somehow xtc songs have never seemed that enigmatic to me. I would be new interested in the technical aspects of them
― Poliopolice, Wednesday, 4 March 2015 22:39 (nine years ago) link
XTC @xtcfans 41m41 minutes agoThe ORANGES AND LEMONS 5.1 discs are being 'authored' {composed/built} as we speak. Not long now folks.
― MaresNest, Wednesday, 8 July 2015 19:37 (eight years ago) link
CD:
1. Garden of Earthly Delights 2. The Mayor of Simpleton 3. King for a Day 4. Here Comes President Kill Again 5. The Loving 6. Poor Skeleton Steps Out 7. One of the Millions 8. Scarecrow People 9. Merely a Man 10. Cynical Days 11. Across This Antheap 12. Hold Me My Daddy 13. Pink Thing 14. Miniature Sun 15. Chalkhills and Children
Blu-Ray (Region 0, NTSC):
Presented in LPCM Audio - Album mixed in 5.1 Surround - New Stereo Album mix - Original Stereo Album mix + Blu-Ray extra material including: new stereo album instrumental mixes, multiple demo sessions, rehearsals, mixes & promo films for the singles.
― MaresNest, Monday, 10 August 2015 12:48 (eight years ago) link
* Two separate sets of demo and work tape sessions showing the evolution of the album and associated recordings; one set of pre-recording rehearsals, promos and ID links for radio stations and record companies; a collection of single mixes and XTC's version of Captain Beefheart’s Ella Guru.
* Promo films for The Mayor of Simpleton (3 versions), King for a Day and a Road to Oranges & Lemons, a rarely seen home-made film by the band explaining the album (and themselves!) to Geffen Records USA.
― MaresNest, Monday, 10 August 2015 12:49 (eight years ago) link
People can say what they like about Andy Partridge, he sure as hell knows how to treat his back catalogue with the care and attention it deserves.
― You’re being too simplistic and you’re insulting my poor heart (Turrican), Monday, 10 August 2015 16:14 (eight years ago) link
I've still got my 3 mini CD box set of this
― Mark G, Monday, 10 August 2015 16:36 (eight years ago) link
Pretty interested - despite myself - in the new mix of Oranges & Lemons, as it's always sounded a bit thin compared to most of their albums. Anyone want to weigh in on the remixes of D&W/Nonsuch?
The virtual box set stuff sounds interesting but I know i'd never listen to any of it more than once. As big a fan as I am, I feel like I've already bought their catalogue enough times already.
― hardcore dilettante, Sunday, 30 August 2015 16:55 (eight years ago) link
The production on Oranges & Lemons has grown on me over time. Granted, I don't think it's the best XTC album in terms of production, and I'm still not sure that the approach they took on Oranges & Lemons works for every song, but it mostly sounds fine to me now. It's one of two XTC records where I had to get used to the production style before I could begin to enjoy the record, the other was The Big Express.
(I like The Big Express more, though.)
― You’re being too simplistic and you’re insulting my poor heart (Turrican), Sunday, 30 August 2015 18:25 (eight years ago) link
Oranges & Lemons has been pushed back 2 weeks, boo.
I'm looking forward to seeing what Wilson has done with the extravagances of the original production, I wonder also if AP has allowed him to take out any layers, there's a lot of extraneous percussion and drum machine that could do with being cut.
― MaresNest, Wednesday, 14 October 2015 20:00 (eight years ago) link
Wilson's doing XTC now? haha he's like the remaster man
― twunty fifteen (imago), Wednesday, 14 October 2015 20:01 (eight years ago) link
He's done Nonsuch and Drums & Wires already, he and Jakko Jakszyk have cornered the market in this sort of thing
― MaresNest, Wednesday, 14 October 2015 20:07 (eight years ago) link
ooh i'd be interested in hearing both of those
― twunty fifteen (imago), Wednesday, 14 October 2015 20:08 (eight years ago) link
The instrumental Complicated Game remix is weirdly spooky.
