Bastard

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Bastard album cover
Album Information

Total Tracks: 9   Total Length: 50:48

eMusic Features

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Icon: Wire

By Douglas Wolk, eMusic Contributor

One way of describing Wire is to say that they've effectively been three different bands with (mostly) the same lineup: the blazing art-punk mutants of their 1976-80 incarnation, the monomaniacal electro-brainiacs of their 1985-91 renaissance, and the burly time-warping professors that reconvened in 2000 and are still recording now. Another way is to say that every record they've made has sounded like a hard-won consensus. Singer/guitarist Colin Newman, initially the band's voice of punk rock… more »

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Wire’s Colin Newman

By Sam Adams, eMusic Contributor

It seems like every week some classic (or not-so-) punk band reunites for One Last Tour. Occasionally, they head back into the studio to add a half-hearted footnote to their discography. But the music Wire has made since reforming in 2000 is anything but perfunctory. Like Send and Object 47 before it, the new Red Barked Tree stands with the best in the band's catalogue, nearly rivaling the one-two-three punch of the classic Pink Flag,… more »

They Say All Music Guide

Colin Newman’s first solo album in more than nine years, Bastard shows a mighty progression from 1988′s It Seems. It should be said that Newman had hardly been silent during the interval, however; he was releasing material as Oracle and Immersion during the mid-’90s, which showed him working with electronica quite fluently. Bastard has all of this and more. Newman forsakes vocals completely, but does use guitar patterns from his days in Wire, along with much more melody than on most electronic releases. The result is an album with no concessions to song-based forms, but instead a willingness to use those styles to create diverting music. – John Bush

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