XTC C/D S/D

i like Miniature Sun, especially the moment where the uneasy circular chord progression from the verses briefly collapses into a cute pop thing in the middle eight

i like Miniature Sun, especially the moment where the uneasy circular chord progression from the verses briefly collapses into a cute pop thing in the middle eight

― ciderpress, Friday, June 1, 2012 4:29 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah, that's a magic moment, because when it returns to the uneasy chord progression it makes the following verse feel even more 'uneasier'. Which of course fits with the lyrical content perfectly!

Are those synth horns, or Mark Isham's trumpet treated? Or is that the same thing? At any rate, relistening and reading the words to "Miniature Sun," which I've never done (did all my listening to this one in the car.) Good lyrics, but the music is still a bit "fusion and prog" as noted above. Just kinda not my thing, and I do think the album starts to lag by the end of its 60 minutes, or my attention starts to wane.

Even I never know where I go when my eyes are closed -- Chalkhills and Children is all about dreaming and floating over strange lands. Dreamy and slow. I like it.

Maybe the best use of the saw lead ever

On the contrary, 'Chalkhills And Children' is about keeping oneself grounded(!)

Ha, I guess I'm not very good at that or I would have realized that myself. I only focused on the dreamy parts. Oops.

i like miniature sun for the reason noted upthread, not as good as i remember the sun but a similar vibe

Yes, "Chalkhills and Children" is all about HOW AWESOMELY AWESOME DREAM LIKE IS LIFE IN...SWINDON.

It's also the only really good song on the second half of Oranges & Lemons. (By the way, O&L has my favourite XTC album cover art for all none of you who were wondering.)

bosh. "merely a man" is all-time and "across this antheap" comes close (too bad about that last minute). would love to hear the latter done as it might have been circa the big express. and i just love "pink thing", o_0 lyrics and all.

"Across this Antheap" is so goddamn good it can reduce me to tears.

"across this antheap" comes close (too bad about that last minute)

what god no that last minute is the best part!

Yea! Just before the end section, that part when most of the instruments fall away and AP sings 'as we crawl on and on..' is some lovely.

that's really super, supergirl

what god no that last minute is the best part!

yeah, no. i like everything else abt the song, especially the clattering, driving verses w/ that awesome guitar riff. the comparatively static "soldiers, workers, slaves and farmers" bit works fine as a middle eight, and i love the way the chaos and tension suddenly evaporate at the near-end for "on and on past widows who'll weep" (etc), clearing us some breathing room after all that propulsive percussion, emphasizing the sad futility of the condition described.

that's all GREAT, and i think i understand why partridge wanted to drag that quiet moment out and noise it back up. it makes sense, thematically: there is no respite from the noisy chaos of animal life, not even in sorrowful awareness. when the "on and on and..." part kicks in, however, building to all the crazy panning and those big boom drums, i just want out. there's no tension, no motion, no rhythmic or melodic appeal. it's just an irritating, insistently yearning mess (which may be the point, but i don't enjoy it).

catching up

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

I didn't mind it so much, but dudgeon's production is a bit too slick for the material, and partridge wasn't impressed either

btw antheap is one of my favourite songs off o&l, which is one of my favourite albums off xtc, unpopular paul fox production be damned

I just really wish "Here Comes President Kill Again" was booted, what a miserable excuse for a song, and it's not as though Partridge didn't literally have three dozen better tunes in his archives

O&L is one of my least favourite XTC album (just behind Wasp Star), but I have a lot of time for Mayor Of Simpleton, Poor Skeleton Steps Out, The Loving, Here Comes President Kill Again, Merely A Man and Chalkhills And Children. Otherwise I don't think it holds a candle to the two albums either side of it

Garden of Earthly delights stands among their best songs.

Also, the line "this is your life and you do what you want to do / just don't hurt nobody / unless of course they ask you" is about the best line ever written.

...and you can hear his sardonic smile as he delivers it!

Also, the line "this is your life and you do what you want to do / just don't hurt nobody / unless of course they ask you" is about the best line ever written.

― Poliopolice, Tuesday, 5 June 2012 15:02 (43 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

As good as the entirety of 'No Language In Our Lungs' (especially the middle section)!?

hm. that track doesn't strike me as particularly inspired, actually

I would have made this instrumental
but the words got in the way

love this line from "no language", but it's not a lyrical standout, overall

Oh, and the song "Tissue Tigers" from the album Rag & Bone Buffet-- what an amazing track. I have no idea what the time signature is; it's almost presaging math-rock, but it's really poppy and eccentric. It's brilliant, frankly. Who throws a song like that away? That's better than 95% of bands best songs.

oh, it's in 4/4, but it sounds like it's in 17/6 or some shit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ut5xh6ZGfA

People will always be tempted to wipe their feeeeeeeet
On anything welcome written on iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit - a timbalambla timbalamba toodamatoodama

No one's mentioned "Life Begins at the Hop"? It didn't come up on a find-search. I don't really have any feeling for this group, and just own the matched compilations, but "Life Begins at the Hop" is undoubtedly one of my ten favourite new wave songs. "Senses Working Overtime" is good too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yiknQ9xyJk

Yep "Life Begins" is the beginning of many XTC tunes that seemed to be absolutely pitch-perfect. That "tell me, what do you say" chorus is really something.

A bunch of my all-time favorite XTC songs come from the beginning of their career*, and I'm always surprised by the indifference of many fans to their first couple albums and associated singles. They changed a hell of a lot over the course of their career, but they were on fire right out of the gate.

* "Are You Receiving Me?", "Mekkanik Dancing", "Science Friction", "This Is Pop?", "Neon Shuffle" (most of White Music, really)

love their early singles, I just think the albums themselves are uneven

Waxworks blew my mind when I first heard it.

go2 is iffy, but i like white music almost all the way through. few of their albums strike me as perfect from front to back, tbh, but i've always been more interested in songs than albums.

Waxworks blew my mind when I first heard it.

yeah, i knew a bunch of those songs beforehand, but waxworks is an amazing collection of tunes. beeswax too!

White Music is a great album. Very jerky New-Wavey but also it seems to parody that genre at the same time. It's almost Zappa-esque in the way it's very self-consciously stupid but also brilliant.

otm

stick to music threads ;)

"Life Begins At The Hop" is so sweet; I especially like that it's an upbeat pop song about a church dance social. c-c-c-cola on tap

I've got something like 75 officially released non-lp tracks and it's almost all great. Best b-side band ever? Got my vote!

Yeah most of the CDs I have are the ones with B-sides as binus tracks they shoved right in the middle of the normal tracklist but tbh it took me years to figure that out because they never sounded like a drop in quality or out of place. Can't imagine Black Sea w/out No Language In Our Lungs in the middle.

you're australian now?

???

binus

jk

Can't imagine Black Sea w/out No Language In Our Lungs in the middle.

this is utterly otm, so much so that I thought it was part of the normal track list until this post

thought forgot

I'm pretty sure "Language" was part of the original track listing, unless it was some US-only dealie. The only copy of Black Sea I had was an 80s Geffen cassette (minimal artwork/info, no bonus tracks), and "Language is on it.

ha I see I am wrong! nevermind.

Yeah mine has "No Language" but the bonus tracks are "Smokeless Zone", "Don't Lose Your Temper", and "Somnabulist"

I think "Best B-side band ever" is actually OTM when you consider all the Fuzzy Warbles stuff; a 30-track "best of" of that stuff would be fantastic. Trouble is they're a great A-side band too :)

This floored me when I saw it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8htYS8mf8iY

ah yeah, 'no language' is on the original pressing, not sure what I was thinking tbh