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Vinyl Find: Wire Train, … in a chamber

[Wire Train - ... in a chamber]

Wire Train is not a band with whom I have much history. I’ve taken a deeper dive into their music only in the last few years.

But I’ve known about the band since I was a pre-teen, and I had encountered … in a chamber a long time ago. Rather, this album represents one of the main avenues I used to discover new music: the public library.

I first encountered Wire Train through music magazines. They may have garnered a few paragraphs in Star Hits (the U.S. version of U.K.’s Smash Hits) but it was enough for me to note their name.

When I grew disenchanted with radio at the end of sophomore year in high school, I turned to magazines to direct me to music that Honolulu radio programmers wouldn’t touch. I was also learning more about classical music at the time, using Roger Kamien’s textbook Music: An Appreciation, which my dad bought for an appreciation class he took at a community college.

Classical music was easy to come by at the public library, so I would visit various branches of the Hawaii system, borrowing records and tapes of Broadway musicals and common practice repertoire.

Rolling Stone ran an article about the best albums from the 80s and mentioned Entertainment! by Gang of Four. Out of curiosity, I did a catalog search for “gang of four” at the library and discovered Entertainment! was available for loan. So I borrowed it.

It didn’t end there.

I borrowed XTC’S Skylarking and R.E.M.’s Green, which was actually a new release at the time. I was overjoyed to find 10,000 Maniacs’ The Wishing Chair listed in the catalog but dismayed by the perpetual status of “In Transit.”

If the library had anything really popular — which would have been classic rock in the vein of your Beatles or Rolling Stones — it was probably already checked out. But I didn’t search for any of that. I wanted to find music by post-punk bands, and I was surprised to find myself having quite a bit of success.

I can’t remember if searched specifically for the name “Wire Train” when I discovered one of their albums was available at a branch in Waipahu. Most likely, I may have followed a keyword result. I had gotten my drivers license by then, and I made the trip out to Waipahu to borrow a tape copy of … in a chamber.

I put it in the deck, and right away, the sound of the drums and the tempo of the opening track told me the album was released in 1984. A quick check of the copyright date on the case confirmed my suspicion. (Even back then, I was already hyper-aware of how music was recorded.)

When you’re a teenager, anything older than 2 years was already considered ancient history, so I copped a bit of an attitude toward the album. I thought it was OK, but I wanted something newer.

I wouldn’t really think about Wire Train for another 30 years.

As usual, an encounter at the thrift store got me curious about the band. I picked up a vinyl copy of … in a chamber the moment I spotted it in the bin.

Wire Train was a solid band at the time, and yes, the music on … in a chamber is reliably post-punk — danceable with lots of ethereal guitars. Though hailing from San Francisco, Wire Train could be played alongside A Flock of Seagulls, The Alarm and The Cure, and you’d think they were Brits.

The band would go on to record four more major label albums, but … in a chamber was enough of a regional hit that it’s been reissued a number of times: an expanded edition in 2019, and part of a three-album compilation in 2020. Yes, I have grown to like the album enough to have both.

Out of all the music I discovered through the Hawaii Public Library, … in a chamber seems like the least plausible encounter. Waipahu is a working-class suburb of outside Honolulu, and a new wave band from San Francisco would have been absolutely ignored by the neighborhood patrons.

If Wire Train were played on local radio, it was probably the University of Hawaii station, which couldn’t be heard beyond three miles from campus at the time.

So it makes we wonder how it ever ended up in the collection in the first place. I’m just glad it was.

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Favorite Edition 2020 Catalog

[Ned Doheny - Hard Candy]

Last year, I may have complained about getting too many albums from Lifelong Thrift Shop, where I had started volunteering. SARS-CoV2 pretty much ended my volunteer work for this year, but I intend to resume once the pandemic subsides. I still make weekly visits, this time as a customer.

At least it’s afforded me to take a deeper dive into albums I do get.

