Needle Time

  Wire - Ahead [12 MUTE 57 UK 1987 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] The last of my Wire vinyl on Mute Records is something which I have ripped a few times before, this will be the last ....and I'd say for sure the best it could sound. I will put my Mute compact discs up onto Digitalia over the next few days. If any of you still need Digitalia access, please see the comments. Ahead is Wire at their most accessible (well as accessible as Wire could ever be), it was never a big seller but it should have been huge. This hook-laden post-punk single is right up there with the very best from that 1980-1988 late-post-punk period and as I've no doubt said before, Ahead is possible the last great post-punk single. Many will also love the three live tracks adorning the flip. A1 Ahead B1 Ambulance Chasers B2 Feed Me B3 Vivid Riot Of Red

  Wire - Manscape [STUMM 80 UK 1990 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Wire's penultimate album for Mute Records was recorded at Rak Studios with producer David M. Allen, pressed onto unquiet vinyl at Damont and wrapped in this great sleeve design by Neville Brody & Jon Wozencroft.  This original vinyl pressing of Manscape was also Wire's first album not to include any singles, you needed to get the compact disc for the single which also came with a different tracklisting & running order. Manscape documents Wire's move into a more electronic sound, still remaining true to the band's creative art-rock roots, the addition of sequencers and drum machines hinted at a modernisation in the quartet's approach to songwriting, although it is important to recall that many of Wire's splinter bands and solo projects had already embraced electronica. A1 Patterns Of Behaviour A2 Goodbye Ploy A3 Morning Bell A4 Small Black Reptile A5 Torch It B1 Other Moments B2 ...

  Wire - In Vivo [12 MUTE 98 UK 1989 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Before I go quiet for about a week, here is another great Wire twelve inch from their second coming on Mute Records. In Vivo was a stand-alone single and didn't actually appear on a Wire studio album, although the original version was included as an extra track on the compact disc version of the live album,  It's Beginning To And Back Again . This extended twelve inch version was from remix of the original track into seven minutes of industrial electro-beat. I think it works really well and is backed by a new thumping & grinding instrumental, Illuminated and a tight live rendition of The Finest Drops . A1 In Vivo B1 Illuminated B2 Finest Drops (Live)

  Wire - Snakedrill [12 MUTE 53 UK 1986 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] Here is a  brand new 2023 rip and a substantial upgrade on my 2016 rip of Wire's comeback EP, S nakedrill . I bought this twelve inch EP at the old HMV Shop on Swan Lane in Guildford, Surrey - which I recall had one of the very best indie music sections considering it was in an upmarket stockbroker belt town.  Wire had been dormant for six or seven years whilst they all went about their various solo careers and other complicated projects. This record represents a significant return to form and a new relationship with Mute Records  which produced four immaculate studio albums and six magnificent singles. None of the tracks on Snakedrill were to feature on an album at the time. ....could it be a drill? A1 "A Serious Of Snakes" A2 Drill B1 Advantage In Height B2 Up To The Sun Essential!

  Wire - Eardrum Buzz [12 MUTE 87 UK 1989 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] The classic four-piece original Wire line-up were quite productive during their Mute Records period, however changes were afoot as Robert Gotobed was showing signs of needing to move on. Eardrum Buzz didn't feature on a studio album - it was a bonus track on their live album  It's Beginning To And Back Again and after the next single, In Vivo and the Manscape studio album Gotobed was to leave the band. The single was to be a live favourite with it's classic Colin Newman harmonies around the chorus, I have always thought it lacked a bottom end as the drums and bass were a little too restrained. The Offer on the flipside is by far the stand out piece on this single. A1 Eardrum Buzz B1 The Offer B2 It's A Boy (Instrumental)

  Wire - A Bell Is A Cup   Until It Is Struck [STUMM 54 UK WL 1988 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] I am sure there is something arty & ironic regarding the horse head & the filing cabinet which adorn the sleeve and the somewhat pretentious album title.  Ironically, as you can see, this is a white label test pressing ripped here for the first time to high resolution 176.4kHz FLAC. A Bell Is A Cup , often perceived as their most accessible album... remains a Wire classic with the inclusion of two great singles, Kidney Bingos and Silk Skin Paws . From the very first moment to the very last, this album is superbly flawless. Thank you again to penguinflight for donating his archive to the cause, this is the next of three Wire albums from their important second coming. A1 Silk Skin Paws A2 The Finest Drops A3 The Queen Of Ur And The King Of Um A4 Free Falling Divisions A5 It's A Boy B1 Boiling Boy B2 Kidney Bingos B3 Come Back In Two Halves B4 Follow The Locu...

