DENSE, DREARY LONGING // Wire - A Touching Display // Composer Reaction & Analysis

Bryan reacts to and talks about his thoughts on A Touching Display (2006 Remastered Version)
ORIGINAL VIDEO // • A Touching Display (20...
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00:00 Intro
00:42 Reaction
07:49 Analysis - 'Artsy' Music
11:47 Analysis - A Noisy, Wandering Beginning
15:27 Analysis - Finding Some Structure
17:50 Analysis - Interesting Vocals
20:28 Analysis - Predating So Many Styles
25:44 Analysis - Lyrical Dive
31:57 Outro
#reaction #wire #postpunk #artpunk

[@GregsWhiskyGuide]

I'm so glad you covered this, Bryan as I didn't knew this album at all & only a few songs from them & wasn't necessarily ready for them when I discovered them (from the 2 first albums), but this is way different & more ambitious, especially this song. Since then (hence the time to react under the video) i"ve listened the whole album & explored a bit more their career...This is a milestone for them I think & is insane regarding the influences brought here but even more the influences on future albums too...I hear a lot of early Pink Floyd influence (Syd Barrett period), first album especially, then The Velvet Underground, even (on other songs) some Talking Heads, also head to head time wise with big creator too (& linked both to Punk & New Wave) Joy Division, sometimes Siouxsie & the Banshees too, The Cure, P.I.L., but in this song I also hear pre-Industrial sounds (Coïl, and their "Are you Shivering" song you covered too here), Post-Rock, in others strong Alternative Rock like The Pixies, some Grunge indeed, but also (in the beginning of this song) Cocteau Twins's guitar sound, I can see also its influence on Gary Numan (Gothic Industrial), Gravenhurst, Pavement, some 2000s Dream Pop sound, etc, etc...Crazy & fascinating ! Thanks to the person who selected this ! Nice analysis too...

[@tangledandfar]

I never thought I would see someone react to/analyze this song or band on YT. This is one of my favorite songs from one of my favorite eras of music and It was interesting to hear the thoughts of someone unfamiliar with the era and band.

[@rudymeixell3426]

Your reactions to post-punk are often fun. Honestly, part of me thinks: why am I listening to this guy who doesn't have the genre knowledge a lot of us have? But then because you don't already know what you are supposed to think about these things, you sometimes present them in a fresher light! Obviously, it helps that you can provide some degree of musical breakdown, too. At any rate, I keep coming back for the time being. 78-81 were especially fertile years for experimentation in rock-adjacent music, as well as some other genres. It's sort of a mini-era in its own right. Most of that original post-punk (etc.) music hasn't held up that well for me, but it's undeniable that a lot was happening, and I still have my favorites. A lot of bands made big stylistic leaps within a matter of a year or two. The one Wire song I really like is "The 15th" (from the same album this one comes from), which is simpler and more conventional than this song, but still very distinctive. I first heard it on a mix tape someone made me in the early 80's, with Joy Division's "Atmosphere" as the next song, to give you some context.

[@majorgruber5925]

Wire is one of THE most influential bands most have never heard of. Personally, I would have recommended several other tracks from this album over this one ("I Should have Known Better," "The 15th," "Blessed State," and "Map Ref. 41°N 93°W"), but I'm delighted nonetheless you've finally heard some Wire. So funny you invoking Art Film in this review. On the album proceeding this one, Chairs Missing, they have a song titled, "French Film Blurred." Lol. "Outdoor Miner" also on Chairs Missing is one of the loveliest melodies ever to get pressed on vinyl, and the sheer audacity...the song is only 1:44 long! One of my favorite bands of all time, and I was SO lucky to have discovered them in 1980, so have been a fan now for some time. Though I've yet to hear anything since Red Bark Tree. Please, please, please listen to more.

[@boq780_2.0]

My favourite of their albums since Red-Barked Tree is the self-titled 2015 album. Great stuff.

[@sunsteels]

Interesting! Even more interesting is the fact that I checked and it was published in 1979! I'm not in the noisy, industrial sounds, but I hear a certain variety of sounds and styles. The voice to me fits the song, it reminded me of something I still can't name, but to me it recalls something I heard and I like it. EDIT: With your analysis everything makes more sense, I can place better the song. I was surprised for the same reason, I heard a lot of influences from more modern band, spacing from alternative/prog metal, rock and grunge. But all of these bands comes decades after!

[@DerekPower]

Wire through their first three albums - Pink Flag, Chairs Missing, 154 - encapsulates both punk and post-punk. Hearing those albums shows you all the possibilities unleashed and then some. And yes, they played a role for me. My own EP, Psychogeography, is a kind of nod to Wire (along with Joy Division).

[@hexzerorouge]

Wire are great, I would say they take alot from krautrock (atmosphere, soundscapes) but perhaps most from early roxy music (style, composition, vocals) whose first albums still sound somewhat futuristic to me. Any song on their first album is highly recommended but 2HB sounds like it was made tomorrow but was recorded over 50 years ago...

[@luizzanotta]

Amazing album

[@schizophreniagaming4058]

You should try Seeds by Exotic Animal Petting Zoo