XTC : Classic or Dud.

ahahahaha

xp He has a Gilliam-like habit of publicly blaming everyone within 500km for his own failures, and he's not nice about it. Evidenced in pretty much any of his interviews from the past 15 years.

Also this

Moulding's creepy song themes, married couples flirting/sex/talk with added swinger overtones applied to his brown music was a real let down on WS.

― Pottery Owls (MaresNest), Thursday, 9 December 2010 07:40 (3 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

is the best ever description of Moulding's input to that record, especially the 'brown music' bit.

Yeah it's true that Partridge doesn't sound like the easiest person to work with but in his defense he has gotten dicked over a lot. I mean if you listen to an XTC singles comp it's just really hard to fathom how this band almost never got played on the radio. Maybe the whole "not touring" thing really bit them on the ass??

Dunno, I remember that documentary where they're recording "Towers of London", where APart is dicking around at the mic, and John Leckie quietly remarks "ah good, he's in a good mood today"...

Oops. Okay Shakey, I just checked the email address and it's fine. I did BCC you both though, so maybe something went wrong there.

Is the Fuzzy Warbles Collector's Album already out of print?

It looks like the big 9cd boxset is out of print but individual volumes are plentiful on AmazonUK.

http://ape.uk.net/acatalog/Andy_Partridge.html

^^^ all available apparently

(the box is great btw)

Am I reading correctly that the box is out of stock from Ape Records, tho?

Like yes I'd like all the individual volumes but that box looked cute & awesome plus Andy writes thoughtful & funny notes.

Oh god, I just realised there's no way to ~buy~ anything

I have had Generals and Majors stuck in my head since yesterday. I am going insane. That is all.

I was watching Ric Burns' New York documentary today and right around where they talk about the death of Walt Whitman, Frost Circus pops up.

i had a dream last night that i was watching a biopic about XTC. i don't really know anything about XTC so it was pretty much all made up. there was a scene where a guy with long rocker hair got a haircut so that he looked more cleancut and modern.

http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/252/3920749.jpg
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_uB-0D-gV8mY/Rp7M5xT0_HI/AAAAAAAAC3E/LdVzTX-xQVU/s400/xtc1980.jpg

have come to really wish Fuzzy Warbles was chronological

I reordered the tracks when I ripped them but there's some annoying cross-fades that broke.

well I would re-order them now but it would mean digging through all the liner notes. which appear to be the only place any reference is made to the dates of recordings.

Yeah, it's a bit challenging. I have a spreadsheet that I can send you if you're interested.

I wouldn't mind making a playlist of these, crossfades bedamned

lol wow yeah if you actually have a spreadsheet I totally want it!

Ok, this may not be quite what you're looking for but here you go: http://www.divshare.com/download/19202708-09f

It's a list of the previously unreleased full songs (not instrumentals, joke bits or demos of released songs) from various sources, primarily Fuzzy Warbles. I've listed the album session it was recorded for and approximate date. I've gleaned this information from the FW liner notes, the Chalkhills website and some other sources I can't recall. Let me know if you spot any errors or have further questions.

Hold on, technical difficulties, one moment...

Use this link: http://www.divshare.com/download/19202877-fa5

thanks, gerald, will consult

this is awesome - thanks so much!!!

that covered a lot of bases - if anyone has any idea for the years the following were recorded please speak up!

It's Snowing Angels
Blue Overall
The Bland Leading the Bland
I Gave My Suitcase Away
Rocket
Extrovert
Lightheaded
These Voices
Open a Can of Human Beans
I Defy You Gravity
Smalltown
Red Brick Dream

It's Snowing Angels: Recorded by Andy Partridge on 14 August 1990
Blue Overall: Recorded during sessions for The Big Express
The Bland Leading the Bland: recorded during Wasp Star
I Gave My Suitcase Away: ?
Rocket: guessing around O&L or before Nonsuch
Extrovert: recorded during Skylarking
Lightheaded: guessing around Wasp Star or later
These Voices: 2003
Open a Can of Human Beans: ?
I Defy You Gravity: mid 90s sometime, around same time as my brown guitar?
Smalltown: Black Sea?
Red Brick Dream: Black Sea sessions

http://chalkhills.org/reelbyreal/i_song.html

first time I am hearing Open A Can, apparently this was a Dukes production, but definitely sounds like later era XTC, maybe Wasp Star or later?

