![]() The departure of organist Barry Andrews - replaced by guitarist Dave Gregory - seemed to take some helium out of the arrangements. The band settled down on Drums and Wires, proving they could make commercial-sounding music without sacrificing their considerable intelligence. (If that sounds too coherent, a bonus 12-inch EP called Go+ pulverizes five of the album’s tracks with retitled dub remixes.) Probably XTC’s least-known record, Go 2 yielded no singles whatsoever, although the insidiously wonderful “Are You Receiving Me?,” released the same month as the LP, was later added to its CD. The songs, mostly by Partridge, excoriate conformism and other hang-ups in kaleidoscopic imagery the music is alternately herky-jerky and menacing. The follow-up, Go 2, is even further out. (Packaged in an appropriately stereographic sleeve, the 3D EP is a 12-inch of “Science Friction” and two other songs the White Music CD appends all three tracks, as well as four early B-sides.) Amid hyperactive material like “Radios in Motion,” “This Is Pop” and “Spinning Top,” only a version of Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower” shows respect for the past. On White Music, XTC delights in dissonance, unresolved melodic lines and playful lyrics guitarist Andy Partridge’s hiccupping vocals are matched by equally nervous music. At first they seemed like one more high- spirited new wave band, gleefully trampling on rock conventions set the day before. XTC has always defied both convention and categorization. By this point, though, the group’s increasingly safe, mellow music is a candidate for the Adult Alternative chart as time goes on, XTC’s studio- bound perfectionism flirts more and more heavily with soullessness - imagine Steely Dan playing the Beatles songbook. For many years a trio of Andy Partridge (guitar/vocals), Colin Moulding (bass/vocals) and Dave Gregory (keyboards/guitar), XTC - one band that made the description “clever” a criticism - is one of the last of England’s original class of ’77 still in active and unbroken existence. Hailing from the bland English exurb of Swindon, XTC emerged from an early punk-manic phase to produce several ambitious and now-classic records: the spiky art-pop gems Drums and Wires and Black Sea, the flawed epic English Settlement and the exquisite pop pastorale Skylarking. A Testimonial Dinner (Thirsty Ear) 1995.Through the Hill (Through the Hill) 1994.'Take Away'/'The Lure of Salvage' (UK Virgin) 1980.You're a Good Man Albert Brown EP (UK Virgin) 1987.Chips From the Chocolate Fireball (UK Virgin) 1987 (Geffen) 1988.Homegrown (Wasp Star Home Demos) (TVT) 2001.Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume 2) (TVT) 2000.Transistor Blast: Best of the BBC Sessions (TVT) 1998.Drums and Wireless: BBC Radio Sessions '77'89 (Windsong) 1994.Rag & Bone Buffet (UK Virgin) 1990 (Virgin/Geffen) 1991.Explode Together: The Dub Experiments 78-80 (UK Virgin) 1990.The Mayor of Simpleton EP (UK Virgin) 1989.Oranges & Lemons (Virgin/Geffen) 1989 (Geffen Goldmine) 1996.Dear God EP (Virgin/Geffen) 1987 (UK Virgin) 1988.The Compact XTC The Singles 1978-1985 (UK Virgin) 1985.Waxworks/Beeswax (UK Virgin) 1982 (Virgin/Geffen) 1984. ![]() Senses Working Overtime EP (UK Virgin) 1982.English Settlement (Virgin/Epic) 1982 (Virgin/Geffen) 1984.Generals and Majors EP (UK Virgin) 1980.White Music (Virgin International) 1978 (Virgin/Epic) 1982 (Virgin/Geffen) 1984.Go 2 (Virgin International) 1978 (Virgin/Geffen) 1984.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |