Wire: i just don't get it

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Well, Graham Lewis is the Klingon of Wire, after all. From 154 and after, he tries too hard to be majestic and dark, and I can understand his singing style rubbing people the wrong way.

I love his compositions and was a big He Said fan, but man sometimes his voice on certain songs is just one big bad idea... i.e. "Ambitious"

― donut bitch (donut), Thursday, 27 February 2003 19:25 (twenty-one years ago) link

Is he the one droning 'rrrape' over and over in the background at the end of Reuters?

― Ferg (Ferg), Thursday, 27 February 2003 19:26 (twenty-one years ago) link

I think that's just multi-tracked Newman, but I dunno for sure.

I can't imagine Colin Newman singing "Ambitious."

― hstencil, Thursday, 27 February 2003 19:30 (twenty-one years ago) link

I would not like to imagine ANYBODY in Wire singing "Ambitious". I absolutely love Wire, but this song could have not existed, and I think the world would still be happy. :)

I think Lewis's vocals works better ovreall with 80s Wire.. like with "It's Beginning To And Back Again", and He Said, obviously. But I agree "Should Have Known Better" and "A Touching Display" are great.

― donut bitch (donut), Thursday, 27 February 2003 19:36 (twenty-one years ago) link

Also, I think Lewis's vocal style was eerily foreshadowing of a lot of the New Zealand rock to come out a year after.. Gordons, This Kind Of Punishment, Pin Group, etc. (aside from the Joy Division and Fall influences of course)

― donut bitch (donut), Thursday, 27 February 2003 19:37 (twenty-one years ago) link

I would not like to imagine ANYBODY in Wire singing "Ambitious". I absolutely love Wire, but this song could have not existed, and I think the world would still be happy. :)

*sniff* I wouldn't be happy!

I love "Should Have Known Better," his voice is great on that.

Hahaha, Pin Group! Love that Siltbreeze CD. Roy Montgomery sounds more like late M. Gira to me on it, but it's close enough to Graham too. Have you heard his Wire cover?

― hstencil, Thursday, 27 February 2003 19:42 (twenty-one years ago) link

They were pretty bad at ATP last year. Mostly drab newish material delivered in a inelegant, semi-slick, techno-metal style. Graham Lewis' mike wasn't working for the early part of the set, which might've been a blessing in disguise, 'cos I agree w/ Tom abt the horrible singing on 154 - the unacceptable face of the punk-prog crossover.

Some of the lyrics on the first three recs are exceptional - 'Ex-Lion Tamer', 'Single K.o.' etc etc.

― Andrew L (Andrew L), Thursday, 27 February 2003 19:44 (twenty-one years ago) link

Hahaha, Pin Group! Love that Siltbreeze CD. Roy Montgomery sounds more like late M. Gira to me on it, but it's close enough to Graham too. Have you heard his Wire cover?

Unfortunately, no. I listened to Roy Montgomery a lot when every underground rock band needed to do an "Outdoor Miner" cover, so maybe I did, and it got lost along all the other Wire covers lobbed at me at the time.. heh.

― donut bitch (donut), Thursday, 27 February 2003 23:45 (twenty-one years ago) link

It's actually a cover of "Used To" and it's on the singles comp. Hmm...

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 28 February 2003 00:05 (twenty-one years ago) link

Russ T, is the Newman single yr after "Feigned Hearing"? It's on the lp "Commercial Suicide", another good Newman record. Actually, all four I have are good

― Andrew Thames (Andrew Thames), Friday, 28 February 2003 01:25 (twenty-one years ago) link

Speaking of Newman, is there a thread anywhere to discuss all of the other side projects of Wire members between the incarnations of the group? I managed to find a copy of 8 Time by Lewis and Gilbert in the used bin the other day, and after a bit of research I just realized that Dome and Duet Emmo were also Wire offshoots (something I probably knew once upon a time).

Why don't people talk about these other projects more? It strikes me as odd that Wire is so revered (rightly) and yet most people can't be arsed to even mention this stuff most of the time, especially since a lot of it is of a piece with the more experimental Wire material.

― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Monday, 3 March 2003 16:11 (twenty-one years ago) link

you've all formulated some very interesting and sophisticated arguments to why one should revere the art-punk band wire
unfortunately some posters actively avoided answering the question, and although attempting to tackle some broader postulations regarding the meaning of 'punk' and the group's relationship to 'punk' which by itself would recieve merit, in this context it is sadly unwelcomed.
all in all, a well written and entertaining thread; B-

― schnell schnell, Monday, 3 March 2003 17:30 (twenty-one years ago) link

kill yourself.

― roger adultery, Wednesday, 5 March 2003 07:54 (twenty-one years ago) link

Yeah, I mean you don't even like Wire

― Andrew Thames (Andrew Thames), Wednesday, 5 March 2003 11:56 (twenty-one years ago) link

sixteen years pass...

Right, never mind all that..

Here is a crowd funder for a Wire documentary, one day left and close to the ummmm wire.

https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/wirefilm

Have a butchers, see what happens!

― Mark G, Sunday, 8 September 2019 12:32 (four years ago) link

Christ, early ILM was insufferable...

― Soundslike, Sunday, 8 September 2019 13:13 (four years ago) link

I threw em some greenbacks. So close!

― but everybody calls me, (lukas), Monday, 9 September 2019 02:00 (four years ago) link

I like Wire in the most clichéd way (first 3 and Read/Burn/Send) but people really need to be discouraged from making music documentaries.

― shared unit of analysis (unperson), Monday, 9 September 2019 02:49 (four years ago) link

yeesh at ppl upthread saying elastica was better

― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Monday, 9 September 2019 03:15 (four years ago) link

They got there, anyway.

― Mark G, Monday, 9 September 2019 19:13 (four years ago) link

who are all these upthread losers

― akm, Tuesday, 10 September 2019 03:15 (four years ago) link

... Belle & Sebastian fans - enough said?

people really need to be discouraged from making music documentaries.

OTM. I would hope Wire might do some different with this one though.

― Boulez, vous couchez avec moi? (Tom D.), Tuesday, 10 September 2019 06:50 (four years ago) link

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