Dome: Dome 4: Will You Speak This Word 12” (Editions Mego)
I’m a huge fan of Wire; in fact, if push came to shove I’d say that Pink Flag is my favorite record ever. However, until this recent round of reissues on Editions Mego, I'd barely listened to Dome. Dome is the project that Bruce Gilbert and Graham Lewis started after Wire’s original dissolution in 1980. Critics tend to regard Gilbert and Lewis as the arty / experimental yang to Colin Newman’s poppier yin, and the 4 LPs that Dome released between 1980 and 1982 have a lot to do with that reputation. They certainly take up the thread of conversation started on the less poppy moments of Chairs Missing and 154 and run with them, so if you think those records are front-to-back classics you may want to try Dome.
Dome 4 is the last record that the duo recorded during their original run, and it’s the most out there. They devote the entire a-side to one lengthy experimental track that integrates saxophone into the band’s usual palette of minimal instrumentation and tape manipulation.
Despite the more or less total lack of overt melody, there’s something engaging and memorable about Dome’s music, even at its most out-there points. And Dome won’t be too much for you if you’re into the weirder, more experimental end of Krautrock, modern classical music, or early electronic music. If you’re looking to try Dome, I’d start with their first LP as that’s the most accessible to the average Wire fan, but if you’re anything like me, you'll eventually add all four albums to your collection.