The Mire

Macro mix doubleheader

2009-11-16T07:35:00.000-08:00

Finn Johannsen and Stefan Goldmann of Berlin's Macro Recordings label have provided two excellent mixes for Wire readers. Finn's mix formed part of the latest Adventures In Modern Music mix presented by myself (and also featuring music by Cluster, Ben Frost, Lindstrøm And Christabelle, Gemmy and more) and is available here. Stefan's, meanwhile, has been offered to The Wire as an exclusive download and is available here. Enjoy!

Calling Out Of Context

2009-11-12T07:47:00.000-08:00

The full programme for the ICA's Calling Out Of Context festival, which is sponsored by The Wire, is now available to download. It includes excerpts of iconic texts by/on David Toop, Cornelius Cardew, Arthur Russell, Jacques Attali, Derek Bailey, Michael Nyman, as well as full details of all the events in the festival,, including AGF and Mira Calix on 20 Nov, a night curated by The Wire

Tori & Reiko Kudo London residency

2009-10-30T07:26:00.000-07:00

The first couple of faux-naif pop, Tori and Reiko Kudo of Maher Shalal Hash Baz, land up in London next week for a three day residency, with two solo shows at Cafe OTO on 6 and 7 November, and a final duo show at Kings Place on 8 November.

Cafe Oto: Tori solo
Cafe Oto: Reiko solo
Kings Place: Tori & Reiko duo

Supercollider 140

2009-10-27T03:18:00.000-07:00

I first witnessed live coding when a pioneering trio of the scene, known as Slub, composed/recomposed an ever-changing rabid techno beast at London's underground toilet venue Public Life. Almost ten years later there's a bona fide 'live coding' scene. Many are now members of umbrella collective Toplap, including Dan Stowell, who has recently curated a curious little project, which can now be downloaded freely under the Creative Commons licence. When Dan started tweeting snippets of SuperCollider code he expected a lot of "throwaway waffle" but collated also a bunch of really interesting things. "Not wanting this stuff to vanish into the ether", he's now collected the best pieces into a special download here. Many of these pieces are actually generative, so if you re-run the source code (the track titles) you get a new piece of music.

RIP Maryanne Amacher

2009-10-23T06:55:00.000-07:00

The great composer and installation artist died yesterday October 22. "A sound artist with a reputation for overwhelming volume, precise speaker placement, and site-specific environmental and architectural installations" wrote Alan Licht in his interview with her in March 1999. A student of Karlheinz Stockhausen and a collaborator of John Cage, Merce Cunningham, Alvin Curran and others, she has been dubbed New Music's best kept secret.
Thurston Moore made a fascinating documentary on Amacher called Daytrip Maryanne, clips are available here: http://www.ecstaticpeace.com/daytrip/.
Alan Licht's personal piece on listening to her work Sound Characters (Making The Third Ear) from The Wire issue 181 is now uploaded here http://www.thewire.co.uk/articles/3220/.

LCD Soundsystem free download

2009-10-23T02:23:00.000-07:00

There's 20 000 free downloads of their upcoming single "Bye Bye Bayou" available on www.lcdsoundsystem.com on a first come first serve basis. It will be available for purchase in shops on 12" 9 November and digitally for purchase on 24 November. According to the publicist "Bye Bye Bayou" is not going to appear on their new album, which comes out early 2010.

The Wire on Stack

2009-10-20T02:38:00.000-07:00

You can now buy The Wire as part of a bundle of independent magazines from Stack, which describes itself as “a unique service that brings together the best independent English language magazines from around the world and delivers them direct to your home. Beautifully made and offering an intelligent, alternative view of films, music, culture, current affairs and whatever else crosses their pages, they guarantee to bring a fresh perspective on the world.”

stackmagazines.com

And if you want to find out a little bit more about The Wire, where it came from, where it’s at, and maybe even where it’s heading, the Stack blog has just posted the transcript of an interview with the magazine’s publisher, Tony Herrington

stackmagazines.com/blog/slightly-strange

Calling Out Of Context

2009-10-15T07:53:00.000-07:00

The full bill for the ICA's Calling Out Of Context festival is now online, including info on an event on 20 November that has been programmed by The Wire and features live performances by AGF and Mira Calix: Calling Out Of Context

Orcutt acoustic

2009-10-15T05:39:00.000-07:00

Fantastic new video clip of Bill Orcutt playing acoustic guitar – Edwin Pouncey's review of Orcutt's new solo disc can be found in The Wire 309, the November issue, which has just come out...

