XTC

[Ghost of Troubled Joe]

Just got Drums and Wires on a recommendation, and I'm really, really impressed! Great, great album- full of wit, style, melodicism, and intellect...one of the best things I've heard in a long, long time. There must be some more XTC fans about- any more suggestions?

[Dirty Boy]

I've only just started listening to them recently too.Haven't got round to 'drums and wires' yet, but it's probably next on t'list...

'Skylarking' is a brilliant album.As it was released in '86 i've no idea how it compares with their earlier stuff style wise, but it's pretty melodic with a strange, almost prog rock edge to it and some great songs (Dear God, Grass, Another Sattellite, that jazzy one that i can't remember...).There's a good mix of styles on there, but i'm assuming it's a bout as slick as they get.

'English Settlement' is maybe my favourite, but it's harder to get into.A lot of the songs are quite lengthy and there's some folky Tom Waits style percussion going on sometimes, while other times they seem to turn into the Specials.i really like Jason And The Argonauts, Yacht Dance, Snowman...most of it actually.Not too keen on the ska stuff though.

[23 Daves]

XTC fans are always really divided on the best albums, because the truth is the band progressed massively throughout their career - from spikey quirky Noo Wave ("White Music", "Go 2") to new wave with dance groove inflections ("Drums and Wires") to spikey urgent guitar pop ("Black Sea") to world music inflected acoustic introverted material ("English Settlement") to just plain acoustic, gentle adult pop ("Mummer") to jarring, almost industrial pop with hints of Captain Beefheart and complex arrangements ("Big Express", my absolute favourite) to proggy, jazzy, introverted musings ("Skylarking") to almost Tears For Fears sixties pop with eighties production values ("Oranges and Lemons").  I could go on...

Take your pick, really.  It's a fantastic journey through a rich catalogue of stuff.  Most of it is good (though I have no great love of "Mummer" or "Oranges and Lemons").  

"Fossil Fuel", the 2 CD best of, is a great place to start.

For sheer pop thrills, it's hard to top "Black Sea", which to all intents and purposes sounds to me like it was recorded 3 weeks ago, rather than well over 20 years ago.  Franz Ferdinand probably quite like this album.

For something a bit more challenging, dip into "The Big Express", which I adore.  It's one of my favourite albums of all time, but you won't necessarily 'get into it' after just one listen.

[Spaced Cadet]

The later stuff is just as good. Apple Venus Vol.1 is sublime. There are some real gems on this album, really catchy intelligent pop. Songs like The Green Man are like a fusion of Fairport Convention and Funkadelic!! Apple Venus Vol.2 was not as good IMHO. Also The Dukes Of Stratosphere, XTC's alter ego, are well worth checking out. It's not worth me going into much detail as I'm sure Phillipa Maul (The C&B resident XTC expert) will be on this one like a rat up Andy Partridge's stovepipe hat.

[12 years, 11 months old]

What a fantastically exciting prospect you have ahead! You're very fortunate to have started out with Drums and Wires because I think XTC are one of the few bands who have got progressively better through out their career, with almost every album being and improvement on the one which preceded it. Therefore (as previous posters have said) go for Black Sea next, and work on from there.

As I think has been noted before, XTC have had one of those stranger-than-fiction careers. The greatest songwriter of his generation combines with the best bass player since McCartney and produces a string of near-perfectly crafted albums and singles which somehow almost exclusively fail to chart, culminating in a seven year strike with their record company and a triumphant double album return. Am I fawning? I'll stop.

Check out chalkhills, these articles and especially this one. And if anyone else is reading this, and likes lyrics or music or both, for God's Sake, listen to XTC!

[23 Daves]

Oh yeah, how could I forget to mention their alter-ego The Dukes!  Get "Chips From the Chocolate Fireball", it's endless cod-psychedelic brilliance.  It even pulls off a perfect and very moving Beach Boys ballad impression with "Pale and Precious" (which has to be the best Beach Boys song the Beach Boys never wrote).

[GoochDogHigh5s]

Have to agree with the difference on each albumAltogh my favourite is Black Sea.
As an aside, I was a dead ringer for Colin Moulding and used to say I was him at parties to impress the ladies, needless to say it never worked.It might have been because I spoke with a cockney accent.

Also this thread reminds me of the classic They Might Be Giants track XTC Vs Adam Ant

[Darrell]

Huge bump, but has anyone yet heard the new Apple Bite 'EP'?

I'm utterly in love with both songs. The only problem is that there aren't 10 more to go with it.

Is it just me, or is the erstwhile Mr Sadness consciously homaging Dave Gregory on his keyboard bits on 'Spiral'? The arrangement didn't seem to lack that layer that Wasp Star occasionally did. Regardless, it's a job well done.

[trotsky assortment]

Ooh, ooh...Something new by XTC?  Why wasn't I informed?!


