From: owner-idealcopy-digest@smoe.org (idealcopy-digest) To: idealcopy-digest@smoe.org Subject: idealcopy-digest V3 #141 Reply-To: idealcopy@smoe.org Sender: owner-idealcopy-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-idealcopy-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk idealcopy-digest Monday, May 15 2000 Volume 03 : Number 141 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: FAO Mark - re: manicured noise [MarkBursa@aol.com] DC Show Review [Jim Dingus ] New Wire CD - Internet Premiere? [Max Schmid ] Chairs Missing [Joshua ] RE: New Wire CD - Internet Premiere? ["giluz" ] RE: New Wire CD - Internet Premiere? ["stephen graziano" ] cranky Boston show review [Kent Lundberg ] RE: cranky Boston show review [Stacey Neustadt ] Leicester City - fao Mark ["Laurel G" ] Re: DC Show Review/Tone [Eardrumbuz@aol.com] Washington show report. [BOURGEOISIE ] questions about the list ["Laurel G" ] Re: Wire Merch ["Steve Loubert" ] Reforms that don't suck (was RE: BBQ some sacred cows.) [Paul Pietromonac] RE: idealcopy-digest V3 #138 [Paul Pietromonaco ] Leicester City: a clarification [MarkBursa@aol.com] Re: questions about the list [MarkBursa@aol.com] Re: FAO Mark - re: manicured noise [MarkBursa@aol.com] Death in Vegas [MarkBursa@aol.com] Re: Death in Vegas [MarkBursa@aol.com] Boston Wire show [Kathy P ] Greil Marcus Reviews Wire [george.m.hook@ac.com] Re: Greil Marcus Reviews Wire [Miles Goosens ] RE: Wire trade + DC show ["Moshe Imel" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 15 May 2000 07:27:50 EDT From: MarkBursa@aol.com Subject: Re: FAO Mark - re: manicured noise Jeffrey, Nor was it Leicester City's combative centre-half.... (this will mean nothing in America....) << > Something in the back of my mind tells me Steve Walsh made a solo record or > had a second band later on..... Yes, he did - I forget what it was called, but it was between Kansas albums. Oh. You mean a *different* Steve Walsh. Thank god! >> ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 May 2000 09:10:47 -0400 From: Jim Dingus Subject: DC Show Review I've been to the new 9:30 4 times, and while I all have many fond memories of the old 9:30; they did manage to capture and bring some of the old school vibe to the new club. I have to say they've done a great job with the place. I would say the 9:30 Club was about 3/4 full. Looked like everyone there had read Hi-Fidelity..haha Warm-up: Tone was 5 guitar, 1 bass, 1 drum kit, no vox outfit from DC. Very unpretencious and brief. They only played 4 or 5 songs, all of which pretty much sounded like the Band of Susans (great NYC guitar band, the two main members, Robert Poss and Susan Stenger have worked with Lewis and Gilbert of Wire on several side-projects) without distortion. They hit a few undulating grooves that sounded really good, but I can't really see buying any recorded material from these guys, but many of you may disagree. They did a much better job live than Superconductor (Canadian), who have the same type of instumentation line-up, but came off very muddy live when Pollard dragged them around on the Guided by Voices "Mag Earwhig!" tour. BTW, Superconductor's and Band of Susans make some damn fine rekids. Exactly half-an-hour after Tone left the stage. The place goes dark and for 5 minutes this swirling, ambient, hypno-synth stuff seeps through the PA. Out walk WIRE one at a time, looking "mature" but in a very cool way. Gilbert stands stage-right, back to the audience, right ear to his amp, eye on his guitar, and doesn't move from that position the entire set. I didn't see his fretboard once. Gotobed sits like a robot behind the kit, eyes closed, pretty much in his own universe. Lewis, who is one cool muthafucka, enters stage left, straps his bass on, tweaks a could of knobs, gets a "let's go to work" look on his mug and eyes Newman who with a grey metal-flake Vox (?) guitar, takes the point-centerstage, looks to Gotobed, shouts out the count and bang!...Pink Flag's guitar roar fills the club. Smiles all around. Within a few seconds I think everyone knew they were in for something special. After a bit of sound adjustment on the Newman's vocals, they drove the song home. One of my first thoughts was that these guys, for whatever reason, (i.e., equipment, chops, wisdom), are probably going to play the old stuff better today than it did back in the 70s. Highlights included: Pink Flag - Gotobed's is like a metronome; he's one of the most economical drummers I've ever seen or heard. Lowdown - With major head-banging moves by Newman. 40 Versions - "Hyponotizing" was the word I heard most to describe it. Lewis singing the end verse, all over his bass' fretboard. Another the Letter into Mercy - Incredible. 