Adventures In Modern Music Thursday 15 October

2009-10-15T01:49:00.000-07:00

Adventures In Modern Music tonight is part two of our The Wire Primers special. Derek Walmsley will be playing another selection of tracks discussed in The Wire's brand new book, our guide to the core recordings of the most exciting musicians of the past century, from Fela Kuti to AMM, Tropicália to Grime. On Resonance FM, 104.4FM from 21:00 tonight, streaming on www.resonancefm.com on the web.

Sun Ra: talk, film, music

2009-10-06T07:16:00.000-07:00

To coincide with the Sun Ra Arkestra’s forthcoming two-day residency at East London’s Café Oto, on Monday 19 October The Wire will host a special discussion at the venue on Ra’s music with Kodwo Eshun, Edwin Pouncey and Pat Thomas chaired by The Wire’s editor-in-chief and publisher, Tony Herrington. The night will also feature a screening of Phill Niblock’s film on Ra, Magic Sun, plus customised cosmic jazz DJ sets courtesy of Soul Jazz Records.

cafeoto.co.uk

Into The Vortex: update!

2009-10-06T04:41:00.000-07:00

Due to an illness in the family, The Skaters’ Spencer Clark has had to cancel his appearance at Into The Vortex on Fri 9 October. Instead, his partner in The Skaters, James Ferraro, will perform a solo set of his trademark hypnagogic psych-drone-pop.

Into The Vortex: Extra Sunday show

2009-09-29T04:48:00.001-07:00

Due to overwhelming demand, Broadcast, The Caretaker and Thomas Ankersmit will be doing an extra performance on the final day of The Wire's Into The Vortex festival.

The extra show will take place on the afternoon of Sunday 11 October at East London's Vortex venue. Doors: 2pm. Tickets: £12 from wegottickets

wegottickets.com/event/60882

or direct from The Vortex on 020 7254 4097.

NB Festival passes are NOT valid for the afternoon show. Also there are no discounts on tickets for Wire subscribers for the afternoon show.

Adventures In Modern Music Thursday 24 September

2009-09-23T02:50:00.000-07:00

On Adventures In Modern Music this Thursday 24 September, Noel Hawks of Pressure Sounds will be digging in the crates for classic roots and dub plus talking to Derek Walmsley about unearthing lost classics such as their recent find from King Tubby & The Clancy Eccles All Stars. Listen tomorrow from 9pm on 104.4FM or online at resonancefm.com

Sun Ra Arkestra touches down in East London

2009-09-16T05:34:00.000-07:00

On 20 and 21 October saxophonist Marshall Allen returns to London’s Café Oto with the full Sun Ra Arkestra in tow to play two exclusive UK shows. And readers of The Wire can get special discounts on tickets to both performances.

Full details on the shows are available here:

20 October
21 October

Readers of The Wire can buy discounted tickets here:

20 October
21 October

Philip Sherburne's Desert Island Discs

2009-09-16T02:45:00.000-07:00

.... well, sort of. Sherburne's holiday shopping. Or, you can take the boy out of the metro area, but you can't take the metro area out of the boy.

Unknown measures

2009-09-16T01:47:00.000-07:00

Via Bat20 on Twitter, this graphic rendering of Peter Saville's Unknown Pleasures cover is fantastic.

Tom Lax on WFMU Brian Turner show

2009-08-31T13:23:00.000-07:00

It's about this time of year that I usually point in the direction of Brian Turner's show on WFMU, where they get Siltbreeze's Tom Lax in to do a DJ set. As usual, it's the most crazy screwed up rock tunes, found down the back of the sofa, perfunctorily straightened out and slapped on the turntable. Awesome stuff can be heard here.

Instant Chavirés petition against funding cuts

2009-08-20T08:29:00.000-07:00

Paris's Instant Chavirés venue, which was one of the host venues for The Wire's 20th anniversary concert series in 2002, has had to cancel its autumn season of events as a result of having much of it's funding cut. The venue has launched an online petition to campaign against the cuts. More information here and you can sign the petition here.

Win tickets to see Touch’s Suffolk Symphony

2009-08-18T09:30:00.001-07:00

Commissioned by Faster Than Sound and Aldeburgh Music, Suffolk Symphony is a special residency and new work by the self-styled sonic and visual production company Touch. Inspired by the historic coastline of Aldeburgh and its surrounding area, including Aldeburgh Music's rich history, Touch will create a new audio-visual symphony using only locally sourced sounds and images. Beginning on 16 August, Philip Jeck, BJ Nilsen, Jon Wozencroft, Philip Marshall and Mike Harding will go on a week-long treasure hunt in the area to unearth old records, field recordings, home-made sounds and images to create a new multimedia piece, culminating in its first performance on 22 August as part of the Snape Proms.

