I'm getting bored with these song-by-song reviews, but since I don't like to leave the project unfinished, here's my take on XTC's comeback album, Apple Venus Volume 1. It was released in 1999, after the band's strike with Virgin Records had been settled (well, maybe not totally, but enough so that XTC could put out a record on another label). I ( Read more... )

The next step in our tour of XTC albums is Nonsuch, which has a special place in my heart, as it's the first XTC album I heard all the way through.


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The next XTC album is Oranges and Lemons. From what I've heard, Andy wanted a title that tied in with nursery rhymes, and originally considered "Songs of Sixpence." The final choice for the title references both the nursery rhyme about church bells ("Oranges and lemons," say the bells of St. Clement's) and the colors of Los Angeles, where the ( Read more... )

I'm getting a bit tired of doing these album reviews, but I might as well finish out the XTC catalog. Besides, the next album on my list is my personal favorite, Skylarking.


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So, it's back to this meme again, with the subjects chosen by themall1.puns ( Read more... )

At one point in their long, illustrious careers, the members of XTC decided to come up with an EP of pastiches of the psychedelic rock they grew up listening to. For this, they transformed into the Dukes of Stratosphear, made up of Sir John Johns (Andy Partridge), The Red Curtain (Colin Moulding), Lord Cornelius Plum (Dave Gregory), and E.I.E.I. ( Read more... )

The next in my series of XTC album reviews is the seriously underrated The Big Express.


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Several variations of that title were considered as titles for XTC's sixth studio album. The possibility of the band wearing fruit costumes for the liners was also discussed, but we ended up not seeing the lads dressed up like the Fruit of the Loom mascots. In fact, the cover we got for the album, which ended up being called Mummer, was this ( Read more... )

Association Meme: Comment to this post and I will give you 5 subjects/things I associate you with. Then post this in your LJ and elaborate on the subjects given.

I got these from unclemilo1. Old Video Games... and I mean 80's stuff (like Bubble Bobble... which I played all the damn time ( Read more... )

The next stop in my ongoing reviews of XTC albums is English Settlement, apparently a favorite among the general public, but not really of mine. That's not to say it's bad, just that I think there are other albums with better overall song quality. Oh, well. It was originally released as a double album, and the earliest American releases cut it ( Read more... )