The Wire on rewind

[Nate Dorward]

The year-end best-ofs are out for The Wire:

http://www.thewire.co.uk/archive/cha...03_Rewind.html

though you probably could guess what's on the lists even before reading them.

I think the most interesting thing about the lists is that apparently there were 2/3rds as many jazz albums of note issued in 2003 as there were improv discs. This may have something to do with the fact that Andy Hamilton who does the majority of the mag's jazz reviewing curiously enough seems to have not contributed to the yearend poll (see the lists of contributors at the end).

[Salvador Dali Lama]

Looks like a pretty damn good list. Most of what I would pick is on there. Most.

[Nate Dorward]

Which list? Actually I'd thought it notably blinkered & in the case of the jazz list strikingly perfunctory (it can't be a good sign when they can't even get the title of the Art Ensemble disc right--though what it's doing there is beyond me anyway).

[chuckyd4]

I thought the jazz list was reasonable... at least the first half to three-quarters. I can't imagine why they would pick The Meeting over Tribute to Lester, though. I guess a lot of people around here read The Wire, but I have a really hard time getting much useful information out of them.

And their hip hop list was god-awful... a mix of what college rock kids who want to say they're into hip hop listen to and the obligatory Outkast and Jigga discs. I started to get angry reading that one - but then I remembered why I don't read the Wire, and everything was okee dokee.

Originally posted by chuckyd4

And their hip hop list was god-awful... a mix of what college rock kids who want to say they're into hip hop listen to and the obligatory Outkast and Jigga discs. I started to get angry reading that one - but then I remembered why I don't read the Wire, and everything was okee dokee.

LOL!

"Outkast - the booty group it's okay for white college kids to like"

On da udda hand, the following is a pretty good pick:

Gloria Coates - String Quartets Vol 1 (Naxos)

Despite the fact that it's got a few good picks on it, the Jazz list looks exactly like what I'd expect from the audience that reads the Wire: kids who know it's cool to dig William Parker and Peter Broetzmann because they're so damn hip, but who don't have any time for Ben Webster or Horace Silver.

[mke]

Originally posted by Alex
Despite the fact that it's got a few good picks on it, the Jazz list looks exactly like what I'd expect from the audience that reads the Wire: kids who know it's cool to dig William Parker and Peter Broetzmann because they're so damn hip, but who don't have any time for Ben Webster or Horace Silver.

I like "Scrapbook", dug a Brotzmann/Parker/Drake concert very, very much and listened to Ben Webster (w/ Gerry Mulligan) this evening. However, it's been a while since I bought the Wire: I browsed the december issue and it just left me cold. And I'm not sure I count as a kid anymore...

I was surprised by how many of the records listed I either have or would consider getting.

[Salvador Dali Lama]

as regards the hip hop list, I was very pleased to see Buck65, although I haven't heard the new record and reliable sources tell me it's crummy. Nephilim Modulation Systems was 50% outstanding, and 50% bullshit. The songs that only featured Big Juss were wonderful though. I really dislike Prefuse73, I don't understand at all why they listed Jay-Z, and I thought "the no music" by themselves was garbage. It was like cLOUDDEAD minus the jutchka that made cLOUDDEAD good. even if it was 2/3 of the same people. Edan and Alias, though I really don't care for them, are friends of a friend. But still, yeah, they probably shouldn't be on the list. Sixtoo, on the other hand, should have been. I don't see how anyone can like Buck, Edan, or Alias, and not go apeshit over Sixtoo's "Suicide Manual."

anyway, I find it kind of curious the distinctions they make between jazz and "improv." How exactly are Braxton, Brotzmann, and CT "jazz," and Globe Unity is "improv?"

black guys in the group = jazz

white europeans = improv

[Salvador Dali Lama]

damn, how could i forget that! I also forgot the other golden rule:

jazz = emotional
improv = intellectual

[chuckyd4]

Originally posted by Alex
LOL!

"Outkast - the booty group it's okay for white college kids to like"

FWIW, I thought the Outkast disc was excellent, and one of the few I would have put on my list as well. I guess I just don't think The Wire has a particularly good handle on what's happening in hip hop, and wish they'd keep their opinions to themselves unless they really know what they're talking about.

But also FWIW, I don't really read it all that often (like I said), so maybe it's just the examples I've read.

