re: whiny, it was more like "it's maybe too whiny, or something?" like she also couldn't quite place the right adjective. I think she's referring to his voice on "Senses Working Overtime", the "hey hey the clouds are away..the innocents can all sleep safely" stuff, I could see as whiny.
― Dominique, Monday, 20 October 2014 14:53 (nine years ago) link
...which yields to glorious, full-throated joy! AP is a total thesp, his mood is a broad & copious palette
― joie de marsh (imago), Monday, 20 October 2014 14:55 (nine years ago) link
Glad 4u tho, even it this means nothing else like 'The Return' :P
― joie de marsh (imago), Monday, 20 October 2014 14:58 (nine years ago) link
I once played Senses Working Overtime to a teenage science class. They were "what the fuck is this?" during the first verse, but were hooked by the end.
― Dr X O'Skeleton, Monday, 20 October 2014 15:01 (nine years ago) link
Ha, I remember when I bought the (12") single. I was exactly that!
― Mark G, Monday, 20 October 2014 15:05 (nine years ago) link
I'd say AP's voice can be a little hard to deal with. I have to give him the benefit of the doubt really.
Listened to the song 'Gold' off Mummer yesterday for the first time and it struck me (I'm sure this must have been mentioned) just how unconventional the structures on many of these songs are.
― Shepard Toney Album (dog latin), Monday, 20 October 2014 15:06 (nine years ago) link
Oddly enough I'm listening to their version of "All Along The Watchtower" right now, which takes Dylan (already a textbook example of a singer with some, uh, limitations) to a whole new level of bizarrely exaggerated pronounciations.
― Dick Clownload (Dan Peterson), Monday, 20 October 2014 15:07 (nine years ago) link
that cover is so punk & awesome, wish I'd voted for it
― joie de marsh (imago), Monday, 20 October 2014 15:09 (nine years ago) link
I always forget how much I love it until I drag it out again; it is amazing. Just pre-punk, one of my favorite artists was Steve Harley, so I think I was predisposed to liking Andy's vocal stylings.
― Dick Clownload (Dan Peterson), Monday, 20 October 2014 15:20 (nine years ago) link
yh steve harley was another childhood fave of mine, at least his greatest hits
― joie de marsh (imago), Monday, 20 October 2014 15:31 (nine years ago) link
fwiw I always thought this song was kind of a midpoint between Cockney Rebel and early XTC. Yelpy vocal/weedy organ, but trying for some kind of new pop.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqT4wv305Wc
― Deliciously hard yet very accessible (Dan Peterson), Monday, 20 October 2014 18:42 (nine years ago) link
oh totally! this is really cool
if squeeze are at one end of the worthwhile post-punk spectrum and wire at the other, then this lot fit in near the former and say foxx era ultravox! the latter. all are great
― joie de marsh (imago), Monday, 20 October 2014 18:48 (nine years ago) link
sounds a bit like
http://youtu.be/-ZH2fknRMLE?list=AL94UKMTqg-9B_oAQYmKTmhuA4g_ibPoh2
― chemical aioli (Hunt3r), Monday, 20 October 2014 19:15 (nine years ago) link
The thing I love about the 'All Along The Watchtower' cover is that tight but funky groove that Chambers & Moulding lock into... honest to God, I could listen to just the bass and drums grooving away on that for ages. Then there's Barry's unorthodox organ work on top of that as well. It's one of those covers where if you removed the vocal, you'd be hard pressed to guess what song they're covering. I guess Japan's covers are a bit like that, too.
― Welcome To (Turrican), Monday, 20 October 2014 19:17 (nine years ago) link
^^^ ahh yes, thank you for this, I'd forgotten the song and have never seen the video. I tend to only remember Boomtown Rats for "I Don't Like Mondays."
It took me years to track down tha actual Secret LP back in the pre-internet days. The rest of it isn't all that good. xpost.
