XTC : Classic or Dud.

Been waiting for Steven Wilson's mix of Big Express because it's the one album where I'm not fond of the original mixing. Wilson goes for a more balanced mix over the harsher original mix which is an obvious improvement imo, though I could see people liking the original mix for thematic reasons as mentioned. I'm pretty happy with the original mixing for the other albums so I don't appreciate the difference in Wilson's mixes as much as I do here

I listened to Nonsuch for the first time in a while and it occured to me how beautiful a song "Wrapped in Grey" really is. always found it a bit corny when I first heard the band back in college but now that I'm in my mid-30s the message really resonates with me. I finally get why Andy was basically willing to stake the band's future on it.

Heh I had a similar change of heart about that song sometime around age 30

Best song ever

Here's something I wrote about The Big Express a few years back

https://jointhedotsreview.blogspot.com/2021/05/xtc-big-express-1984.html

A terrific read.

Thanks Alfred!

nice to see someone point out how strange and creative "Shake You Donkey Up" is, most people just describe it as annoying. I always loved that tune though, it's probably the only post-Barry tune that really captures how wacky they used to be

It's creatively annoying.

Nice write-up (Join the Dots) - thanks for sharing!

I recently got the new "The Big Express" surround edition and totally agree with Vinnie's post. Steven Wilson did an excellent job here, smoothing out the jarring artificial bits while not diluting its rock moments, to the album that needed it the most. Also - in the liner notes, Andy wants to make it clear that not all the drums on the album are from a drum machine, which apparently was a common misconception. Just one quibble: for some reason, they didn't include the music videos for this one, like they did with the others.

Here's a good article about Wilson's process: https://www.soundonsound.com/people/steven-wilson-remixing-classic-albums
This is key: "He sums up his approach as being devoutly faithful to the original mix when he's working in stereo, and creating something fresh when he's working in surround."

It explains why I was not really blown away by the stereo "Skylarking" remix (it sounds exactly like the mix I've heard 100+ times, but maybe just a little cleaner and without the crossfading between tracks) BUT the surround "Skylarking" remix is a whole different experience. I HIGHLY recommend hearing it in surround! Another "you MUST hear this in surround" recommendation for XTC fans is the Dukes of Stratosphear comp "Psurroundabout Ride" - he really goes for it, and it works! And back to "The Big Express," on "Wake Up" (where the intro guitars are hard-panned Left/Right on the stereo version), on the surround version, they bounce around on four speakers, making it even more disorienting.

I have all of the XTC surround editions and honestly love them all and will buy any more they put out - apparently they can't find the multi-tracks for all the songs on "English Settlement" and "Mummer," so that's the hold-up for those.

Audio nerd stuff (in case this is helpful for anyone Googling these issues):
1) Listening to the surround "The Big Express," for some tracks, the first two seconds of some songs would get cut off. I changed the "Audio Format" setting on my player (Playstation 5) from "Bitstream" to "Linear PCM" and that fixed it.
2) "Black Sea" would only play in stereo, not surround. I figured out that changing the "Audio" track setting on the player from "1. English" to "2. English" allowed it to play in surround. I had this exact same issue (and the fix is the same) for the King Crimson "Larks' Tongues in Aspic" surround DVD. (I didn't have this issue with other XTC or King Crimson surround discs, so I guess it's a disc mastering error?)

apparently they can't find the multi-tracks for all the songs on "English Settlement" and "Mummer," so that's the hold-up for those.

They have all but the single a-sides.

Listening to the surround "The Big Express," for some tracks, the first two seconds of some songs would get cut off. I changed the "Audio Format" setting on my player (Playstation 5) from "Bitstream" to "Linear PCM" and that fixed it.

Thanks so much for this tip--I have this issue when hooking my Mac up to my receiver for DTS .wav files in VLC, will try this trick to see if it sorts it out.

xps glad you enjoyed the piece!

I haven't heard any of Wilson's mixes at home as I haven't any good setup for them. But TBE is the one I'm most eager to hear and I'm wondering if it will spotlight slightly buried things in the old mix, like the synth (electric piano?) in This World Over or the cannonballs in Seagulls. Still sad he omits the crossfades though.

listening to Wasp Star for the first time in forever and wow I forgot how late-90s altrock it sounds. it's like a good version of the Fastball album. some moments remind me of Third Eye Blind. hard to believe it's actually XTC sometimes.

pretty weird final album in retrospect, it sounds like a debut somehow. idk of any other artists with long careers who have pulled off something like that. I don't mean albums where they sound young I mean albums that sound like a good band's first set of songs produced to be very of its era

like imagine if this was a new band and the last song on their debut was "Wheel and the Maypole", how exciting that would be

There's a really good, and very candid interview with Haydn Bendall on the XTC Podcast from a month or so ago, lots of info about Apple Venus.

"Stupidly Happy" def sounds like it was inspired by "Never Let You Go"

Although now I'm realizing they might have come out too close to each other to have one inspire the other

I think some of those late 90s bands loved XTC. The glasses guy from BNL imagine very much so. It's All Been Done sounds like his take on it

IRRC he had Wasp Star written, like Apple Venus, in the wake of Nonsuch, so early to mid 90s. His demo, as they tend to, sounds a lot like the final arrangement, released within months of the Third Eye Blind song in 2000
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2RhxrsZI2A

The Wheel and the Maypole is such a fitting and lovely end to the discography of the best band ever

And obviously let's not ruin things with facts obviously (e.g. the 2005 tunes)

otm

according to Wikipedia, most of these songs were originally written between 1994-1996. they indeed are pretty close to the demos but there are certain touches - the vocal distortion on "Stupidly Happy", the drum fills on "We're All Light" - that sound very late-90s altrock.

The glasses guy from BNL imagine very much so. It's All Been Done sounds like his take on it

yes! always thought this song sounded like something on Nonsuch. a bit more obnoxious though.

wonder if not having Dave Gregory on board caused them to farm out more of the process which made it sound more modern. I'm really curious what a follow up album would've sounded like.

also I kinda forgot about the 2005 tunes, they're not bad. the band didnt really make a big deal out of them so I still consider Wheel and the Maypole their 'last' song