Biography
Were Bruce Gilbert known solely for his groundbreaking contributions to art punk as Wire's most experimental participant, his stature within avant-pop circles would remain secure. Yet his endeavors apart from the band prove equally compelling.
Entering the world in 1946, Gilbert had reached the age of thirty by the time Wire coalesced, bringing with him an art-school education and prior immersion in Britain's late-1960s avant-garde music scene. That distinctive background helped set Wire apart from the initial wave of U.K. punk acts, as the unconventional impulses of guitarist Gilbert and bassist Graham Lewis blended with the comparatively direct approaches of vocalist Colin Newman and drummer Robert Gotobed. Across the group's landmark first three albums, Wire pushed beyond punk's limits and reshaped rock's broader sonic possibilities.
Wire's last recording in its original lineup, the fifteen-minute drone "Crazy About Love," foreshadowed Gilbert's subsequent direction. Teaming with Lewis in the duo Dome, he issued a series of increasingly experimental albums from 1981 until Wire regrouped in 1986. The partnership reached its apex with 1982's MZUI/Waterloo Gallery, an ambient-found-sound hybrid that stands among Gilbert's most singular and immersive works.
Throughout Wire's second phase (1986-1991), Gilbert pursued solo work in earnest. While that iteration of the band gravitated toward a skewed yet subversively commercial pop sound, achieving college and alternative radio success with tracks such as "Kidney Bingos," Gilbert's own releases shed any remaining pop trappings. The 1984 album This Way introduced his initial commission for the avant-garde Michael Clark Dance Company alongside two extended minimalist electronic compositions reminiscent of Steve Reich's early-1970s output. The 1986 release The Shivering Man gathered assorted commissions from the period into a more fragmentary collection. (A CD compiling material from both U.K.-only albums, titled This Way to the Shivering Man, appeared on Wire's American label Restless-Enigma shortly before the company's 1990 dissolution.) The 1991 album Insiding ranks as the strongest of Gilbert's releases from this era; its pair of extended ballet scores, written for dancer Ashley Page, unfold and evolve compellingly across twenty minutes apiece. Later that year came the EP-length Music for Fruit. Gilbert also assisted Lewis on the latter's post-Dome solo endeavor, He Said.
Following the 1991 release The First Letter, issued by Newman, Lewis, and Gilbert after Gotobed's exit, Gilbert channeled his predominantly electronic explorations onto the dance floor. By the mid-1990s he had become a regular presence in London's techno clubs, performing and remixing as DJ Beekeeper, frequently appearing inside a garden shed suspended above the floor in a nod to Wire's visual wit. Concurrently, he issued the 1996 album Ab Ovo; that same year Wire reconvened for a special rendering of "Drill" marking Gilbert's fiftieth birthday. Continued collaboration with Lewis yielded the 1999 compilation Yclept and the January 2000 sound installation Alarm to the Audible Light at the Museum of Modern Art, Oxford. An early-2001 performance paired Gilbert with Panasonic under the name IBM. While Wire readied its subsequent chapter, culminating in the ferocious 2002 release Read & Burn 01, Gilbert stayed occupied with outside work, including his soundtrack for the film London Orbital (Gilbert and Wire appeared at the October 2002 premiere). He stayed with Wire until 2004, leaving after that year's Send. Also in 2004 he released Ordier, assembled from a 1996 live recording. After contributing to multimedia efforts such as 2006's Soundtrack for an Exhibition at the Musée d'art contemporain de Lyon, Gilbert returned with the album Oblivio Agitatum in 2009. His productivity continued unabated into the 2010s; within 2011 alone he rejoined Pan Sonic's Mika Vainio for a commissioned Netaudio London festival performance in May, released the single Monad on Touch in August, and saw the short story "Sliding off the World" (originally a 2006 spoken-word piece) appear in the October anthology Murmurations. His album Diluvial, described as a "seven-piece reflection on climate change and creation stories" and also featuring multimedia artists Naomi Siderfin and David Crawforth, originated as an installation before Touch issued it in 2013.