― Deliciously hard yet very accessible (Dan Peterson), Monday, 20 October 2014 19:19 (nine years ago) link
I'd say that the barriers that most people face when getting into XTC are Andy's voice (especially on the earlier albums), Andy's fondness for dissonance and the dense productions of albums like The Big Express and Oranges & Lemons. The impression I've always got when I've read people's opinions of XTC over the years is that Colin's stuff seems to act as a gateway into the band. Colin's stuff is more instant, whereas Andy's stuff is more rewarding in the long run.
― Welcome To (Turrican), Monday, 20 October 2014 19:22 (nine years ago) link
And repetition, on songs like "When You're Near Me" and "Scissor man," among many examples.
― Deliciously hard yet very accessible (Dan Peterson), Monday, 20 October 2014 19:31 (nine years ago) link
I did but I think I may have been the only one. So true about the lock and groove on that song.
― kwhitehead, Monday, 20 October 2014 22:37 (nine years ago) link
Has anybody pre-ordered the Drums & Wires reissue? It's due in about a week iirc. I'm even weirdly excited to hear the instrumental version of the whole record.
― MaresNest, Monday, 20 October 2014 22:41 (nine years ago) link
Also, while we are talking about early yelpy, herky jerky bands, The Nits early records are worth checking out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIQ_U3I2bZY
― MaresNest, Monday, 20 October 2014 22:44 (nine years ago) link
Sound - On - Sound by Bill Nelson's Red Noise must be the closest relative of White Music/Go 2 XTC? produced by John Leckie as well
― soref, Monday, 20 October 2014 22:51 (nine years ago) link
I think I read a contemporary interview where Nelson was denying that XTC had been an influence on Red Noise and said that half of Sound - On - Sound had been written before White Music was released? early XTC frequently sound like a speeded up Be Bop Deluxe anyway
― soref, Monday, 20 October 2014 22:54 (nine years ago) link
I love everything about that Nits video, esp. the apparently confounded audience of 7.
― kwhitehead, Monday, 20 October 2014 23:17 (nine years ago) link
Also amazed at how many records they released!
― kwhitehead, Monday, 20 October 2014 23:18 (nine years ago) link
hahaha that is seriously fucking brilliant
― joie de marsh (imago), Monday, 20 October 2014 23:21 (nine years ago) link
Seal of approval from Andy Partridge himself for Hideous Lump's fine illustrations.
― Portsmouth Bubblejet, Tuesday, 21 October 2014 18:44 (nine years ago) link
Wau!
― Deliciously hard yet very accessible (Dan Peterson), Tuesday, 21 October 2014 18:48 (nine years ago) link
Ha, cool.
"As for the poll,totally disagree,but fun eh?" New board description please!
― Pict in a blanket (WilliamC), Tuesday, 21 October 2014 18:56 (nine years ago) link
wwwwwaaaaaaaaaht
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 21 October 2014 18:57 (nine years ago) link
they really should have tweeted him as the results were being rolled out so he could appear on the thread when Pale and Precious came so low and do some Marshall McLuhan/You Know Nothing of My Work! type bit
― soref, Tuesday, 21 October 2014 19:00 (nine years ago) link
lol
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 21 October 2014 19:01 (nine years ago) link
Or when 'Senses Working Overtime' came in at #1...
― Welcome To (Turrican), Tuesday, 21 October 2014 20:46 (nine years ago) link
You could have had his ballot!
― Mark G, Tuesday, 21 October 2014 20:52 (nine years ago) link
Whoa, cool!
http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/j449/HideousLump/Eugen_de_Blaas_The_Flirtation.jpg
― Hideous Lump, Wednesday, 22 October 2014 04:13 (nine years ago) link
Listening to Nonsuch right now, and I know that 'The Disappointed' has its critics, but fucking hell I love this song. I particularly love the way that the intro is actually the middle eight of the song, and that the "ooh" vocals during these parts follows the same melody that Partridge uses on the word "hearts" throughout the verse. Partridge then plays off this vocal in the middle eight by introducing a lead vocal over the top of the "ooh"s and the effect, in my humble opinion, is just fucking sublime. It gives me goosebumps every time, no matter how often I listen to it... I definitely think it placed far too low in the poll, but honestly, these poll results were always going to be unexpected.