12XU - Blew everyone's hair back for it's 2 minutes. Newman croutching down during the build-up and slowly working his way to the mic each time the chorus tears open. Drill - The encore. Great. No "trotting out the hits" no big-time rock moves, no flashy outfits, no between song-banter; the word "nostalgia" never entered my head. I think it was also good that the DC show was near the end of the tour and the band was just super-tight. Two complaints: Ditch a couple of the 80s electronica stuff redone via guitars, and add three more songs from the EMI years (or new guitar-based songs) to the setlist. The show was exactly 1 hour long (every band member had a watch on..haha) including the encore. A bit too short even if it was all pretty much top-shelf. It's not like they're short of material. Pros in the best sense of the word. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 May 2000 21:47:00 -0400 From: Max Schmid Subject: New Wire CD - Internet Premiere? I'll be at the Irving Plaza show tonight, and if the new RFH CD is available, and if I can get an OK (even from the person behind the merchandise table), I will broadcast major portions at 3:30 AM EDT on Mass Backwards. New Yorkers can tune in on the radio - 99.5 FM; around the world you can tune in to the netcast of WBAI on porus.com (link below). Apologies to those getting the Digest version - you probably missed it! Max Schmid - Producer - WBAI, NYC 99.5 FM NOW WEBCASTING! http://www.porus.com/domains/wbai/wbai.ram GOLDEN AGE OF RADIO Sunday 7:30 PM and MASS BACKWARDS Tuesday 3:30 AM Home Page: http://www.oldtimeradio.com Jean Shepherd Catalog: http://www.advanix.net/~jsadur/shepcat.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 May 2000 10:21:43 -0400 (EDT) From: Joshua Subject: Chairs Missing OK, I can't find a CD of Chairs Missing anywhere. Anbody got an extra they'd like to sell? I really loved that album to the point where I borrowed it for, oh, three years or so from a friend, but it didn't occur to me to buy it until the other day. At which point I picked up Pink Flag and the Peel Sessions, but CDNow came back saying that it wasn't in their catalogue any more. Amazon has the A List and ... Manscape, I think. But no Chairs Missing. Anyone know a decent record store on the net somewhere? I'm embarrassed ordering from CDNow or Amazon anyway. - -Joshua ___ ___ http://www.swingpad.com (Digital Art and Artisanship) - --- --- ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 May 2000 17:37:14 +0200 From: "giluz" Subject: RE: New Wire CD - Internet Premiere? > -----Original Message----- > From: owner-idealcopy@smoe.org > [mailto:owner-idealcopy@smoe.org]On Behalf Of Max Schmid > Sent: Monday, May 15, 2000 3:47 AM > To: idealcopy@smoe.org > Subject: New Wire CD - Internet Premiere? > > > I'll be at the Irving Plaza show tonight, and if the new RFH CD is > available, and if I can get an OK (even from the person behind the > merchandise table), I will broadcast major portions at 3:30 AM > EDT on Mass > Backwards. New Yorkers can tune in on the radio - 99.5 FM; around the > world you can tune in to the netcast of WBAI on porus.com (link below). > Apologies to those getting the Digest version - you probably missed it! > > Can anyone calculate the European time (and date) for this broadcast? giluz ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 May 2000 12:57:57 EDT From: "stephen graziano" Subject: RE: New Wire CD - Internet Premiere? > > > > > > I'll be at the Irving Plaza show tonight, and if the new RFH CD is > > available, and if I can get an OK (even from the person behind the > > merchandise table), I will broadcast major portions at 3:30 AM > > EDT on Mass > > Backwards. New Yorkers can tune in on the radio - 99.5 FM; around the > > world you can tune in to the netcast of WBAI on porus.com (link below). >Can anyone calculate the European time (and date) for this broadcast? >giluz +5hours London +6hours Paris ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 May 2000 13:02:13 -0400 (EDT) From: Joshua Subject: RE: New Wire CD - Internet Premiere? On Mon, 15 May 2000, stephen graziano wrote: > > > I'll be at the Irving Plaza show tonight, and if the new RFH CD is > > > available, and if I can get an OK (even from the person behind the > > > merchandise table), I will broadcast major portions at 3:30 AM > > > EDT on Mass > > > Backwards. New Yorkers can tune in on the radio - 99.5 FM; around the > > > world you can tune in to the netcast of WBAI on porus.com (link below). > >Can anyone calculate the European time (and date) for this broadcast? > >giluz > > +5hours London +6hours Paris +9 to Israel? I think that's right. I have some recollection that that's where Giluz is. Is that right? - -J ___ ___ http://www.swingpad.com (Digital Art and Artisanship) - --- --- ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 May 2000 20:19:35 +0200 From: "giluz" Subject: RE: New Wire CD - Internet Premiere? > > >Can anyone calculate the European time (and date) for this broadcast? > > >giluz > > > > +5hours London +6hours Paris > > +9 to Israel? > > I think that's right. > > I have some recollection that that's where Giluz is. Is that right? > > -J > Yes it is, but its +7 to Israel (one hour later than CET), which means 10:30 tomorrow, if I'm right - I'll try to catch it at work then (if I get there that early). Cheers giluz ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 May 2000 16:11:57 -0400 From: Kent Lundberg Subject: cranky Boston show review Let me start by stating that I am the biggest Wire (and Lewis) fan, and have been since I first heard He Said's "Pump" in 1986. I am such a fanatic that I bought seven tickets to Friday's (sold out?) show in Boston and took a bunch of my friends, even providing them with mix tapes of the rumored set list so the performance would be familiar to them. I would have been happy to watch Graham Lewis read from the phone book. That said, I was a little disappointed in the show. Wire played, but they didn't really perform. 