Catalog

  • Ned Doheny, Hard Candy: Does anyone else get a super homoerotic vibe from the cover?
  • Charlie Puth, Voicenotes: I just found him totally adorable in the Subway ads.
  • Robyn, Body Talk: I’m a latecomer to Robyn, but I see why she is popular with the gays.
  • Anton Reicha, Reicha Rediscovered, Vol. 1 (Ivan Ilić): Two volumes of an expected five have been released, so where are the other three?
  • Nakamori Akina, AKINA BOX, 1982-1989: This purchase pretty much seals my place in the Nakamori vs. Matsuda rivalry.
  • Various Artists, Studio One Rockers: Dawn Penn’s “No No No” is one of those tracks I loved but never knew who sang till recently.
  • The Damned, Machine Gun Etiquette: I love those thrift shop purchases that turn out to be keepers.
  • Gary Numan, The Pleasure Principle: I have “Cars” on a 7-inch single, and it only took me another 40 years before listening to the entire album.
  • SUPERCAR, OOKeah!!: I thought I had caught up on owning SUPERCAR’s studio albums, but this album along with OOYeah!! slipped through the cracks. Of the simultaneously-released pair from 1999, OOKeah!! is noisier with stronger writing.
  • The Dismemberment Plan, Change: I’m waiting for Emergency & I to show up at the thrift shop.

Reissues

I actually bought more vinyl reissues this year than remasters or deluxe editions.

  • Wire Train, In a Chamber / Between Two Words / Ten Women: This 2-CD reissue of Wire Train’s Columbia albums might mark the first time Ten Women has been released on CD.
  • Tears for Fears, The Seeds of Love (Deluxe Edition): Wow, this album is longer than I remember.
  • U2, All That You Can’t Leave Behind (Deluxe Edition): I didn’t spring for the multi-disc edition with B-sides, but the inclusion of a live show did remind me of the only time I saw the band live, which was during the Elevation Tour.
  • Roberta Flack, First Take (50th Anniversary Edition): The bonus material on this expanded edition is illuminating, but it’s clear why they weren’t pursued for the album.
  • Neneh Cherry, Raw Like Sushi: This album so needed a remastering.

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Purchase log, 2020-09-29

[Keola and Kapono Beamer - Honolulu City Lights]

I catalog my music purchases on Collectorz and Discogs, but they don’t give me a sense of change over time. So I’m noting them here weekly as well.

New releases

CD
  • Taylor Swift, folklore
Vinyl
  • Brandi Carlisle, A Rooster Says
  • Fiona Apple, Fetch the Bolt Cutters
  • Son Volt, Live at the Orange Peel
  • Suzanne Ciani, A Life in Waves

Catalog

CD
  • Cat Power, Moon Pix
  • Cat Power, You Are Free
  • Cloud Nothings, Life Without Sound
  • DJ Shadow, Preemptive Strike
  • Keola and Kapono Beamer, Honolulu City Lights
  • Mogwai, Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will
  • Simple Minds, Real Life
  • Son Volt, Wide Swing Tremolo
  • The Beatles, Magical Mystery Tour
Vinyl
  • The Dismemberment Plan, Change

Reissues

CD
  • Prince, Sign O the Times
  • Wire Train, In a Chamber / Between Two Worlds / Ten Women
Vinyl
  • Nas, God’s Son
  • The Replacements, The Complete Inconcerated Live

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Purchase log, 2019-04-02

[Molotov - ¿Donde jugaran las niñas?]

I catalog my music purchases on Collectorz and Discogs, but they don’t give me a sense of change over time. So I’m noting them here weekly as well.

Catalog

Vinyl
  • Molotov, ¿Donde jugaran las niñas?
  • Radiohead, The Bends
  • Robert Palmer, Pressure Drop
  • The Icicle Works, If You Want to Defeat Your Enemy Sing His Song
  • Tom Tom Club, Tom Tom Club
  • Wire, Pink Flag
  • Wire Train, Between Two Worlds
  • Wire Train, Ten Women

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Purchase log, 2019-03-05

[Wire Train - ... in a chamber]

I catalog my music purchases on Collectorz and Discogs, but they don’t give me a sense of change over time. So I’m noting them here weekly as well.

Catalog

CD
  • ABC, Alphabet City
  • Don Johnson, Let It Roll
  • Fujii Fumiya, Angel
  • Iron and Wine, The Creek Drank the Cradle
  • Lady Gaga, The Fame Monster
  • Prince, Come
  • Yazawa Eikichi, FLASH IN JAPAN
  • Various Artists, Schoolhouse Rocks! Rocks
Vinyl
  • Pop Will Eat Itself, This Is the Day … This Is the Hour … This Is This!
  • Rodney Crowell, Ain’t Living Long Like This

Reissues

CD
  • Wire Train, … in a chamber
Vinyl
  • … And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, Madonna

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