Top album of 2011 candidate - Wire, Red Barked Tree

The worst thing about listening to commercial radio is the various degrees of zombie-states classic rock musicians are propped up in to sell another ampitheatre ticket or greatest hits T-shirt. Oh does your 4 LP, 8 CD, 3 DVD edition of Achtung Baby come with a set of sunglasses? I could go on. Wire smacked music in the face with 1977’s Pink Flag, jumpstarting post-punk and securing themselves a place in any music fan’s canon. They did not overdose, marry any pornstars or generally go outside the boundary of quietly putting out sonic experiments well ahead of their time. For the next thirty years. And now they’re back? Wire never left. Producer and main force Colin Newman’s voracity has resulted in a now 12-deep LP discography. Mechanical heartbeat rhythms and trailblazing guitar riffs dominate this album, with a certain urgency missing from a lot of new music today. With this release, Wire erases the line you feel like crossing when considering bands of the 70s, 80s or 90s through the lens of today. Don’t you wish they were out then? Or don’t you wish they were out now? Do they “Get it?” Wire doesn’t apply. They just ARE! I feel like I cannot accurately convey the immensity of Wire with my words. Click thru for a Youtube clip of “Smash” my fav song of snowy cold January 2011 mornings at WCDB and 45 degree afternoons.