas Martin.

Being a Christoph Heemann release, Memoirs of a Lepidopterist naturally contains a number of thorny and curious discography-related issues.The most enigmatic is the fact that the liner notes state that the flanger-crazy "Nüchtern Fahren, Sicher Ankommen" was taken from the 7" that came with the Ach, Dieser Bart! LP, but there is no such song on that release.Also, there is at least one motif that surfaces elsewhere, as a brief snatch of Heemann's "Über Den Umgang Mit Umgebung Und Andere Versuche Teil 1" turns up on Ach, Dieser Bart! and possibly again in altered form on Mimyriad."Nüchtern Fahren" seems to have also experienced a couple of reincarnations.If I were obsessive enough, I bet I could find several more interconnections, but I suspect that there would still be a great many warped and unrecognizable recyclings that would forever elude me.I would have loved for this reissue to have included comprehensive contextual liner notes to help make sense of it all, but I suppose the fact that the brothers remain as enigmatic as ever is a pretty decent consolation prize.Memoirs of a Lepidopterist can be a somewhat frustrating and inconsistent experience at times, yet it is definitely a unique, surprisingly coherent, and oft-inspired one too (especially given the odds-and-ends nature of the material covered).

Samples:

• H.N.A.S., "Als Der Morgen Kam, War Es, Als Sei Nur Eine Nacht Vergangen"
• Andreas Martin, "Fahrradmusik"
• Christoph Heemann, "√úber Den Umgang Mit Umgebung Und Andere Versuche Teil 2"