1. Come on, Graham, SING! He sang backup, with those great tortured expressions of his, but he never sang lead and he didn't sing any counterpoint. We didn't even get a "dugga dugga dugga" out of him during Drill. I believe that his songs (like Blessed State, Ambitious, and Finest Drops) are among Wire's strongest. I would have been happy to hear Ex Lion Tamer or the Coatings version of Serious of Snakes, just to hear his voice. Sigh. 2. Bruce never faced the audience. Not once. I don't expect him to dance around and swing his arms like Pete Townshend, but he acted like he was there against his will, and was pretty pissed about it. 3. Colin never really connected with the crowd. Yes, I know that's very much "in character" for Wire, but we were all psyched to be there, and it was as if he didn't care. About ten people shouted "That's the lowdown" during the break in Lowdown, and Colin just looked annoyed. If he had been willing to pander a little to the audience, he could have had the whole crowd eating out of his hand, screaming "That's the lowdown" at the top of their lungs by the end of the song. I mean, geez, the crowd went nuts when Colin and Graham said "hellohellohello" during their sound check. Couldn't they have played off that energy, even just a little bit? 4. Warning: Sounds like a casual fan alert: I wanted to hear Ahead, Madman's Honey, and Ambitious. Pout. And my girlfriend felt the absence of Kidney Bingos was tragic. Sniff. 5. They weren't as tight as I expected. This criticism is a little unfair, I know, because my point of reference is the Bauhaus reunion last year. (Haskins, Ash, and J have continued to play together as Love and Rockets, and you could tell. They were *really* tight.) Wire haven't been playing together for the past ten years, and I felt like it really showed. They have been honest about this lack of proficiency in all their interviews, but I was a little surprised by the missed notes and fumbled chords. 6. There is no comment number six. 7. It was amateur night at the mixing board, with almost an entire song ruined by feedback squeals and screeches. 8. Some idiot was throwing his cigarette butts on the stage, and almost hit Graham. You're lucky I wasn't standing next to you, pal, because I would have kicked your ass. Okay, that said: 1. Drill was a great encore. What a fabulous wall of sound. 2. Peer Group was an excellent opening band, but then again, I loved Mission of Burma. They had the right sound to be Wire's preshow. 3. Silk Skin Paws. Fabulous. 4. The Roxy: what a beautiful venue! After spending my youth in basements like Axis, The Rat, TT's and the Middle East, I'm glad Wire found a club setting that befit their sence of drama. 5. Did I miss the review in the Globe? - --> Kent. Lewis fanpage: http://web.mit.edu/klund/www/lewis.html ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 May 2000 16:49:17 -0400 From: Stacey Neustadt Subject: RE: cranky Boston show review >>5. Did I miss the review in the Globe? - --> Kent.>> I don't think you've missed the review (since I haven't seen it either, despite scouring their site). That does strike me as weird, though, because I saw Jim Sullivan there. I was relying on him going home and pounding out a review that would at least confirm for me who the guest performers were during Peer Group's set. I, too, thought that they were great and I was glad to see that Prescott is as energetic as he has always been. As for Wire, put me in the "sure I wish there was more, but I was just happy to be there" list. Stacey ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 May 2000 16:50:25 CDT From: "Laurel G" Subject: Leicester City - fao Mark >From: MarkBursa@aol.com > >Nor was it Leicester City's combative centre-half.... > >(this will mean nothing in America....) > Oh, this Yank gets it - joey is a Stockport man - now, I don't mind being a *widow* - gives me plenty 'o time for my own pursuits - but there is a time to download results, and a time NOT to download results......... Laurel ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 May 2000 18:15:40 EDT From: Eardrumbuz@aol.com Subject: Re: DC Show Review/Tone In a message dated 5/15/0 9:12:45 AM, jdingus@cisco.com writes: >Tone was 5 guitar, 1 bass, 1 drum kit, no vox outfit from DC. >Very unpretencious and brief. They only played 4 or 5 songs, all of >which pretty much sounded like the Band of Susans (great NYC guitar >band, the two main members, Robert Poss and Susan Stenger have worked >with Lewis and Gilbert of Wire on several side-projects) without >distortion. They hit a few undulating grooves that sounded really good, >but I can't really see buying any recorded material from these guys, but wow! i'm seeing pansonic tonight, but i'd much rather had a chance at seeing tone-the guitar ensemble! a d.c. outfit whose last album was produced by robert poss of band of susans, they sorta remind me of glen branca and savage republic...and i think that's how ipr (savage republic's label) described tone. the 2 cds i have by them are called "build" and "sustain" and are both worth the very reasonable price you should be able to get them for (8-10 bucks i think). 