― MaresNest, Wednesday, 14 October 2015 20:12 (eight years ago) link
god, imagine how bizarre an acapella version would be
― frogbs, Wednesday, 14 October 2015 20:12 (eight years ago) link
I'd like to hear the vocal on 'Complicated Game' completely dry, just 'cos.
― Turrican, Wednesday, 14 October 2015 20:52 (eight years ago) link
I bought myself a liarbird
http://www.bathchronicle.co.uk/Bath-man-ran-Belgrave-Place-brothel-famous-music/story-27767149-detail/story.html#drMrAI67tCDj0q5T.01
― MaresNest, Friday, 16 October 2015 08:36 (eight years ago) link
David Lord, 70, pictured in Belgrave Place after confessing to running a brothel in the street
He ran a brothel in the street?
― Mark G, Friday, 16 October 2015 09:55 (eight years ago) link
Oh, btw lawyers: The song "liarbird" is not about David Lord, okthxbye.
― Mark G, Friday, 16 October 2015 09:57 (eight years ago) link
haha
― MaresNest, Friday, 16 October 2015 10:02 (eight years ago) link
Hahahahaha! Oh god, what the actual fuck!?
― Turrican, Friday, 16 October 2015 13:50 (eight years ago) link
Blimey.
― Terry Micawber (Tom D.), Friday, 16 October 2015 14:27 (eight years ago) link
Y'know, when you listen to the demo of 'Wake Up' and then hear what David Lord helped the band turn it into on The Big Express, the difference is like night and day. The demo is this relatively subdued, dinky thing and it's hard to hear the potential in it beyond the slashing guitar riff which is already in place ... but somehow David Lord managed to help the band realise the potential in the song and thus the studio version is something else - completely widescreen, intricately arranged and pumped full of steroids. When I think about things like that, and what happened to the guy that helped achieve that, it's just... fucking mental.
― Turrican, Friday, 16 October 2015 20:50 (eight years ago) link
Okay, the Wilson stereo remix is really nice so far, the percussion and snare samples are still a bit WAHEY EIGHTIES! but that's unavoidable, King For A Day has really came to life so far.
― MaresNest, Sunday, 1 November 2015 17:06 (eight years ago) link
Although Merely A Man cannot be revived on the operating table and is still a clanking piece of nonsense.
― MaresNest, Sunday, 1 November 2015 17:30 (eight years ago) link
Happily the swirly end of Across This Antheap is even more delirious than before, yay!
― MaresNest, Sunday, 1 November 2015 17:37 (eight years ago) link
And Miniature Sun is 10x better too, despite the keyboard trumpets
― MaresNest, Sunday, 1 November 2015 18:03 (eight years ago) link
Has anyone heard the 5.1 yet?
― Turrican, Sunday, 1 November 2015 23:00 (eight years ago) link
So I was doing some cataloguing of records on Discogs & I noticed 2 versions of the Ape House reissue of Skylarking listed: one with a "misprint" (listing "Supergirl" on side 2 instead of side 1) which sells for up to $300... and one without, which is reliably well under $100. Except they're exactly the same record, tracklisting error and all.
― hardcore dilettante, Tuesday, 3 November 2015 05:50 (eight years ago) link
Would it be unscrupulous to gouge for my copy, knowing full well there's nothing special about it (other than general unavailability)? Well, yes. But does it matter?
(I did some good vinyl karma stuff this week by refusing to gouge the artist when he tried to buy something from me, so maybe it'd cancel out?)
― hardcore dilettante, Tuesday, 3 November 2015 05:56 (eight years ago) link
http://i67.tinypic.com/6nv7s2.jpg
― Here Come The Felas (MaresNest), Monday, 7 December 2015 21:03 (eight years ago) link
Andy was tweeting about some double vinyl XTC thing coming off the press...? what's that for? I assume there's no point in a 5.1 version of O&L on vinyl...
