Colin Newman | A-Z | Album
Colin Newman "A-Z" (1980)
LP (NEW) - Vinyl, Sentient Sonics, UK, 2016, SS 01 LP, 5024545758511, Remastered, Reissue
A-Z is the debut solo album by ex-Wire founder Colin Newman, originally released 1980 on Beggars Banquet. Colin always wrote the best of Wire's 'Pop' songs and A-Z is crammed full of his off-beat hooks and melodies. Gloomy synths rub shoulders awkwardly with Newman's spastic guitar shards and Desmond Simmons' bouncy bass runs while ringmaster Thorne applies the gloss that makes the whole thing deceptively catchy and vibrant. You don't have to dig far beneath the surface to catch a whiff of bizarre extremeness, with tracks such as "Life on Deck", "But No", "Troisieme", and "Image" being as dissonantly whacked as any Wire offering. The undoubted highlight is the Lewis/Newman penned "Alone" which displays just about every reason why Newman is such a legend in the eyes of post-punk purists. Jonathon Demme also thought so and "Alone" is prominently displayed in a key scene in 'Silence of the Lambs' (incidently, the version on this album kills the version done by This Mortal Coil). If you're into Wire, or the gloomy end of British 80's post punk then you need this.
Artist Website: pinkflag.com
More by Artist: Colin Newman
