The First Letter
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The First Letter
''The First Letter'' is the ninth studio album and the last album released by Wire before their second extended hiatus. It was released in October 1991 by Mute Records. It was one of only three releases credited to "Wir", the others being the "So and Slow It Grows" single, and a limited edition two-song EP entitled ''Vien''. The band changed their name to "Wir" after drummer Robert Gotobed's departure; he quit the band because the musical direction increasingly relied on drum machines and loops. Other than an Erasure remix in 1995, the band would not reform until 1999, and not release any new material until 2002's '' Read & Burn 01'' and '' Read & Burn 02'' EPs and 2003's subsequent '' Send'' album. ''The First Letter'' produced the single "So and Slow It Grows." Content The track "Take It (For Greedy)" is constructed out of samples from Wire's own music. It contains elements of "Strange" and "Straight Line" from ''Pink Flag'' (1977), and "Another the Letter" from ''Chairs Miss ...
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Wire (band)
Wire are an English rock band, formed in London in October 1976 by Colin Newman (vocals, guitar), Graham Lewis (bass, vocals), Bruce Gilbert (guitar) and Robert Grey (drums). They were originally associated with the punk rock scene, appearing on ''The Roxy London WC2'' album, and were later central to the development of post-punk, while their debut album ''Pink Flag'' was influential for hardcore punk. Wire are considered a definitive art punk and post-punk band, due to their richly detailed and atmospheric sound and obscure lyrical themes.They steadily developed from an early noise rock style to a more complex, structured sound involving increased use of guitar effects and synthesizers (1978's ''Chairs Missing'' and 1979's '' 154''). The band gained a reputation for experimenting with song arrangements throughout their career. History 1976 to 1980 Wire's debut album ''Pink Flag'' (1977) – "perhaps the most original debut album to come out of the first wave of British pu ...
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Discogs
Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the largest online database of electronic music, the site now includes releases in all genres on all formats. After the database was opened to contributions from the public, rock music began to become the most prevalent genre listed. , Discogs contains over 15.7 million releases, by over 8.3 million artists, across over 1.9 million labels, contributed from over 644,000 contributor user accounts – with these figures constantly growing as users continually add previously unlisted releases to the site over time. The Discogs servers, currently hosted under the domain name discogs.com, are owned by Zink Media, Inc. and located in Portland, Oregon, United States. History The discogs.com domain name was registered in August 2000, and Discogs itself ...
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Trouser Press
''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference to a song by the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and an acronymic play on the British TV show ''Top of the Pops)''. Publication of the magazine ceased in 1984. The unexpired portion of mail subscriptions was completed by ''Rolling Stone'' sister publication ''Record'', which itself folded in 1985. ''Trouser Press'' has continued to exist in various formats. History The magazine's original scope was British bands and artists (early issues featured the slogan "America's Only British Rock Magazine"). Initial issues contained occasional interviews with major artists like Brian Eno and Robert Fripp and extensive record reviews. After 14 issues, the title was shortened to simply ''Trouser Press'', and it gradually transformed into a professional magazine w ...
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Dark Wave
Dark wave (also typeset as darkwave) is a music genre that emerged from the new wave and post-punk movement of the late 1970s. Dark wave compositions are largely based on minor key tonality and introspective lyrics and have been perceived as being dark, romantic and bleak, with an undertone of sorrow. The genre embraces a range of styles including cold wave,Schilz, Andrea: ''Flyer der Schwarzen Szene Deutschlands: Visualisierungen, Strukturen, Mentalitäten.'' Waxmann Verlag, 2010, , p. 84. ethereal wave, gothic rock,Uecker, Susann: ''Mit High-Heels im Stechschritt'', Hirnkost Verlag, 2014, neoclassical dark wave and neofolk. In the 1980s, a subculture developed primarily in Europe alongside dark wave music, whose followers were called ''wavers'' or ''dark wavers''. In some countries such as Germany, the movement also included fans of gothic rock (so-called ''trad-goths''). 1980s: Origins Since the 1980s, SPEX. Musik zur Zeit: ''Classified Ad by German distribution ...
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Electronic Body Music
Electronic body music (acronymized to EBM) is a genre of electronic music that combines elements of industrial music and synth-punk with elements of disco and dance music. It developed in the early 1980s in Western Europe as an outgrowth of both punk and industrial music cultures. It combines sequenced repetitive basslines, programmed dance music rhythms, and mostly undistorted vocals and commandlike shouts with confrontational or provocative themes. The evolution of the genre reflected "a general shift towards more song-oriented structures in industrial as to a general turn towards the dancefloor by many musicians and genres in the era of post-punk."Timor Kaul: ''Electronic Body Music''. In: Thomas Hecken, Marcus S. Kleiner: ''Handbook Popculture.'' J.B. Metzler Verlag 2017, , p. 102–104. It was considered a part of the European new wave and post-punk movement and the first style that blended synthesized sounds with an ecstatic style of dancing (e.g. pogo). EBM gai ...
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Stereogum
''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several awards and citations, including the PLUG Award for Music Blog of the Year, ''Blender''s Powergeek 25, and ''Entertainment Weekly''s Best Music Websites. The site was named an Official Honoree of the Webby Awards in the music category and won the OMMA Award for Web Site Excellence in the Entertainment/Music category. In 2011, ''Stereogum'' won ''The Village Voice''s Music Blog of the Year. History The site was named after a lyric from the song "Radio #1" by the French electronic duo Air. In late 2006, ''Stereogum'' received an influx of capital through Bob Pittman's private investment entity The Pilot Group. In November 2007, it was purchased by SpinMedia (formerly known as Buzz Media). April 2008 saw the launch of '' Videogum'', a sister si ...
