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The Wire Magazine
@thewiremagazine.bsky.social
“The most essential music magazine of the contemporary era.” (Forced Exposure)

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The Wire 503-4 is out now!

Featuring the Top 50 new and archive releases, critical analysis and reflections, plus Hilary Woods, Makaya McCraven, Anna Högberg, Tristan Perich, Derek Bailey’s Company, Ikonika’s Jukebox, and much more.

Pick up your copy here: thewire.co.uk/shop/
Listen back to last night's episode of Adventures In Sound And Music, which was hosted by Shane Woolman and featured music from The Wire's Top 50 Releases of the Year, including Natural Information Society, DJ Haram and Valentina Magaletti & YPY

www.thewire.co.uk/audio/on-air...
Shane Woolman presents Adventures In Sound And Music - The Wire
The 18 December edition of The Wire ’s weekly radio show on Resonance FM and Resonance Extra featured music from The Wire 's Top 50 Releases of the Year, including Natural Information Society, DJ Ha...
www.thewire.co.uk
December 19, 2025 at 11:40 AM
Tonight on @resonancefm.bsky.social & Resonance Extra, Shane Woolman hosts The Wire's weekly show, playing a selection of tracks taken from the magazine's Top 50 Releases Of The Year.

Tune in from 9pm GMT extra.resonance.fm/schedule
December 18, 2025 at 11:31 AM
2025 Rewind: Contributors' Charts

The Wire’s Releases of the Year chart for 2025 was compiled from the individual votes of the magazine’s staff and contributors – these are now on The Wire website to read in full

www.thewire.co.uk/issues/chart...
2025 Rewind: Contributors’ Charts - The Wire
The Wire ’s Releases of the Year chart for 2025 was compiled from the individual votes of the magazine’s staff and contributors – here are those votes in full
www.thewire.co.uk
December 17, 2025 at 4:26 PM
1: aya - hexed! (Hyperdub)

We said: "hexed! cranks up the bass wobble of 2021's im hole into something more violent, as her electronic palette becomes ever more expansive..."

The full top 50: www.thewire.co.uk/issues/503/504
December 17, 2025 at 11:18 AM
At The Wire website, listen to a selection of tracks from our Top 50 Releases of the Year, as voted for by The Wire’s team of staff and contributors.

www.thewire.co.uk/audio/tracks...
December 16, 2025 at 1:46 PM
2: billy woods - Golliwog (Backwoodz Studioz)

We said: "A series of bad dreams rendered both asleep and awake... his work tends to emphasise dread vibes... though never with the consistency he attempts here."

The full Top 50: www.thewire.co.uk/issues/503/504
December 16, 2025 at 10:03 AM
Listen back to last night's edition of The Wire's weekly radio show, which was hosted by @saving-throw.bsky.social and featured music by Martin Dupont, Brandy Dalton, Lolina, Los Thuthanaka and more

www.thewire.co.uk/audio/on-air...
Emily Bick presents Adventures In Sound And Music - The Wire
The 11 December edition of The Wire ’s weekly radio show on Resonance FM and Resonance Extra featured music by Martin Dupont, Brandy Dalton, Lolina, Los Thuthanaka and more
www.thewire.co.uk
December 12, 2025 at 3:29 PM
3: Los Thuthanaka - Los Thuthanaka

The debut from the sibling duo of Chuquimamani-Condori and Joshua Chuquimia Crampton reimages traditional Andean musical forms from their Aymara heritage in experimental electronic settings.

www.thewire.co.uk/issues/503/504
December 12, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Wire playlist: Archiving anarcho-punk

Seth Wheeler curates a playlist of tracks connected to the anarcho-punk archive in London’s MayDay Rooms

www.thewire.co.uk/audio/tracks...
Wire playlist: Archiving anarcho-punk - The Wire
Seth Wheeler curates a playlist of tracks connected to the anarcho-punk archive in London’s MayDay Rooms
www.thewire.co.uk
December 11, 2025 at 2:43 PM
On this week’s edition of The Wire’s radio show on @resonancefm.bsky.social, @saving-throw.bsky.social takes the broadcasting baton to present music by Pascal Comelade, Los Thuthanaka, @xcrswx and lolina (pictured), plus some seasonal surprises.

Tune in from 9pm GMT: extra.resonance.fm/schedule
December 11, 2025 at 10:32 AM
4: The Necks - Disquiet (Northern Spy)

We said: "["Ghost Net" is] the uneasiest thing that The Necks have done in years... two separate tracks defy the efforts of pattern-seeking brains to fit them into a groove."

