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The Wire 478

December 2023

Current issue in shops now

On the cover: Khanate: The reconvened avant sludge quartet bring their fifth document of doom in the form of To Be Cruel. By Rob Turner. Plus: BEAM SPLITTER: Audrey Chen and Henrik Munkeby Nørstebø explore intimacy via electroacoustics. By Julian Cowley; Invisible Jukebox: Dali De Saint Paul: The Bristol based vocalist and improvisor faces The Wire’s mystery record selection. Tested by Phil England; Agitation Free: The German rock experimentalists return with a new album. By Daniel Spicer. Also inside this issue: Violent Magic Orchestra; Mpho Molikeng; Galya Bisengalieva; Eve Stainton; Unlimited Editions bié Records; Unofficial Channels The Roulette Tapes; Global Ear in Berlin; The Inner Sleeve by Alan Courtis; Epiphanies by Nkisi; many pages of reviews and much more.

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On Air

Emily Bick presents Adventures In Sound And Music

Emily Bick presents Adventures In Sound And Music

The 23 November edition of The Wire's weekly radio show on Resonance FM and Resonance Extra featured tracks by Silver Apples & Makoto Kawabata, Tara Clerkin Trio, JJJJJerome Ellis, Yara Asmar, Ragana, DJ Harrison, and more

Mix

Wire mix: Nyahh Records

Wire mix: Nyahh Records

Nyahh founder Willie Stewart collates tracks from the Irish imprint’s back catalogue, fusing traditional folk, improvised instrumental and weird experimental

Tracks

Office Ambience 478

Office Ambience 478

Stream a selection of tracks from releases we listened to during the making of our December 2023 issue

Mix

Wire mix: Yokel

Wire mix: Yokel

Bristol producer shares a mix of some of the sounds that inspired their recent Bokeh Versions release, Parable Of The Empty Cup

The Portal

From The Archive by John Morrison

From The Archive by John Morrison

Contributor John Morrison selects pieces of writing from The Wire’s back pages featuring hiphop mixtapes, Can, Meg Baird & Mary Lattimore, Steinski, and more. All selected articles are available to read in The Wire’s digital library with a print or digital subscription

The Portal

Carla Bley (11 May 1936–17 October 2023)

Carla Bley (11 May 1936–17 October 2023)
As a tribute to the jazz pianist and composer who has died aged 87 we have made three articles in our online library free to read. The first two articles comprised the cover story of the second issue of the magazine published in 1982; the third is a guide to Bley’s recordings published in 2021.

Video

Watch: Hearsay live

Watch: Hearsay live

The experimental Chicago based trio share a recording of a performance at Spot Tavern in Lafayette, Indiana

Tracks

Office Ambience 477

Office Ambience 477

Stream a selection of tracks from releases we listened to during the making of our November 2023 issue

Tracks

Unreleased music by Tom Mudd

Unreleased music by Tom Mudd

Listen to previously unheard experiments by the composer who uses synthesized physics engines and algorithmic models to extend the possibilities of guitar music

Tracks

Global Ear: Beijing

Global Ear: Beijing

After the body blows of the early 2020s, eclectic spaces in China’s capital are platforming a new generation of players and listeners. Josh Feola selects tracks by some of the musicians involved

Tracks

Unlimited Editions: Red Hook

Unlimited Editions: Red Hook

To accompany his article on Sun Chung’s Munich based imprint in The Wire 476, Philip Watson selects standout tracks from the jazz and electronic music label’s past and future releases

Tracks

Office Ambience 476

Office Ambience 476

Stream a selection of tracks from releases we listened to during the making of our October 2023 issue

Tracks

Wire playlist: Blevin Blectum

Wire playlist: Blevin Blectum

California based Bevin Kelley aka Blevin Blectum compiles an annotated playlist plucked from a mind-melding back catalogue of experimental sound that stretches back over 25 years

Video

Watch: Paul Rooney “In My Head”

Watch: Paul Rooney “In My Head”

The Liverpool based artist presents a video from his new album Surface Industries II – the latest in a series of works themed around service industry occupations

The Portal

From The Archive by Frances Morgan

From The Archive by Frances Morgan

Contributor Frances Morgan compiles an annotated list of some of The Wire's Once Upon A Time In... special features that tell the stories of significant and localised scenes in underground music history. All selected articles are available to read in The Wire’s digital library with a print or digital subscription.