Originally posted by mke
I like "Scrapbook", dug a Brotzmann/Parker/Drake concert

Despite seeing all three of these gentleman numerous times in different contexts, I've never seen this particular combo (seeing Broetzmann and Drake together in the Chicago bigband is the closest).

I'm just jealous.

Originally posted by chuckyd4
I guess I just don't think The Wire has a particularly good handle on what's happening in hip hop,

Is the Wire rather "backpack" on these questions? :-P

Alex
whose only rap records are Raising Hell and It Takes a Nation of Millions

[chuckyd4]

From what I know of it (which I'll stress again, isn't that much), it's beyond "backpack" to more "white people who don't really listen to much hip hop". I think I would like their coverage a lot more if it actually was more what I'd consider "backpack", but WTFDIK?

[Nate Dorward]

By "perfunctory" I'd in part meant to point to the fact that the jazz list is only half the length of the improv list (10 vs. 17 entries); & that it's clearly not the product of much serious winnowing through the output of the past year: it's mostly high-profile releases, largely subscribes to the idea that the only "jazz" worth considering is free jazz & both the improv & jazz lists draw excessively on the output of a handful of labels. I don't mind when good labels get kudos, but when they get them for some of their duller releases (e.g. Limescale or The Meeting) then it just shows that they get their nominations no matter what they put out.

[mke]

Originally posted by chuckyd4
From what I know of it (which I'll stress again, isn't that much), it's beyond "backpack" to more "white people who don't really listen to much hip hop".

Isn't the regular hip-hop columnist Asian?

[Nathaniel Catchpole]

Nate, do you have the magazine? I'm not interested in the year end lists, but a little birdy told me I'm reviewed in it.

[walto]

Would someone please post the lists here? I can't get to their site for some reason.

Thanx.

[lazarus]

Originally posted by walto
Would someone please post the lists here? I can't get to their site for some reason.

Thanx.

2003 Rewind

50 Records Of The Year

Robert Wyatt - Cuckooland (Hannibal)
David Sylvian - Blemish (Samadhi Sound)
John Fahey - + (Revenant)
Nurse With Wound - Salt Marie Celeste (United Dairies)
Chris Watson - Weather Report (Touch)
Rhythm & Sound - With The Artists (Burial Mix/Indigo)
Dizzee Rascal - Boy In Da Corner (XL)
Four Tet- Rounds (Domino)
Keith Rowe & John Tilbury - Duos For Doris (Erstwhile)
The Bug - Pressure (Rephlex)
Cat Power - You Are Free (Matador)
So - So (Thrill Jockey)
Lightning Bolt - Wonderful Rainbow (Load)
Angels Of Light - Everything Is Good Here/Please Come Home (Young God)
Pandit Pran Nath - Midnight (Just Dreams)
Limescale - Limescale (Incus)
Diamanda Galas - Defixiones, Will And Testament (Mute)
Kraftwerk - Tour De France Soundtracks (EMI)
Broadcast - Haha Sound (Warp)
Matmos - The Civil War (Matador)
Outkast - Speakerboxx/Love Below (Arista)
Laibach - WAT (Mute)
Colleen - Everyone Alive Wants Answers (Leaf)
Kaffe Matthews - cd ebb + flo (Annetteworks)
Henry Flynt - New American Ethnic Music Vol 3: Hillbilly Tape Music (Recorded)
Jaga Jazzist - The Stix (Ninja Tune)
Fennesz - Live In Japan (Headz)
Leafcutter John - The Housebound Spirit (Planet Mu)
Sunburned Hand Of The Man - The Trickle-Down Theory Of Lord Knows What (Eclipse)
Basil Kirchin - Quantum: A Journey Through Sound In Two Parts (Trunk)
John Wall - Hylic (Utterpsalm)
Diamanda Galas - La Serpenta Canta (Mute)
Sightings - Absolutes (Load)
Peaches - Fatherfucker (XL)
Robert Wyatt - Solar Flares Burn For You (Cuneiform)
Shirley Collins - Within Sound (Fledg'ling)
Aki Onda - Bon Voyage! (Cassette Memories Vol 2) (Improvised Music From Japan)
Miles Davis - The Complete Jack Johnson Sessions (Columbia Legacy)
Monade - Socialisme Ou Barbarie: The Bedroom Recordings (Duophonic Super 45s)
Pluramon - Dreams Top Rock (Karaoke Kalk)
Alasdair Roberts - Farewell Sorrow (Rough Trade)
Sketch Show - Tronika (Daisyworld)
Jimmy Lyons - The Box Set (Ayler)
The Silver Mt Zion Memorial Orchestra & The Tra-La-La Band With Choir - This Is Our Punk-Rock, Thee Rusted Satellites Gather And Sing (Constellation)
Michael Schumacher - Room Pieces (XI)
Phill Niblock - Touch Food (Touch)
Sunn0))) - White 1 (Southern Lord)
Yasunao Tone - Yasunao Tone (Asphodel)
Bonnie ÔPrince' Billy - Master And Everyone (Domino)
Noxagt - Turning It Down Since 2001 (Load)

