Colin Newman - Not To LP
$20.98
Label: Sentient Sonics
Our Review:
The melodic apotheosis of Colin Newman's early 80s output, Not To redelivers a full band lineup and sees 3/4 of Wire clocking in, as Newman is again joined by Robert Gotobed and Bruce Gilbert contributes guitar to "Indians." It's not only through this personnel overlap, however, that Not To gives the impression of being a "lost" Wire record and akin to 1980's A-Z. Nearly half of the album is made up of tracks that had been part of the Wire repertoire (and would remain to this day), intended for the follow-up to 154 and reworked several times over during the decades that followed, most recently on 2013's Change Becomes Us. Keyboards retreat from their dramatic prominence on A-Z, conducing atmosphere and texture rather than melody, and Newman's anfractuous singing renders even the most trenchant dada-materialism ("Truculent Yet") poignant and arresting.