Named for the number of live gigs Wire had played to that point, 154 refines and expands the innovations of Chairs Missing, with producer Mike Thorne's synthesizer effects playing an even more integral role; little of Pink Flag's rawness remains. If Chairs Missing was a transitional album between punk and post-punk, 154 is squarely in the latter camp, devoting itself to experimental soundscapes that can sound cold and forbidding at times. However, the best tracks retain their huma   [ read more ]

CD $45.58

VINYL FORMAT. 180 GRAM VINYL! REISSUE. If Chairs Missing is the transition album from punk to post-punk, 154 is definitely of the latter genre. Synth moves to the forefront on this 1979 third album from Wire along with melodies that help humanize the electronic textures. Named for the number of gigs the band had played to that point, 154 shows how far this band had come in three years over three albums. Original artwork. First time on 180 gram audiophile vinyl.

LP $18.99

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REISSUE. 1979's 154 represented the final tableau in Wire's Harvest released 70's Tripych and was the first Wire album to be released to a universal set of 5 star reviews from the British Rock Weeklies thus it represented the point when the British "pop culture establishment" publicly recognised Wire's primacy. "154 makes 95 percent of the competition look feeble" wrote Nick Kent in the NME ", "Wire are achieving a lot of things other-- and more recognised-- names have been striving for" wrote Chris    [ read more ]

CD $14.99

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1985-1990: The A List is a fine 16-track compilation of the highlights from Wire's surprising and successful comeback. This material isn't quite as essential as their early output -- Wire doesn't sound as revolutionary on these sides, although the music is still high-quality. It bears some similarities to the sort of '80s college-radio synth/guitar pop being produced by the likes of New Order and the Cure, although it isn't as danceable, and it retains Wire's signature love of dissonance and pure son   [ read more ]

CD $12.99

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Wire's return to full-time active duty came as something of a surprise. Colin Newman, Bruce Gilbert, and Graham Lewis (the latter two both separately and as the duo Dome) had been growing increasingly abstract and non-rock in the six years since the group had split up, but 1988's A Bell Is a Cup...Until It Is Struck is, at heart, an album full of pop songs. Admittedly, they're mainly peculiar pop songs full of stream-of-consciousness lyrics ("Money spine paper lung kidney bingos o   [ read more ]

CD $11.38

Chairs Missing marks a partial retreat from Pink Flag's austere, bare-bones minimalism, although it still takes concentrated listening to dig out some of the melodies. Producer Mike Thorne's synth adds a Brian Eno-esque layer of atmospherics, and Wire itself seems more concerned with the sonic textures it can coax from its instruments; the tempos are slower, the arrangements employ more detail and sound effects, and the band allows itself to stretch out on a few songs. The results are a bit v   [ read more ]

CD $45.58

VINYL FORMAT. 180 GRAM VINYL! REISSUE. With its Eno-esque synth textures, Chairs Missing has been often cited as the evolutionary link between punk and post-punk. In general, the lyrics are darker than those on Pink Flag, even morbid at times; images of cold, drowning, pain, and suicide haunt the record, and the title itself is a reference to mental instability. Originally released in 1978 and now available for the first time on 180 gram audiophile vinyl. Original artwork.

LP $17.99

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REISSUE. 1978's Chairs Missing represented perhaps the biggest conceptual leap made during this period of Wire and was widely misunderstood at the time yet it remains, to the band and production crew Wire's favourite 70's album. If Pink Flag proposed an almost cut and paste approach to deconstructing rock history Chairs Missing proposed something more radical, a definite futurism with much less influence from its antecedents. Chairs Missing was at once more stark and more lush th   [ read more ]

CD $14.99

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CD $11.38

Remixes and alternate versions have become staples of popular music. But while most bands use them as bonus tracks or B-side fodder, Wire is one of the only rock groups to have filled an album with versions of the same song ("Drill"). Built on a paradigmatic Wire rhythm affectionately known as "dugga," "Drill" was born during rehearsals for the band's 1985 return to live performance. A first studio recording appeared on Snakedrill (1986), but in concert the track began to mutate, in both i   [ read more ]

CD $11.38

CD $11.38

Wire's first new full-length effort in eight years, The Ideal Copy is a stunning comeback picking up where 154 left off while also reflecting the strides made by the members' solo work. Finding its footing in dark, edgy dance rhythms and ominous digital textures, The Ideal Copy is experimental and forward-thinking, spanning from the buzzing melodies of "Ahead" and "Ambitious" to the taut minimalism of "Feed Me"; the record has its flaws, but its restless creative spirit and refusal t   [ read more ]

CD $11.38