If I may chip in on previous comments while I'm here though...Despite it being held in high regard by so many, I've always found 'Drums and Wires' difficult to get into.  Strangely though, I like many of the alternate versions (recorded for unreleased singles) on the 'Coat Of Many Cupboards' box set.  They're brighter sounding, somehow.

I agree with an earlier comment about 'Mummer' - there's nothing bad about the album, but has very in the way of memorable hooks.  Looking at the back-cat positively though, I never get tired of listening to 'Black Sea', 'English Settlement', 'Big Express', 'Skylarking' and 'Oranges and Lemons' (especially the latter - in fact, I've seen Dave Gregory play 'The Loving' live with The h Band a couple of times now...always a high point of their set.

[nuttyxander]

Like most people the first I heard of them was Making Plans For Nigel, via the Virgin Records Best Punk Album In The World Ever! (which was actually a pretty good collection all told). Then on various 80s compilations I came accross Senses Working Overtime and King For A Day. It took a long time for me to realise all those songs were from the same band, and it intrigued me.

Drums and Wires was my break into XTC albums, and remains one of my all time favourites years on, probably my favourite Fopp £5 bargain, and I managed to snag all the Virgin reissues whilst that offer was on. I've never quite gotten into the later albums so much, but they're interesting to listen to every now and then. For me the Dukes of The Stratosphear album is the most daring, and the one I reccomend to even people who probably would dislike XTC (and Pink Floyd Fans).

The first two albums are in many ways the hardest, Go 2 and White Music both feel so very rough and vary wildly in quality between tracks. I'd get Black Sea next, though it is nice to go through these things chronologically (a desire which really annoyed me when the Rhino reissues of Elvis Costello were done in a bizarre theme order).

[nuttyxander]

Also, on the thread of the relation between bands like Future Dogs Die in Kaiser Ferdinand's Hot Hot Car Party and XTC - this John Harris article from the Guardian is a must read.

[trotsky assortment]

On a tangent - I'm still annoyed that Rhino gave Elv's 'Live At The El Mocambo' its first full release as part of that 4CD box with 'My Aim Is True', 'This Years Model' and 'Armed Forces', but now there are nice 2CD deluxe versions of the three studio albums, apart from the odd track here and there, 'Live At The El Mocambo' is nowhere to be seen.

XTC, then...Yeah. 'Go2' - no, never got into that one myself.  Shame since some of the Jap remasters came with bonus tracks*, 'Go2' didn't feature the 'Go+ EP' which came with early editions of the vinyl back in '78.  Although not classic, I like 'White Noise' a lot more, purely on the strength of 'This Is Pop' and the sing-along 'Statue Of Liberty.

* I bought the Japanese remasters in vinyl replica sleeves and have no idea whether the UK jewel-cased remasters featured the bonus tracks.

[nuttyxander]

On a tangent - I'm still annoyed that Rhino gave Elv's 'Live At The El Mocambo' its first full release as part of that 4CD box with 'My Aim Is True', 'This Years Model' and 'Armed Forces', but now there are nice 2CD deluxe versions of the three studio albums, apart from the odd track here and there, 'Live At The El Mocambo' is nowhere to be seen.

A real annoyance (especially as they have no plans), live Costello is something else the fragments available on the reissues are wonderful, but a box set of live material would be great.

Speaking of which - back onto XTC, of the two (well I suppose three now) XTC box sets, the best by a mile is Transistor Blast which has all manner of interesting alternate takes and makes it all the sadder that their period as a live performing band is so short compared to that in the studio.

[trotsky assortment]

'Transistor Blast' is one of the only XTC items I don't have...I've never considered myself in a hurry, since most of my favourite stuff has never been performed live.  (Partly why I'm so grateful for having seen 'The Loving', though it doesn't come close to having Andy Partridge sing it).

As for Costello's 'Live At The El Mocambo', I refuse to buy that box set just to get it...

[Sadness]

Huge bump, but has anyone yet heard the new Apple Bite 'EP'?

I'm utterly in love with both songs. The only problem is that there aren't 10 more to go with it.

Is it just me, or is the erstwhile Mr Sadness consciously homaging Dave Gregory on his keyboard bits on 'Spiral'? The arrangement didn't seem to lack that layer that Wasp Star occasionally did. Regardless, it's a job well done.

THANK YOU SO MUCH DARRELL for that stunning compliment!! BUT.....even though I did run through a version of "Spiral" whilst writing with Andy he very shrewdly kept that little nugget of a track to himself. Hence me not playing on that track, ANDY did everything on it in his shed.

Now Colin's track is a different story. I play "Mellotron Flutes" on the second verse and pre-chorus and play a lovely little bendy "Mellotron Sax" part at the very end.

AN AMAZING HONOUR and one I still have to pinch myself about. There will be one more "New" track which wil appear shortly so keep your eyes peeled Darrell et all.....