― Οὖτις, Monday, 7 December 2015 21:26 (eight years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5LrRlR2Epo
― Anyway, it's not a three, it's a yogh. (Tom D.), Saturday, 9 January 2016 18:33 (eight years ago) link
listening to these dudes again after... 20 years? 22? more? i always knew (even in my teen years) that they were essentially arty, but i guess i didn't appreciate the range of influences that pops up in their early work. there are a few beefheart-esque moments in those early albums (listen e.g. to the last minute of "day in day out").
i guess since they eventually went all-in for "song craft" and (to a slightly lesser extent) a kind of cynical pastoralism, i forgot that they were very much on the post-punk continuum.
― wizzz! (amateurist), Wednesday, 10 February 2016 03:23 (eight years ago) link
basically agree w/ this tho
'Dear God' is, like, the worst song of all time― J0hn Darn1elle (J0hn Darn1elle), Monday, June 21, 2004 9:17 AM (11 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― wizzz! (amateurist), Wednesday, 10 February 2016 03:25 (eight years ago) link
Agree, agree. The track that got bumped from Skylarking for it — "Mermaid Smiled" — is a real nice early late period tune though.
I've been rocking Black Sea lately. Paper and Iron.
― stop torturing me ethel (broom air), Wednesday, 10 February 2016 03:46 (eight years ago) link
I was lucky enough to have the Mermaid Smiled version of Skylarking growing up, never heard Dear God until I bought the single, and yeah John otm.
― MaresNest, Wednesday, 10 February 2016 10:19 (eight years ago) link
cosign to that^
― odysseus (imago), Wednesday, 10 February 2016 10:25 (eight years ago) link
Didn't even know it was on the album! Not on my copy anyway.
― The Robustness of Captchas (Tom D.), Wednesday, 10 February 2016 10:48 (eight years ago) link
Maybe the US issue had "Dear God" on it?
― The Robustness of Captchas (Tom D.), Wednesday, 10 February 2016 10:49 (eight years ago) link
No the US had mermaid smiled when the album first came out.
― scarcity festival (Jon not Jon), Wednesday, 10 February 2016 13:06 (eight years ago) link
yeah "Mermaid Smiled" >>>> "Dear God" but the latter seems to fit into the album a bit better in my opinion, I kinda like how Skylarking gets dark in the second half
― frogbs, Wednesday, 10 February 2016 13:35 (eight years ago) link
Proud owner of Mermaid Smiled on wax. Interesting point, though, about the record getting darker at the end. You are definitely right.
― stop torturing me ethel (broom air), Wednesday, 10 February 2016 15:08 (eight years ago) link
That'd be the winter season of the album.
― hardcore dilettante, Wednesday, 10 February 2016 16:30 (eight years ago) link
I like 'Dear God', but prefer 'Mermaid Smiled' - I just think it's a really beautiful piece of music.
Skylarking is meant to get darker as it goes along, Todd Rundgren deliberately sequenced the songs that way - from youth to death.
― The Dave Grohl of ILX (Turrican), Wednesday, 10 February 2016 16:31 (eight years ago) link
Is it just the lyrics people don't like? I think it's a pretty good tune.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Wednesday, 10 February 2016 16:34 (eight years ago) link
nah
― odysseus (imago), Wednesday, 10 February 2016 16:37 (eight years ago) link
I'm fine with both "Dear God" and "Mermaid Smiled", the tuning/chords in the latter are so odd. They do really different things. I almost never listen to "Dear God" though, since (like most others here apparently) I have the vinyl version with "Mermaid Smiled" on it.
in other news - apparently a song Andy wrote for the Monkees is going to be the single from their new 50th anniversary album
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 10 February 2016 16:39 (eight years ago) link
imo it is a stinker every which way and one of maybe...three? that he wrote between go 2 and apple venus 1 inclusive
― odysseus (imago), Wednesday, 10 February 2016 16:40 (eight years ago) link
andy partridge stinkers. go.
I can understand hating the lyrics but... it's pretty catchy
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 10 February 2016 16:41 (eight years ago) link