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Bruce Gilbert
Bruce Clifford Gilbert (born 18 May 1946) is an English musician. One of the founding members of the influential and experimental art punk band Wire (band), Wire,Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 180-182 he branched out into electronic music, performance art, music production, and DJing during the band's extended periods of inactivity. He left Wire in 2004, and has since been focusing on solo work and collaborations with visual artists and fellow experimental musicians. Education and early career Gilbert studied graphic design at Leicester Polytechnic until 1971; he then became an abstract painter, taking on part-time jobs to help support himself. In 1975, he was hired as an audio-visual aids technician and slide-photography librarian at Watford College of Art and Design. Borrowing oscillators from the Science department, Gilbert started experimenting with tape loops and delays at the recording studio set up by his predecessor. Together wi ...
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Snare Drum
The snare (or side drum) is a percussion instrument that produces a sharp staccato sound when the head is struck with a drum stick, due to the use of a series of stiff wires held under tension against the lower skin. Snare drums are often used in orchestras, concert bands, marching bands, parades, drumlines, drum corps, and more. It is one of the central pieces in a drum set, a collection of percussion instruments designed to be played by a seated drummer and used in many genres of music. Snare drums are usually played with drum sticks, but other beaters such as the brush or the rute can be used to achieve different tones. The snare drum is a versatile and expressive percussion instrument due to its sensitivity and responsiveness. The sensitivity of the snare drum allows it to respond audibly to the softest strokes, even with a wire brush. It can be used for complex rhythmic patterns and engaging solos at moderate volumes. Its high dynamic range allows the player to produce po ...
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Colin Newman
Colin John Newman (born 16 September 1954) is an English musician, record producer and record label owner. He is best known as the primary vocalist and songwriter for the post-punk band Wire. Early life Newman was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire in 1954 and grew up in Newbury, Berkshire. He later attended the Watford School of Art. Music career In 1976 Newman formed the band Wire and was its main songwriter, singer and guitarist. Their first performance was on 19 January 1977 at the London nightclub Roxy. At the start, the band was considered a part of London's punk rock scene but later reached critical acclaim for their massive influence on post-punk, new wave and alternative rock. When the band temporarily split in 1980, Newman pursued a solo career. His first solo album, '' A-Z'', was released in 1980 on the Beggar's Banquet record label. The album veered from extremely skewed pop to more mainstream numbers, such as "Order for Order", which was compared by some to Gary Numan ...
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Chairs Missing
''Chairs Missing'' is the second studio album by English rock band Wire. It was released on 8 September 1978 by Harvest Records. The album peaked at number 48 in the UK Albums Chart. Although it features some of the minimalist punk rock of the band's debut ''Pink Flag'', ''Chairs Missing'' contains more developed song structure (taking some cues from 1970s prog-rock, psychedelia, and art rock), keyboard and synthesizer elements brought in by producer Mike Thorne, and a broader palette of emotional and intellectual subject matter. The title is said to be a British slang term for a mildly disturbed person, as in "that guy has a few chairs missing in his front room". The single " Outdoor Miner" was a minor hit, peaking at number 51 in the UK Singles Chart. Critical reception In a 1979 Trouser Press review, Jim Green said, "Wire are disconcerting, laconic yet eloquent in fragmented visions, jarring even at their most accessible. They disdain cliche, pushing out the limits of ro ...
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Pink Flag
''Pink Flag'' is the debut studio album by English rock band Wire. It was released in November 1977 by Harvest Records. The album gained Wire a cult following within independent and post-punk music upon its initial release, later growing to be highly influential on many other musicians. Critical reception Reviewing in 1978 for ''The Village Voice'', Robert Christgau called ''Pink Flag'' a "punk suite", praised its "simultaneous rawness and detachment" and detected a rock-and-roll irony similar to, but "much grimmer and more frightening" than, the Ramones. In a 1978 Trouser Press review, Ira Robbins said that "Wire ushminimalism to new heights" and said the band "dredges up images of...beat poetry--short fragments of impressions set to music." Robbins said that the 21 tracks are "not songs...There's no easy structure or meter. Each explores or describes or electrifies or challenges. There's no easy listening." He concluded, "I can't say this is an enjoyable album. Maybe it's just ...
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Sampling (music)
In sound and music, sampling is the reuse of a portion (or sample) of a sound recording in another recording. Samples may comprise elements such as rhythm, melody, speech, sounds or entire bars of music, and may be layered, equalized, sped up or slowed down, repitched, looped, or otherwise manipulated. They are usually integrated using hardware ( samplers) or software such as digital audio workstations. A process similar to sampling originated in the 1940s with '' musique concrète'', experimental music created by splicing and looping tape. The mid-20th century saw the introduction of keyboard instruments that played sounds recorded on tape, such as the Mellotron. The term ''sampling'' was coined in the late 1970s by the creators of the Fairlight CMI, a synthesizer with the ability to record and play back short sounds. As technology improved, cheaper standalone samplers with more memory emerged, such as the E-mu Emulator, Akai S950 and Akai MPC. Sampling is a foundation of ...
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