XTC-where to start?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Etienne Hanratty, Jan 5, 2018.

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  1. kaztor

    kaztor Music is the Best

    I think for the OP Fossil Fuel is the best bet.
    All of the singles up to 1996 in sequence so he can decide what the favourite period is.

    If it really needs to be an album the best bets might be Black Sea or Skylarking.
     
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  2. usrlocal

    usrlocal Nice and Smooth

    Location:
    Montreal
    XTC fan since 1979 here. :)

    You can't really go wrong with anything from Drums & Wires onward (well, maybe save Wasp Star for last). After you're sated on that, then work back to White Music and Go 2. Nothing from their main catalogue should be ignored.

    Later on explore the Dukes stuff (although IMHO it hasn't held up as well as their main catalogue) and Andy Partridge's 'Fuzzy Warbles' collection of demos and outtakes (now up to 8 volumes, I believe).
     
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  3. lance b

    lance b Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
    Whatever the album you choose, XTC is a seriously underrated band. Other than the Beatles, XTC is the band that I have the most CD's of, 12 in total.
    Go 2
    Drums and Wires
    Black Sea
    English Settlement
    Mummer
    Big Express
    Skylarking - corrected polarity and normal versions
    Oranges and Lemons
    Apple Venus Volume 1
    Wasp Star
    Fossil Fuel: The XTC Singles 1977-92
    Homespun.

    There isn't a bad album in the list above except Go 2 which I only got because it was part of a package of other discs. I am now trying to hunt down the Steve Wilson mixes...if anyone can direct me to a decent source of these albums it'd be greatly appreciated.
     
    Last edited: Feb 7, 2018
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  4. TheMaestro335

    TheMaestro335 Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York NY
    Being such a XTC fan how can you not have Nonsuch on this list?
    https://burningshed.com/ All Steven Wilson’s remixes.
     
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  5. lance b

    lance b Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
    I guess it's called opinion. Not that I don't like that album, it's just not one of my favourites that I feel the need to own. Being a fan of a band doesn't mean everything they do is gold, or is desirable, or that I need to own. Having said that, there are a number of tracks on Nonsuch that are good but not enough for me to buy the album.

    Thank you for the link to the Steve Wilson remixes.
     
  6. kaztor

    kaztor Music is the Best

    Lucky you. Everytime I see the original cd being listed somewere it's quite expensive.
     
  7. Vdigital

    Vdigital Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Netherlands
    Buy everything apart from the first two
    IMO Barry andrews was never much of an asset for the band
    to much angst... and nervous energy not enough melody....... jeez that rhymeso_O
    And the dukes of stratospear of course(chips from the chocolate fireball)
     
    Last edited: Feb 9, 2018
  8. kaztor

    kaztor Music is the Best

    I think Chips From The Chocolate Fireball is one of XTC's finest releases. Also don't forget Rag And Bone Buffet, a first-rate rarities collection that was released after Oranges And Lemons.
     
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  9. SJB

    SJB Beloved Parasitic Nuisance

    Chips is actually a two-fer which combined the 25 O'clock EP with the Psonic Psunspot album. Each of those now exists as a standalone reissue, expanded with demos. The reunion track "Open a Can (Of Human Beans)" (recorded for a benefit compilation) has been added to the EP.
     
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  10. kaztor

    kaztor Music is the Best

    I know. Still a cheaper option to get the key Dukes stuff, though.
    I'll need to hunt for the extra's.
     
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  11. bmoregnr

    bmoregnr Forum Rezident

    Location:
    1060 W. Addison
    My understanding is yes you would be doing what the mastering engineer did. He used a cable that takes the polarity from the playback machine end and reverses it coming out at the mastering suite end. I’d also note that many people feel there were other mastering moves used in Dent’s polarity-corrected version, so your experiment might not end up sounding exactly the same as his for those reasons. Hearing differences in your experiment may also may be album or system dependent, as some albums and systems are better than others at displaying polarity differences; or so they say.
     
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  12. usrlocal

    usrlocal Nice and Smooth

    Location:
    Montreal
    I guess I should give it more of a chance. I recently just listened to it for the first time since the late 80s, right after a back-to-back listening of 'Mummer'. To my ear, the Dukes stuff paled in comparison. I like how XTC reinterprets psychedelia on albums like 'Skylarking' and 'Oranges and Lemons', but the Dukes stuff seems like straight-up mimicry to me. I'd rather put on something like Pink Floyd's 'Relics' and listen to the real deal in that case.