  Wire - The Ideal Copy [STUMM 42 UK 1987 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] This post comes courtesy of Tergikleen, Hana Shibata, HumminGuru & Pro-Ject. Here is a  brand new rip of one of my very favourite albums in 176.4kHz FLAC. I can be very guilty for the overuse of superlatives regularly through these pages, please forgive me I shall try to restrain myself during the next few sentences in my description of one of the best comeback albums ever! This mint original pressing comes courtesy of penguinflight's boxes of vinyl. I originally ripped this using my old set-up and didn't think I could improve it with my new set-up ...until now! Any album which features Ahead , Feed Me , Ambitious and Over Theirs just has to be up among the very finest. Enjoy! A1 The Point Of Collapse A2 Ahead A3 Madman's Honey A4 Feed Me B1 Ambitious B2 Cheeking Tongues B3 Still Shows B4 Over Theirs Needle Time will return by the weekend.

  Wir - So And Slow It Goes [12MUTE 107 UK 1991 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] I promised a brand new rip of post-punk band Wire's nineties techno masterpiece before Christmas. I failed then, so let's deal with it right now. Those zany Wire boys lose a drummer, drop an E and get down with the kids by unleashing this acid-drenched techno disco monster with the help of The Orb and LFO.  A1 So And Slow It Grows (Extended) B1 So And Slow It Grows (The Orb In Atlas Mix) B2 Take It (LFO Remix)

  Wir - The First Letter [INT 146.876/STUMM87 DEU 1991 24-Bit 176.4kHz FLAC] I have the UK compact disc of The First Letter and posted it to ESWA back in April 2015. Very recently the rare German vinyl pressing on Interchord came my way, so after reading all the requests for a re-post of the  So & Slow It Grows single, I parted with some cash and purchased this hard to find album. The aforementioned single will be re-ripped (hopefully before Christmas) as the original rips are quite crackly. This German vinyl pressing is really nice and quiet, the tracks are mastered really well and at a considerate volume. I am unsure who pressed this version and how it compares to the MPO French pressing for Mute in the UK. This is a much over-looked, and strangely accessible body of work by Wire as a trio. There are some hidden Wire classics on this album, your scribe particularly appreciates  Looking At Me , the full on Take It and the more industrial  Big Glue Canal . Th...

  Wire - 154 [SHSP 4105 UK 1979 24-Bit 88.2kHz FLAC] A re-post, originally seen on Needle Time in September 2021. After four attempts at a rip to break in the new cart, here is a new rip (my last one only ever featured on ESWA 2.0) of 154 - this is a quietly pressed album (an 1979 original without the bonus seven inch) hiding an unusual dynamic response (for the period) of DR10. Crank things up a bit and with a more responsive cartridge, this record bursts into life. 1979 was a very important year in music and 154 is a very important album. 154 is a very different Wire album, the opening I Should Have Known Better introduces us to Graham Lewis's dulcet tones and an air of compelling experimentation. The punky Two People In A Room is closely followed by one of my favourite Wire tracks, The 15th with superb Newman vocal harmonies and synths from Mike Horne. The Other Window is classic Gilbert & Lewis nonsense (in a good way), Colin Newman leads again on the post-punk gem A ...

  Wire - Nine Sevens [PFS1-9 RSD2018 24-Bit 88.2kHz FLAC] I was going to intersperse my recent Wire album posts with the singles from the early years, I don't have all the originals and those I have are worn in places. To make up for that, here is their RSD2018 collection of those six original Harvest seven inch singles (from 1977 - 1979) with the Rough Trade release Our Swimmer . To top things off you also get the bonus experimental EP which was included with original 154 pressings and the two tracks which adorned the flipside of the post-split Crazy About Love single.  A1 Mannequin B1 Feeling Called Love B2 12XU C1 I Am The Fly D1 Ex-Lion Tamer E1 Dot Dash F1 Options R G1 Outdoor Miner H1 Practice Makes Perfect I1 Question Of Degree J1 Former Airline K1 Map Ref 41°N 93°W L1 Go Ahead M1 Our Swimmer N1 Midnight Bahnhof Café O1   Song 1 O2 Get Down Parts 1&2 P1 Let's Panic Later P2 Small Electric Piece Q1 2nd Length (Our Sw...

  Wire - Chairs Missing [PF12LP UK 2018 24-Bit 88.2/176.4kHz FLAC] The difficult second album ...fear ye not! The first three Wire albums are classics - it seems a while since I posted my rips of Pink Flag and 154 , so at last I present Chairs Missing .  Less punky than the debut and less arty than the next, Chairs Missing is an aural assault on your senses, topped off by an uncompromising remaster for this 2018 Optimal Media repress. I have the original 1978 Harvest pressing too, however the years have taken their tool with wear & tear and this version is a much better listen. I Am The Fly and Outdoor Miner are highly revered classics, however this fan adores Used To with its subtle harmonies and that bass sound on Being Sucked In Again .  Enjoy! A1   Practice Makes Perfect A2   French Film Blurred A3   Another The Letter A4   Men 2nd A5   Marooned A6   Sand In My Joints A7   Being Sucked In ...

