the wire

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Ivan Conte

Wild Horses
And didn't the cult of authenticity die with Roxy Music?
By the way, the article on Roxy Music is another highlight to be found among the recent issues of the Wire.

I think I'll always prefer the meaty critics, those who risk and put at stake their credibility in order to defend a new way of approaching music. The way I see it, from this type of critic you can always learn things, or at least their stance will help you to define yours, and that's definitely more valuable to me than the bland criticism I sometimes see in other mags or newspapers.

By the way, yes, The Guardian usually features interesting articles and interviews but to me is clearly a "second course". The main meal is The Wire.

And, in order to compensate the negative responses to the treatment of dubstep in The Wire, we should admit that at least they are trying to registre what's happening, and the truth is that they are paying more and more attention to it. And if you still don't like it, I guess you can always resort to Woofah ;)
 
D

dHarry

Well-known member
I like a lot of Fisher's writing, but I think on the formal level he's got it badly wrong with Portishead - but again as Noel's quote above makes clear, this is more of a personal opinion of his than some misguided dismissal of the artists' intentions.

And while we're quoting:
blissblog on Portishead's Third said:
wasn't there a track on the second album dedicated to Broadcast's favorite band the United States of America (one reviewer thought this was a political reference, but I imagine it's more likely to be a nod to the Dorothy Moskowitz-fronted group, whose "that voice" style is audible as an influence on Beth Gibbons's singing on Third I think
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Whatever "one reviewer thought" or Reynolds imagines, actually listening to the track in question - Half Day Closing - makes it crystal clear that it's a direct reference to United States of America's The American Metaphysical Circus.

I wonder if the cult of trendiness that gradually coalesced around Dummy (and rapidly evaporated after the second album), and the perceived relative coolness of Tricky at the time (also his dismissal of them... partly for using the same Isaac Hayes sample he did? :slanted:) left people like Fisher and Reynolds unable to actually hear the music or something? If so it's poor research/criticism (apologies to blissblogger, k-punk or any thin-skinned critics reading this ;)).
 
I

Ivan Conte

Wild Horses
dHarry said:
I wonder if the cult of trendiness that gradually coalesced around Dummy (and rapidly evaporated after the second album), and the perceived relative coolness of Tricky at the time (also his dismissal of them... partly for using the same Isaac Hayes sample he did? :slanted:) left people like Fisher and Reynolds unable to actually hear the music or something? If so it's poor research/criticism (apologies to blissblogger, k-punk or any thin-skinned critics reading this ;)).
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I have to admit that the "perceived relative coolness" of Portishead left me unable to listen to them for a looong time. Actually, it was not until a few months ago that I decided to give their cds another chance, and I realised how great they are. I have to say that this is a little bit more problematic in Spain, because due to the distance from the socio-cultural background from which Portishead came many people praised them on the basis of their trendiness alone, which was painful to see... it's interesting to see that their "Third" album has found its audience among the Radiohead fans. But I don't think I stopped listening to them for years out of elitism, I just became weary of people USING them as fuel for their chase of the senseless cool, or maybe I just heard their cds too many times in the second half of the 90s...
 
E

ether

Well-known member
by sidesteps alot of hype which many journalists rely on, the wire chooses to give attention and thought toward often neglected areas such as improv, noise etc. in opposition to lazy journalists who sit around waiting for a hype to build around a band or artist before giving them their stamp of approval, I think the wire is largely a victim of its own esoteric success a well written magazine with excellent layout and photography, which is guilty at times of neglecting non-beardy sounds.
 
J

jonny mugwump

exotic pylon
his blog has no comments section, nor does the wire blog, this seemed like a logical place to throw out issues for discussion
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I remember when k-punk removed this and i'm pretty much against comments boxes. Blissblog, (the late) Woebot and so many other quality blogs don't have this option either. You can still email said people anyway.

We have dissensus and a thousand other places to debate issues (exactly as we are doing now) and comments boxes always lead to an equal amount of shite and insults as well as worthy stuff but also, the presumed need for these things is kind of typical of people sending texts and emails to news programmes and voting who will play the fourth bus stop in the queen musical- this kind of requirement that everybody should have their say on every bloody thing.

Whether i agree with anything he says or not, i don't want to every post from K-punk to become an extended discussion. If anybody feels so inclined to react to so much then they should start their own blog, surely a more worthwhile pursuit and if i recall, Mark generally pastes in links to comments on his work whether positive or negative.

I find Mark's writing stimulating one way or another most of the time. I hardly ever feel that i need to offer my opinion on it. I'm looking for inspiration and NOT debate. If its provokes something then run with it yourself.
 
J

jonny mugwump

exotic pylon
no problem, i was just responding to a comment saying that k-punk and the wire should have comments boxes so that issues can be debated and i was saying that i didn't think they were necessary because we have platforms like this one.
 
J

jonny mugwump

exotic pylon
well, you know, with the correct sponsorship , sky tv rights etc we could have a set-two with some daffodils followed by an after-fight sherry at one of london's finest fried chicken emporiums.

And, just for the record, i am not a morrisey or smiths fan by any way, despite my recourse to daffodils. Lets make it tulips as orchids are too expensive.

Anyway, enough of this.

Since i'm here, i think the Wire is up on a roll at the moment and the blog looks promising as long as the cooler stuff doesn't languish there when it should be in the magazine, not that i think that would happen.
 
Z

zhao

there are no accidents
mos dan said:
does this mean the long-awaited dissensus royal rumble isn't going to happen? ;)
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well it's by definition impossible because all members of the royal fam are deceased due to earlier such rumbles.

who are the oldest posters today? i don't even know.
 
H

henry s

Street Fighting Man
ahh, my first The Wire...nineteen ought nine-three:

ON THE COVER: Music In The Realm Of Bodily Desire, Sexual Drive in Rhythm And Melody, Sound As It Arouses and Seduces

FEATURES: Marvin Gaye, Riot Grrrl, Gay Disco, Torch Songs, Orbital, Red House Painters, Jan Garbarek, Jack Bruce

the current version seems unlikely to feature such variety, or at least not the kind of variety that really engages me...I stopped religiously buying around '97 or so...my interest in The Wire kinda dovetailed with my interest in jungle...still pick up the year-ends, as well as the ones with good Wire Tapper CD's...
 
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luka

luka

Well-known member
the oldest posters are matts old school mates like sufi and the ones who used to read woebot and do blogs i spose.... eden, meme, me, craner, silverdollar...
 
subvert47

subvert47

I don't fight, I run away
Jonesy said:
When I first picked it up I'd heard of about two people in the whole mag. I've always read it cover to cover and my perseverance has paid off in a much more exciting music collection.
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I was about to post more or less the same thing. There's loads of stuff I'd never have heard if someone in The Wire hadn't written about it.

:)

Although — experience has taught me never to buy a record unheard because of (someone in) The Wire's recommendation. Half the time when I got the record I thought it was garbage. So nowadays I make a list and check out clips online. There's usually a dozen or so things worth investigating, even if I only end up buying 3 or 4 of them.
 
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