Pitchfork

As if we "Wire" geeks needed yet another thing to get riled up about this winter. Two different soundtrack albums to accompany "The Wire"-- one of the finest things to touch TV since rabbit ears-- are due January 8 from Nonesuch.

The first, "...and all the pieces matter" - Five Years of Music From The Wire, contains a sampling of the music the show has employed over its four seasons. It includes several takes on the show's theme-- the Tom Waits-penned "Down in the Hole"-- by the Blind Boys of Alabama, the Neville Brothers, and DoMaJe, as well as tunes from Steve Earle, Paul Weller, Solomon Burke, the Pogues, and others, all interspersed with dialogue culled from the show.

The second, Beyond Hamsterdam: Baltimore Tracks From The Wire, is just as heavy on the club rap native to the show's Baltimore locales as its title would suggest. The disc features such underground cuts as Rod Lee's "Dance My Pain Away", Tyree Colion's "Projects", Diablo's "Jail Flick", Mullyman's "The Life, the Hood, the Streetz", and "What You Know About Baltimore?" by Ogun featuring Phathead.

The booklet for Five Years includes essays from series writer George Pelecanos and hip-hop journalist Jeff Chang, and an interview between the show's creator David Simon and novelist Nick Hornby that originally appeared in The Believer.

The release of both discs coincides with the show's fifth-- and, alas, final-- season premiere January 6. Oh, and in case you hadn't heard, season four of "The Wire" hit DVD this week.

"...and all the pieces matter."- Five Years of Music from The Wire:

01 "This America, man." (dialogue)
02 The Blind Boys of Alabama: "Way Down in the Hole"
03 "Why would anyone ever wanna leave Baltimore?" (dialogue)
04 Michael Franti & Spearhead: "Oh My God"
05 Rod Lee: "Dance My Pain Away"
06 DJ Technics: "My Life Extra"
07 "The king stay the king." (dialogue)
08 The Neville Brothers: "Way Down in the Hole"
09 "We used to make shit in this country." (dialogue)
10 The Nighthawks: "Sixteen Tons"
11 Lafayette Gilchrist: "Assume the Position"
12 "What the fuck did I do?" (dialogue)
13 Jesse Winchester: "Step by Step"
14 Paul Weller: "I Walk on Gilded Splinters"
15 Solomon Burke: "Fast Train"
16 The Pogues: "The Body of an American"
17 "All the pieces matter." (dialogue)
18 Stelios Kazantzidis: "Efuge Efuge"
19 "Omar comin'!" (dialogue)
20 DoMaJe: "Way Down in the Hole"
21 "If it's a lie, then we fight on that lie."
22 Tyree Colion: "Projects"
23 "Later for that gangsta bullshit." (dialogue)
24 Bossman: "Ayo"
25 Sharpshooters: "Analyze"
26 "Wars end." (dialogue)
27 Masta Ace: "Unfriendly Game [ft. Stricklin]"
28 Ogun: "What You Know About Baltimore [ft. Phathead]"
29 Diablo: "Jail Flick"
30 Mullyman: "The Life, the Hood, the Streetz"
31 "An act of daily journalism." (dialogue)
32 Steve Earle: "I Feel Alright"
33 Tom Waits: "Way Down in the Hole"
34 "You remember that one day summer past?" (dialogue)
35 Blake Leyh: "The Fall"

Beyond Hamsterdam: Baltimore Tracks From the Wire:

01 DoMaJe: "Way Down in the Hole"
02 Tyree Colion: "Projects"
03 Rod Lee: "Dance My Pain Away"
04 DJ Technics: "My Life Extra"
05 Ogun: "What You Know About Baltimore [ft. Phathead]"
06 Diablo: "Jail Flick"
07 The Get 'em Mamis: "When You See Us [ft. L. Cash]"
08 Dirty Hartz: "That's Da Sound [ft. Verb]"
09 Bossman: "Ayo"
10 Mullyman: "The Life, the Hood, the Streetz"
11 Lafayette Gilchrist: "Assume the Position"