The Wire Magazine --- New Issue

I'm guilty of skimming the "Critical Beats" then putting it back on the shelf most of the time...

nothing unreasonable there!

Are white people who say "I don't like hip hop" yet listen to it when white people make it really saying "i don't like black people"?

That's the one still probably hanging around in some shops now. It's not one of his best pieces.

Perhaps it's time to revoke the canonical status of persistent underachievers such as Callahan and Will Oldham (don't even get me started on Iron & Wine and Bright Eyes) and banish them to ILX for good, diverting our attention more fulsomely towards artists with genuinely inquisitive approaches to traditional songform, whether this means James Blake and Jamie Woon or Alex Tucker and Richard Youngs.

^ weird thing in a Bill Callahan review in the new issue

Whoa that is weird. Who wrote that?

Joseph Stannard

What does ILX mean to the average Wire reader?

Is the general perception of ILX that it's the place that old indie guys go to to die?

lol Bright Eyes?

tf? doesn't this cunt realize shit like

James Blake and Jamie Woon or Alex Tucker and Richard Youngs.

is far more popular on ilx than his placeholder indie bros

Hahaha, I am going to kick his ass. Especially as most of those guys are shit (Youngs a notable exception). Much love for Joe, though.

lol 'inquisitive approaches to songform' - what they mean, of course, is 'can't write a real song' (Youngs excepted). I love how the brits still think that effects pedal demonstrations are somehow cutting edge, and the practitioners of this insufferable trend (umm, pretty much everyone after Roy Montgomery) are more worthy of attention than artists who can, you know, write a decent tune. Any asshole can buy a Memory Man. Nobody but Callahan could have written "Sometimes I Feel Like The Mother Of The World." What a dipshit.

Actually, I highly doubt that's what he means at all, and I can vouch for JS being pretty kick-ass knowledgeable about 'inquisitive approaches to songform', I'm just not sure why he chose those people, particularly in a publication like the Wire where you should be given carte blanche to name-check much more interesting artists. The main thing I boggle at is his very odd perception of ILx. I'm also uncertain about why 'classic' songwriting has to be discarded at the same time as the 'new' is embraced, but I'm guessing he intends it more as a charge of being boring rather than necessarily being retrogressive, which is his right as a reviewer, even if he may be wrong in certain instances.

Well put. I just can't get behind a dude who probably thinks Willie Nelson is 'boring' and jams Grouper albums on road trips.

Ha, I know you meant that to agree with me, but I am the kind of dude who thinks Willie Nelson is boring and jams Grouper albums on road trips. (Actually nothing against Nelson but man, I adore Grouper.)

LOL. Grouper was the first example I could think of.

I hope I'm never forced into a Sophie's Choice moment between Willie Nelson and Grouper.

The weird thing about it (besides the ILX reference) is that Bill and Will simply aren't making the same kind of music as those other people, so I don't know why you'd bother bringing it up in a review. I like Joe's writing lots but this seems like a bit of a 'why isn't X more like Y' refusal to engage with something in its own terms, which is rarely productive or fun.

Maybe someone should post the whole review. I'm assuming it's for Apocalypse and I'm assuming it's pretty negative?

In what sense do Callahan and Oldham 'underachieve'? I quite liked either of them at various points, but the wire's job is to cover people who didn't quite achieve (in a very clear 'at the wrong place and time' sense).

Surprised the editor didn't ask about ILX (he/she probably knew but really do the readership know.) Liked the way the mention was dropped in so casually, as if there is no distinction between print and what goes on in the web.

Joe is a good dude iirc but yeah something that would make sense to a maximum of one human being living on the planet earth should maybe have been caught by a subeditor

(ha I wrote that before reading the post above)

Jamie Woon? For fuck's sake...

"The Brits"? What in Criven's name are you talking about?

Trying not to be a dick but the above quote only makes sense as a dig at the Mountain Goats

(By which I mean, maybe he thinks Oldham and Callahan should take a break from music and become ILM regulars)(I know that's not what J0hn did, but...)

aside from the fact that even that reading only takes it a ball-hair way from meaninglessness, that basically splits the prospective readership of the review into two camps, one who won't understand it at all and one who'll understand it but find it annoying

Critical wtfs aside, the guy doesn't know what the word "fulsomely" means, I think he means "fully".

Usage Note: Fulsome is often used to mean "offensively flattering or insincere." But the word is also used, particularly in the expression fulsome praise, to mean simply "abundant," without any implication of excess or insincerity. This usage is etymologically justified but may invite misunderstandings in contexts in which a deprecatory interpretation could be made. The sentence I offer you my most fulsome apologies may raise an eyebrow, where the use of an adjective like full or abundant would leave no room for doubt as to the sincerity of the speaker's intentions.

what a spiteful review that is.

xp okay looks like I was being a bit pedantic, no doubt an internet first!

If only Bill Callahan had the sense to go glitch years ago! At this point, his only future clearly lies in embracing UK funky.

Can't believe I didn't notice this - kind of hilarious that ILX is understood as any kind of common reference in the Wireverse and that it's completely off the mark wrt what goes on here.

Rest of the review isn't any more fairminded btw - one paragraph focuses on how Bill Callahan is a "charmless tranquilised version" of Howe Gelb ("the comparion bears analysis" is a representatively vacuous statement).

