Wire - "Chairs Missing" (1978)

This album was not easy to find used, neither in Sweden nor here in Montreal. But suddenly one day, in a record store with a main focus on punk, it stood there in the shelf and waited for me. I quickly grabbed it, noted the words 'Colored vinyl on the cover - Wow, even better! - felt that nice combination of joy and surprise, paid and went happily home. The day had suddenly become so much better.

Once home, I put the album on the record player, and got down in my armchair full of expectations. But something disturbed me in the music, It was hard to put the finger on exactly what. There was something in the sound, something strange. I noticed after a while that not a single tone was kept straight, but they all went up and down. I immediately became even more suspicious, should it really sound like this, and got up and observed the record player's arm. It slalomed on the record. A long left turn, iiiooooo, and an as long right turn, oooiiiiii, and then left again. The record was crazily mispressed. The center of the tracks way off target. The day immediately became much worse.

The B-side is flawless, luckily enough, but the A-side's slalom competition makes it quite difficult to enjoy what I hear, the music doesn't sound like it's supposed to, and it bothers me. This was Wire's second album, and they had mixed up the more pure punk with electronic elements, and the word artpunk is sometimes used to describe the music. The listener is offered some relatively simple punk tunes but also dark creations that are more difficult to define. Everything from somewhat boring to more or less amazing.

It's a good album. If I try to ignore the A-side's soundly misfortunes, I understand that also that side is good. But the B-side would still be my favorite. Songs like I Am The Fly and Used To, everyone must love. Especially the latter I've been attached to lately. It feels quite far from punk, and maybe that's why I like it so much. I've never really been a punk lover, and that I like Wire probably depends on the fact that they often move quite a bit from the classic punk to pretty dark places. It's good stuff. Chairs Missing can be recommended, but is probably not for everyone.


Tracklist

Side A
1 Practice Makes Perfect 4:06
2 French Film Blurred 2:35
3 Another The Letter 1:06
4 Men 2nd 1:43
5 Marooned 2:21
6 Sand In My Joints 1:51
7 Being Sucked In Again 3:12
8 Heartbeat 3:15

Side B
1 Mercy 5:46
2 Outdoor miner 1:45
3 I Am The Fly 3:06
4 In Feel Mysterious Today 1:56
5 From The Nursery 3:00
6 Used To 2:21
7 Too Late 4:16

Pink Floyd - "Delicate Sound of Thunder" (1988)

You can't really complain much regarding this album. Of course, it's of high quality, the musicians among the best, the sound is great, (most of) the songs are really good. Hey, it's Pink Floyd. But is it a necessary record to own? Not really.

I found the album at a local book & record second hand store, and bought it partly to perfect my Pink Floyd collection, and partly because the only Floyd album I don't have, from their official studio releases, is A Momentary Lapse Of Reason, and many of those songs you find here. This way I can continue to justify I haven't bought A Momentary ... (I just don't like that album). That album's highlight, On The Turning Away, you'll get here in a great version, you'll also find Learning To Fly, A Momentary's ... other OK song. So why not? The album wasn't so expensive.

But otherwise it's Pink Floyd's earlier works that appeal to me on the album. It's a double album and the second disc contains only Floyd's earlier material, while the first contains only new songs (new, the year of 1988), except the opening song Shine On You Crazy Diamond. The songs are taken from five concerts the band performed at Long Beach, NY, the summer of 1988.

But I'd say there's no huge reason to have this album in your shelf. At least not if you have the original albums. The live versions don't really bring any new and exiting spices to the songs, and at least I tend to be negatively affected by hearing their previous works performed by only three-quarters of the group that created them (Waters had left PF long before this live album was recorded). It's like something is missing. I am also somewhat twofold when artists play their old songs, the fans favorites, probably mostly because that's what people want to hear. You're leaning against old, safe songs you've played a thousand times, and on the inside probably long ago left for new musical creations. But of course these are the songs that also I like the most and want to hear. Yes, it's twofold.

But again, there really isn't much to complain about regarding this album. Despite that, I will continue to listen to the original songs, most days. Knowing that the context was different when they were recorded, they were new creations the band worked on and recorded, makes them more interesting. And the "new" songs on the album, I have never been particularly interested in.


Tracklist

Side A
1. Shine On You Crazy Diamond 11:45
2. Learning to Fly 5:07
3. Yet Another Movie 7:03
4. Round And Around 0:33

Side B
1. Sorrow 9:44
2. The Dogs Of War 7:13
3. On The Turning Away 7:35

Side C
1. One Of These Days 6:17
2. Time 5:18
3. Money 9:42
4. Another Brick In The Wall Part II 5:17

Side D
1. Wish you were here 4:50
2. Comfortably Numb 8:42
3. Run Like Hell 6:42