2 hours and counting!!!! hey, i'd better get dressed.... - -paul ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 May 2000 15:29:00 -0700 (PDT) From: BOURGEOISIE Subject: Washington show report. The show was at the 9:30 club, which was a fairly interesting venue with lots of good places to stand or sit with a good view of the band. Before the show started I stopped by the gift shop to try and pick up Wire's EP (the one with the two new songs on it), but the only cd they had was a recording of the R.F.H show, with no new songs included on it...disappointing. I bought a T-shirt. The opening act, Tone, came on at 10:15. Tone consisted of a full band, with the majority of them (five or six?) playing electric guitars. I have no problem with guitar bands as long as they are interesting, but Tone's music consisted of bland instrumental rock. Wire took the stage at 11 something and played (not necessarily in the correct order) Pink Flag Silk Skin Paws Boiling Boy He Knows Advantage in Height 40 versions Mercy Encore: 12xu Drill I was right up at the stage (right in front of Bruce) and had planned to ask him for the set list, but as they left the stage prior to the encore, The band made it clear that they intended to keep their set lists, with Bruce kicking the set list towards the rear of the stage, and Colin picking his up and taking it with him. The band played the majority of the songs (literally) with their eyes closed, Robert in particular. The sound mix was wrong with Colin's vocals drowning in Graham's bass, but they did play well and the songs never degenerated into distortion mush, like so many other live bands often do. The new song (He knows) was okay, but not much of a departure from their 70's material...and the only lyrics that i could make out were "Without your love, we're hypnotized." Songs that were actually changed included The Drill and some of Boiling Boy and 40 Versions (mainly the intros) The crowd was an ecletic bunch, with some people who could've almost been old enough to be my parents, some young people, some with technicolor hair, some black people (which was pretty neat, I suppose i had expected Wire's fans to all be artsy whites), and one of the most interesting things was that I noticed many people at the show seemed to have come alone. In a side note, and please keep in mind that I am just making an observation NOT introducing my politics on the list, was that there were quite a few people that I spotted from the Wire show in the opposition group to million mom march on sunday. I wish I could've talked to Wire and gotten an autograph, but I did get what I paid for...an "okay" show from a band I've been listening to for years.....now if only they would introduce more new material. Robert. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send instant messages & get email alerts with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 May 2000 17:34:17 CDT From: "Laurel G" Subject: questions about the list so I'm the new kid on the wire list block - I have to apologize if I'm rehashing stuff you've been over before - I'm used to general lists like punk77 where it's not dedicated to a particular band, so some of the stuff we bring up is not old hat with the listers - and then there's the Buzzcocks list where we pretty much talk about everything and then sometimes Buzzcocks I was looking to see about local show reviews for Chicago on the net and was wondering - is it normal for people to send in addy's where they find reviews to this list, or do you pretty much do your own thing? And do any of the band lurk and/or post? On Buzzcocks, Pete Shelley lurks and posts occasionally - John, the list god, forwards stuff of especial interest to all the band and Pete when they're touring and can't keep up - no reason except interest that I asked that one Thanks, Laurel ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 May 2000 17:50:57 -0500 From: "Steve Loubert" Subject: Re: Wire Merch Black T-shirt with light blue vertical rectangle surrounding black/pink vertical squiggle (from the front of 154). "WIRE" in caps above all. All this centered on the front of the shirt. Same as the art on the CD. I'd scan it and post it if I had a website. WARNING: Cheesy ASCII art follows: WIRE _____ | | | | | | | | | | | | ( | | ) | | ( | | ) | | ( | | ) | | ( | | | ------ Your faithful fashion reporter, Steve - ----- Original Message ----- From: jAY DEIGNAN To: Sent: Sunday, May 14, 2000 10:25 PM Subject: RE: Wire Merch > I believe it was blue with sime kind of vertical > rectangle down the (your) right side. Was the box red > with black text? (I dunno) Nothing on the back. > Cheers > ~jAY > > Jay, you mentioned the t shirt as not being that > impressive. > Can you describe it for me? I have a chance to get > one, > but wanna know what to expect. > thanks. > dave ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 May 2000 16:04:48 -0700 From: Paul Pietromonaco Subject: Reforms that don't suck (was RE: BBQ some sacred cows.) >> It wasn't perfect, but Television's 1992 return (after 14 years) >> was pretty >> good, considering the standards they were bound to be compared with. >Taking the risk of sounding REAL old-fashioned, I think King Crimson's >return in the early 80's and the late 90's were far from disappointing.