Avant Rock

Wire - Send (Pink Flag)
Sunburned Hand Of The Man - The Trickle-Down Theory Of Lord Knows What (Eclipse)
Cul De Sac - The Strangler's Wife (Strange Attractors Audio House)
Sightings Absolutes (Load)
Damon & Naomi - With Kurihara Song To The Siren (Sub Pop)
Black Dice - Beaches And Canyons (Fat Cat)
The Magic Band - Back To The Front (All Tomorrow's Parties)
Lightning Bolt - Wonderful Rainbow (Load)
Sam Shalabi - Osama (Alien8)
Sightings - Michigan Haters (Psych-O-Path)
Erase Errata - At Crystal Palace (Blast First)
Califone - Quicksand/Cradlesnakes (Thrill Jockey)
Maher Shalal Hash Baz - Blues Du Jour (Geographic)
No-Neck Blues Band - Intonomancy (Sound@tone)
Doo-Dooettes/Keiji Haino/Rick Potts - Free Rock (PSF)
Dub & Roots

Rhythm & Sound - With The Artists (Burial Mix/Indigo)
The Bug - Pressure (Rephlex)
Dennis Bovell - Decibel (Pressure Sounds)
Augustus Pablo - In Fine Style 1973-79 (Pressure Sounds)
Cedric Im Brooks & The Light Of Saba - Cedric Im Brooks & The Light Of Saba (Honest Jon's)
King Tubby - The Roots Of Dub/Dub From The Roots (Moll-Selekta)
Keith Hudson - Playing It Cool & Playing It Right (Basic Replay)
Tappa Zukie - Dub Em Zukie: Rare Dubs 1976-79 (Jamaican Recordings)
Prince Far-I - Heavy Manners: The Anthology 1977-83 (Trojan)
Rankin' Joe - Zion High (Blood And Fire)
Electronica

Alva Noto + Ryuichi Sakamoto - Vrioon (Raster-Noton)
Kraftwerk - Tour De France Soundtracks (EMI)
So - So (Thrill Jockey)
Fennesz - Live In Japan (Headz)
Autechre - Draft 7.30 (Warp)
Leafcutter John - The Housebound Spirit (Planet Mu)
Rechenzentrum - The Director's Cut (Mille Plateaux)
Tim Hecker - Radio Amor (Mille Plateaux)
Donna Summer - This Needs To Be Your Style (Irritant)
Matmos - The Civil War (Matador)
Guido Mšbius - Klisten (Klangkrieg)
Wasteland - Amen Fire (Transparent)
Luomo - The Present Lover (Force Inc)
Coil - Live Four-One (Threshold House)
Ricardo Villalobos - Alcachofa (Playhouse)

Global

Ry Cooder & Manuel Galban - Mambo Sinuendo (Nonesuch)
Pandit Pran Nath - Midnight (Just Dreams)
Traditional Musicians - Waza: Music Of The Berta From The Blue Nile, Sudan (Wergo)
Raz Mesinai - Resurrections For Goatskin (Tzadik)
Traditional Musicians - Ethiopia: Ari Polyphonies (Ocora)
Various - The Rough Guide To The Music Of China (World Music Network)
Traditional Musicians - The King's Musicians: Royalist Music Of Buganda-Uganda (Topic)
Kazuki Tomokawa Box (PSF)
Traditional Musicians Radio Java (Sublime Frequencies)
Idjah Hadidjah - Sundanese Jaipong And Other Popular Music (Nonesuch Explorer)
Kadri Gopalnath - Scintillating Sax (Felmay/Dunya)
Hip Hop

