Colin Newman has always been played up as Wire’s straight man. While Bruce Gilbert and Graham Lewis joined forces, both within the band and their assorted side projects (Cupol, Dome, Duet Emmo, etc.), to explore performance art or the potential of the studio as an instrument, Newman – or so goes the story – wrote songs with commercial potential, developed production skills and explored the practical side of the music industry. There is a grain of truth in this narrative, particularly as Newman’s solo material tacks closer to Wire’s sound than that of his colleagues, but his creative output is sufficiently varied to subvert it.
Whether making dance music (Immersion, Oracle), doing indie (Githead) or producing other artists (Minimal Compact, Virgin Prunes, Parade Ground), Newman has always demonstrated a knack for balancing the commercial with the experimental. Nowhere is this tension as evident as in the three solo albums that he recorded for Beggar’s Banquet and 4AD during Wire’s first hiatus, between 1980 and 1982. Thanks to Newman’s efforts, this troika has been remastered and reissued by Sentient Sonics, together with additional material in the CD versions.
Produced by Mike Thorne, A-Z retains much of the sonic flavour of the trio of Wire albums that appeared on Harvest/EMI. The CD version of the new release includes a set of demos and alternative versions that reveal Newman’s more primitive aural aesthetic, including demos recorded at Riverside Studios. These help to explain why there arose a disagreement between Newman and Thorne over production styles, and why Newman did eventually feel the pull to develop his own studio skills.
A scant 22 (!) bonus tracks accompany the CD version, including a surprisingly reggae-based version of “Greensleeves” and an excellent alternative version of “123 beep beep beep.” This CD is one to explore more deeply, as it broods, bops and jams with levels of intensity and simplicity that are sometimes at odds with the main album.
Newman has more solo albums to his credit, which were released during his Brussels period or after he launched the swim~ label. Hopefully, these will also see a reissue in the near future.