Mix

Wire mix: Aho Ssan

Wire mix: Aho Ssan

The Paris based composer and producer compiles a mix featuring tracks by international fellow music travellers and a previously unheard cut from his upcoming album Rhizomes

Download

Below The Radar 43

Below The Radar 43

Volume 43 includes tracks by Dhangsha, Rocheman, Fiesta en el vacío, Selvhenter, Outside House, Ecka Mordecai, and more

Tracks

Unlimited Editions: Pakapi

Unlimited Editions: Pakapi

To accompany his report on Pakapi Records in The Wire 475, Alonso Almenara selects tracks from the Argentinian label’s back catalogue and talks to its curator Juan José Calarco

Essay

Love is the Message: Don Cherry hymns Albert Ayler

Love is the Message: Don Cherry hymns Albert Ayler

The cover story of The Wire 475 contains 18 pages of essays on Don Cherry and his organic music family. In an adjunct to those essays, Harmony Holiday listens to the trumpeter’s 1971 elegy for his friend Albert Ayler.

The Portal

From The Archive by Marc Masters

From The Archive by Marc Masters

Contributor Marc Masters selects ten of his favourite Invisible Jukebox interviews from The Wire’s back pages featuring Sunny Murray, Derek Bailey, Jaimie Branch, Lydia Lunch, and more. All selected articles are available to read in The Wire’s digital library with a Wire print or digital subscription.

Tracks

Wire playlist: Kramer

Wire playlist: Kramer

To accompany her interview with the US musician and producer in The Wire 474, Emily Pothast selects tracks from Kramer's vast and varied output

Tracks

Unlimited Editions: Guruguru Brain

Unlimited Editions: Guruguru Brain

To accompany his profile on Guruguru Brain in The Wire 474, James Gui selects standout tracks from the back catalogue of the Netherlands based Asian rock label

Tracks

Office Ambience 474

Office Ambience 474

Stream a selection of tracks from releases we listened to during the making of our August 2023 issue

Tracks

Wire playlist: Ina GRM

Wire playlist: Ina GRM

Following a round-up review of several recent Groupe De Recherches Musicales releases, the organisation's leader François Bonnet aka Kassel Jaeger compiles an annotated playlist showcasing the breadth of Ina GRM's associated labels

Mix

Wire mix: Ziúr

Wire mix: Ziúr

The electronic producer shares an exclusive mix in the run up to the release of their new collaboration-focused album Eyeroll

Mix

Wire mix: Shapednoise

Wire mix: Shapednoise

To mark the release of his latest album Absurd Matter, Sicilian producer Nino Pedone aka Shapednoise records a new mix featuring DJ Rashad, Death Grips, and more

The Portal

Peter Brötzmann (6 March 1941–22 June 2023)

Peter Brötzmann (6 March 1941–22 June 2023)
As a tribute to the German saxophonist who has died at the age of 82, we have made David Keenan’s epic two-part 2012 interview, as well as Daniel Spicer’s Primer guide to Brötzmann’s many recordings, free to read in our online library

Tracks

Unlimited Editions: Trost

Unlimited Editions: Trost

To accompany his Unlimited Editions profile of Trost in The Wire 473, Phil Freeman selects tracks from the Austrian label’s world of sound

Tracks

Office Ambience 473

Office Ambience 473

Stream a selection of tracks from releases we listened to during the making of our July 2023 issue

On Air

Derek Walmsley presents Adventures In Sound And Music

Derek Walmsley presents Adventures In Sound And Music

The 15 June edition of The Wire's weekly show on Resonance 104.4FM and Resonance Extra focussed on Slovenian “tiny bedroom label” Inexhaustible Editions, which over the last eight years has amassed a weighty catalogue extending the remit of improvisation, modern composition and experimental music

Mix

Wire mix: Eleni Poulou

Wire mix: Eleni Poulou

The former Fall vocalist and keyboard player presents Connect The Un Polka Dots; a 90 minute mix featuring tracks from many of her own recent projects and more

Tracks

Office Ambience 472

Office Ambience 472

Stream a selection of tracks from releases we listened to during the making of our June 2023 issue