  Wire - Pink Flag [PF11LP UK 2018 24-Bit FLAC] Alright, here it is... again. And it's called... Only one band on the planet have consistently and continually (okay ...with the odd hiatus) developed then turned out great music true to their original roots. Wire have full control of their back catalogue and this is where it all began, ripped from the repress edition on their own Pink Flag label. A1 Reuters A2 Field Day For The Sundays A3 Three Girl Rhumba A4 Ex Lion Tamer A5 Lowdown A6 Start To Move A7 Brazil A8 It's So Obvious A9 Surgeon's Girl A10 Pink Flag B1 The Commercial B2 Straight Line B3 106 Beats That B4 Mr. Suit B5 Strange B6 Fragile B7 Mannequin B8 Different To Me B9 Champs B10 Feeling Called Love B11 1 2 X U

  Wire - 154 [SHSP 4105 UK 1979 24-Bit FLAC] After four attempts at a rip to break in the new cart, here is a new rip (my last one only ever featured on ESWA 2.0) of 154 - this is a quietly pressed album (an 1979 original without the bonus seven inch) hiding an unusual dynamic response (for the period) of DR10. Crank things up a bit and with a more responsive cartridge, this record bursts into life. 1979 was a very important year in music and 154 is a very important album. 154 is a very different Wire album, the opening I Should Have Known Better introduces us to Graham Lewis's dulcet tones and an air of compelling experimentation. The punky Two People In A Room is closely followed by one of my favourite Wire tracks, The 15th with superb Newman vocal harmonies and synths from Mike Horne. The Other Window is classic Gilbert & Lewis nonsense (in a good way), Colin Newman leads again on the post-punk gem A Single K.O. before Gilbert's lengthy "opus" A Touc...

Wire - Manscape [STUMM 80 UK 1990 24-Bit FLAC] Manscape is very much a tale of two albums. This was the third & final album from the second coming of Wire, which not only marked a significant switch to a more electronic sound, but also there were such marked variations between the vinyl and CD versions that I have always thought of them as two separate albums. It is possible that the band just had too much material for a single vinyl album that they had to leave some off, but I still think there has to be some reason behind the different running orders. I again offer my thanks to penguinflight to be able to rip from his immaculate vinyl copy.  A1 Patterns Of Behaviour A2 Goodbye Ploy A3 Morning Bell A4 Small Black Reptile A5 Torch It B1 Other Moments B2 Sixth Sense B3 What Do You See? B4 Where's The Deputation B5 You Hung Your Lights In The Trees / A Craftsman's Touch Wire - Manscape [CDSTUMM 80 UK 1990 FLAC] Here is the CD versio...

Wire - A Bell Is A Cup... Until It Is Struck [STUMM 54 UK 1988 24-Bit FLAC] I am sure there is something arty & ironic regarding the horse head & the filing cabinet which adorn the sleeve and the somewhat pretentious album title.   A Bell Is A Cup,  often perceived as their most accessible album... remains a Wire classic. Thank you again to penguinflight for donating his archive to the cause, this is the next of three Wire albums from their second coming. A1 Silk Skin Paws A2 The Finest Drops A3 The Queen Of Ur And The King Of Um A4 Free Falling Divisions A5 It's A Boy B1 Boiling Boy B2 Kidney Bingos B3 Come Back In Two Halves B4 Follow The Locust B5 A Public Place

Wire - The Ideal Copy [STUMM 42 UK 1987 24-Bit FLAC] I can be very guilty for the overuse of superlatives regularly through these pages, please forgive me I shall try to restrain myself during the next few sentences in my description of one of the best comeback albums ever! This mint original pressing comes courtesy of penguinflight 's boxes of vinyl. I ripped this using my old set-up and didn't think I could improve it with my new deck. If you are on ESWA 2.0, this is a re-working from the original January 2018 wav files were I have the re-balanced the RMS levels between the channels rather than use any form of normalisation (a mastering technique I've been experimenting with for a while now) and taken the oportunity to remove the occasional click.  Any album which features Ahead , Feed Me , Ambitious and Over Theirs  just has to be up among the very finest. Enjoy! A1 The Point Of Collapse A2 Ahead A3 Madman's Honey A4 Feed Me B1 Ambitious B...

Wire - In Vivo [12 MUTE 98 UK 1989 24-Bit FLAC] Just in case some of you feel damaged after the last Kon Kan post, here is a much over looked 12" from Wire in full electro-pop mode for your enjoyment. A1 In Vivo B1 Illuminated B2 Finest Drops (Live)

Wire - Snakedrill [12 MUTE 53 UK 1986 24-Bit FLAC] Everybody loves a bit of Wire! Here, from the beginning of the second coming of Wire, is the most splendid Snakedrill E.P. which marked their reformation and their new relationship with Mute Records  which produced four immaculate studio albums and six magnificent singles. None of the tracks on Snakedrill were included on an album proper at the time. A1 "A Serious Of Snakes" A2 Drill B1 Advantage In Height B2 Up To The Sun