Is "Smalltown" different than "(The Everyday Story of) Smalltown"?

Ah, I see what you're asking, never mind.

Some corrections and clarifications:
It's Snowing Angels: Recorded by Andy Partridge on 14 August 1990 - the Nonsuch sessions
I Gave My Suitcase Away: ? - around 2005
Rocket: guessing around O&L or before Nonsuch - in 1991, the Nonsuch sessions
These Voices: 2003 - around the time of "Wonderfalls"
Open a Can of Human Beans: ? - for the Wish List comp in 2003
I Defy You Gravity: mid 90s sometime, around same time as my brown guitar? - around 2000
Smalltown: Black Sea? - no, this appears on Big Express
Red Brick Dream: Black Sea sessions - no, the Big Express sessions as it was a b-side from that album

y'know, this Martin Newell album that Andy did is pretty underrated

Greatest Living Englishman (the song) is one of his best collaborative works ever imo

Fucking hell, I love this band. I went away for the New Year to visit some friends and didn't actively listen to much music for the duration I was there. As soon as I got back home, I put Mummer in the stereo, put on the headphones and stuck on 'Love On A Farmboy's Wages'... as soon as the chorus had kicked in and those beautifully-recorded guitars tickled my eardrums, I felt like I was falling in love with this band all over again. Superb. Fucking superb.

Yep, Andy's a genius. Be sure to check out his two collaboration with Peter Blegvad!

http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/252/3920749.jpg

dave mustaine played in XTC briefly before going on to form metallica.

I listened to their entire discography from Drums and Wires on a little while ago and it really is pretty breathtaking

i am complete awe of XTC and they might be most underrated/underacknowledged band of all time (except maybe some unnamed group of tribal aborigine musicians living in Papau New Guinea in the mid 1200s), but somehow only about 30% of their proper albums seem stunningly and unprecedentedly brilliant, while 70% is merely good or decent. as a singles band, they are hard to beat though.

they might be most underrated/underacknowledged band of all time

On the second count most definitely, on the first I don't know - I hear bands like Sparks and XTC referred to as "underrated" all the time and it seems that well, among *those who have heard them*, they're rated extremely highly - the question is why didn't XTC, who wrote some of the catchiest singles of the 80's, pick up more fans? Sure, their record company hated them, but it's still weird to think that bands like Midnight Oil are still known by your average Dad while it seems only music nerds really value XTC. When, as you mention, they've a good 20-some singles that are just undeniable. That's what strikes me about songs like "Life Begins at the Hop", or "Love on a Farmboy's Wages", or "Senses Working Overtime" - they do everything an amazing pop song should do, and then some. They're not even "weird" like Sparks. I don't get it.

it took me dozens of listens to like nearly every xtc album. it's quality music that takes time to digest. a few singles have immediate appeal, but on the whole the albums require work.

I've shifted on this point for XTC -- in that now, I think it's pretty amazing they became as popular as they did. Partridge really doesn't strike me as the kind of guy with enough patience or tact to be "famous". He kind of does what he wants, as far as songwriting, even when he's trying to be super "accessible". Despite the fact he's essentially a genius at melody, song structure, harmony, etc, he still seems incapable of writing something for "everyone", at least on purpose. So, if you like what he does -- well, you kind of have to *love* it.

yeah, he's been contracted to do heaps of writing for television/film, other artists, etc., but apart from the wonderfalls theme nothing really went anywhere

the amount of commissioned stuff on Fuzzy Warbles that got turned down is pretty incredible

a new rerelease campaign was announced that would involve their entire catalogue being mixed in 5.1 surround sound and released in expanded editions beginning with their 1992 album Nonsuch.

lol waht how much more crap could there possible be

oh god

at first I thought that meant they would be started chronologically with Nonsuch and then moving forward but duh that's only um three albums, two of which have already been repackaged and reissued in multiple formats. but maybe they're not going to go chronologically... either way, would rather just hear some new stuff at this point :(

otfm

Nonsuch one of their best obv