XTC-where to start?

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

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  1. timind

    timind phorum rezident

    I don't hear it at all. But then I only listened to the dukes album a couple times; just couldn't get into it.
     
  2. DesertChaos

    DesertChaos Forum Resident

    As one that started with XTC at the beginning - I bought the Science Friction EP when it came out, saw them (both nights!) in Toronto when Go 2 was released, I can't agree that those first records should be avoided, in fact as much I as like English Settlement, Mummer etc I probably listen to Go 2 more than the later albums. I really hope they find the tapes for those ones so we can have new deluxe releases and 5.1 mixes...I'd be thrilled.
     
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  3. SKATTERBRANE

    SKATTERBRANE Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tucson, AZ
    I like them a lot. If I had to choose two albums it would be English Settlement and Mummer.
     
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  4. Somerset Scholar

    Somerset Scholar Ace of Spades

    Location:
    Bath
    Get everything by them.
     
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  5. cungar

    cungar Forum Resident

    Location:
    Torrance, CA

    ...if that doesn't hook you then go on to their later albums. They got much much better with each album. The debut was pretty mediocre.
     
  6. Somerset Scholar

    Somerset Scholar Ace of Spades

    Location:
    Bath
    Not their strongest but still worthwhile and if you like the punkier side of new wave then worth getting, as are all their albums imo.
     
  7. Leepal

    Leepal Forum Resident

    Location:
    Swindon, UK
    Fossil Fuel is what made me "rediscover" XTC and I ended up buying their back catalogue. Up to then I had only owned Go 2, Black Sea and a couple of singles as a youngster, then kind of forgot about them in the intervening years.
     
  8. 12stringbassist

    12stringbassist Location: Irrelevance.

    Location:
    Manchester UK
    The one I go to most is Nonsvch.
     
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  9. Alofter

    Alofter Nowhere Man

    Location:
    Marshall Michigan
    I was a friend of a musician who loved all things Who and XTC. Every chance he got he would bestow upon me the virtues of this band XTC and play stuff for me ad nausium. Because I admired this persons opinion, one day, whilst shopping I stumbled upon several albums in the cut out bin. Mummer, Oranges and Lemons, and Black Sea. I bought the three of them. Mummer I had a connection with right away. Dark music, yet pop tinged with a healthy does of Beatles chime( or at least a few Macca bass lines here and there). I still refused to Love them due to the whole Dear God phenomenon. It was intended for a B side for cryin out loud. How could it be good?.
    I then moved to Black Sea and was blown away at the flow and sharp writing.
    Could I be falling in love? Within a week I stumbled on a little record store in East Lansing Mi. It was right in the heart of the university. "Discount Records and CDs". A lovely cashier informed me that XTC put out an album under a pseudo name " The Dukes of something or other"... Do you have it I say. AND bought. Beach boys, Floyd, Nazz, Electric Prunes, Hollies, Small Faces, Beatles its all of it. OMG, these XTC boys are the real deal I think.
    I then see a video for the song "Man who sailed around his soul". WTF.........not only did they nick the whole Patrick McGoohan Prisoner thing (which I am a big fan of) but a Jazz beat to boot. Ok, you have my attention.
    It's been a love affair ever after. It helps to understand and do some research into these guys. I feel there are many stories behind the albums, Andys stage freight, Swindon, toy collections, Catholicism and religion in general, the wars we wage between humans, nervous breakdowns, divorce, poetry, and Pop bliss. It's all there. It's smart music if you invest into it, thus why so many of our peers say to own all of it! It is rare to say but I believe it's as close to pop perfection Any band has ever achieved. I hope you enjoy your journey because I have!
     
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  10. Alofter

    Alofter Nowhere Man

    Location:
    Marshall Michigan
     
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  11. Alofter

    Alofter Nowhere Man

    Location:
    Marshall Michigan
  12. Alofter

    Alofter Nowhere Man

    Location:
    Marshall Michigan
  13. Alofter

    Alofter Nowhere Man

    Location:
    Marshall Michigan
  14. patient_ot

    patient_ot Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    Not a huge fan but I like some of their stuff when I'm in the mood. Years ago, I tried to get into them via albums like Big Express and Skylarking. TBH, I hated them.

    It wasn't until I heard Black Sea that I started to like them. After that I got English Settlement and D&W. ES is probably my favorite now of those three.

    The first album, White Music, is very different from anything else and really good if you like a combo of angular post punk and energetic new wave.
     
  15. Alofter

    Alofter Nowhere Man

    Location:
    Marshall Michigan
  16. Alofter

    Alofter Nowhere Man

    Location:
    Marshall Michigan
  17. Alofter

    Alofter Nowhere Man

    Location:
    Marshall Michigan
     
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  18. Alofter

    Alofter Nowhere Man

    Location:
    Marshall Michigan
  19. DME1061

    DME1061 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Trenton, NJ
    Black Sea was always my favorite (I consider this their masterpiece), so more than likely I would recommend that one. But you can't go wrong with Drums & Wires, English Settlement, or Skylarking as well. Fossil Fuel is a great compilation that (with the exception of the Apple Venus albums) gives you a nice overview of their career.
     
  20. BroJB

    BroJB Large Marge sent me.

    Location:
    New Orleans
    If you can find Waxworks - a collection fo their singles up through Black Sea - that's a great place to start.

    Black Sea is my fave XTC record, and English Settlement is gorgeous.

    Great, great, great band.

    [​IMG]
     
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  21. Alofter

    Alofter Nowhere Man

    Location:
    Marshall Michigan
  22. Alofter

    Alofter Nowhere Man

    Location:
    Marshall Michigan
  23. mtruslow

    mtruslow Forum Resident

    Location:
    Towson, Maryland
    It’s all great!
     
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  24. uffeolby

    uffeolby Senior Member

    Location:
    Västerås, Sweden
    Black Sea seems to be the favorite XTC album by many. Except for the singles I had not heard this album before I got the new Steven Wilson release late last year. It is a good album but it will not hit my Top 3. The last song, Travels in Nihilon, is very loooong and pretty unlistenable for me, and kind of leaves a bitter taste in my ears after listening to the album. Is there anyone out there that actually likes this song???
     
  25. SJB

    SJB Beloved Parasitic Nuisance

    I'm a big fan of XTC, but there are several albums of theirs in which the last song is my least favorite. There are many exceptions, of course, from their first album ("Neon Shuffle") to the last ("The Wheel and the Maypole").
     
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