The Wire - Why you should watch it....

Last week marked the end of era for me TV-wise, for I finished watching possibly the greatest programme I've ever seen: The Wire.

For the uninitiated, The Wire is a drama set in Baltimore, an American city ridden with crime, drugs and corruption. The focus is primarily on the police department, Western District to be exact, although this is far from an average cop drama. In fact, calling it a cop drama is largely inaccurate, as much screen time is devoted to the other various faculties of Baltimore, including the streets, government, docks, school system, and media. A social portrait of a broken city and its inner-workings.

What sets this TV show apart from CSI, NCIS, Law & Order etc is its intricate detail; the usual one-plot-an-episode format is discarded, and instead each story is seamlessly woven across an entire season, a style more akin to a novel than TV series. With as many characters that The Wire has across its five seasons, you would expect some to be lost in the melee, but i honestly cannot think of another show that has as many dense, interesting characters, particularly Bubbles, a homeless heroin addict who has the most heart-warming story of all, and is probably my favourite TV character ever.

Other notable mentions include rogue cop McNulty, cold blooded killers Chris and Snoop, unscrupulous senator Clay Davis, stick-up artist Omar, drug dealer Bodie and young car jacker Donut.

It is a true testament to the writers that they can manage to make the most amoral citizens seem as normal as the next guy. There is little discerning differences between the cops and the criminals who they chase. Neither is there a hint of sentimentality or cheesy death scenes, everything is produced and delivered so realistically that it is almost like a documentary. Saying that, many of the stories depicted in The Wire are in fact based on real-life people, none of which I will spoil for anyone yet to watch this (I say this yet I doubt anyone reads this....).

Despite this, The Wire isn't a show for casual watching, and demands a fair share of patience and perseverance to get to grips with the slang, amount of characters and the various inter-woven plots. Nothing is explained and no compromises are made for the viewer. But I cannot recommend this highly enough, and am genuinely sad that I'll never see a new episode of The Wire again. Here's one of my favourite scenes:

I thought I'd add a bit of music to this post, seeing this is supposed to be a music blog (before it was hijacked by me bleating about The Wire). Heres some cool tunes I'm liking at the moment:

Brand new Four Tet, which will be included on his new LP coming next January. Even better than his split 12" with Burial from earlier this year.

Smooth, rolling dubstep from Von D, included on the delayed Steppas Delight Vol. 2 compilation.

Not strictly new, but good nonetheless, easily one of the biggest dubstep songs this year.

Taken from one my favourite albums of the year, 5 Years Of Hyperdub, this is easily one the standout tracks from this compilation, and only provides further evidence that Joker's album is going to be incredible.

Man of the moment Matias Aguayo has just released 'Ay Ay Ay', apparently a great album, but I am currently too poor to buy it. All I know is that this song will be HUGE, and I live in fear of its ridiculously catchy refrain being butchered by a car advert or something.