> I totally agree with the above. And, maybe I'm just an out-of-touch American, but it seems to me that the new Madness album is pretty decent. Probably everyone else hates it - I still get brownie points for going to England to see Wire, right? And, not to flame this into existence again, but I actually sort of enjoyed Gang of Four's "Mall". Their original albums were only sporadically effective for me. More than half of Mall worked for me. Maybe it's due to the American bent of the album - the opening track in particular has been known to blare from my car stereo very loudly. Cheers, Paul ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 May 2000 16:15:38 -0700 From: Paul Pietromonaco Subject: RE: idealcopy-digest V3 #138 >Being an opening act for Wire must be one of the most difficult things an >opening band could be. Yeah - it's pretty tough. The Showbox was fairly empty while Hovercraft was playing. Which was too bad - I was sorta groovin' on what they were doing. And Graham came out of the roped-off area with a Silk Cut and a bottle of water, and watched quite a bit of their set. He seemed to enjoy their show. You know - I had another thought about these opening bands. Are they local bands to the cities Wire is performing in? I mean, Hovercraft is nominally from Seattle, and one of the reasons that I think nobody was there was because of "luckier band jealousy" syndrome. You know - "My avant garde noise-pop band should be up there, but these guys are instead - therefore they suck!". (^_^) If it had been Seam, for instance, I think a lot more of the Seattle crowd would have been there to check it out, since we have a lot less experience with them. Maybe. Maybe it would have been better if the show hadn't started at 8:00 PM, too (doors were at 7:00). Nobody in Seattle starts that early. I had one friend who, hearing that the show started at 8:00, and that Wire were second, figured he'd follow regular concert time, and showed up at 9:30. I think he managed to catch two songs, and the encore. Boy, was he tweaked. (^_^) Cheers, Paul ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 May 2000 19:34:39 EDT From: MarkBursa@aol.com Subject: Leicester City: a clarification I'd just like to make it clear that I am in no way a Leicester fan - but I quite admire their qualities of over-achievement - improbable cup wins through workmanlike, dour performances. It's a bit like, say, an Inspiral Carpets roadie making a million selling album. Unlikley but...er...what's that you say???? Mark (Leeds, to answer the obvious question) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 May 2000 19:38:29 EDT From: MarkBursa@aol.com Subject: Re: questions about the list Laurel, Well we tend to veer off in all directions really. That's the good thing about this list. It's good for recommendations of stuff to sample, from all eras, as the list seems to contain, in equal measure, old gits like me and young kids who approach Wire from a totally different direction. As for lurking, Wire's manager occasionally threatens people with extermination for bootleg trading. Colin may monitor the list? The good folk at WMO have a hot line to what's going on too. Mark << so I'm the new kid on the wire list block - I have to apologize if I'm rehashing stuff you've been over before - I'm used to general lists like punk77 where it's not dedicated to a particular band, so some of the stuff we bring up is not old hat with the listers - and then there's the Buzzcocks list where we pretty much talk about everything and then sometimes Buzzcocks I was looking to see about local show reviews for Chicago on the net and was wondering - is it normal for people to send in addy's where they find reviews to this list, or do you pretty much do your own thing? And do any of the band lurk and/or post? On Buzzcocks, Pete Shelley lurks and posts occasionally - John, the list god, forwards stuff of especial interest to all the band and Pete when they're touring and can't keep up - no reason except interest that I asked that one >> ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 May 2000 19:41:11 EDT From: MarkBursa@aol.com Subject: Re: FAO Mark - re: manicured noise Laurel, Manicured Noise never made a Peel session. They don't even merit a mention in the Guinness Encyclopaedia of Indie Rock. So their recorded legacy amounts to two 7in singles. Sad