XTC C/D S/D

(xp) I cannot imagine sitting down and listening to an entire album of Andy Partridge!

Ha, try nine! Plus 'extras' and 'best-tracks-from'!

(It's not as bad as it sounds: I was working away on a 'drive-commute' so I played them all)

It's funny, the band seemed to like his "You are all xxxxx" type aggro songs, whereas his "OK, maybe it's me" seemingly got the knock-back and stayed unrealised apart from these demo versions.

As a set, only Pete Townshend's demos are comparable.

Can you imagine anyone else in XTC saying to Andy Partridge, "I don't like that song, I don't want to play it"? 'cos I can't.

Bear in mind, APartridge is somewhat prolific, so yes I can.

Past tales: The drummer in our band used to be an engineer at a studio where XTC would demo/practice songs, one time Colin went in to do a bunch of his songs for consideration. None were chosen, so our drummer had carte blanche to use them if we liked.

Problem was, we didn't.

the Big Express is really an odd album. I don't like a lot of it. Was this a deliberate attempt to return to their earlier/noisier/louder/faster post-punk roots...? It's so harsh and shouty, and it seems like quite an anamolous bump in the road of their trajectory, it bears little to no resemblance to the several albums before and after it.

Don't know how deliberate it was, but I agree with every word of this.

From the Chalkhills site:

Andy: “If Mummer was a gentle chug through the countryside, then The Big Express is a loco derailing itself in the rusty goods yard. An altogether more industrial affair. Slashing electric guitars, sheets of steel bass and diesel oil drums. An iron opera, steam powered and brick encased.”

Andy: “Call me stupid, but these were good records. If you bastards don't want to buy 'em, what can I do? I had faith in my art.”

I listened to this album for the first time in YEARS (as in a seriously long time) recently. My big problem with this album is the way it's sequenced, opening with two Colin Moulding tracks and then sticking the other two Mouldings near the end, meaning there's an unbroken sequence of NINE Andy Partridge tracks

I understand what you mean, and especially on a long album - I personally like ALL of the Colin songs on the record, so would keep them all if I had to condense this down to a single record. I would spread them out a bit too, but I'd definitely leave the opening three songs well alone. That opening salvo of 'Runaways', 'Ball And Chain' and 'Senses Working Overtime' is one of the best openings of any XTC album, in my opinion!

the Big Express is really an odd album. I don't like a lot of it. Was this a deliberate attempt to return to their earlier/noisier/louder/faster post-punk roots...? It's so harsh and shouty, and it seems like quite an anamolous bump in the road of their trajectory, it bears little to no resemblance to the several albums before and after it.

I didn't like "The Big Express" at first when I heard it. My immediate reaction was that there was way too much going on that I found it overwhelming at first. It grew on me, though - 'Train Running Low On Soul Coal', 'Seagulls Screaming Kiss Her Kiss Her' and 'The Everyday Story Of Smalltown' are three of my favourite ever XTC tracks.

can't believe they left red brick dream off big express, it fits the vague theme of the record, it's short and so pretty. guess it wasn't "loud" enough

Yeah, 'Red Brick Dream' is probably the best of the "Big Express" bonus tracks. 'Washaway' and, ESPECIALLY 'Blue Overall' represent some of the lower-tier XTC stuff though. 'Blue Overall' in particular, I feel being Andy Partridge's worst ever song.

you know, this band made great videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCW6Kte2o1A&feature=related

Partridge wouldn't agree though.

Nowt wrong with a bit of 'Blue Overall'.

I'll admit, I've never liked the lyrics to 'The Smartest Monkeys', but I love the echoing guitar chords, the drumming and the synth solo in the middle redeems the entire track for me!

― Turrican, Friday, 9 September 2011 00:32 (7 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

agh really? Every single thing about the song sounds self-conscious to me, like he'd lost faith in his own ability to do anything at all and just sort of forced out this thing.

the Big Express is really an odd album. I don't like a lot of it. Was this a deliberate attempt to return to their earlier/noisier/louder/faster post-punk roots...? It's so harsh and shouty, and it seems like quite an anamolous bump in the road of their trajectory, it bears little to no resemblance to the several albums before and after it.

― you will always be wrong (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 9 September 2011 03:19 (5 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

When they stopped touring, Partridge got all studio and chucked his creativity into that. That's why there's a succession of theme albums after 1984 – Big Express is all Swindon railyard, 25 O'Clock is psychedelia pastiche, Skylarking is a walk through the seasons and life/death etc.

btw Mummer has excellent songs but the running order is wrong imo. It starts upbeat, drops into delicate numbers and ends abruptly with a savagely cynical three-minute pop song.

Re the Colin thing and the band collectively vetoing songs, I always found it odd that some of Colin's best work was relegated to B sides. 'Washaway', 'Smokeless Zone' (that song actually converted a friend of mine), 'Heatwave', 'The World is Full of Angry Young Men' off the top of my head.

Easily one of the best b-sides bands ever. You could make a monstrously good double album from the best of them. Looking forward to the sequel to "Rag & Bone Buffet" which will be called "Bric-A-Brac Breakfast".

That seems to have stalled along with all the Ape Records dramas.

'Instant Tunes' is my favourite of all the Colin B-sides, easily! Should have made the cut for "White Music", in my humble opinion.

What IS going on with Ape? What's stalling things? There's a Partridge/Blegvad album on that list, too, that I can't wait to hear.

Financial collapse iirc. I'll try to find something.

Can't find anything.

Re the Colin thing and the band collectively vetoing songs, I always found it odd that some of Colin's best work was relegated to B sides. 'Washaway', 'Smokeless Zone' (that song actually converted a friend of mine), 'Heatwave', 'The World is Full of Angry Young Men' off the top of my head.

― Autumn Almanac (Schlafsack), Thursday, 8 September 2011 22:41 (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

When Col's songs were good, they were great. When they weren't....

Even Andy's bad songs were at least entertaining. "WOOoooOOounded Horse" always makes me laugh (even if that's far from the point)

Yeah, I've often felt there was a bit of humour in 'Wounded Horse', even if the song is quite a serious song about trying to get over a failed relationship. I don't think they got the best out of that one when they recorded it, though.

another entry into the "how did this not get released????" sweepstakes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEXLTYgub3E

yeah that's a good one.

I don't like Wounded Horse, too plodding

Yeah it's almost as though he's written it one night in a drunken stupor, woken up the next morning, realised how corny it is and just decided to play it up.

I'm Unbecome is great.

Listening to _Nonsuch_ for the first time in years, I think this is their weakest album. The production just does NOT suit these songs, it's so overdone and slick and the drumming is, hrm, too simple? Colin's songs have gotten worse, "Smartest Monkeys" and "Bungalow" still totally suck ass and "War Dance" is even crappier than I remembered, ughhhhh. Demos for this stuff are somewhat better, and I still like the too-clever-by-half 'Peter Pumpkinhead". Andy's writing at this stage is a bit too unsubtle and hamfisted.

War Dance and The Smartest Monkeys are two of their worst songs but I've always rated this as one of my favourite albums of theirs. Love Wrapped In Grey, Books Are Burning, My Bird Performs, Rook and many others. Their weakest album for me is Mummer or maybe Wasp Star?

wasp star was a poor way to go out

Rook is really the only song I like from Nonsuch. My appreciation for it was really enhanced by this 8-bit cover. Like I got into the cover way before the actual song and then some of my feelings transferred.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBhLmwFDW3Y

Nonsuch is one of my absolute favourite albums of theirs, although I have never liked 'War Dance'. Love both 'The Smartest Monkeys' and 'Bungalow', though!

Nonsuch is massively underrated. It pisses all over Oranges & Lemons from a great height height

heeiiiiiight

How can an XTC fan not enjoy 'Bungalow'? It's probably the best thing Colin Moulding ever did. Woo hoo!

otm, bungalow is amazing

smartest monkeys on the other hand

meh, I don't like it, but at least like the groove of smartest monkeys. It's just the phrase "smartest monkeys" that seems beyond the call of decency.

imo something happened to Colin in the later XTC era -- thinking all the years of not having big hits and still having to live super modestly (even having to take part time jobs for extra cash) caused him to not make writing songs the biggest priority. Plus, thinking that his share of XTC song royalties would be we down from Partridge's. When I hear tunes like "I remember the sun" or "grass" or "Wake Up", it's too bad to think he had to go down w/XTC's ship, because as was mentioned earlier in thread, his best stuff is up there with the most creative songwriting of the 80s.

way down, that is

I think he lost confidence after being compared unfavourably with Partridge for 15 years (last I heard he had completely moved on from writing)

ugh totally hate Bungalow

conversations like this make me think an XTC poll would be really interesting, even though it would just be the half dozen of us voting

Colin Moulding wrote about a third of XTC's singles. Even when he had 2 or 3 songs on an album in total, usually at least one would be a single

Did you guys see the "Swindon Local TV" video links I posted a little while ago?

Also, prior to their fallout, he did acknowledge his rate of producing songs just didn't compare to Partridge's

http://www.swindonviewpoint.com/video/xtc-science-friction-early-studio-recording

Search for "XTC" (obv) and "Helium Kids" (less obv)

Andy Partridge has always claimed that Colin Moulding got a higher percentage of songs that he wrote on XTC albums than Andy Partridge himself did. But that's only because Andy Partridge writes songs as frequently as most people go for pisses.

Moulding's work was stellar in the first few years (Heatwave, Instant Tunes, Set Myself on Fire, Crowded Room, The Rhythm, Ten Feet Tall, Fly on the Wall, Angry Young Men, Wake Up, Generals & Majors, Ball & Chain, Smokeless Zone, Blame the Weather)

also Sacrificial Bonfire