Description

A glimpse into Wirersquos working practices, when Wire play live there are different 3 classes of pieces that are performed, new songs, old songs and ldquonew oldrdquo songs. The latter often involves taking something that existed on a previous release and reworking it, very often evolving a stage highlight from it. There also pieces that have never seen a major release but for some reason never fitted on an album. The best of these ideas were recorded in 2 sessions one relating to Red Barked Tree but recorded in 2010 and another relating to Wirersquos latest album Mind Hive released in 2020. Incidentally celebrating the decade Matt Simms has been with the band. The album divides in to two halves the 2010 side amp the 2020 side hence the title.Tracks 1 to 4 were recorded in the latter part of 2010 and feature contributions from both Margaret Fielder of Laika ndash who had been performing guitar duties with Wire on live dates the previous year ndash and Simms, who was on the point of becoming an official member of the band.Track 1 lsquoBoiling Boyrsquo first appeared on 1988rsquos A Bell is a Cuphellip Until it is Struck. lsquoBoiling Boyrsquo has gone on to become perhaps the most played Wire song ever. Throughout the rsquo00s, it became one of the acknowledged highlights of Wirersquos live sets.Track 2 lsquoGerman Shepherdsrsquo is another late rsquo80s Wire song that has developed a second life on stage. The recording is also notable in that it includes vocal contributions from Newman, Lewis and Fielder. Track 3 lsquoHe Knowsrsquo was developed back in 2000 when Bruce Gilbert was still with the band. It emerged in a reinvigorated form in 2008 when it became a staple of Wirersquos live show. This is the only studio recording to have surfaced. Track 4.rsquoUnderwater Experiencesrsquo was demoed for the bandrsquos sophomore album Chairs Missing, but in the end was omitted. Having lay dormant for a couple of years, the song later appeared in two fast, abrasive, contrasting versions on Wirersquos notoriously confrontational live album Document And Eyewitness, and a fifth iteration surfaced on 2013rsquos Change Becomes Us. However, the song has never sounded quite as it does here.Tracks 5 to 8 were recorded more recently with the longestablished line up of Newman, Lewis, Grey and Simms. Track 5 . lsquoThe Art of Persistencersquo arrived fully formed when Wire reconvened in 2000. But it was previously only available as a rehearsal room runthrough on long deleted EP The Third Day or as a live version on Legal Bootleg album Recycling Sherwood Forest. Track 6 lsquoSmall Black Reptilersquo originally appeared on the bandrsquos 1990 album Manscape. Of all the reimagined songs on 1020, this is the one that has traveled the furthest. Whereas the original was a skeletal and arch computerdriven pop song, this new version sees the composition retooled as a piece of melodic rock. Track 7 lsquoWolf Collidesrsquo, with its warm synth tones and spindly lead lines, sounds as if it deserves to be sitting regally on side two of 1978rsquos Chairs Missing. In actual fact, it was written in 2015 and became a stalwart of that yearrsquos live set. This version was recorded for inclusion on 2017rsquos SilverLead but was omitted due to lack of space. Track 8 lsquoOver Theirsrsquo is the climax of the continuing reassessment of Wirersquos 1980s output. Although the song appeared on The Ideal Copy and has been an intermittent component of the grouprsquos live shows since 1985, its true power had never been properly harnessed in the studio ndash until now. 1020 is that rare thing an album that not only serves as a musthave for longterm fans and completists, but paradoxically also the perfect introduction for anyone new to the band. Wire CD is available for home delivery from Vinyl Records London, only £12