{"title":"Colin Newman","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eColin Newman is an English musician, record producer, and record label owner. Born on September 16, 1954 in Salisbury, Wiltshire, he is best known as the co-founder of the band *Wire*. With a career spanning several decades, Newman has made significant contributions to the post-punk and new wave genres.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn addition to his work with *Wire*, Colin Newman has also collaborated with various artists and bands such as *Eyeless In Gaza*, *The Wolfgang Press*, and *Section 25*. His unique sound and innovative approach to music have influenced many other artists in the industry.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs a solo artist, Colin Newman has released several albums that showcase his diverse musical abilities. He continues to experiment with different styles and push boundaries within the music scene. With his extensive discography and impressive body of work, it's no wonder that he is highly regarded as a pioneer in alternative music.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"a-z","title":"A-Z","description":"\u003cp\u003eThese albums were recorded and released between 1980 and 1982 in a 'post 154' rush of activity. While all the albums bear the name Colin Newman they differ in that \u003ci\u003eA-Z\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eNot To\u003c\/i\u003e were recorded as 'band' albums with Colin being joined by Wire’s Robert Grey, Mike Thorne (who also produced, as he had the first 3 Wire albums) and Desmond Simmons on \u003ci\u003eA-Z\u003c\/i\u003e and Robert, Desmond and Simon Gillham on \u003ci\u003eNot To\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003ci\u003eProvisionally Entitled the Singing Fish\u003c\/i\u003e was more an 'actual' solo album in that everything was played by himself. Colin produced the latter 2 albums with Steve Parker engineering. The 2nd discs (included only with the CD versions)\u003ci\u003e. \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sentient Sonics","offers":[{"title":"CD | x2","offer_id":50382761034059,"sku":"1000157","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50382760837451,"sku":"1000161","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/c2b00657-8b13-49ee-983f-8545a62f8a81_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726258693"},{"product_id":"bastard-3","title":"Bastard","description":"\u003cp\u003eIt was four years into the swim ~ label’s history before \u003ci\u003eBastard\u003c\/i\u003e arrived. Like my previous albums, it was another collaboration – although this time only with my partner in life and crime, Malka Spigel.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThere was a point in the ’90s when British music journalists basically didn’t get dance music and would refer to it as “facelesstechno bollocks”. It was that very attribute that Malka and I felt most attracted to. In instrumental music, you could be anyone fromanywhere. The only thing that mattered was how good your tunes were. In fact, for the first Immersion album, we pretended to befrom Germany and were photographed in wigs and masks. This had the unexpected result of the album selling more copies in Germany than anywhere else!\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith \u003ci\u003eBastard\u003c\/i\u003e, it took a while to get to the concept, which was essentially this: What if we subverted the whole ‘bloke from Wire’thing and had a Colin Newman album without any actual songs on it? These days, this is not such a big thing, but it was hugelytransgressive at the time. The language of \u003ci\u003eBastard\u003c\/i\u003e is house, techno, breakbeat, drum and bass, and doubtless post-rock. The onlysinging is a one-line Malka sample on ‘Turn’. Not only did the album not play by the rules of what would these days be called musicby a ‘heritage’ artist, but it didn’t play by the rules of dance music either. Back then, dance music artists didn’t mix up styles as theydo today. This is one of the reasons the album’s called \u003ci\u003eBastard\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUpon release, \u003ci\u003eBastard\u003c\/i\u003e was modestly successful in comparison to the label’s other releases, although widely misunderstood. The title is intentionally multifaceted, referring to several ways in which the album is a misfit – a cuckoo in the nest. But it never meant ‘Colin Newman is a bastard’ – even if Malka’s toy finger gesture on the cover tempted fate on that!\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMalka and I have done more work together on swim ~ – and, of course, there has been plenty of Wire activity after its second hiatus during the 1990s – but I never felt the need to do another solo album. I don’t crave attention and certainly don’t feel I lackways to express myself. In many ways, it’s more creative to collaborate with others.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThere is joy and beauty in collaboration. And collaborating with Malka has become so effortless that we almost don’t know whodoes what in the work we create. This has led us to throwing open our partnership via Nanocluster events and albums where webuild musical bridges and make partnerships that transcend the art. Maybe that’s the point? Surely, art should be about human connection and diversity of expression?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eColin Newman, Brighton, 2023 (edited from album sleeve notes)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Swim","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50445471351115,"sku":"2166739","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CDx2","offer_id":50445471908171,"sku":"2166740","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/a95c7601-8324-d0b9-87d6-c12cd28c4682_ae49fd30_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727039078"},{"product_id":"provisionally-entered","title":"Provisionally Entered","description":"\u003cp\u003eThese albums were recorded and released between 1980 and 1982 in a 'post 154' rush of activity. 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