Tuesday, September 26 at 7:30 PM – 11:30 PM

WPRB 103.3 FM Presents

Wire at Union Transfer

UT Newsletter: http://ticketf.ly/1RqX4bJ

Facebook Event Feed: http://on.fb.me/1Xjri0B

Wire

Right from their inception in 1976, back in the first stirrings of punk, Wire went about making music in a subversive, conceptual way, setting themselves apart from both their peers and their influences.

“I had this idea that I wanted to avoid things that had a particular kind of tradition,” explains singer and guitarist Colin Newman. “I thought the three-chord trick was too simplistic and that the one-chord trick would be better. Or the two chord trick where the second chord is definitely not the right chord.”

Bass guitarist and vocalist Graham Lewis identifies another trait that has run throughout the group’s lifetime. “People said we were mysterious, arch and dark. But the only way of doing that successfully, is by also having a sense of humour. You have to have that balance. With Wire there’s a peculiarity, a contrariness and that can be funny.”

This questing approach has permeated Wire’s songwriting, their onstage presentation, even the decision, back in the 80s, for Robert Grey to strip his drumkit down to just bass drum, snare and hi-hat. And it has served them well in guarding against repetition and cliché. In context, Wire’s last album, 2013’s aptly titled Change Becomes Us was another case of “Expect the unexpected”, as it found them extensively reworking a rich cache of material abandoned amid a temporary break-up in the early 80s.

Their 13th studio album – simply titled Wire – comprises material that was written with the album in mind, but toured extensively first, as well as songs that Newman introduced to the group in the studio just prior to recording. The idea was to get the most spontaneous reaction possible from the musicians, and far from the rough and ready results one might expect from such a tack, Wire is full of swooning pop melodies with a 60s tinge and an irresistible, near motorik rhythmic momentum. One can recognise certain melodic inflections, guitar and bass motifs, and drum rhythms from Wire’s idiosyncratic vocabulary but it has a remarkable freshness.

The basic tracks were recorded at Rockfield Studios near Monmouth, with overdubs added at Brighton Electric last December following the group’s DRILL : BRIGHTON Festival. The 11 tracks selected for release were the ones that came together most naturally.

From the outset Wire was an alliance between four very different characters and continues today with the addition, in 2012, of It Hugs Back guitarist Matthew Simms, who is around thirty years younger than the other group members. “With Matt there was a really new dynamic that had appeared in the group’s sound and that was something we wanted to capture, utilise and be creative with,” says Lewis.

Wire is the first album where Simms has been involved in formulating the material from the ground up, but when the group’s particular chemistry starts working he is now very much part of the process.

“With ‘Sleepwalking’, I don’t think we even ran all the way through it before we recorded it.” Newman says. “Wire do this thing so well and there’s instant atmosphere. There’s my rhythm guitar, Matt playing lap steel, Graham (Lewis) playing bass with effects – there’s as much effects as bass – and Rob’s tolling drumming. It was already almost sustainable for six minutes with just that.”

Lewis also provides most of the lyrics for the album, their subject matter encompassing love songs, cryptic narratives and coded messages. One time, Newman asked Lewis to send over some unfinished, unformatted text so he wouldn’t be bound by what to use for the chorus. This material spawned two songs written on the same day, ‘Split Your Ends’ and the droll ‘In Manchester’. The latter has one of the album’s loveliest melodies, but it’s no coded paean to the city in its Baggy heyday. Instead this process led to the disorientating and rather absurd situation of having “In Manchester” as a soaring chorus, when the song is not about Manchester beyond a single line in the lyric.

As the album progresses, some of the sunlit pop tunes become more shadowy and it ultimately plunges into the musical black hole of ‘Harpooned’, eight churning minutes of the group’s darkest, most abrasive music to date, and a favourite in live performances since 2013.

Big money offers have been made to Wire to become part of the Heritage Rock industry, to get the original line-up back together and play only 70s music. These have all been unequivocally turned down. Fun though that might be, why plant yourself firmly back in the past when you are making new music this potent with the promise of more in the future?

“The point where our personal narratives meet is all about change – moving on and keeping it interesting for ourselves,” says Newman. “We’re in it for the long haul and this is a one-way trip.”

Noveller

Noveller is the solo electric guitar project of Brooklyn-based composer and filmmaker Sarah Lipstate. Handling the guitar as her muse, Lipstate summons a sonic palette so rich as to challenge the listener to conceive of how it’s housed in a single instrument manipulated by a solitary performer.

