The Wire Primers: A Guide to Modern Music

by Rob Young (Editor), Mike Barnes (Contributor)

Since it was founded in 1982, The Wire magazine has covered a vast range of alternative, experimental, underground and non-mainstream music. Now some of that knowledge has been distilled into The Wire a comprehensive guide to the core recordings of some of the most visionary and inspiring, subversive and radical musicians on the planet, past and present. Each chapter surveys the musical universe of a particular artist, group or genre by way of a contextualizing introduction and a thumbnail guide to the most essential recordings. A massive and eclectic range of music is celebrated and demystified, from rock mavericks such as Captain Beefheart and The Fall; the funk of James Brown and Fela Kuti; the future jazz of Sun Ra and Ornette Coleman; and the experimental compositions of John Cage and Morton Feldman. Genres surveyed and explained include P-funk, musique concrète, turntablism, Brazilian Tropicália, avant metal and dubstep. The Wire Primers is a vital guide to contemporary sounds, providing an accessible entry point for any reader wanting to dig below the surface of mainstream music.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Devowasright · Rating 5 out of 5]

truly invaluable starter for anyone looking to wade out into the vast (and not a little intimidating)sea of avant garde music. it covers the major artists in most every field- jazz, classical, african, noise, etc. this is almost more of a bible- something i will be referencing and rereading for many years to come.

[Ian Mathers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got this in a publisher's sale a while back. I like the Wire a lot, when I've read it, but I don't recall any of the issues I've picked up having a primer. It's definitely a mixed bag, but not necessarily in terms of quality per se; I'm clearly going to get a lot more out of, say, the section on Morton Feldman (an artist I've been meaning to check out for years) than the one on Sonic Youth (a band I've heard a lot and generally find unspeakably boring). That the selection of acts/genres is almost parodically what you'd expect in context is honestly as much a strength as anything. And the fun bits, whether it's Stewart Lee agreeing with me that the Fall's Code: Selfish album is hugely underrated, or several of the more outlandish/incredible things I never knew Stockhausen did, are very fun indeed. Could have been four stars - it's the kind of book that, had I stumbled onto a version of it when I was 17 or something, I would have cherished it in a this-changed-the-course-of-my-life kind of way - but for me now, it's ultimately more an interesting and edifying introduction that's going to lead to me checking out a lot of stuff than a volume I'm going to make sure I keep around. And that is at least partly what it's intended to do, I think.

[Hex75 · Rating 5 out of 5]

il sottotitolo è la cosa peggiore: "tutti dischi intelligenti che dovresti conoscere".bah, fa davvero troppo "caricatura di un hipster".l'originale "a guide to modern music" era perfetto: perchè cambiare?per il resto è da 5 stelle, nel suo da 5 stelle, nel suo spiegare come muoversi attraverso scene dai confini davvero incerti (la no wave o il free jazz, qui chiamato fire music) o discografie soliste imponenti (tipo john cage o sun ra). e si trova il sottile fil rouge che unisce la scena impro europea a morton feldman e a "no new york".

garantiscono le migliori firme di "the wire",ed è difficile chiedere di più, pure se uno viene da decenni di riviste di musica "di confine".

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good selection of music and well-researched/presented. I felt excited to listen to a lot of this music. Some was worth it, some was not. Obviously these sort of things can't cover everything, but each section is pretty thorough.

The most glaring issue is the lack of women in the Noise, Fire Music, and Musique Concrete sections. I could think of at least 5 albums recorded by women that could make the cut for Fire Music. You'll have to look elsewhere for a women in free jazz primer I suppose.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though it was written recently (2009), this book is delightfully anachronistic as essentially a paperback published list of avant-garde albums and the formats on which they're available. Okay, it also includes brief introductory essays. Reading this makes me wish that I had had a subscription to The Wire since I was a teenager--coming of musical age before the Internet, it would have been amazing to have had such entree to such outre music.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some great pointers here /
a crate-load more to explore; /
insightful but dry.

[Taffnerd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well curated collection of essays about various types of "difficult" music: free jazz, funk, avant garde rock, dubstep, modern classical, etc. There are enough popular touchstones along the way (James Brown, Zappa, Stockhausen) to give context.