Outkast - Speakerboxx/The Love Below (Arista)
Jay-Z - The Black Album (XL)
Prefuse 73 - One Word Extinguisher (Warp)
King Geedorah - Take Me To Yr Leader (Big Dada)
Edan - Sprain Your Tapedeck (Lewis Recordings)
Buck 65 - Talkin' Honky Blues (WEA)
Nephlim Modulation Systems - Woe To Thee O Land Whose King Is A Child (Big Dada)
Themselves - The No Music Of Aiffs (Anticon)
Kid Koala - Some Of My Best Friends Are DJs (Ninja Tune)
Alias - Muted (Anticon)

Improv

Limescale - Limescale (Incus)
Spring Heel Jack - Live (Thirsty Ear)
Tetuzi Akiyama/Toshimaru Nakamura/ Taku Sugimoto/Mark Wastell - Foldings (Confront)
Andy Moor/Thomas Lehn/John Butcher - Thermal (Unsound) Exias-J Electric - Conception "Avant-garde" (PSF)
Globe Unity Orchestra - 2002 (Intakt)
John Butcher - Invisible Ear (Fringes)
Rhodri Davies - Trem (Confront)
Sealed Knot - Surface Plane (Meniscus)
Keith Rowe & John Tilbury - Duos For Doris (Erstwhile)
Barry Guy & Evan Parker - Birds And Blades (Intakt)
Tim Barnes/Toshio Kajiwara/Marina Rosenfeld - A Water's Wake (Quakebasket)
Matt Davis/Phil Durrant/Mark Wastell - Open (Erstwhile)
Kaffe Matthews/Andrea Neumann/Sachiko M - In Case Of Fire Take The Stairs (Improvised Music From Japan)
Keith Rowe/Thomas Lehn/Marcus Schmickler - Rabbit Run (Erstwhile)

Jazz

Peter Brštzmann/William Parker/Hamid Drake - Never Too Late But Always Too Early (Eremite)
Miles Davis - The Complete Jack Johnson Sessions (Columbia)
Jimmy Lyons - The Box Set (Ayler)
Albert Ayler - The Copenhagen Tapes (Ayler)
Anthony Braxton & Wadada Leo Smith - Organic Resonance (Pi)
William Parker Violin Trio - Scrapbook (Thirsty Ear)
The Art Ensemble Of Chicago - The Message (Pi Recordings)
Cecil Taylor: The Ensemble - The Light Of Corona (FMP)
Dave Douglas - Freak In (Bluebird)
Steve Lacy - Work (Sketch)

Modern Composition

Michael Schumacher - Room Pieces (XI)
Michael Finnissy - This Church (Metier)
Morton Feldman - String Quartet No 2 (Mode)
Chas Smith - An Hour Out Of Desert Center (Cold Blue)
James Tenney - Selected Works 1961-69 (Lovely Music)
Erik Friedlander - Maldoror (Brassland)
Eliane Radigue - Geelriandre/Arthesis (Fringe Archive)
Rhys Chatham - An Angel Moves Too Fast To See (Table Of The Elements)
Robert Ashley - The Wolfman (Alga Marghen)
John Wall - Hylic (Utterpsalm)
Maja Ratkje - Voice (Rune Grammofon)
Phill Niblock - Touch Food (Touch)
Gloria Coates - String Quartets Vol 1 (Naxos)
Giacinto Scelsi - Giacinto Scelsi (Edition RZ)
Charlemagne Palestine - In Mid-Air (Alga Marghen)

Outer Limits

Alan Licht - A New York Minute (XI)
Nurse With Wound - Salt Marie Celeste (United Dairies)
Chris Watson - Weather Report (Touch)
Aki Onda - Bon Voyage! (Cassette Memories Vol 2) (Improvised Music From Japan)
Henry Flynt - Back Porch Hillbilly Blues Vols 1 & 2 (Locust)
Steve Roden - Speak No More About The Leaves (Sirr)
Yasunao Tone - Yasunao Tone (Asphodel)
Kaffe Matthews - cd ebb + flo (Annetteworks)
Keiji Haino - Mazu Wa Iro O Nakuso Ka (PSF)
Angus MacLise - The Cloud Doctrine (Sub Rosa)
Throbbing Gristle - TG24: 24 Hours Of Throbbing Gristle (Grey Area Of Mute)
Keiji Haino - "C'est Parfait" Endoctrine Tu Tombres La Tete La Premi�re (Turtle's Dream)
Angus MacLise - Astral Collapse (Quakebasket)
Dredd Foole & The Din - The Whys Of Fire (Ecstatic Peace)
Eyvind Kang - Live Low To The Earth, In The Iron Age (Abduction)

