Nocturnal Koreans

Nocturnal Koreans
Studio album by Wire
Released	22 April 2016
Recorded	2014-2015 at Rockfield Studios outside Rockfield, Monmouthshire, Wales, UK; Brighton Electric, Brighton, England, UK; Swim studio, London, England, UK
Genre	Post-punk, art punk, alternative rock
Length	26 minutes
Label	swim~ PF23CD / PF23LP
Wire studio album chronology
Wire (2015) Nocturnal Koreans (2016)

Nocturnal Koreans is the fifteenth studio album by British post-punk band Wire. It was released on 22 April 2016.

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
PopMatters	[2]
Consequence of Sound	B-[3]
The Guardian	[4]
TeamRock	[5]
Under The Radar	8.5/10[6]
Monsters and Critics	3.5/5[7]
The Arts Desk	[8]

Background

The album grew out of tracks initially recorded for Wire’s self-titled 2015 album. At that time, the band had recorded a total of 19 tracks, 11 of which were selected for WIRE.

In a press release for the album, however, guitarist and singer Colin Newman, drew a distinction between the material selected for WIRE and that for Nocturnal Koreans: “The WIRE album was quite respectful of the band, and Nocturnal Koreans is less respectful of the band—or, more accurately, it’s the band being less respectful to itself—in that it’s more created in the studio, rather than recorded basically as the band played it, which was mostly the case with WIRE. A general rule for this record was: any trickery is fair game, if it makes it sound better.”^[9]

On 21 April 2016, Stereogum named Nocturnal Koreans their “Album of the Week”. ^[10]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Wire. 

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Nocturnal Koreans"	2:58
2.	"Internal Exile"	2:54
3.	"Dead Weight"	3:03
4.	"Forward Position"	3:11
5.	"Numbered"	3:29
6.	"Still"	2:30
7.	"Pilgrim Trade"	4:50
8.	"Fishes Bones"	3:02

Personnel

Wire

• Colin Newman – lead vocals, electric guitar
• Graham Lewis – bass guitar, backing vocals, lead vocal on “Fishes Bones”
• Robert Grey – drum kit
• Matt Simms – electric guitar, lap steel guitar on “Internal Exile” and “Forward Position”, trumpet on “Internal Exile”

Charts

Chart (2016)	Peak position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[11]	181
UK Albums (OCC)[12]	98

References

1. Phares, Heather. "‘’Nocturnal Koreans’’ review". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
2. Garratt, John. "‘’Nocturnal Koreans’’ review". PopMatters. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
3. Kivel, Adam: "Wire – Nocturnal Koreans". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
4. Simpson, Dave. "‘’Wire: Nocturnal Koreans review – abstract pop from post-punk heroes’’". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
5. Winwood, Ian. "‘’Wire: Nocturnal Koreans’’". TeamRock. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
6. Lucas, Dan. "‘Wire Nocturnal Koreans". Under The Radar. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
7. Elbaum, Bella. "'Review: Wire: Nocturnal Koreans'". Monsters and Critics. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
8. Green, Thomas H. "'CD: Wire - Nocturnal Koreans'". The Arts Desk. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
9. Neate, Wilson "Press Release for Nocturnal Koreans, 3 March 2016". Retrieved 4 March 2016.
10. Breihan, Tom "Album Of The Week: Wire Nocturnal Koreans". Retrieved 21 April 2016.
11. "Ultratop.be – Wire – Nocturnal Koreans" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
12. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 30 April 2016.