Although a playful, self-referential title marks the 47th entry in Wire's discography, the band definitely isn't looking back. Some familiar motifs inevitably resurface, but there's no such thing as a predictable Wire album: that's especially true of this, their first without guitarist Bruce Gilbert. Overall, Object 47 is the antithesis of Send, its immediate predecessor. Send was wonderfully claustrophobic and compressed, painted mostly in aggressive, industrial-sized brush strokes eschewing nuance and variation and emphasizing surface over depth; Object 47 trades harsh monochrome for expansive wide-screen color and a pronounced melodic sensibility. Across these nine tracks, diverse new textures and dimensions emerge and, despite being typically elliptical, the words communicate a broader emotional range than Send displayed, with its tendency towards terse phrase-clusters. From the outset, Wire is a band reborn and reenergized. The anthemic "One of Us" sets the agenda, propelled by Graham Lewis and Robert Grey's relentless rhythms. Its lyrics stand in tonal contrast to the music (a trademark Wire tactic): "one of us will live to rue the day we met each other" warns Colin Newman, against the grain of the singalong bounce. Regardless of their legendary artistic contrariness, Wire always deliver catchy songs and, in addition to the opener, Object 47 boasts several. On "Perspex Icon," the combination of stop-start buzzsaw guitar rhythms with Newman's bright, tuneful vocal proves highly infectious. Equally memorable are Lewis' turns at the mic -- the funky "Are You Ready?" and "Mekon Headman," a denser, more insistent number accentuating the minimalist cymbal detail Grey minted on Pink Flag. Object 47 highlights Wire's pop credentials, but the band hasn't lost its edge. Tempo changes punctuate Massive Attack-style rolling dread on the hefty "Hard Currency"; by contrast, "All Fours" hammers out rigid, astringent grooves as guest guitarist Page Hamilton plugs in with a feedback squall that adds extra menace to the album's apocalyptic coda.
Wire is preparing for a new wave of tour dates while details of their upcoming new album are trickled out on the band's website. Object 47 is the band's 11th studio album, but it's actually the 47th release in Wire's full discography! According to the news page on Wire's website:[Object 47] finds Wire utilising the core writing partnership responsible for Pink Flag, Colin Newman and Graham Le...
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Culminating a long MOG absence, and after a summer living out of a suitcase, I've just moved to a new country and city. I'm still in the process of getting my life, both working and personal, going. Just last night, I spent 5 hours unpacking and organizing CDs. I'm trying to find out where to get good bread, good cheese, fresh herbs. And so on. Hopefully more regular MOGging will also resume. ...
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The new Wire music is great and I've fallen under the spell of their whole catalog this week. Whatever Wire have been in the past [angular punks, uneven synth-poppers] they are now a driving, buzzing, popping and cooly aestheticized machine with newfound shamelessness in thier simple pop-hooks. They always had a catchy and harsh side, willing to engage with melody and then discard it to play wi...
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for the week ending 4/17/09Top 30 AirplayRank ARTIST Recording Label1 TELEPATHE Dance Mother Iamsound2 TUNE-YARDS BiRd-BrAiNs Marriage3 DECEMBERISTS Hazards Of Love Capitol4 YEAH YEAH YEAHS It's Blitz Interscope5 HATCHAM SOCIAL You Dig The Tunnel, I'll Hide The Soil TBD6 WE KNOW MASON You Do Danger7 OBITS I Blame You SUB PO...
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concert review : Wire , The Two Koreas @ Lee's Palace (Toronto, Ontario), October 7, 2008 When a band like post-punk legends Wire 1) step on the reunion bandwagon [although as I understand they never really disbanded] and 2) and who's tour actually makes it to your hometown(or within an accessible distance) part of my wanting to go, even if I'm only vaguely familiar with their music, is to ge...
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nevver :FREE! Wire & Times New Viking Live TONITE!Good show. Still energetic in their 32nd year as a band and brandishing a robust sound. I expected to hear zero hits. And by hits I mean anything off of the first three albums. I was wrong. "Lowdown"! "The 15th"! "Pink Flag"! "12XU"!!!Missed out on Times New Viking for the third time. Been wanting to see them in hopes that their live s...
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Check out thier Daytrotter session also.
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| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
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| 1 One of Us |
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| 2 Circumspect |
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| 3 Mekon Headman |
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| 4 Perspex Icon |
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| 5 Four Long Years |
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| 6 Hard Currency |
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| 7 Patient Flees |
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| 8 Are You Ready? |
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| 9 All Fours |
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Click to purchase…
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 "Object 47")