really, I'd like to have heard more. They were always playing support sets in Manchester but I never saw them. Mark ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 May 2000 19:47:03 EDT From: MarkBursa@aol.com Subject: Death in Vegas All, Has anybody heard (or got) the Death in Vegas record 'Dirge'? I'm intrigued to see the writing credits as the riff, drum machine, synth etc is a direct lift of a 1981 single called 'Another Reason' by a band called Five or Six. The Wire link? They supported CN at the Venue in London in 1982 (along with The The). The DIV song has featured on a TV ad here so let's hope the Five or Six boys are getting their royalty cheques - which really should be 100%, such is the extent of the lift. An interesting one - sampling a record so obscure that no-one has heard it and passing it off on a new generation as original work. But they didn't account for my super-anorak powers!!!!!! Mark ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 May 2000 20:29:05 EDT From: MarkBursa@aol.com Subject: Re: Death in Vegas AJ << Well I have the Death In Vegas record around somewhere, but was so underwhelmed by it that I dont remember much of it... if I recall correctly, Dirge has the lovely but untalented Dot Allison (Mr Fearless's main squeeze) on vocals... that is an obscure reference indeed >> A few breathy 'lalalas' over the top....the only vaguely original bit on the record. actually the lovely Dot's album got good write-ups but I haven't heard it.... lightly strummed acoustic pop thang apparently Mark ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 May 2000 21:05:03 -0400 From: Kathy P Subject: Boston Wire show >Responding to this quote from Mike: Date: Fri, 12 May 2000 22:53:40 EDT From: Rain19c@aol.com Subject: wire in boston / its all in the brochure just got back from the wire boston show, and it was dam good. lucky me, as soon i walked in, i see colin and robert walking in with bruce and graham right behind me. yea, i shouldve said hi or something, but i guess i choked up arrrgh. >Wow!!! I was really hoping to get to see Colin or Graham up close, at least, or any of them but especially Colin. I had hope because I got to see and speak tothe lead singer of the opening band (Peer Pressure?). Everyone who saw the Chicago show says Colin DJ'd after their show. Drooooooool.... Wow, that would have been really cool. But the Roxy staff was shoving us out!! I've never been to a concert in a night club that kicked you out afterwards. You just don't get much for your money these days, huh?? anyway, the opening band was quite interesting, during one song they had this guy with his face mummified reading from some ghastly text. >That seemed pretty weird at first, but that song was really great, I thought. Definitely interesting!! haha Afterwards I thought maybe the guy was recovering from burns or something, and had to remind myself to not make nasty comments about it. You never know, right? Weren't some of the members of the band from Mission of Burma?? That is what people were saying... wire took a bit to set up, but it was worth it. the highlight for me was the amazing version of mercy they did, just as good as the one from all tomorrow parties. the place was packed and seemed to really enjoy the show, even though the set was a bit short. >Yeah, short, that is an understatement. The Roxy had to start their mondotechnoeuro thing at 10pm. 10pm??!! When I used to go clubbing, I didn't get up from my nap until then and it was not before midnight I showed up in a club. Sheeeessh!! I personally would have paid more to see Wire play longer, or to stay longer afterwards, but that 's life! Plus, I already mentioned this, but am I right in guessing that Graham's voice was not cooperating? He seemed to squelch a couple things out. It would have been great to hear Ambitious, Feed me, etc. they were selling a variation of the pink flag t shirt, it has the pink squiqqly line on it and the its all in the brochure cd. the brochure cd is pretty good... the immersion track is an ambient delight, and the djxdj track reworks the intros to finest drops, kidney bingos, drill, and feed me into a sound collage...the krev track is nonsense, as it is only 40 seconds long, and he said's "title" is an incomprehensible bunch of drivel. as for the wire tracks, they are quite cleaned up and the band sounds tight, with lowdown sounding amazing and the vocals very clear, unlike tonites show. and the rendition of 12xu is a glorious mess. all in all a good night, now all we can hope for is some new material... mike. >Can we get this on-line?? I didn't even see the booth they were selling stuff at. It's been so long since I've been to a concert, and even then it was in a big theater, so I didn't expect to get kicked out at 9:45pm!!! Yikes!!! I didn't think before hand to look, and now I will know better. I'll take a look on the pinkflag site. >I thought it was so great to see them after liking them for over 10 years, forget about how they sounded. I am not so tall (even with my 5" platforms on) so I took to the left front balcony, and it was perfect visually. At first, it shocked me a bit to see that they look so much older than I remember. But, I got a sense from them of confidence, being settled, not being as cocky and arrogant. Colin looked so pleasant and seemed to be really enjoying the show. >There was a freebie music newspaper in Cambridge the next day with a column on Wire and a few great pictures of them as well. There was a great 70's sexy photo of them! Smashing, baby! What can I say, wished I could have been a groupie back then!! haha >Enough of my ravings. later, >Katherine - ----- kep99@hotmail.com Visit the Lizard Pages: http://www.lizardpages.