Send "Wire " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Pitchfork |
 Thirty-five years into their start-and-stop career, Wire are not short on live albums. This is the 15th they've released since 2004 through their own Pinkflag imprint, covering all three incarnations of the band: the brittle, brainy punks who hurtled artward from 1976 to 1980, the poppy, brainy "beat-combo" that branched out toward both alternative radio tunes and monomaniacal hammer-drone from 1985 to 1992, and the tough, brainy old guys who reconvened in 2000 and have been bearing down hard ever since. But the only really significant live Wire discs are the out-of-print Document and Eyewitness-- a bootleg-quality set centered on an abrasive 1980 gig that featured almost entirely new material-- and 1989's It's Beginning to and Back Again, which was so heavily reworked in the studio that it's barely a live album at all.That shortlist hasn't changed with the new addition to the pile. The formal distinction of The Black Session is that it's the first recording to feature Wire's most recent stage lineup. (For those who haven't been following closely, founding guitarist Bruce Gilbert left in the mid-2000s; Margaret Fielder McGinnis of Laika replaced him on tour for a few years, and, since 2010, Matt Simms has augmented the remaining trio of original members on tour.) The days when Wire would turn up for gigs with a set of material the audience had never heard before, or save the throwbacks for the encore, are behind them. At this gig, they run through the better part of 2011's Red Barked Tree, basically ignore everything else from the past 24 years except for 2002's hardcore-velocity "Comet", and toss in a couple of old favorites. It's particularly unsettling to hear "Map Ref. 41ºN 93ºW", one of their most precisely constructed studio singles, in a sloppy garage-band rendition-- metronomic drummer Robert Grey struggles to keep the tempo steady, and singer/guitarist Colin Newman sounds uncomfortably exposed when nobody joins him for harmonies on the chorus. The final encore is one that rejoined their repertoire in 2000 and stayed there: "Pink Flag", with its original two-chord structure replaced by a single blaring E chord at which they hammer for seven minutes or so until it disintegrates into end-of-show chaos....full text |
| Slicingupeyeballs |
| Classic U.K. post-punk outfit Wire will commemorate its year-long tour in support of the band’s current record, Red Barked Tree, by giving its recent tour-only live album — the 13-track The Black Session – Paris 10 May 2011 — a full worldwide release in February. Due out Feb. 7 and initially sold on the band’s fall U.K. tour, the live set was recorded last May at Radio France’s Paris studios in front of an audience as part of Bernard Lenoir’s series of live broadcasts. The recording is also Wire’s first to feature new touring guitarist Matt Simms, who joins core members Colin Newman, Graham Lewis and Robert Grey. According to the band material, The Black Session finds Wire “in razor-sharp form, tightly honed after months of touring.” The collection features a mix of cuts from this year’s Red Barked Tree as well as classic songs such as “Pink Flag,” “Kidney Bingos” and “Map Ref 41°N 93°W.”...full text |
| Totallyfuzzy |
| U.K-based Wire was an integral part in the development of post-punk in the late 1970’s. Over the years the band has released a dozen studio albums and last year’s Red Barked Tree was the band’s most popular and acclaimed record in years. Now the band is set to release The Black Session: Paris 10 May 2011 on Feb. 7. The live album was recorded in front of thousands and was originally available exclusively on the band’s tour, but Wire wants to give fans who weren’t able to see them live this special keepsake....full text |
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