Thanks in part to Simon Reynolds' Rip It Up and Start Again, I've been chomping at the bit to take on the recent reissues of Wire's first three albums (Pink Flag / Chairs Missing / 154) but I don't know when (or even if) it will make it's way into Rhapsody, so instead, to scratch that Wire itch I have right now, here's some covers of songs from those three albums.
The one cover that most recognize is R.E.M.'s take on their breakout album Document. The ever serious Wire never sounded like so much fun. Others interesting Wire covers here are Yo La Tengo's "Too Late", Antenna's touching version of "Outdoor Miner" (Wire's most accessible, and thus covered, song,) Dykehouse's "Map Ref. 41N 93W" and New Bomb Turks' angry take on "Mr Suit." I even included Elastica's "Connection" since it lifts Wire's "Three Girl Rhumba" main riff for the basis of the whole song (they settled a lawsuit out of court.)Not in Rhapsody, but worth mentioning is Steve Albini's Big Black's "Heartbeat" and My Bloody Valentine's version of "Map Ref. 41N 93W" (from the Wire tribute album, Whore: Various Artists Play Wire.) There's even a tribute album (A Houseguest's Wish: Translations of Wire's 'Outdoor Miner') which is made up of only covers of the Wire song "Outdoor Miner." Worth checking out. (MP3 samples here.)
More:
Pitchfork gives perfect 10.0's to Pink Flag and Chairs Missing (154 gets a 9.1)
Rip it Up's Official page
tags: playlist, music, wire, post-punk, simon reynolds, indie rock, rem, yo la tengo, antenna, new bomb turks, elastica, rhapsody
3 comments:
Wire Covers
* "Strange" - R.E.M.
* "Too Late" - Yo La Tengo
* "Map Ref. 41N 93W" - Dykehouse
* "Outdoor Miner" - Antenna
* "Reuters" - S.T.U.N.
* "I Am The Fly" - Pistol For Ringo
* "Mr. Suit" - New Bomb Turks
* "Connection" - Elastica
There was a great cover of "Pink Flag" by die Kreuzen, and Minor Threat (among others) covered "12XU".
Other artists that covered Wire include Mike Watt, Minor Threat, Lush, Band of Susans, Naked Raygun, Meat Puppets, Luna, Flying Saucer Attack and Fischerspooner. None (including die Kreuzen and Minor Threat) are digitally available at this time, unfortunately.
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