Colin Newman has always been played up as Wire’s straight man. While Bruce Gilbert and Graham Lewis joined forces, both within the band and their assorted side projects (Cupol, Dome, Duet Emmo, etc.), to explore performance art or the potential of the studio as an instrument, Newman – or so goes the story – wrote songs with commercial potential, developed production skills and explored the practical side of the music industry. There is a grain of truth in this narrative, particularly as Newman’s solo material tacks closer to Wire’s sound than that of his colleagues, but his creative output is sufficiently varied to subvert it.
Whether making dance music (Immersion, Oracle), doing indie (Githead) or producing other artists (Minimal Compact, Virgin Prunes, Parade Ground), Newman has always demonstrated a knack for balancing the commercial with the experimental. Nowhere is this tension as evident as in the three solo albums that he recorded for Beggar’s Banquet and 4AD during Wire’s first hiatus, between 1980 and 1982. Thanks to Newman’s efforts, this troika has been remastered and reissued by Sentient Sonics, together with additional material in the CD versions.
The elements of A-Z, Newman’s first solo album, took shape at the same time as Wire’s 154. Properly regarded as the pinnacle of Wire’s first period, 154 was supposed to launch the band into the stratosphere; instead, after Bruce Gilbert panicked at the idea of commercial success, they adjourned sine die and let the moment pass them by. While Lewis and Gilbert retired to Blackwing Studios to record loops and drones, Newman was able to develop the material that was left behind into a formidable album of alternative pop. Although “Alone” became the best-known track from A-Z, after it was used in the soundtrack for Silence of the Lambs, the album is also notable for the original version of “Not Me,” which was covered on the first This Mortal Coil album. It also features “&Jury,” the kind of track that would keep teenaged Canadian kids awake all night listening to Brave New Waves.
Produced by Mike Thorne, A-Z retains much of the sonic flavour of the trio of Wire albums that appeared on Harvest/EMI. The CD version of the new release includes a set of demos and alternative versions that reveal Newman’s more primitive aural aesthetic, including demos recorded at Riverside Studios. These help to explain why there arose a disagreement between Newman and Thorne over production styles, and why Newman did eventually feel the pull to develop his own studio skills.
For his second solo album, Newman veered into more conceptual territory, drawing upon his prog rock roots. Provisionally entitled the singing fish eschewed distinctive song titles in favour of a series of consecutively numbered “fish” tracks. Recorded entirely by Newman as instrumentals, albeit with some engineering help, PETSF owes something to Brian Eno’s ambient offerings, and the result was ostensibly described by 4AD’s Ivo Watts-Russell as an album waiting for the technology to catch up with it. The additional tracks on the CD release don’t add much to the canon but will suit completists; particularly those who have been hunting for “Here Come the Fleeing Rabbits.”
The third solo release from Newman, Not To, returned to more traditional terrain. “Remove for Improvement” is one of those tracks that can’t be called “lost” because it never went away but always deserved a wider airing. There are also reworkings of songs developed with Lewis or Gilbert, including “We Meet Under Tables.” Not To is half-way to being a Wire album, and it features not only the crisp drumming of Robert Grey throughout but also a guest appearance by Gilbert.
A scant 22 (!) bonus tracks accompany the CD version, including a surprisingly reggae-based version of “Greensleeves” and an excellent alternative version of “123 beep beep beep.” This CD is one to explore more deeply, as it broods, bops and jams with levels of intensity and simplicity that are sometimes at odds with the main album.
Newman has more solo albums to his credit, which were released during his Brussels period or after he launched the swim~ label. Hopefully, these will also see a reissue in the near future.
What abuse has not been hurled at Throbbing Gristle and its members? The legendary godparents of industrial music have been called “wreckers of civilisation” in Hansard, declared “vile” by the red topped British press and physically attacked by audiences.
Fast forward to the last months of 2016 and here is Cosey in the refined space of a modern art gallery: bespectacled, sensibly dressed and surrounded by clippings from her short career as a sex worker. She’s here to read from her forthcoming book, Art Sex Music. Pictures last as long as they can be reproduced, but memories fade more quickly; so all of the audience’s attention is on Cosey as a storyteller, instead of the exposed and manipulated mammaries displayed on the walls.
Jennie Vee is one of our favourite singers. Whether playing alongside Courtney Love or warming up for Echo & The Bunnymen, Vee is the picture of East Village glam (even if she is on the left coast these days). Her own material is fabulous dreampop, and she takes a great picture. On top of that, she’s Canadian by birth, has a Scottish last name and boasts Finnish roots that once provided the name for her early punk act.
Well, it’s an electronic music event curated by electronic music fans, for starters, and it’s perfect for people who love synthpop; i.e., pop music with synthesizers! The line-up is the most important thing, as opposed to the event itself.
Halmstad is half-way between Gothenburg and Malmo on Sweden’s west coast. A perfect meeting place, therefore, for the country’s most enthusiastic poptronica fans. A small venue on the edge of the water provides the setting for an amiable evening to host a mini-festival featuring Canada’s best-loved synthpop heroes, Rational Youth, a rare appearance by Italo legend Paul Rein, a tribute to the sorely missed Krister Petersson, and more.
Proving The Electricity Club’s dictum that “the best shows are the ones curated by fans,” Beatbox Live was an ambitious but carefully-organised event, combining nostalgia and novelty in equal measure. It began with Electric City Cowboys, a part-time act from Karlshamn, who warmed up the crowd with danceable songs, and Modiga Agenter [EN: Brave Agents], who provided evidence of the talent bubbling under the surface of the Swedish scene.
A special event took place in the middle of the programme to remember the sorely-missed Krister Petterson. Pettersson was the Swedish Italo scene’s most visible booster, and he was also a key part of the legendary Vision Talk. Richard Flow from Machinista, who co-founded Vision Talk with Pettersson, led proceedings with a short set of classic Vision Talk songs before being joined by vocalist John Lindqwister for an equally too-brief set of Machinista songs.
Paul Rein is known to some as the father of Joanna Rein, our favourite EBM warrior. While Rein the Younger was waiting to go on stage at Stockholm’s Bodyfest, pere Rein was treating a crowd of nostalgic fans to a set of his hits, including “Communicate” and “Hold Back Your Love”. He’s lost some hair but none of his capacity to belt out a solid dance track.
Then it was the turn of Rational Youth. The Canadian legends were making their first Swedish appearances since releasing Future Past Tense, this year’s EP. Despite some technical problems that raised the possibility of the event going unplugged, they ploughed on with a set of classics and the newer material. Tracy and Gaenor Howe had just warmed up for Midge Ure (Ultravox, Visage, The Rich Kids) in Toronto, but were as happy as clams to be amongst the black-clad poptronica fans of Wallander country.
During “Everything Is Vapour,” Howe lost his microphone to a superfan in the crowd, but there were plenty of voices singing along to carry the chorus without amplification. None of the new material was lost in the set, and equal love was shown for classic and recent songs. The boisterous set ran late into the frigid Swedish night, keeping the darkness away for a hall filled with happy syntare.