XTC C/D S/D

"Standing In For Joe" was Colin's last greatest song. A lot of the good songs on Wasp Star were rescued from the aborted alter-ego bubble-gum pop album that Partridge tried to pitch in 1995 to Virgin, where each song would be by a different artist -- a bit like the Dukes Of Stratosphear. Acc. to Andy, the Virgin executives were silent and horrified after Andy made his pitch.

The more I read about the history of XTC, the more it becomes really clear that, in spite of other Virgin success, that label never got XTC from the get-go. Their choices for XTC singles became terrible from Black Sea onward.

..replace Black Sea with Mummer in that last post. With that substitution in mind, it makes more sense why Virgin chose the worst songs as singles from 1983 on... the band weren't making them money at the time.

I would add this track to AA's Warbles material list, so lovely.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBpV_Kf-e5U

ah yeah, his giant peach work was patchy but that song is ~art~

Killer middle eight in his best tradition too.

Rag & Bone Buffet drove me nuts (so many awesome outtakes during the English Settlement era that really should have at least made Mummer) but some of these Fuzzy Warbles releases are insane. This man's *outtakes* make up a pretty enviable career.

nuts/insane.. in a good or bad way?

In a good way; I always assumed that stuff like "Leisure" or "The Smartest Monkeys" were included because they didn't have enough good tunes to go around (before realizing that some people actually liked those songs)

ah yeah, his giant peach work was patchy but that song is ~art~

ugh I hate that song, so cheeseball. the other Peach songs are goofier but also better imho.

every XTC fan wants different things from this band, I've learned.

My college station played "Dear Madam Barnum" a fair bit, enough for me to buy the album and...stop listening it to it after a week.

btw, anyone else find Mr. partridge's twitter musings a bit on the annoying side?

Anby Partridge annoying? Whouldathoughtit?

compared to whom?

you

*hugs*

Oh yeah, don't want to forget all the great unreleased stuff from Coat of Many Cupboards

I didn't remember "Smartest Monkeys." Just listened, and while it's certainly not among their greats, I don't hear it as being as awful as y'all are on about at all.

it gets worse everytime you hear it

Maybe I just have low standards re: XTC.

nonsuch is great generally (i mean come on, humble daisy, then she appeared, ugly underneath, holly up on poppy, that wave) but dudgeon's production lets it down

also it was my proper introduction to the band (bought it in queenstown, played it nonstop while being driven through the nz countryside) so there's a soft spot

humble daisy, then she appeared, ugly underneath, holly up on poppy, that wave

was with you up until That Wave, which is like a nausea-inducing tune to my ears

YEAH that makes a huge difference; sometimes I think it's a real blessing to fall in love with a band by first hearing one of their worst albums as then you'll never have a grudge against it. Oranges & Lemons was my intro to them – I found a cassette in a thrift store in a box along with a surprising influx of bands I already liked (Siouxsie, the Cure, Zorn, other goffy bs) and it had a cool cover so I took a chance on it. And so I have a soft spot for it.
xp

Nonsuch is nearer the top of the XTC pile imo

every single xtc album (apart from big express, I think) took seriously 20–30 listens before it bedded down in my brain. nonsuch was definitely the result of high rotation in the back of a car for a week. the compact xtc was the next album I bought, and that took a few months to bed in. skylarking literally took ~years~.

for ages I've maintained that the best music is that which you need to work at; xtc fits that definition like a glove. it doesn't come easily, but when it does it consumes you.

btw I discovered nonsuch (and therefore xtc) when triple j (our local yoof radio station) gave it huge amounts of air time for 3–6 months

I think Nonsuch is one of their best albums, even though a lot of it's really slow and subdued and Colin's writing went down a level here (and IMO never really came back). But most of the Andy songs are fabulous.

All this talk about their albums made me try and rank them. Pretty happy with this order.

