Albums to watch

Nocturnal Koreans

Wire

Nocturnal Koreans

Fifteenth studio album from the veteran English post-punk band recorded at the same time as 2015's self-titled release

ADM rating[?]

7.4

Label
Pink Flag
UK Release date
22/04/2016
US Release date
22/04/2016
  1. 9.1 |   A.V. Club

    The band has never sounded more ready to rip up its playbook and forge ahead into new territory
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  2. 8.5 |   Under The Radar

    Given that this album is a slice of miniature genius (which we really should expect of Wire by now), few closing songs this year feel quite so well earned
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  3. 8.0 |   The Irish Times

    A loud declaration that there’s plenty more to come
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  4. 8.0 |   Clash

    Nothing changes, but yet everything's different. That's Wire 40 years in
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  5. 8.0 |   Spin

    It’s forthright and blissed-out, melodically considerate
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  6. 8.0 |   State

    In the forty years since that perfect debut, Wire have consistently proven that they’re not in the business of making bad records. Album number fifteen doesn’t tamper with that reputation
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  7. 8.0 |   The Guardian

    Hails from the same sessions as last year’s acclaimed Wire, but while that set was taut and direct, the eight songs here are more textured, full of counter-melodies and shifting sonic landscapes
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  8. 8.0 |   All Music

    Even if Nocturnal Koreans' sound isn't always textbook Wire, its imagery and wit most certainly are, making the album much more than the collection of leftovers its origins might have suggested
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  9. 8.0 |   Drowned In Sound

    With Nocturnal Koreans Wire have done it again, leaving you with that craving for more
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  10. 8.0 |   Mojo

    A more austere, exploratory affair. Print edition only

  11. 7.5 |   The Line Of Best Fit

    Represents more of an expansion on their current sound and scope, and finds a band still willing to take risks 40 years into an exalted career
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  12. 7.0 |   Pitchfork

    Marked by an unsettling, dead-of-night calm
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  13. 7.0 |   The Quietus

    It's a band making steps in another direction, eschewing their post-punk bedrock and cold, unsettling soundscapes in favour of a cloudy, hazy future-psychedelia
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  14. 7.0 |   Gig Soup

    Wire may have lost much of their ability to shock, but everything they do is worth hearing
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  15. 7.0 |   PopMatters

    Though Wire have radically reinvented themselves in the past, Nocturnal Koreans finds them aiming their formula just slightly to the left
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  16. 7.0 |   Beardfood

    Despite this 27 minute track list consisting of discarded songs from their self-titled 2015 release, Wire manage to present a bite-size treat of what has to be another decent art-punk release in the new millennium
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  17. 7.0 |   God Is In The TV

    The quality is such that it is clear these are no b-sides or offcuts and like WIRE, this is Wire on tip-top form
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  18. 6.7 |   Consequence Of Sound

    Despite its shortcomings, Nocturnal Koreans is a decent collection sifted from the excess of an even more solid album, which is certainly enough to keep Wire moving forward
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  19. 6.5 |   Spectrum Culture

    Wire champions the rebel spirit of 1976
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  20. 6.0 |   The Independent

    The band still managing to find new routes to take away from that tightly-focused project
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  21. 6.0 |   The Arts Desk

    They’re an odd bunch making odd pop, a four-man musical cottage industry on an ongoing spurt of activity in recent years. Their fifteenth album offers devotees a chance to enjoy the continuing journey
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