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 May 2000 18:51:02 -0500 From: george.m.hook@ac.com Subject: Greil Marcus Reviews Wire December 1999) at 05/15/2000 06:44:27 PM MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Sender: owner-idealcopy@smoe.org Precedence: bulk From the May 15 on-line magazine Salon: 3) Wire at Great American Music Hall, San Francisco (May 2) Formed in 1976, they were from the start the most severely arty of all British punk bands, and it was their severity that saved them: their pursuit, it always seemed -- as over the decades Colin Newman, Robert Gotobed, B.C. Gilbert and Graham Lewis went their own ways and reformed, dumping an all-but-unsolvable confusion of LPs and CDs off the charts -- of form before and after anything else. Despite Newman's cutting accent ("London suburban art-school sarcastic," according to critic Jon Savage), or the fact that in 1991, lacking Gotobed, the group recorded as Wir, their humor was all in their melodies, playing against the sense of espionage in their lyrics, against the harsh, absolutely self-contained bass drums guitars rhythms of their ridiculously brief songs. In a word, they were perfect. For the sold-out first show of an eight-date American tour they were instantly up to speed: terrifically loud but precise, with Newman's staccato delivery for "Pink Flag" letting every word stand out clearly. They were pure punk in shape and attack -- punk as wish, as what it could be, as an ideal -- but without any baggage as to clothes, attitude, history. Never big stars, they carried nothing more than their old or young-looking selves and their sound onto the stage. Nothing was mythicized; nothing happening in the music referred to anything that wasn't present, except to the degree that the music referred to, or in its way reformed, the world at large. Expressions were dour. Movement was minimal. The four played as if they had invented punk -- or had stumbled upon it the day before, as if their project was so conceptual it was completed before it was begun. Doubt and nervousness underlay every tune. The cryptic invitations of the words suggested code. That made the momentary release of the melodies in the likes of "Dot Dash" or "French Film (Blurred)" unbearably pleasurable, because even as you felt the Pleasure, you felt it being taken away. Remaining tour dates: May 15, Irving Plaza, New York; May 26-28, the Garage, London. 4) Wire, "Third Day" Five indistinct rehearsal cuts recorded last fall. Forget the "first edition: 1 of 1,000" printed, not stamped, on the sleeve (as I read it, that means there can be 1,000 first editions of limitless pressings each) and look for "On Returning (1977-1979)" (Retro/EMI, 1989), "Behind the Curtain: Early Versions 1977 & 1978" (EMI, 1995), "Chairs Missing" (Harvest/EMI, 1978, their best) and "Document & Eyewitness" (Rough Trade, 1981), in whatever configurations you might find, plus Ian Penman's fine "Flies in the Ointment" in the March issue of the Wire. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 May 2000 20:23:50 -0500 From: Miles Goosens Subject: Re: Greil Marcus Reviews Wire The Holy Greil said: >Expressions were dour. Movement was minimal. The four played as if they had >invented punk -- or had stumbled upon it the day before, as if their project >was so conceptual it was completed before it was begun. Doubt and >nervousness underlay every tune. The cryptic invitations of the words >suggested code. That made the momentary release of the melodies in the >likes of "Dot Dash" or "French Film (Blurred)" unbearably pleasurable, >because even as you felt the Pleasure, you felt it being taken away. Further proof that Greil has lost it, since neither song was played at GAMH - -- or for that matter, by the current version of Wire. Geez. I've defended Greil for years against those who snipe against him, but this piece, small as it was, is one of the most puffy, pretentious things I've seen from him, even without getting the song titles wrong. His brief essay about the return of Wire c. IDEAL COPY (I think it's in the collection of short pieces that came out a few years ago) was much more interesting. later, Miles ====================================================== Miles Goosens UNlimited edition R. Stevie Moore CDs now available! http://www.rsteviemoore.com My personal website http://www.mindspring.com/~outdoorminer/miles "If a million people say a stupid thing, it is still a stupid thing." -- Anatole France ====================================================== ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 May 2000 16:48:17 -0400 From: ajwells@att.net Subject: Re: Death in Vegas MarkBursa@aol.com wrote: > > All, > > Has anybody heard (or got) the Death in Vegas record 'Dirge'? I'm intrigued > to see the writing credits as the riff, drum machine, synth etc is a direct > lift of a 1981 single called 'Another Reason' by a band called Five or Six. > The Wire link? They supported CN at the Venue in London in 1982 (along with > The The). The DIV song has featured on a TV ad here so let's hope the Five or > Six boys are getting their royalty cheques - which really should be 100%, > such is the extent of the lift. > > An interesting one - sampling a record so obscure that no-one has heard it > and passing it off on a new generation as original work. But they didn't > account for my super-anorak powers!!!!!! > > Mark Well I have the Death In Vegas record around somewhere, but was so underwhelmed by it that I dont remember much of it... if I recall correctly, Dirge has the lovely but untalented Dot Allison (Mr Fearless's main squeeze) on vocals... that is an obscure reference indeed Aj ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 May 2000 21:38:02 -0400 From: "Moshe Imel" Subject: Wire trade + DC show Anyone up for trading a few Wire goods? After a couple of months and minor fortune I have managed to track down most of the second incarnation esoterica. Most are bsides. I have compiled them onto 2 cdrs. I'm looking for a couple more songs(listed below). I am also looking for the Wire video cdrom which someone made not too long ago. I have unsuccessfully tried to get a copy twice now so I am appealing to someone on the list with a cd burner. In addition if you are interested in trading any other stuff (including Wire stuff not listed) let me know. Always looking for mixes, demos, sessions ect.. Thanks Looking for: Indie Top 20 Vol. 1988 Kidney Bingos (Remix) Gigantic CS (Melody Maker) May 1989 [no catalog] UK Kidney Bingos (Remix) 7" (Mute) July 1989 [LMUTE 98] UK In Vivo (7" Mix) Stillbird Bsides and rare cdrs cd1 ahead(7inch edit), Over Theirs (live), Drill (live), Pieta (La Piccola), silk skin paws(12inch remix), german shepherds, ambitious(remix), come back in two halves(rerecorded), eardrum buzz(7inch edit), it's a boy(instrumental), Eardrum Buzz(12inch version), Silk Skin Paws(7inch version), Ahead (12inch version), In Vivo ( 7- version), In Vivo (12- version), Illuminated (12- version), Finest drops (live) cd2 so and slow it grows (single mix), so and slow it grows (the orb in atlas mix), nice from here, take it (Lfo remix), The First Letter, Janet, Fingers & Thumbs (Cold Summer's Day) (Figures In Crumbs), Drill, In Every City (different mix from Tonal Evidence comp) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 15 May 2000 21:55:04 -0400 From: "Moshe Imel" Subject: RE: Wire trade + DC show Whoops, forgot to give my take on the D.C show. TOTALLY AWESOME!! Graham totally rocked out! I love that intent and intense look he gave all night. Colin put on a great show. I would have preferred a little more of the later period but the earlier tunes were cool also. The blistering rendition of Drill was incredible sonic bliss. Too bad the RFH cd they sold there did not include it. - -----Original Message----- From: owner-idealcopy@smoe.org [mailto:owner-idealcopy@smoe.org]On Behalf Of Moshe Imel Sent: Monday, May 15, 2000 9:38 PM To: idealcopy@smoe.org Subject: Wire trade + DC show Anyone up for trading a few Wire goods? After a couple of months and minor fortune I have managed to track down most of the second incarnation esoterica. Most are bsides. I have compiled them onto 2 cdrs. I'm looking for a couple more songs(listed below). I am also looking for the Wire video cdrom which someone made not too long ago. I have unsuccessfully tried to get a copy twice now so I am appealing to someone on the list with a cd burner. In addition if you are interested in trading any other stuff (including Wire stuff not listed) let me know. Always looking for mixes, demos, sessions ect.. Thanks Looking for: Indie Top 20 Vol. 1988 Kidney Bingos (Remix) Gigantic CS (Melody Maker) May 1989 [no catalog] UK Kidney Bingos (Remix) 7" (Mute) July 1989 [LMUTE 98] UK In Vivo (7" Mix) Stillbird Bsides and rare cdrs cd1 ahead(7inch edit), Over Theirs (live), Drill (live), Pieta (La Piccola), silk skin paws(12inch remix), german shepherds, ambitious(remix), come back in two halves(rerecorded), eardrum buzz(7inch edit), it's a boy(instrumental), Eardrum Buzz(12inch version), Silk Skin Paws(7inch version), Ahead (12inch version), In Vivo ( 7- version), In Vivo (12- version), Illuminated (12- version), Finest drops (live) cd2 so and slow it grows (single mix), so and slow it grows (the orb in atlas mix), nice from here, take it (Lfo remix), The First Letter, Janet, Fingers & Thumbs (Cold Summer's Day) (Figures In Crumbs), Drill, In Every City (different mix from Tonal Evidence comp) ------------------------------ End of idealcopy-digest V3 #141 *******************************