1. Skylarking
2. Drums & Wires
3. Black Sea
4. The Big Express
5. Nonsuch
6. Apple Venus
7. Go 2
8. English Settlement
9. White Music
10. Oranges & Lemons
11. Wasp Star
12. Mummer

every single xtc album (apart from big express, I think) took seriously 20–30 listens before it bedded down in my brain. nonsuch was definitely the result of high rotation in the back of a car for a week. the compact xtc was the next album I bought, and that took a few months to bed in. skylarking literally took ~years~.

funny, cuz my experience has beeb very different. the first XTC albums i bought/heard were mummer and the big express. i found them quite difficult at first, as i was in my teens and just starting to experiment with "weird-sounding" music, but sufficiently interesting to stick with. i eventually warmed to both, especially TBE, and they prodded me to explore the rest of the band's catalog.

the following year, i picked up go 2, white music and skylarking in fairly quick succession. i immediately adored all three, and for years would have called them my favorite XTC albums by a substantial margin. at this point, though, it's hard to for me to pick favorites (or least favorites) among their first 8 albums. i love them all in different ways and at different times. this week i'm all about the big express, but that could change tomorrow.

nonesuch and oranges and lemons, however, i've never entirely warmed too, despite repeated attempts with the latter. O&L gets better every time i drag it back out, but still contains only a few songs i care deeply about. the combination of vertical complexity, lightness of tone and whimsical fussiness keeps me at a distance. i guess i tend to like my XTC a little simpler and tuffer.

beeb lol

= been

at this point, though, it's hard to for me to pick favorites (or least favorites) among their first 8 albums.

this is otm. i tried off the back off kitchen person's ranking and just couldn't do it – the bottom half is easy but the top half depends on so many factors.

Aw, I have to resist the urge to get my giant 'Mummer' foam hand out and start up with my ra ra ra.

dudgeon's production lets it down

I disagree - the album is supposed to have a very slick, professional sound. But I'm curious to know what your issue is.

Personally I feel that Nonsuch would be better if "Wrapped in Grey" were the last song. I like "The Ugly Underneath" fine but the album is long and the last two songs do nothing for me. Moulding lets the album down quite a bit (in fact, outside of "One of the Millions" and "My Bird Performs" his post-Dukes material has kinda sucked)

wasn't "King for a Day" a Moulding? i think that one's great. and i'll rep for "In Another Life" too, though you're generally right otherwise

It is and I like it too, but I feel he only deserves half a writing credit for that

his two songs on Apple Venus are great. but agree it was generally downhill post-Dukes for some reason

Skylarking=overrated. White Music=Underrated.

half of that is otm

yeah I think White Music is great
and Moulding's songs on Apple Venus are really the only reason why that album as a whole isn't their absolute best

Skylarking has misled many XTC neophytes. It's a good album, but completely misrepresentative. I think English Settlement, Black Sea, or Drums and Wires would be much better ways to get into XTC.

It's certainly the one with the biggest influence by the producer. Rundgren was really important to that album and yes it don't really have the "XTC sound". It's still one of the best albums of the entire decade. IMO English Settlement is the one you want for an XTC first purchase

Depends what you want from XTC. English Settlement represents the decadent end of their herky-jerky sound.

I think it covers both sides of their spectrum well

I concur with poliopolice above, those 3 albums are the band's high watermarks and the most representative of their true sound, also the best place for folks to dip their toes into.

^^^

like I said upthread, everyone wants something different from this band. Skylarking is the midway point (and the peak, imo) between their (for lack of a better term) angular post-punk jangle period and their pastoral grownup "pop" period

I mean come on "true sound" gtfo

this band's catalog is all over the place, they don't have a true sound

to clarify - this is not one of those bands who had a formula like, say, the Ramones, from which they only occasionally deviated, resulting in one or two truly unrepresentative albums. This was a band with a pretty broad range of interests, that changed very, very radically over a long period of time.

You're right. I shouldn't have said "true sound." Those are the three records that I find superior and tend to define the band's sound by them but, you're right. They started out wheezy and frenetic, then went into the true pop period, which I love to this day.

Black Sea and Skylarking are my favorites, with The Big Express not far behind. When I want more I play the singles comp.

i guess i get to eat my words, cuz i hauled out nonsuch today and gave it a spin. hadn't heard it in a decade or so. though it's not their best work, i like it quite a bit. to my ears, it's better than oranges and lemons, overall. i even like the colin songs, though the lyrics to "the smartest monkeys" are still a problem.