Compilations A-Z

An Anthology Of Noise And Electronic Music: Second A-Chronology (Sub Rosa)
Amaterasu (Fractal)
American Song-Poem Anthology: Do You Know The Difference Between Big Wood And Brush (Bar/None)
China: The Sonic Avant Garde (Post-Concrete)
Das Dreidimensionale Mobiusband (Flying Swimming)
Goodbye, Babylon (Dust-To-Digital)
Down In The Basement: Joe Bussard's Treasure Trove Of Vintage 78s 1926-37 (Old Hat)
Flowers In The Wildwood: Women In Early Country Music 1923-39 (Trikont)
Lib. Fabric Compilation (Cubic)
Music From the ONCE Festival 1961-69 (New World)
New York Noise: Dance Music From The New York Underground (Soul Jazz)
Nice Up The Dance: Two Worlds Clash (Soul Jazz)
The Night Gallery (Alchemy)
Room 207 (Cirque CD)
Rough Trade Shops: Post-Punk 01 (Mute)
Space Is No Place: Noise From The NYC Underground (Psych-O-Path)
Studio One DJs (Soul Jazz)
Visionfest Visionlive (Thirsty Ear)
Wanna Buy A Craprak? (Carpark)
Wooden Guitar (Locust)
You Can Never Go Fast Enough (Plain)

Re-Issues A-Z

Kevin Ayers - Joy Of A Toy (EMI)
Shirley Collins - Within Sound (Fledg'ling)
Shirley & Dolly Collins - Love, Death & The Lady (BGO)
EinstŸrzende Neubauten - Kollaps (Potomac)
Fred Frith - Speechless (ReR)
Eddie Henderson - Realization/Inside Out: Anthology Volume 2 The Capricorn Years (Soul Brother)
Jackie-O Motherfucker - The Magick Fire Music/Wow! (All Tomorrow's Parties)
Rev Charlie Jackson - God's Got It: The Legendary Booker And Jackson Singles (CaseQuarter)
Kosokuya - Kosokuya (PSF)
Joan La Barbara - Voice Is The Original Instrument (Lovely Music)
Mars - The Complete Studio Recordings NYC 1977-1978 (G3G/Spooky Sound)
Evan Parker - The Snake Decides (Psi)
Ron 'Pate's Debonairs Featuring Fred Lane - Raudelina's 'Pataphysical Revue (Alcohol)
Soft Machine - BBC Radio 1967-71 (Hux)
Sonic Youth - Dirty: Deluxe Edition (Geffen)
Joseph Spence - Happy All The Time (Water)
Television - Marquee Moon Remastered (Rhino)
Larry Young - Mothership (Blue Note)
Neil Young - On The Beach (Warners)
23 Skidoo - The Culling Is Coming (Ronin/LTM)

This year's chars were compiled from the votes of the following contributors (each contributor¹s individual record of the year shown in brackcets):