Directed by Mike Harding with sound by Philip Jeck and BJNilsen and images by Jon Wozencroft, the whole week will be documented for an interactive website by Philip Marshall. The residency will feature workshops and presentations by Philip Marshall and Mike Harding, including interviews with the other artists and a Touch showcase, culminating in the performance which will take place in the recently converted industrial space of Snape’s Hoffmann Building. Suffolk Symphony will be subsequently released through Touch.

We have two pairs of tickets to the performance of Suffolk Symphony on 22 August to win. Click here to enter.

Into The Vortex tickets on sale now!

2009-08-17T07:51:00.000-07:00

Get your tickets now...

The Wire presents Into The Vortex, a three day festival (9-11 October) featuring some of the best music out there curated by The Wire and hosted by London's excellent Vortex Jazz Club. Regular tickets are available at £12 a night or £30 for the entire weekend here. But, if you're a subscriber to The Wire, we've organised an exclusive discount of £10 a night or £25 for the weekend! Click here if you're a subscriber to get your discounted tickets (Please bring along your subscriber number with you to the event along with your discounted tickets)

9 October: NEW PLANES OF ECSTASY
Richard Youngs & Heather Leigh Murray
Astral Social Club
The Skaters

10 October: NEW STATES OF SONG
The One Ensemble
Band Of Holy Joy
Alasdair Roberts

11 October: NEW REALMS OF THE UNCANNY
Broadcast (live) & Julian House (Ghost Box) (film)
The Caretaker
Thomas Ankersmit

All of this + The Wire Sound System DJs spinning selections of the best new sounds out there!

MJ

2009-08-10T01:46:00.000-07:00

Amid news that Michael Jackson's death has led to the biggest record company payday in years, we've stumbled across surely the weirdest and most subversive Michael Jackson related compilation. No MJ himself, but all sorts of extraordinary cover versions, hiphop and R&B namechecks, etc etc. More of a collage than a mix per se, plunderphoning the vaults of the King of Pop. Download here

British Visionary Jazz

2009-08-06T03:55:00.000-07:00

Rob Young has put together an excellent playlist for his British Visionary Jazz primer which was in the August issue of the mag. You can check it out here.

2009-08-06T03:32:00.000-07:00

The excellent Wayne And Wax blog on the RIAA versus Joel Tenenbaum case. For those not in the loop, Tenenbaum has been found liable of sharing copyrighted music at a cost of $22,500 per track. That's not a typo - $22,500 per track. Wayne Marshall took part in the case as a witness, it seems, and his insider info is well worth your time.

I wonder if there any tracks I pay that much for? I guess "Fight The Power" by Public Enemy, Hallogalo by Neu!, "Fisherman" by The Congoes, "Warpdrive" by DJ Crystl, "Good Morning Captain" by Slint. Perhaps one of those ultra-long John Coltrane Live In Japan tracks – at least that might help get my $22,500 dollars worth.

Exclusive ticket offer: Tatsuya Yoshida live in London

2009-08-06T03:30:00.000-07:00

Tatsuya Yoshida is one of the most innovative drummer/composer/improvisors in the Japanese avant garde, pushing a unique brand of high energy music that is a mixture of contemporary composition, hardcore and Prog rock.

Best known for fronting the drums and bass duo Ruins, Yoshida has led many other groups and collaborated with John Zorn, Fred Frith, Derek Bailey, Keiji Haino, Otomo Yoshihide, Acid Mothers Temple and many more members of music's experimental jet set.

Over the weekend of 8 & 9 August, Yoshida takes up a two day residency at Cafe Oto in East London, where he will be playing solo (drums, vocal, electronics) as Ruins - Alone, and collaborating with various special guests drawn from the UK underground.

Tickets for each night normally cost £8, or £14 for a two day pass.

But in an exclusive offer, readers of The Wire can get a special discount on tickets, ie £6 per night, or just £10 for a two day pass.

For more information on the event click here: http://www.cafeoto.co.uk/

To buy discounted tickets, click on the links below.

Tatsuya Yoshida, Sat 8 Aug: £6.00

Tatsuya Yoshida, Sun 9 Aug 09: £6.00

Tatsuya Yoshida, two day pass: £10.00