In 2014, Lipstate announced her signing with Fire Records. Fire released Noveller’s latest full-length ‘Fantastic Planet’ in January 2015 and also re-issued Noveller’s critically acclaimed albums ‘No Dreams’ and ‘Glacial Glow’ in early 2016. She’s previously released records on No Fun Productions, Important Records, Weird Forest, Taiga, and her own imprint Saffron Recordings.

Noveller has toured with Iggy Pop, St. Vincent, Radiolab, Xiu Xiu, the Jesus Lizard, U.S. Girls, & Aidan Baker. Lipstate has collaborated with several renowned musicians, including JG Thirlwell (Foetus, Manorexia), Carla Bozulich (Evangelista, The Geraldine Fibbers), David Wm. Sims (the Jesus Lizard, Scratch Acid), Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth).

She has previously performed as a member of Cold Cave, Parts & Labor, and One Umbrella. Lipstate has also participated in Rhys Chatham’s Guitar Army, Ben Frost’s “Music for 6 Guitars” Ensemble, and Glenn Branca’s 100 guitar ensemble.

VENUE INFORMATION:
Union Transfer
1026 Spring Garden St.
Philadelphia, PA, 19123

Source: Wire – Tickets – Union Transfer – Philadelphia, PA, September 26, 2017 | Ticketfly

Get tickets: http://ticketf.ly/2rYQzTF

Drab Majesty

Drab Majesty is an inter-dimensional platform aimed at channeling aural and visual messages founded by a human being from Los Angeles in 2013. The human communes directly with it’s spiritual muse/assumed alter-ego Deb Demure to demonstrate the power in relinquishing ownership to a divine design, thereby handing inspiration over to the spirit world – essentially serving as a contractor in business with the Collective Consciousness.

Relying on those principles, Drab Majesty, from its inception, set out to achieve no specific style, yet over the span of a European tour, several US tours, an LP entitled “Careless” (released and reissued 3 times on DAIS Records), 2 cassette EP’s, and a 7-inch on (Weyrd Son/Brussels), Deb has honed in on a pointed aesthetic.

While inherently guitar-driven music in the vain of The Chameleons or Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, Drab Majesty’s sound is often nuanced by ethereal washes of icy keyboards and arpeggiated synthesizers, backed by heavy mechanized percussion and forked pulsing synth bass, all adorned with reverb-laden vocals reminiscent of a hallowed cathedral.

In the past two years Deb has been invited to support bands such as Psychic TV, Clan of Xymox, The Frozen Autumn, Prayers, and label mates Youth Code and King Dude to name a few. Part alien, part mime, part priestess — yet all summed up in the feeble form of a human looking body, Deb Demure aims to serve as a musical and visual medium marrying the void and the form.

Kontravoid

The name Kontravoid belongs on a limited run cassette circa 1980-something, the type of tape buried in lost upstate dustbins of pre-MIDI analog electronics, wedged between Cabaret Voltaire and Das Ding. The dark industrial and new wave influences are strong on ex-Crystal Castles drummer Cam Findlay’s new project—his voice is scary, like an echoing underwater growl—but the underlying pop melodies always afford a degree of breathing room.

After departing as writer/producer for Toronto band Parallels, Findlay has settled into a music venture he can call his own, assuming the identity of this masked alter-ego for what appears to be a permanent ride.

On his debut self-titled album, Kontravoid turns to analogue synths to create a dark, brooding pop masterpiece. His brilliant vocals emit a dystopic low-grown, often running through warped effects accompanied by exceptionally stirring arpeggiated synths and washes of sound. Modern touchstones could parallel the likes of John Maus or Trust, but Kontravoid’s vision is a much more twisted one, embracing goth influences and yielding a monstrous result that is harder to define. Despite its sonic vampiricism, Kontravoid’s music leaves plenty to dance and lose your mind to, but the imagination here goes way beyond these activities exclusively.

Remote Control

Native to the Philadelphia region, Remote Control is a species of the Blue Wave family. The body of Remote Control is divided into three distinct parts, each uniquely formed to aid in its unusual mating call; and thusly its proliferation and continued survival in the harsh environs of its natural habitat. Its distribution continues to become more widespread, but it can often be spotted in Western Philadelphia. Remote Control’s coloration varies according to season, but tends to be predominantly dark. It is nocturnal and almost entirely herbivorous, but when necessary will feed on whatever it can capture and devour whole. As a species of the Blue Wave family, Remote Control’s behavior is docile unless provoked, with the exception of it’s mating ritual which reaches loud volumes and involves an elaborate dance where the participants appear as though they are weeping.

Venue Information:
PhilaMOCA
531 North 12th St.
Philadelphia, PA, 19123
http://www.philamoca.org/

Source: Drab Majesty – Tickets – PhilaMOCA – Philadelphia, PA, September 24, 2017 | Ticketfly