    But like I said, I'll give it some more listens (took me a while to track down the CD after all) and hopefully my opinion will change. :)
     
  13. gojikranz

    gojikranz Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sacramento
    knowing that you will be hooked I suggest grabbing the recent steven Wilson CD/Blu Ray packs that are available and continuing to pick them up as they (hopefully) continue to appear.

    I started with skylarking as a fan of todd rundgren but after hearing it never looked back had to have it all.
     
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  14. privit1

    privit1 Senior Member

    Barry is an important part of the XTC story. I love those first two albums though they are not representative of XTC as a whole
     
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  15. My favorite post-XTC Andy Partridge collaboration is "At The Sea" with Thomas "Pugwash" Walsh -sounds like a great lost XTC track.
     
    Last edited: Mar 29, 2018
  16. cungar

    cungar Forum Resident

    Location:
    Torrance, CA
    Only song I'm not crazy about is The Ugly Underneath (even that's a decent song). Other than that it's perfection. And the Blu Ray is amazing.

    Wrapped in Grey would have been a classic Beatles cut if they made it. The chorus send chills every time.

    Awaken you dreamers
    Adrift in your beds
    Balloons and streamers
    Decorate the inside of your heads
    Please let some out
    Do it today
    But don't let the loveless ones sell you
    A world wrapped in grey
     
  17. I agree with you. While some of the mastering moves are subtle, they improve the overall sound. I have to wonder who mastered the U.S. version that was remastered. Todd Rundgren is insistent the polarity problem occurred not with his final assembled master but with the mastering engineer during the remaster when Dear God was added to the track listing.
     
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  18. As I recall, in the Song Stories book, Colin stated that he wasn't all that happy lyrically with either one of those songs (unless I'm misremembering) feeling that they were too "on the nose" so to speak. I like 'em myself. Sometimes being a bit blunt works just fine. I think that Pumpkinhead is a great track myself. It was overplayed but, if it hadn't been played so much on radio at the time, I think others might feel different about it. The video also tainted the song to a degree suggesting a JFK link that Andy never really intended and that made the song a wee bit too literal for me but I still enjoy it.

    I always wondered WHY they just didn't shoot a concert "film" with jus them performing without (or with a small) audience. It's not like they didn't do nice performances on David Letterman, The BBC and others. I realize Andy just doesn't really like performing live all that much but they were a cracking live band back in the day, it would have been nice to see them wrap up their career with a performance (with Dave, Terry and Barry on board for appropriate songs). It's not like they owe it to the fans or anything but it would be a nice live document.
     
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  19. gohill

    gohill Senior Member

    Location:
    Glasgow, UK
    Nonsvch - Masterpiece
    Skylarking- Masterpiece, should really be talked of in the same way Pet Sounds is - seriously
    English Settlement- Brilliant double album
    The Black Sea- chock full of superb songs, band firing on all cylinders
    Drums And Wires - See above
    Apple Venus Vol.1 - A lush sonic heaven

    The rest are merely very very good albums with a ton of great tunes.
     
  20. hurple

    hurple Forum Resident

    Location:
    Clinton, IL, USA
    Start with the recent documentary "This is Pop" on Showtime and decide for yourself.
     
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  21. uzn007

    uzn007 Pack Rat

    Location:
    Raleigh, N.C.
    I'd start with "Black Sea" or its predecessor, "Drums & Wires", and work your way forward from there in chronological order.
     
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  22. I would disagree. They are different certainly but, as with all bands, there's a progression and a clear indication of both Andy's and Colin's abilities as composers. I always liked Barry's funhouse keyboard parts. They fit early Andy and Colin songs well.
     
  23. It's certainly any early peak but I felt that XTC (largely) had a strong winning stream of great albums
     
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  24. Only two songs I would consider to be b-side material here are "Omnibus" (another rumination about everyone being equal, loving all people, especially loving all women regardless of color) and "Books Are Burning" which just doesn't have the strength to be a final track on the album ("Wrapped in Grey" or "Rook" would have been my choice). "Didn't Hurt a Bit" should have been finished and put on the original album at the time.
     
  25. Have you tried "Mummer" lately or "The Big Express"?
     
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