Listen Up! No. 88: Wire - Bad Worn Thing

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Watford's avant-garde punk pioneers Wire returned earlier this month with Red Barked Tree, their twelfth studio album and first since 2008. Amidst the familiar mixture of hand-on-heart four-chord calls to arms, nuanced, expertly manufactured textures and intrepid lyrical explorations of pop culture lies a sparkling pop jewel of a song. At once inhabiting new territory and still somehow unmistakebly Wire, 'Bad Worn Thing' decorates a throbbing anti-dance beat with a Brian Ferry art-school snarl and lines like "the future's sold, the chacellor paces". Better yet, the chiming guitar shapes which build to a gripping crescendo make sure it feels as well as thinks. An early frontrunner for the best you'll hear in 2011.

N.B. Turn that bass up where possible.

Listen Up! No.12: Joy Formidable - Whirring

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Remind yourself of this pristine slab of crunchy bubblegum-shoegaze whilst awaiting news of the Welsh trio's their next move (apparently a full debut LP is in the pipeline). And see them live if you get the chance.

Hot 5 at 5

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***5 highly recommended tracks that have been tickling THE POPSCENER's eardrums today ***

Hot 5 at 5 (12/1)

Dirty Projectors - Useful Chamber
Useful tune

The Ordinary Boys - Week in Week out
(Big) Brothers in arms

The Leisure Society - Save It for Someone Who Cares
Leisurely

Motorcyle - As the Rush Comes
Euphoric

The Rakes - The Final Hill
Conclusive

Hot 5 at 5 (12/1)