Ever since 1982, The Wire stands out as one of the best independent, in-depth print and online music magazines. The Wire celebrates and interrogates the most visionary and inspiring, subversive and radical, marginalized and undervalued musicians on the planet, past and present.
Leading up to Le Guess Who? 2024 we're very honored to share with you an exclusive selection of some of the beautiful features that can be found in The Wire's archives. Until 10 November, you're able to read interviews with festival artists Theo Parrish, Nadah El Shazly, Maurice Louca, KMRU, Scientist and Wadada Leo Smith for free in the online library of The Wire.
Theo Parrish: Broken Language
The Wire 325, March 2011
Obsessively stripping old soul, funk and disco records for parts, continent-hopping Detroit DJ and sound sculptor Theo Parrish remakes and remodels Black music history as a counterblast against the consensus canons and prejudices of “straight society”. By Derek Walmsley. Photography by Donald Milne.
Scientist: Parallel Circuits
The Wire 322, December 2010
The sonic techniques pioneered by Los Angeles based Jamaican dub master Scientist have filtered down through time, from roots and dancehall to dubstep and beyond. “It’s all information,” he tells Joe Muggs. Photography by Bryan Sheffield.
Nadah El Shazly, Maurice Louca & Maryam Saleh: Sands of Time
The Wire 413, July 2018
A hydra-headed network of songwriters are rewriting the rules of modern Cairo creating fantasies of shape-shifting characters and ancient language. Maha ElNabawi discovers a world beneath Egypt’s conservative state with Nadah El Shazly, Maurice Louca and Maryam Saleh. Photography by Ayla Hibri.
Wadada Leo Smith: In Quest of Space
The Wire 312, February 2010
As a leading general in free jazz’s post-Fire Music surge, Wadada Leo Smith continues to show an omnimusical openness to new forms and compositional languages. Meanwhile, his spatial awareness and Zen calm on trumpet are sought by everyone from Anthony Braxton to John Zorn and Spring Heel Jack. By Phil Freeman. Photography by Jeremy & Claire Weiss.
KMRU: Different Every Time
The Wire 485, July 2024
The Kenyan born producer and artist finds a sense of place via field recordings, music and installations, giving voice to ethnographic sounds and archived objects. By Ilia Rogatchevski. Photography by Laura Schaeffer.
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