So- how didn't I know the new Wire was out?

[Dr. Medulla]

I fucking love this song, but also how stoic and economical Bruce and Rob are in their performance. They're like Devo in their early robotic guises.

[revbob]

https://www.newsweek.com/mass-beef-reca ... ta-1788857

[Dr. Medulla]

https://www.newsweek.com/mass-beef-reca ... ta-1788857

It's Beginning to (Be Recalled) and Back Again

[Dr. Medulla]

Might interest Kory, given that his missuz is a dancer.

[Dr. Medulla]

My buddy Will interviewed Colin Newman on the re-release of his album Bastard: https://qthemusic.com/p/colin-newman-in ... -snobbery/

(Fake self-backslap: I gave him the Albini question.)

[JohnS]

My buddy Will interviewed Colin Newman on the re-release of his album Bastard: https://qthemusic.com/p/colin-newman-in ... -snobbery/

(Fake self-backslap: I gave him the Albini question.)

Thanks Doc, that's a really great interview. I had no idea Colin was so clued-up on - or passionate about - the advantages of artists owning their back catalogue rights. It's good that Wire are doing so well out of their 'classic albums' even if they seem to be on hiatus these days.

And that's what has prompted the 'Bastard' reissue, first time on vinyl etc. Good for him.

PS pardon my ignorance, but what's the story about Wire and Steve Albini working together?

[Flex]

My buddy Will interviewed Colin Newman on the re-release of his album Bastard: https://qthemusic.com/p/colin-newman-in ... -snobbery/

(Fake self-backslap: I gave him the Albini question.)

Very cool, good discussion that you don't always get on the reissue interview circuit. Colin and Wire are obviously pretty savvy in the business side, in a good way, and it seems to have helped them from having to turn to wire as a vehicle of financial desperation, which is great.

Id also be curious about the Albino recordings. His description of them was disparaging, but "wire songs that sound a bit more American" sounds great to me, lol.

[Dr. Medulla]

Will is an exceptionally talented interviewer. His subjects consistently end up in good spirits and talkative. (Will was the interviewer for the Airplane! oral history that was released last fall.)

As for Albini, around 2002 or so, when Wire were recording their Read & Burn ep's (which were compiled as Send), they did some recordings with Albini, which everyone involved agreed was unsatisfying. Or so I understood. I was surprised that Colin was more open to them being released one day. But I would expect given that Wire were rediscovering noise in that period, the recordings with Albini would be pretty snarly.

[JohnS]

Will is an exceptionally talented interviewer. His subjects consistently end up in good spirits and talkative. (Will was the interviewer for the Airplane! oral history that was released last fall.)

As for Albini, around 2002 or so, when Wire were recording their Read & Burn ep's (which were compiled as Send), they did some recordings with Albini, which everyone involved agreed was unsatisfying. Or so I understood. I was surprised that Colin was more open to them being released one day. But I would expect given that Wire were rediscovering noise in that period, the recordings with Albini would be pretty snarly.

Thanks, great info from a period when, re. Wire, I'd taken my eye off the ball.
Yes, Colin seems very amenable to the notion of investigating their back catalogue in that interview. But I'm pleased that, while he seems to be the sole gatekeeper (running the Pink Flag label for the band) they're all still a cohesive unit - he's not going to plunder their archives without everyone's consent.

[Dr. Medulla]

Will is an exceptionally talented interviewer. His subjects consistently end up in good spirits and talkative. (Will was the interviewer for the Airplane! oral history that was released last fall.)

As for Albini, around 2002 or so, when Wire were recording their Read & Burn ep's (which were compiled as Send), they did some recordings with Albini, which everyone involved agreed was unsatisfying. Or so I understood. I was surprised that Colin was more open to them being released one day. But I would expect given that Wire were rediscovering noise in that period, the recordings with Albini would be pretty snarly.

Thanks, great info from a period when, re. Wire, I'd taken my eye off the ball.
Yes, Colin seems very amenable to the notion of investigating their back catalogue in that interview. But I'm pleased that, while he seems to be the sole gatekeeper (running the Pink Flag label for the band) they're all still a cohesive unit - he's not going to plunder their archives without everyone's consent.

He might not be able to legally—presumably the original four would have veto power—but Colin's supposed heavy-handedness has created friction in the past. When they re-released the first three records in a box set around two decades ago, Colin changed the writing credits on Pink Flag to give himself distinct credit for the music. That irritated Bruce and may have contributed to him leaving the group (I might have the timeline wrong; he may have already have left). Still, Colin is the member of the band with some business sense and he's done all the heavy lifting so that the band possesses so much of their work (I don't think they own their Mute years stuff). Fingers crossed, tho, that Will asking about the Albini recordings has put a bug in Colin's brain.