Steve Barker (Rev Charlie Jackson - God's Got It!),
Mike Barnes (Robert Wyatt - Cuckooland),
Clive Bell (Monade - Socialisme ou Barbarie: The Bedroom Recordings),
Chris Blackford (Alfred Harth - eShip sum),
Marcus Boon (Angels Of Light - Everything Is Good here/Please Come),
Ben Borthwick (Outkast - Speakerboxx/Love Below),
Philip Clark (Michael Finnissy - This Church),
Mia Clarke (Cheer Accident - Gumballhead The Cat)
Julian Cowley ('Blue' Gene Tyranny - Take Your Time)
Christoph Cox (David Sylvian - Blemish)
Alan Cummings (Kazuki Tomokawa - Box),
Lina Dzuverovic - Russell (Diamanda Galas - La Serpenta Canta),
Phil England (The Magic Band - Back To The Front),
Louise Gray (Cat Power - You Are Free),
Jim Haynes (Nurse With Wound - Salt Marie Celeste),
Richard Henderson (Gaby Kerpel - Carnabailito),
Tony Herrington (Pandit Pran Nath - Midnight),
Ken Hollings (Mu - Afro Finger And Gel),
Hua Hsu (Hollertronix - Never Scared),
David Keenan (Double Leopards - Halve Maen),
Rhama Khazam (Thomas Koner - Zyklop),
Biba Kopf (Keiji Haino- Mazu Wa Iro O Nakuso Ka),
Alan Licht (Aki Onda - Bon Voyage!),
Dave Mandl (Xper.Xr... ... . .... ..),
Brian Marley (Steve Roden - Light Forms),
Marc Masters (Sightings - Absolutes),
Jerome Manusell (So - So),
Keith Moline (Larval - Obedience),
Will Montgomery (John Wall - Hylic),
Brian Morton (Mick Turner - Moth),
John Mulvey (Califone - Quicksand/Candlesnakes),
Anne Hilde Neset (David Sylvian - Blemish),
Tom Perchard (Dm & Jemini - Ghetto Pop Life),
Edwin Pouncey (Angus MacLise - The Cloud Doctrine),
Mosi Reeves (Cosmo Vittelli - Clean),
Simon Reynolds (Dizzee Rascal - Boy In Da Corner),
Tom Ridge (Four Tet - Rounds),
Stephen Robinson (Throbbing Gristle - TG24: 24 Hours Of Throbbing Gristle),
Peter Shapiro (Various - Goodbye, Babylon),
Chris Sharp (Sunburned Hand Of The Man - The Trickle Down Theory Of Lord Knows What),
Philip Sherburne (Dizzee Rascal - Boy In Da Corner),
Nick Southgate (Vibracathedral Orchestra - The Queen Of Guess),
David Stubbs (Basemant Jazz - Kish Kash),
David Toop (David Sylvian - Blemish),
Dan Warburton (Basil Kirchin - Quantum),
Ben Watson (Limescale - Limescale),
Rob Young (Pluramon - Dreams Top Rock)
___

This chart first appeared in issue 239, January 2004.
© The Wire.

[mke]

Originally posted by Nathaniel Catchpole
Nate, do you have the magazine? I'm not interested in the year end lists, but a little birdy told me I'm reviewed in it.

You're so vain and egoful!

[Alastair]

Originally posted by Nathaniel Catchpole
Nate, do you have the magazine? I'm not interested in the year end lists, but a little birdy told me I'm reviewed in it.

I do, you are - it's a generally positive review of your latest. I'll post it tomorrow as I don't have the mag with me at the moment.

[Frisco]

I think that the Jazz and Improv lists are rather pale considering that a lot of great recordings were put out this year. That's partly why I've let my subscription expire. I really don't feel that they do justice to this music. And the reviews often seemed to piss me off rather than enlighten. Just my 2 Cent.

[walto]

Thanx, Laz.

[Alastair]

Conditions

A Bright Nowhere
Matchless MR55 CD

By Julian Cowley

The quintet Conditions is Nathaniel Catchpole on tenor saxophone, trumpeter Jamie Coleman, pianist Alex James, John Edwards on double bass and Eddie Prevost at the drums. Prevost is, of course, a longterm exponent of collective improvising, notably with AMM, and Edwards too is an experienced practitioner. Neither so much as hints at coercion of their younger collaborators towards a particular style. The collective imperative, however, is clearly shared by all, intuited or absorbed in their workshop sessions and performances. It's not just a matter of listening intently and responding. An individual response has to enable other responses, to be generative and suggestive rather than definitive or merely equivocal. And once the ensemble are generatively responsive the finest individual vibrations register a collective pulse.

Catchpole, Coleman and James are not imitative players athough they are obviously well informed in the possibilities made available through jazz and free improvisatory music. Coleman often unreels swift lines and linked strings of notes that very effectively ride the propulsive bounce of Prevost's drumming. James is more laterally inclined, pursuing implications, seizing and investigating what's frayed or dislocated. Catchpole is more overtly expressive, frictional and dramatic, favouring edgy textural blowing that modifies mood as much as direction. It's a situation in which Edwards sounds entirely at home, unobtrusively but actively engaged in tilting relationships, drawing other voices together or prompting them to move on. Like the title, the music often suggests the self-regulating accord of utopian community.

From The Wire 239, Jan 2004.

[Nathaniel Catchpole]

Alastair, thanks for typing that out, nice review. I'll pick a copy up at some point. Plenty of things about the Wire piss me off, but having to make special trips out to buy it is one of the main ones, so I'll have to sort out a subscription so I can begin to confirm all of Alex's stereotypes.

[Nathaniel Catchpole]

Mwanji, well, yeah, in this case.