Colin Newman: In Conversation with John Robb - 27th January 2024 - 2pm
We are delighted to welcome the legendary Colin Newman of post-punk icons Wire for a very special Q&A with John Robb, to celebrate the re-issue of 'Bastard' his sixth solo album, released in 1997.
Pre-order 'Bastard' for priority entry to the session on Black LP or 2xCD HERE
'With Bastard, 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 hugely transgressive at the time. The language of Bastard is house, techno, breakbeat, drum and bass, and doubtless post-rock. The only singing 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 music by 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 they do today. This is one of the reasons the album's called Bastard. Upon release, Bastard 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.'
We are delighted to welcome the legendary Colin Newman of post-punk icons Wire for a very special Q&A with John Robb, to celebrate the re-issue of 'Bastard' his sixth solo album, released in 1997.
Pre-order 'Bastard' for priority entry to the session on Black LP or 2xCD HERE
'With Bastard, 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 hugely transgressive at the time. The language of Bastard is house, techno, breakbeat, drum and bass, and doubtless post-rock. The only singing 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 music by 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 they do today. This is one of the reasons the album's called Bastard. Upon release, Bastard 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.'
