Wire - Mind Hive - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Their 13th studio album - simply titled Wire - comprises material that was written with the album in mind, but toured extensively first, as well as songs that Newman introduced to the group in the studio just prior to recording. The idea was to get the most spontaneous reaction possible from the musicians, and far from the rough and ready results one might expect from such a tack, Wire is full of swooning pop melo-dies with a 60s tinge and an irresistible, near motorik rhythmic momentum. One can recognize certain me-lodic inflections, guitar and bass motifs, and drum rhythms from Wire's idiosyncratic vocabulary but it has a remarkable freshness. The basic tracks were recorded at Rockfield Studios with overdubs added at Brighton Electric. The 11 tracks selected for were the ones that came together most naturally. From the outset Wire was an alliance between four very different characters and continues today with the addition, in 2012, of It Hugs Back guitarist Matthew Simms, who is around thirty years younger than the other group members. InchWith Matt there was a really new dynamic that had appeared in the group's sound and that was something we wanted to capture, utilise and be creative with,Inch says Lewis. Wire is the first album where Simms has been involved in formulating the material from the ground up, but when the group's particular chemistry starts working he is now very much part of the process. Lewis provides most of the lyrics for the album, their subject matter encompassing love songs, cryptic nar-ratives and coded messages. One time, Newman asked Lewis to send over some unfinished, unformatted text so he wouldn't be bound by what to use for the chorus. This material spawned two songs written on the same day, 'Split Your Ends' and the droll 'In Manchester'. The latter has the disorientating and rather absurd situation of having InchIn ManchesterInch as

Silver/Lead is the 15th studio album from musical pioneers Wire. It arrives on the 40th anniversary of their debut performance. Yet it's about as far from nostalgia as you could get. This is the sound of a uniquely addictive 21st century psychedelic post-punk. Colin Newman and Matt Simms' guitar work is alternately jagged and luminous, while bassist Graham Lewis's ear-catching lyrics are vivid yet oblique. Meanwhile, drummer Robert Grey provides a virtual masterclass in percussive minimalism. But it's how the various instruments mesh together that really counts. And Newman's production creates a sonic space in which even the smallest gesture is accorded some recognition. Highlights include the optimistic dazzle of 'Diamonds In Cups', with it's almost T. Rex-style buzz and chug, and the moody swing of 'This Time'. Elsewhere on the musical spectrum, there's the menacing widescreen grandeur of 'Playing Harp for the Fishes' and breakneck-paced guitar pop of 'Short Elevated Period'.

12 of the heaviest early tracks by the master of rebetika music. Markos Vamvakaris sings from the hash dens of the Greek ports of the 1930s - mournful, poetic, bitter music of love and long nights.