the wire - Idolator

pleasant surprises

Andrew WK: Man Of Many Words (About Records, Fellatio, And Long Island Guitar Heroines)

Guys, not to get all hard-partying fanboy on you, but (OMG!!!1!) did you know that this month The Wire asked world's-greatest-human Andrew WK to sit down for their "Invisible Jukebox," the long-running feature where interviewer plays interviewee a bunch of records? And did you know that the magazine's Web site now features the unedited, nine-page transcript of said "Jukebox" interview with noise bro Mr. Marc Masters? (I did not. Until now.) More »

1:00 PM on Wed Feb 27 2008
By Jess Harvell
1,476 views, 11 comments

year-end analysis

"The Wire" Shares A Laugh With Robert Wyatt

Brit experimental institution The Wire has just dropped its weighty year-end issue, which features Brit experimental (pop) institution Robert Wyatt at No. 1 on its list of the top 50 albums of 2007. As for the rest of the mag's rundown, it may prominently big up LCD Soundsystem and M.I.A., but hey, it's also got saxophone records that you can barely hear!

THE GOOD: The Wire is always reliable for a dose of hair-straightening hairshirt noise, serious sound art, and/or free improv. Like Sightings' brutalist Through at no. 37, Throbbing Gristle's unexpectedly excellent reunion record at No. 32, or the ramshackle brilliance of drummer Chris Corsano and guitarist Mick Flower's duo LP at No. 27.
THE BAD: Rough and tough experimentalists beware: bloggers and message board denizens are already grumbling that The Wire's Top 10 features many of the same records that appeared on all sorts of square lists this year. On the other hand, those who feel the magazine has lost the connection to (avant) pop music that marked its '90s heyday may find this development heartening.
THE WHAAAA? In Rainbows? Even down at No. 34? You're The Wire! You don't have to play these mainstream reindeer games!

More »

9:30 AM on Wed Dec 19 2007
By jharv
1,081 views, 15 comments

the wire

Tapping The Music Of "The Wire": We Now Have Paul Weller On The Line

Thanks to everyone who listened when we requested an MP3 of Paul Weller's take on "I Walk On Gilded Splinters," the Dr. John number that closed the season-four finale of The Wire. Speaking of which, we have a half-dozen or so questions about what's going to happen next: After spotting DuQuan on the corner, will Prez stay with teaching, or will he again try to police the streets? How will Marlo muscle the city if Chris and Snoop get locked up (assuming, of course, that Chris and Snoop don't snitch on Marlo)? And considering that David Simon has created one of the best television shows on the air—a show that provokes empathy, outrage, and joy—will HBO just ignore the low ratings and re-up The Wire for the rest of the decade? More »

8:42 AM on Tue Dec 12 2006
By Brian Raftery
890 views, 6 comments

Latest by Brian Raftery: 1) He's definitely not going back to the streets, but I can't believe he won't use his pull with Major Crimes to try to do some proxy justice. I think the guilt over his best student not being able to more »

tv

Idolator Request Line: Please Help Us Tap "The Wire" One Last Time

Last night's season finale of The Wire so harrowing and heartbreaking, it would be an insult to even try to encapsulate it in a 100-word blog post. But we would like to post the episode's closing number, a cover of "I Walk On Gilded Splinters" performed by Paul Weller (not pictured). If you have a DRM-free high-quality MP3 to share, please send it to tips@idolator.com, and you'll get a comment invite.

10:10 AM on Mon Dec 11 2006
By Brian Raftery
102 views, 5 comments

mp3

As Heard On TV: Anthony Hamilton Listens In On "The Wire"

Our meager collection of regular readers know that we'll make any excuse to mention HBO's The Wire, a.k.a. The Greatest Show In The World, And Possibly The Most Amazing Thing To Happen In Popular Culture In Twenty Years (Except For Some Really Good Books). Anyway, last night featured a brief but memorable fast-food-joint back-and-forth between MccNulty and one of the corner's regulars, scored by Anthony Hamilton's fantastic 2003 slow jam "Comin' From Where I'm From." For anyone who wants to re-enact that scene—or who needs an excuse to investigate Hamilton's overlooked oeuvre further—we've included an MP3 of "Comin'." More »

11:55 AM on Mon Nov 27 2006
By Brian Raftery
96 views, 4 comments

Latest by gorillavsmarykate: I first heard this song when Lupe Fiasco did a remix and teared it up. Everyone should look out for it. more »

mp3

Listening To "The Wire": This Post Could Someday Save Your Life

If you missed last night's episode of The Wire—and you really shouldn't have, as it's generally the best 58 minutes of television all week—you missed a well-played shout-out to the Baltimore club scene: In order to smoke out a New York dealer who's invaded their turf, two for-hire killers wander the street and ask people if they've heard of Young Leek's club favorite "Jiggle It"—their logic being that, as one character notes, "they don't listen to that shit up in New York." The first guy they find who doesn't know the track must be from the Big Apple, and therefore, must get popped. More »

11:48 AM on Mon Nov 6 2006
By Brian Raftery
283 views, 7 comments

Latest by Vcholerae: I can't watch this year -- the whole death of Stringer Bell left me devastated for weeks. I can't get hurt again. Damn, that episode sounds good though... more »

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