The Wire is a British avant garde music magazine, founded in 1982 by jazz promoter Anthony Wood and journalist Chrissie Murray. The magazine initially concentrated on contemporary jazz and improvised music, but branched out in the early 1990s to various types of experimental music. Since then it has covered hip hop, modern classical, free improvisation, post-rock, and various forms of electronic music.
Richard Cook succeeded Anthony Wood as editor, and was himself succeeded in June 1992 by Mark Sinker. Sinker was removed as editor in early 1994, though he continued as a contributor for some years. Since then, the magazine has been edited successively by Tony Herrington, Rob Young and Chris Bohn, who also writes under the name Biba Kopf.
A series of new music compilation CDs called The Wire Tapper has been given away with the magazine since 1998. The magazine has used the strapline "Adventures in Modern Music" since 1994; on 14 December 2011 The Wire's staff announced on Twitter that the magazine's old strapline "Adventures In Modern Music" had been replaced by "Adventures In Sound And Music". In addition to the Wire Tapper CDs, subscribers also receive label, country and festival samplers.
The Wire
We listened into the Ice age
And we built up man round the Picts
And the daybreak hammered out warning
To the weak
We dreamed on moor with passion
And on the long lochs bluer than eyes
'Till the mists of bygone ages
heard our cries
I've seen us among thousands
All of one name waiting to run
And when the charge came heather on heartbeat
Steel on gun
The old rock leaves us with fossil
From the ancient pagan rites
From the universal inroads
back to Christ
As we look out over the morning
And the days of this life's spring
And the joy of Gaelic's lifeblood
Made me sing
Watching your beauty on this journey
With the lick of youth in your eyes
Let us sow this olden heartland
Reap in time
Transmitting, transmitting
Breaking down the wire
Transmitting, transmitting