Entering the world in 1946, Gilbert had reached the age of thirty by the time Wire coalesced, bringing with him an art-school education and prior immersion in Britain's late-1960s avant-garde music scene. That distinctive background helped set Wire apart from the initial wave of U.K. punk acts, as the unconventional impulses of guitarist Gilbert and bassist Graham Lewis blended with the comparatively direct approaches of vocalist Colin Newman and drummer Robert Gotobed. Across the group's landmark first three albums, Wire pushed beyond punk's limits and reshaped rock's broader sonic possibilities.
Wire's last recording in its original lineup, the fifteen-minute drone "Crazy About Love," foreshadowed Gilbert's subsequent direction. Teaming with Lewis in the duo Dome, he issued a series of increasingly experimental albums from 1981 until Wire regrouped in 1986. The partnership reached its apex with 1982's MZUI/Waterloo Gallery, an ambient-found-sound hybrid that stands among Gilbert's most singular and immersive works.
Throughout Wire's second phase (1986-1991), Gilbert pursued solo work in earnest. While that iteration of the band gravitated toward a skewed yet subversively commercial pop sound, achieving college and alternative radio success with tracks such as "Kidney Bingos," Gilbert's own releases shed any remaining pop trappings. The 1984 album This Way introduced his initial commission for the avant-garde Michael Clark Dance Company alongside two extended minimalist electronic compositions reminiscent of Steve Reich's early-1970s output. The 1986 release The Shivering Man gathered assorted commissions from the period into a more fragmentary collection. (A CD compiling material from both U.K.-only albums, titled This Way to the Shivering Man, appeared on Wire's American label Restless-Enigma shortly before the company's 1990 dissolution.) The 1991 album Insiding ranks as the strongest of Gilbert's releases from this era; its pair of extended ballet scores, written for dancer Ashley Page, unfold and evolve compellingly across twenty minutes apiece. Later that year came the EP-length Music for Fruit. Gilbert also assisted Lewis on the latter's post-Dome solo endeavor, He Said.
Following the 1991 release The First Letter, issued by Newman, Lewis, and Gilbert after Gotobed's exit, Gilbert channeled his predominantly electronic explorations onto the dance floor. By the mid-1990s he had become a regular presence in London's techno clubs, performing and remixing as DJ Beekeeper, frequently appearing inside a garden shed suspended above the floor in a nod to Wire's visual wit. Concurrently, he issued the 1996 album Ab Ovo; that same year Wire reconvened for a special rendering of "Drill" marking Gilbert's fiftieth birthday. Continued collaboration with Lewis yielded the 1999 compilation Yclept and the January 2000 sound installation Alarm to the Audible Light at the Museum of Modern Art, Oxford. An early-2001 performance paired Gilbert with Panasonic under the name IBM. While Wire readied its subsequent chapter, culminating in the ferocious 2002 release Read & Burn 01, Gilbert stayed occupied with outside work, including his soundtrack for the film London Orbital (Gilbert and Wire appeared at the October 2002 premiere). He stayed with Wire until 2004, leaving after that year's Send. Also in 2004 he released Ordier, assembled from a 1996 live recording. After contributing to multimedia efforts such as 2006's Soundtrack for an Exhibition at the Musée d'art contemporain de Lyon, Gilbert returned with the album Oblivio Agitatum in 2009. His productivity continued unabated into the 2010s; within 2011 alone he rejoined Pan Sonic's Mika Vainio for a commissioned Netaudio London festival performance in May, released the single Monad on Touch in August, and saw the short story "Sliding off the World" (originally a 2006 spoken-word piece) appear in the October anthology Murmurations. His album Diluvial, described as a "seven-piece reflection on climate change and creation stories" and also featuring multimedia artists Naomi Siderfin and David Crawforth, originated as an installation before Touch issued it in 2013.
Albums
