{"id":22635,"date":"2022-03-29T05:30:08","date_gmt":"2022-03-29T09:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=22635"},"modified":"2022-03-29T10:42:33","modified_gmt":"2022-03-29T14:42:33","slug":"march-through-time-xtc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2022\/03\/29\/march-through-time-xtc\/","title":{"rendered":"March Through Time: XTC"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When one thinks of artists who earn well-deserved critical plaudits again and again, all the while selling records in diminishing numbers, XTC comes immediately to mind. As is so often the case from my personal perspective, the band\u2019s middle period is its best, with the early and later material less compelling. But it\u2019s all worth hearing.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><i><b><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-22636\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/mtt_xtc.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"350\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/mtt_xtc.jpg 350w, https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/mtt_xtc-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/mtt_xtc-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/>White Music<\/b><\/i><b> (1978<\/b>) \u2013 Nervy, angular, quirky and decidedly noncommercial. One can\u2019t help but wonder if Danny Elfman heard this LP when he was developing his vocal style. At least three classics in \u201cRadios in Motion,\u201d \u201cStatue of Liberty\u201d and the winning \u201cThis is Pop.\u201d Nerdpunk, or punk for the thinking listener.<\/li>\n<li><i><b>Go 2<\/b><\/i><b> (1978)<\/b> \u2013 A more difficult listen, but bassist Colin Moulding is (for once) prolific. \u201cHis \u201cI Am the Audience\u201d is a highlight.<\/li>\n<li><i><b>Drums and Wires<\/b><\/i><b> (1979)<\/b> \u2013 The first XTC classic album. Primary songwriter Andy Partridge delivers \u201cMaking Plans for Nigel,\u201d and Moulding scores with \u201cTen Feet Tall.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><i><b>Black Sea<\/b><\/i><b> (1980)<\/b> \u2013 A massive leap forward. Dense production in places, but it fits the songs. Side One is the more immediate of the two, but it\u2019s all great.<\/li>\n<li><i><b>English Settlement<\/b><\/i><b> (1982)<\/b> \u2013 Created as a double LP (and released that way in the UK), Stateside it was whittled down to a single record. As stellar a songwriter as Partridge is, Moulding hits the bullseye with his three songs. \u201cSenses Working Overtime\u201d is a superb combination of ear candy melody and dark lyrics.<\/li>\n<li><i><b>Mummer<\/b><\/i><b> (1983)<\/b> \u2013 A less accessible record that nonetheless contains at least two essential tracks, \u201c\u201dLove on a Farmboy\u2019s Wages\u201d and \u201cFunk Pop a Roll,\u201d both by Partridge.<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>The Big Express<\/strong><\/em> (1984) \u2013 This one is denser still, and makes its predecessor look like pop. A must-hear for aficionados, but most others will be left a bit mystified.<\/li>\n<li><i><b>25 O&#8217;Clock <\/b><\/i><b>(1985)<\/b> \u2013 As serious as the last couple LPs had been, this EP (credited to The Dukes of Stratosphear) was and remains a delight. Partridge demonstrates his stunning ability to write in the style of \u201860s psychedelia. He\u2019d put those talents to excellent use in the coming years.<\/li>\n<li><i><b>Skylarking<\/b><\/i><b> (1986)<\/b> \u2013 The battles between producer Todd Rundgren and Andy Partridge are the stuff of legend, but this record benefited by the tension. Guitarist Dave Gregory is the unsung hero as well. Must-own.<\/li>\n<li><i><b>Psonic Psunspot<\/b><\/i><b> (1987)<\/b> \u2013 Perhaps a tiny bit less perfect than the Dukes\u2019 debut EP, it\u2019s still filled with gems. \u201cVanishing Girl\u201d is pop transcendence.<\/li>\n<li><i><b>Oranges &amp; Lemons <\/b><\/i><b>(1989)<\/b> \u2013 Fully integrating the Dukes aesthetic into the XTC format resulted in one of the group\u2019s best efforts. Essential.<\/li>\n<li><i><b>Nonsuch<\/b><\/i><b> (1992) <\/b>\u2013 Somewhat more mannered than its predecessor, <em>Nonsuch<\/em> sounds like what it is: the product of a studio-only group. Still great. The last classic XTC record.<\/li>\n<li><i><b>Apple Venus Volume 1<\/b><\/i><b> (1999)<\/b> \u2013 Reduced to a duo with the sad departure of Gregory, this is a drawing room record. It has its moments, but what Gregory brought to the mix was truly missing and missed.<\/li>\n<li><i><b>Wasp Star <\/b><\/i><b>(2000) <\/b>\u2013 This rocks a bit harder but is very much of a piece with its predecessor. Sadly, the last word from the band (not counting all manner of posthumous rarities-style releases).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When one thinks of artists who earn well-deserved critical plaudits again and again, all the while selling records in diminishing numbers, XTC comes immediately to mind. As is so often [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22636,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,65],"tags":[728,2407],"class_list":["post-22635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-essay","category-review","tag-dukes-of-stratosphear","tag-xtc","cat-27-id","cat-65-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22635"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22635\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22670,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22635\/revisions\/22670"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}