The full Top 50: www.thewire.co.uk/issues/503/504
December 11, 2025 at 10:17 AM
Invisible Jukebox mix: Ikonika

Listen to the music we played to Ikonika during their Invisible Jukebox interview in The Wire 503/4. Featuring Introspekt, Loraine James, Peter Gabriel and more.

www.thewire.co.uk/audio/tracks...
Invisible Jukebox mix: Ikonika - The Wire
Listen to the music we played to Ikonika during their Invisible Jukebox interview in The Wire 503/4
www.thewire.co.uk
December 10, 2025 at 4:10 PM
5: DJ Haram - Beside Myself (Hyperdub)

We said: "Channelling her raw, unflinching energy ... the album incorporates rap, live instrumentation and a range of bpms, murmurs and screams, forming an aural documentary of sorts."

The full Top 50: www.thewire.co.uk/issues/503/504
December 10, 2025 at 11:54 AM
Print and digital subscribers of The Wire can now stream and download the latest edition of Below The Radar - our regular subscriber only compilation of experimental underground music.

Vol 49 features Hilary Woods, Lo Egin, Nika Ticciati & Beth Veasey and more

www.thewire.co.uk/audio/btr/be...
December 9, 2025 at 1:13 PM
6: Eiko Ishibashi - Antigone

We said: "Glossy art rock that's in a profound state of metamorphosis... Antigone is everything that your overpriced city pop vinyl reissue promised but failed to deliver."

The full Top 50: wwww.thewire.co.uk/issues/503/504
December 9, 2025 at 12:12 PM
Before and after.

Here's to 500 more issues. Thanks to all who have helped us along the way.

(Cake made by Jill Tipping.)
December 9, 2025 at 11:13 AM
The London based MayDay Rooms’ anarcho-punk archive is a valuable resource for radical cultures and politics today, writes Seth Wheeler in The Wire 503/4

Read the full article online:

www.thewire.co.uk/in-writing/c...
Against The Grain: Archiving anarcho-punk - The Wire
The London based MayDay Rooms’ anarcho-punk archive is a valuable resource for radical cultures and politics today, writes Seth Wheeler in The Wire 503/4
www.thewire.co.uk
December 8, 2025 at 4:00 PM
7: Oklou - choke enough (True Panther Sounds)

choke enough brings renaissance and baroque forms into sodium-lit electronic pop, its noughties-conscious aesthetic tailor made for the post-internet age

The full Top 50: www.thewire.co.uk/issues/503/504
December 8, 2025 at 10:49 AM
Reposted by The Wire Magazine
Time for one of my favourite things of the year, the annual Rewind edition from @thewiremagazine.bsky.social
December 6, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Listen back to last night's edition of The Wire's weekly show on @resonancefm.bsky.social and Resonance Extra, which was hosted by @jjstannard.bsky.social and featured music by Rupert Hine, NOWHERE2RUN, Shudder To Think, Deliluh, Qasu and more

www.thewire.co.uk/audio/on-air...
Joseph Stannard presents Adventures In Sound And Music - The Wire
The 4 December edition of The Wire ’s weekly radio show on Resonance FM and Resonance Extra featured music by Rupert Hine, NOWHERE2RUN, Shudder To Think, Deliluh, Qasu and more
www.thewire.co.uk
December 5, 2025 at 3:02 PM
8: Vanessa Rossetto - Pictures Of The Warm South (Erstwhile)

We said: "Listening to Pictures Of The Warm South is like being a guest in a strange house ... a portrait of the host, their tastes and personality."

www.thewire.co.uk/issues/503/504
December 5, 2025 at 10:31 AM
On this week’s edition of The Wire’s show on @resonancefm.bsky.social & Resonance Extra, join @jjstannard.bsky.social for a banquet of bewildering bangers including tracks by Shudder To Think, Deliluh (pictured), Nervio Cosmico, Dog Soup and more.

Tune in from 9pm GMT extra.resonance.fm/schedule
December 4, 2025 at 10:14 AM
9: Stereolab - Instant Holograms On Metal Film

We said: "The spectre of war and violence hangs over Instant Holograms ... [Yet their] songs are not anthems of defeat and despair ... a prescription of inner work and spiritual cultivation as means of resistance."

www.thewire.co.uk/issues/503/504
December 4, 2025 at 10:01 AM
Reposted by The Wire Magazine
New @thewiremagazine.bsky.social is out! Proud to have contributed a Rewind essay + reviews of Unsound 2025, and records by Saint Abdullah/Jason Nazary + Rie Nakajima/David Toop.

Whole issue is packed with great essays, articles and EOY gear

Buy a copy/subscribe to support indie journalism in ‘26
December 3, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Reposted by The Wire Magazine
I love writing about books. In the new issue of @thewiremagazine.bsky.social (the hotly anticipated annual end-of-year wrapup) I reviewed this excellent one about a tradition I never knew existed: 7" records issued in support of strikes and other labor actions: www.commonnotions.org/buy/strike-w...
December 3, 2025 at 1:10 PM