[Flex]

One little tidbit - neither good nor bad, just interesting - is Colin's sort of dismissal of live releases and whatnot and seeming preference for the final studio master. There are definitely artists who would say their were magical shows/eras/tours/whatever where they really nailed the essence of their songs or whatever, but Colin definitely seems like a "the truest representation is what we put out on record for you" kind of guy. I'd imagine a lot of artists agree with Colin tho, and probably roll their eyes a little at goobers like us who obsess over live tapes and whatnot.

[Dr. Medulla]

One little tidbit - neither good nor bad, just interesting - is Colin's sort of dismissal of live releases and whatnot and seeming preference for the final studio master. There are definitely artists who would say their were magical shows/eras/tours/whatever where they really nailed the essence of their songs or whatever, but Colin definitely seems like a "the truest representation is what we put out on record for you" kind of guy. I'd imagine a lot of artists agree with Colin tho, and probably roll their eyes a little at goobers like us who obsess over live tapes and whatnot.

That's a little unfair, I think. About a decade ago, Wire initiated their "legal bootleg" program, where they issued live recordings from various points in their career. And he has said on their own board that Wire is a better live act than people give them credit (that is, they aren't studio rats). Still, he's a pretty quality-control kind of guy. Graham and Bruce were the "happy accidents" guys, while Colin was the guy who came to the studio with a plan.

[Kory]

One little tidbit - neither good nor bad, just interesting - is Colin's sort of dismissal of live releases and whatnot and seeming preference for the final studio master. There are definitely artists who would say their were magical shows/eras/tours/whatever where they really nailed the essence of their songs or whatever, but Colin definitely seems like a "the truest representation is what we put out on record for you" kind of guy. I'd imagine a lot of artists agree with Colin tho, and probably roll their eyes a little at goobers like us who obsess over live tapes and whatnot.

They call us trainspotters and force us to read Nick Hornsby novels!

[Flex]

That's a little unfair, I think. About a decade ago, Wire initiated their "legal bootleg" program, where they issued live recordings from various points in their career. And he has said on their own board that Wire is a better live act than people give them credit (that is, they aren't studio rats). Still, he's a pretty quality-control kind of guy. Graham and Bruce were the "happy accidents" guys, while Colin was the guy who came to the studio with a plan.

Ah, I definitely don't mean it as unfair - as I said, it's not a criticism - but I was going based on this:

Like most bands, Wire are not really that interested in all that kind of stuff. Live recordings, not even slightly. Anything like radio recordings, Peel Sessions and stuff like that... The band's really not that interested. They're more interested in the version that was - as it were - the final version, or the gig that's in front of them tomorrow. But I'd say that's in common with anyone in any band that I've ever spoken to. I mean, it's not like anyone's ignoring it, it's just the thinking is very much band thinking rather than fan thinking.

I don't follow Wire too closely, so I hadn't recalled the Legal Bootleg series. I just sort of contrast it to the artist I'm most familiar with - Bob Dylan - who basically has a pretty blase attitude about the studio and pretty much bangs stuff off on the fly in a few takes and then keeps reworking the arrangements (and lyrics, sometimes) to his songs pretty much endlessly. I don't know if he cares about fans hearing live versions or whatever, but he doesn't really seem to operate on the idea there's a "final version" of a song.

If I do have a criticism of Colin - and it would be a very, very mild one - it's around some of his comments about Spotify. Not about the rejection of snobbery - that's all well taken, it's something I try to work on myself - but more about the company specifically. One is a minor point, which is that he mentions the financial payout of Spotify and relates it to how much others are willing to pay, but just as a factual point other streaming services do pay better than Spotify, specifically, while offering the same or similar subscription costs to users. I think his general point isn't wrong, but I think even if we accept the current paradigm, there's room for improvement, which i think would be good for an artist to acknowledge.

The other is his comment about Joe Rogan, which was a toss-off, and again not really a criticism of Colin really, but it made me think about how there was this controversy some years ago about how you could find some white power/racist bands on Spotify and most of them got taken down. Which, you know, good to deplatform that shit. But now Spotify pays for and promotes one of America's main sources of disinformation, anti-vaccine/anti-science nonsense, qanon gateway shit, and alt right/white power voices to be whitewashed and disseminated into mainstream culture. I mean, it's reactionary and insane on its face and Spotify is actually rewarded monetarily and with increased use for doing it. And while I'm not about to counsel artists to, like, boycott Spotify since it's such the biggest game in town, I guess I wouldn't have minded Colin speaking to the ethical complications of Spotify rather than kinda laughing off that reporters want to discuss it. I think his views on it, especially given how astute he is about the industry, would be interesting.

[Flex]

Also, honestly, I don't think I even knew some of those albums had be re-re-issued and whatnot. Kory and Doc (and Marky?) what would you all say are the best sounding versions to get of the first three albums? I currently have the 2006 reissues of the first three albums on CD.