Love The Wire anyway.

that basically splits the prospective readership of the review into two camps, one who won't understand it at all and one who'll understand it but find it annoying

not sure about that, I understand it and pretty much agree with it fwiw

Jesus Christ. Can someone post this review in full? Sounds like the most lol 0_O review ever.

Howe Gelb? Come on. I love Giant Sand, but...come on. Howe's written some great songs, but...

xp you think Bill Callahan should be forced to post to ILX?

I have enjoyed his music on occasion but I don't get the impression he'd bring much to our table

Ah, you don't know about the secret I Love Bill Callahan board?

when will this billcallahanisation of ILX end

He still can't draw vaginas.

an alternate version of the April issue -

http://www.blrrecords.com/img/wire.jpg

.....about time Fuckstep is back in vogue.

First WIRE I bought had DJ Shadow on the cover IIRC. And its relatively peerless in terms of music magazines with re-read value... the number of times I've been digging something that they've written about a year/years ago = numerous.

haw

lol letters page

what's in it?

ilx honour defended

Who by? Could you please type it out? The Wire's not out until thursday.

someone called Nilmar Da Silva? just a jokey letter about that Bill Callahan review.

tbh a cursory look at site new answers right now would probably support the idea that ilx is a den of drag city guy worship

when was it ever not?

i liked that famous funeral song by smog. that's about it. that was worthy enough to be a country song. like, i could imagine tom t. hall writing it.

May I object to Joseph Stannard's characterisation of internet forum ILX in his review of Bill Callahan's Apocalypse as a haven for over-aged singer-songwriters and fans of confessional indie types. ILX is a broad and agreeably heterodox church, open even to Burzum ans, but we really hate that shit.
Nilmar Da Silva, London

Anyone willing to own up?

Uh, "Burzum fans" obv.

l0u1s jagg3r

didn't tom d used to write to the wire years and years ago?

not that i'm saying he wrote that, but lols at the letter

haha

A+

not actually true that "we really hate that shit" though is it, as sclump says there is far more love on ILM for those types than there is for Richard Youngs. as such Stannard has a point

"Nilmar da Silva". I'd look to the I Love Football board for the culprit. Either that or he is Brazilian.

there's far more love everywhere for Bill C than for Richard Youngs so i don't really see his point.

I am guessing that it was Xyzzz who wrote that.

there's far more love everywhere for Bill C than for Richard Youngs

Not at the Wire obviously, Richard Youngs seems to have replaced Derek Bailey in their affections

not actually true that "we really hate that shit" though is it, as sclump says there is far more love on ILM for those types than there is for Richard Youngs. as such Stannard has a point

yeah i don't know, i think the objectionable part wasn't ilxors-like-smog, like they are bland, mojo-reading nostalgists, but the idea that such whitebread staples were worthless on account of their mundane traditional songforms, that paying attention to guys who release boring solo guitar cd-rs is intellectually more worthwhile & daring

I don't really have much to say about Richard Youngs other than I saw him live once, supporting the Pastels possibly (could that be true?) and he so annoyed me I've avoided him and his works ever since, and that's a rare experience

Wait, what was the OG review?

My guess is nakh.

Football reference points that way

nakh doesn't read the wire iirc

I like Richard Youngs a lot but I've never seen him live. Could imagine him being pretty annoying if the setting wasn't right.

juli0 des0uza

nilmar dasilva

hmmmm

Vandalism Liar
Admiral Anvils
Similar Vandal
Drama Villains
Disarm Vanilla
Invalid Alarms

'disarm vanilla' is p good

dont suppose there is a scan/archive copy of the interview with mark fell in the july issue this year going about

many thanks to a certain scottish ilm poster

touch of the noodle vagues about that fell cover

nah

he's smiling for a start!

Derek Walmsley is stepping down as editor. Also, the new issue is a double, covering January and February. I’ve been subscribing since the turn of the millennium and it’s always been a monthly. No mention of the publishing schedule in the editor’s note.

My subscribers copy came with a sheet saying we would get our next issue Feb 24th

2nd Feb 2024, I meant

Ah, I’m a digital subscriber.

Is the new issue an end of the year charts one?

It is.

yes, this is the front cover

The Wire 2023 Rewind issue is out now! https://t.co/LeGoOooML6

This special bumper issue inc Releases of the Year, Critics’ Reflections, Columnists’ Charts, Essays & Analyses. Plus: Linton Kwesi Johnson, Fred Frith, Laetitia Sadier, Mariam Rezaei, pages of reviews and much more. pic.twitter.com/eoraNt0sx3

— The Wire Magazine (@thewiremagazine) December 5, 2023

I guess it was inevitable in these economic times but I liked that they powered ahead with monthly issues for so long.

Seems like the next one is a regular one-month issue? Perhaps they needed a buffer month to sort out who’ll be steering the ship from here on out, as I didn’t see a ’new editor’ announcement.

The February issue is always just a bunch of playing catchup with late 2023 stuff + also trying to figure out what to even write about because release schedules don't even ramp up until March. It's a smart move on their part.

interviews for editor start at the end of next week

wire routinely ran with a dec/jan double issue up till the mid-90s

wire routinely ran with a dec/jan double issue up till the mid-90s

I was thinking this wasn't the first time they'd done it, but I only went back a few years in the online archive so didn't see the most recent one before now.

Very curious who the new editor will be. Derek was promoted from within (he'd been reviews editor) but I guess Joe Stannard (current reviews editor) and/or Emily Bick (current front-of-book and website editor) don't want to move up the ladder?