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Playlist: The Wire CBC

Compiled By: Richard Stark

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The Wire Episode 1: Hallo, Hallo

From Canadian Broadcasting Corporation | Part of the The Wire series | 52:54

First episode of The Wire, discussing the experience of music as it was affected by the invention of electricity.

Thewire1_small The arrival of public electricity on the eve of the 20th century transformed virtually every aspect of daily life - not least of all, the experience of music. We begin our journey on The Wire with a reflection on how it has changed the way we think of the human voice, the way we communicate sound to large groups of people, and the way we now take for granted that sound is something that can be preserved, stored and heard again.

The Wire Episode 2: The Change of the Sound

From Canadian Broadcasting Corporation | Part of the The Wire series | 52:55

Episode two of The Wire, this show explores how the manipulation of recorded audio with magnetic recording tape changed music.

Thewire2_small Electricity refined the way sounds were captured in time - adding a new dimension of fidelity to the acoustic phonograph. The invention of magnetic recording tape represented a quantum leap forward in audio technology. For the first time, thanks to tape, sound could be manipulated. What had been the representation of a singular moment in time became a malleable moment in space. It was the change of the sound.

The Wire Episode 3: Going Electric

From Canadian Broadcasting Corporation | Part of the The Wire series | 52:55

Episode three of The Wire, this episode discusses the impact of elecricity on the guitar.

Thewire3_small Using resonators, horn attachments, new strings and new materials, people had always been trying to make the quiet and humble guitar louder. Electricity finally did the trick. From early jazz to the age of the rockstar, each new innovation expanded the electric guitar's world of sound and cemented its status as one of the iconic symbols of the 20th century.

The Wire Episode 4: Good Vibrations

From Canadian Broadcasting Corporation | Part of the The Wire series | 52:54

Episode four of The Wire, this episode investigates the birth of the synthesizer.

Thewire4_small Scientists like Helmholtz and Hertz explored the electrical essence of sound waves. Inventors like Canadian physicist Hugh LeCaine and Russian spy Leon Theremin extended that exploration to a new breed of electronic instruments. But it wasn't until Bob Moog came along and invented the synthesizer that the sound of electricity started to become a household sound in the music of rock bands.

The Wire Episode 5: The Sound Around

From Canadian Broadcasting Corporation | Part of the The Wire series | 52:54

Episode five of The Wire, this show explores the overwhelming presence of music in our day-to-day lives.

Thewire5_small Electricity's done a lot of great things for music, but there have also been a few side-effects. For better or worse, wherever you go today, music is playing - at a restaurant, in a store, at the mall, when you're on hold on the phone. Are we suffering from musical overload? How did music come to be so ubiquitous? And what's the difference between ambient music and aural wallpaper, relaxation and irritation?

The Wire Episode 6: Welcome to the Machine

From Canadian Broadcasting Corporation | Part of the The Wire series | 52:55

Examines electronic dance music.

Thewire6_small We depend on machines that use electricity - from our cars to our cellphones to our computers to the overhead light. It's no surprise that more machines are making our music. The influence of machines can be subtle or obvious, like in the dizzying array of sub-genres collectively known as electronic music. Among these is the paradoxically human-machine, techno-organic, cool-sexy, booty-shaking beat-world of electronic dance music.

The Wire Episode 7: The Wheels of Steel

From Canadian Broadcasting Corporation | Part of the The Wire series | 52:55

Examines the use of the turntable in contemporary music.

Thewire7_small A century of tinkering with speeds, mechanisms and materials changed the gramophone incrementally into the turntable. But over the last fifty years - from the early experiments of composer John Cage to the scratching innovations of today's superstar DJs - the turntable has become the nexus for whole new ways of thinking about music. The turntable is explained by the turntablists: musicians who play a turntable like a pianist plays a piano.

The Wire Episode 8: The Digital Democracy of Sound

From Canadian Broadcasting Corporation | Part of the The Wire series | 52:55

The digital revolution in music.

Thewire8_small Digital technology has changed how we find, how we make and how we listen to music. Sometimes it's easier to get a hold of your favourite track than it is to get a good cup of coffee. Sounds are sampled, mmixed, and shared on a scale that eclipses our wildest dreams from even a decade ago. This has created wonderful and terrible consequences, opening the door to pirates but also to a new world of music - the fourth world, where anything is possible.