retro listening #11-20

Mar 06, 2011 15:52

11. Wire - IBTABA ( Read more... )

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dougo March 6 2011, 21:07:21 UTC
I always wondered, was the phrase "It's Beginning To And Back Again" a reference to something? Google sheds no light.

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fennel March 7 2011, 04:41:42 UTC
I don't know! Or I should say, I don't understand how it's supposed to be parsed. In context as a line from "German Shepherds", it seems like, what the intended parsing is, it's a way of saying "from beginning to end" that emphasizes futility. The first verse of German Shepherds has a few different images that conflate timelessness with hopelessness, and so maybe the chorus is evoking the fear of falling into one of these endless cycles-- don't start me off, I don't want to be eternally leaving and coming back and leaving and...

But no, I don't know. Somewhere in my house, I have Kevin Eden's book about Wire, but I can't find it right now (and don't remember anything about the title's origin being in it anyway).

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signifier March 8 2011, 06:05:28 UTC
Worth noting: the "Bizarre Love Triangle" video was directed by Robert Longo, as a sort of continuation of his "Men in the Cities" series of images of falling businessmen (e.g. http://www.robertlongo.com/work/view/1118/5730 ; see also the homage on the cover of LCD Soundsystem's "This Is Happening").

There's a bunch of interesting stuff on the first four or five Devo records. I especially like New Traditionalists.

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fennel March 8 2011, 15:13:53 UTC
Devo's records were all very mixed bags for me. Everything through Shout had at least a few great tracks, but there's no single record I'm excited at the prospect of listening to all of. All told I think my favorite was actually Oh No It's Devo.

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