I don't see Robert, this is the Manscape tour, the ticket at the start says Wire tho'
― Maresn3st, Tuesday, 5 May 2020 18:10 (four years ago) link
If it's Manscape it's Wire. But, yes, Robert could probably have stayed at home.
― Angry Question Time Man's Flute Club Band (Tom D.), Tuesday, 5 May 2020 18:14 (four years ago) link
I'd given up on them by this stage but I saw them a lot in the 80s and thought they were great live - much better than on record. A trifle disheartening therefore to read the Wire biography and find out Colin Newman thought they were shit.
― Angry Question Time Man's Flute Club Band (Tom D.), Tuesday, 5 May 2020 18:19 (four years ago) link
(xp) Apparently he did stay at home, in fact he quit just before the tour - a tour where the rest of the band didn't want him playing drums anyway ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
― Angry Question Time Man's Flute Club Band (Tom D.), Tuesday, 5 May 2020 22:41 (four years ago) link
"kidney bingos" is a song i've known over half of my life and it is still one of the most confounding things i've ever heard.
when trembling blue stars covered it, i was somehow even more creeped out, but it still manages to be an irresistible bop-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9hMLBzs0j0trembling blue stars - "kidney bingos" (2011)
p cool song i reckon. good beat, u can dance 2 it
― she fell asleep with her hand around my throat (Austin), Monday, 4 December 2023 03:32 (six months ago) link
Sometimes I wonder if A Bell is a Cup Until It Is Struck is the best Wire album.
― Halfway there but for you, Monday, 4 December 2023 04:11 (six months ago) link
It's been noted that Elastica redid (?) "Kidney Bingos" as "Nothing Stays the Same", right?
― with hidden noise, Monday, 4 December 2023 04:40 (six months ago) link
is there anything more wistful than the kidney bingos outro
― the absence of bikes (f. hazel), Monday, 4 December 2023 05:00 (six months ago) link
my long-held assumption is that 'kidney bingos' is a reference to the idea of there being a 'postcode lottery' for health care provision in the UK i.e. your access to certain services or treatments depends on where you live
― blazin' squab (NickB), Monday, 4 December 2023 08:49 (six months ago) link
never really tried to decipher the verses before but they're cut-up 80s uk media stories afaict
― blazin' squab (NickB), Monday, 4 December 2023 09:13 (six months ago) link
God, no.
― Tom D has a right to defend himself (Tom D.), Monday, 4 December 2023 10:04 (six months ago) link
It’s great, but I wouldn’t say best. It took me years to realize that ‘80s Wire were almost great too, just different. I like Manscape even! The First Letter is not so hot, though.
― Tapioca by Jean Sibelius (Boring, Maryland), Monday, 4 December 2023 12:17 (six months ago) link
-almost-
Much prefer The First Letter to Manscape tbh.
― Tom D has a right to defend himself (Tom D.), Monday, 4 December 2023 12:19 (six months ago) link
― the absence of bikes (f. hazel),
My favorite Graham Lewis vocal performance too.
― stuffing your suit pockets with cold, stale chicken tende (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 4 December 2023 13:09 (six months ago) link
They're about equally modestly underrated. Manscape is cluttered and busy, with occasionally gripping textures; the first letter is cleaner and clearer and actually has some hooks.
The coda of this song was possibly the highlight when I saw them in 2011.
― Halfway there but for you, Tuesday, 5 December 2023 16:40 (six months ago) link
I prefer the minimalism of their 90s output
― the absence of bikes (f. hazel), Tuesday, 5 December 2023 17:45 (six months ago) link