― Welcome To (Turrican), Wednesday, 22 October 2014 05:57 (nine years ago) link
25. You’re The Wish You Are I Had (950 points, 12 votes)75. Rook (436 points, 6 votes)
http://cdn.videogum.com/files/2012/03/shrug.jpg
― Welcome To (Turrican), Wednesday, 22 October 2014 06:03 (nine years ago) link
"Rook" definitely higher on my Top 500 ballot than "Wish", but I understand why people would prefer it. "Rook" is absolutely no fun to sing at parties. Then again, "Wish" is no fun to play while gazing out over a rainy moor, so....
― hardcore dilettante, Wednesday, 22 October 2014 06:23 (nine years ago) link
I have a friend who loves the original "All Along the Watchtower" so I sent him the XTC version and he responded with "this is the worst thing I've ever heard" and now refuses to give XTC another chance. His loss.
― Maggie killed Quagmire (collest baby ever) (frogbs), Wednesday, 22 October 2014 12:21 (nine years ago) link
I have a live recording of the Sultans of Ping FC doing "are you experienced"
― Mark G, Wednesday, 22 October 2014 12:24 (nine years ago) link
lol what a rockist idiot xp
― joie de marsh (imago), Wednesday, 22 October 2014 12:24 (nine years ago) link
yeah he pretty much insisted that I only like it because it's 'ironic' and so on. I mean I do think the thing is hilarious but cover or not it's got a hell of a busted groove to it
― Maggie killed Quagmire (collest baby ever) (frogbs), Wednesday, 22 October 2014 12:31 (nine years ago) link
exack
― joie de marsh (imago), Wednesday, 22 October 2014 12:31 (nine years ago) link
Hmm, I've always thought XTC's version was pretty worthless and always skip, I may revisit but I'll prob still not like.
― MaresNest, Wednesday, 22 October 2014 12:49 (nine years ago) link
if yer gonna murder a classic, do it properly
― joie de marsh (imago), Wednesday, 22 October 2014 12:50 (nine years ago) link
admittedly I'm not a big fan of XTC - even my fave albums by them (Drums & Wires through Mummer is the sweet spot (hon mention Skylarking) would rate no better than a 4 out of 5 (RYM-style) each at most. (I didn't like The Big Express, though haven't heard it since the '80s. and Andy's solo Take Away/The Lure Of Salvage is prob my overall fave XTC album/thing)
but had I voted "Ladybird" would have been my #1. reminds me a bit of Bacharach/David "This Girl's In Love With You". I also like the Colin Moulding pop songs like "Ten Feet Tall", "Love At First Sight", etc.
― Paul, Wednesday, 22 October 2014 22:36 (nine years ago) link
Being American, I only just realized while preparing for this poll that the Ladybird ain't no bird--she's a ladybug.
― Hideous Lump, Thursday, 23 October 2014 01:48 (nine years ago) link
Tell that to Mrs Johnson.
― hardcore dilettante, Thursday, 23 October 2014 06:35 (nine years ago) link
Congratulations to Andy Partridge for winning the Classic Songwriter award at the Q Awards!
― Welcome To (Turrican), Friday, 24 October 2014 04:36 (nine years ago) link
Man do I wish now that I could have snuck a few more B-sides onto my ballot: 'Jump', 'Extrovert' and 'Happy Families' in particular.
― Welcome To (Turrican), Saturday, 25 October 2014 17:23 (nine years ago) link
did we do an albums poll?
― Shat Parp (dog latin), Monday, 24 July 2017 10:45 (seven years ago) link