[LeeST]

Very nice to hear XTC being lauded. There are plans for a massive Costello live release next year. 3 boxed sets is what I've heard.

[SurferGhost]

Whatever happened to Phillippa Maul...?

My XTC Top Five:

1 Black Sea
2 Oranges And Lemons
3 Skylarking
4 English Settlement
5 Mummer

There was a Radio One In Concert CD from The Black Sea Tour as well wasn't there? That was rather fabulous.
Andy Partridge's demos CD series, "Fuzzy Warbles" are all well worth getting hold of too.

And The Dukes Of Stratosphear? The Dukes CD is in a class all of it's own.

[nuttyxander]

Whatever happened to Phillippa Maul...?
There was a Radio One In Concert CD from The Black Sea Tour as well wasn't there? That was rather fabulous.

That's disc 4 of Transistor Blast.

Andy Partridge's demos CD series, "Fuzzy Warbles" are all well worth getting hold of too.

Not tried any of those, but my completist instincts will make me get them eventually. Thought what I'd really like is a copy of his Hello Recording Club CD with It's Snowing Angels on it.

And The Dukes Of Stratosphear? The Dukes CD is in a class all of it's own.

Most certainly, I can't imagine (m)any modern bands attempting anything so daring.

[Darrell]

Though what I'd really like is a copy of his Hello Recording Club CD with It's Snowing Angels on it.

Happily, its contents aren't rare anymore.

1) Prince Of Orange - on Fuzzy Warbles 6
2) It's Snowing Angels - on Fuzzy Warbles 2 along with its original intended B-side (the psychier version of Then She Appeared)
3) Candymine - not currently available but almost certainly will appear on Warbles 7 or 8
4) Some Lovely (My Brown Guitar) - on Homegrown/Apple Box.

Smashing EP, though. It's on Soulseek and the like if your will remains strong. Or you just want to hear it all in context.

[trotsky assortment]

My XTC Top Five:

1 Black Sea
2 Oranges And Lemons
3 Skylarking
4 English Settlement
5 Mummer

SG - Replace 'Mummer' with 'The Big Express' and that'd be my XTC Top 5 as well...though not necessarily in that order.

Something I've just remembered - those non-album b-sides on the 'Dear God' CD single - have they ever been issued on any full length 'rarities' albums, or do I need to track that down?

[Darrell]

If anyone's interested, tune in Radio 2 at 10:30pm for two and a half hours in the company of Andy Partridge and Mark Radcliffe.

I'm guessing they'll play at least one of the new Apple Bite tracks if not both, so if you haven't bought the box set yet it'll be a nice preview.

[The Mumbler]

Partridge also gives his rundown on CDs, books and DVDs in the new issue of The Word.  Not worth the cover price (that's literally the only thing of worth in the whole magazine) - just find someone with a photocopier.

[Darrell]

Jesus - brand new song being played in the next hour!

[thepuffpastryhangman]

I heard it in the car heading back to SE London after watching Dylan in Nottm last night (but that's another story) Andy Partridge, possibly the least funny least charismatic person ever to appear on live radio.

[ninestonecreature]

I heard it in the car heading back to SE London after watching Dylan in Nottm last night (but that's another story) Andy Partridge, possibly the least funny least charismatic person ever to appear on live radio.

Bollocks, he's invariably great value in interviews, radio or otherwise.

[trotsky assortment]

Yeah.  I heard the interview disc from the Japanese issue of 'Homespun' (thanks Darrell) and Andy P is very funny.  I laughed good and hard at some of his sleeve notes in the 'Coat Of Many Cupboards' box too.

[The Mumbler]

I heard it in the car heading back to SE London after watching Dylan in Nottm last night (but that's another story) Andy Partridge, possibly the least funny least charismatic person ever to appear on live radio.

I haven't Listened Again yet, but a few names: Bruno Brookes, Johnny Vaughan, anyone at all on Magic FM, XFM or Virgin, Radio 2's *abysmal* Mo Dutta, Sara Cox, Chris Moyles and Jeremy Vine.  He's worse than any of these?  Jesus.  I love XTC, and am therefore somewhat biased, but if you honestly think he's worse than any of those clowns, you clearly never switch the radio on.

[TJ]

Lisa I'Anson.

[Ciarán2]

I want to contribute something substantial to this but big essays to be written. Anyway, agree with 23 Daves on the wealth and diversity of XTC's output. Best record for me, probably "English Settlement". It's a double, it's "agrarian", it's from around the time Partridge had his breakdown. It's got "Runaways" and "Ball and Chain" and "Senses Working Overtime" and "Yacht Dance" and "Fly On The Wall" on it. It has a nice sleeve. I'm pleased there's new stuff out. I wish it was an album.

Yep. Another really insightful post.

[trotsky assortment]

...and the wonderous 'No Thugs In Our House'.  I love 'English Settlement'.