Billboard: XTC: News and Reviews
Billboard.com
Advertising Opportunities | About Us | Contact Us | Site Map
Print Subscribers | Chart Alert | Bulletin | Email Newsletter
subscribe login Billboard.biz
NEWS
REVIEWS
FEATURED ARTIST
ALBUMS
SINGLES & TRACKS

ADVERTISEMENT

Stop blaming others.
Take responsibility for every area of your life.
NEWS
REVIEWS
FEATURED ARTIST
ALBUMS
SINGLES & TRACKS
BILLBOARD ALBUM CHARTS
108
2

Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume 2)

Billboard 200 » June 10 2000

6

Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume 2)

Billboard Independent Albums » June 4 2000

11

Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume 2)

Billboard Internet Album Sales » June 4 2000

106
3

Apple Venus, Pt. 1

Billboard 200 » March 13 1999

70
29

Skylarking

Billboard 200 » June 6 1997

97
11

Nonsuch

Billboard 200 » May 16 1992

44
21

Oranges & Lemons

Billboard 200 » April 22 1989

1

Oranges & Lemons

Billboard College / Alternative Album » 1989

181

The Big Express

Billboard 200

145
5

Mummer

Billboard 200 » March 10 1984

48

English Settlement

Billboard 200

41

Black Sea

Billboard 200

176

Drums and Wires

Billboard 200

BILLBOARD SINGLES & TRACKS
1

“The Mayor of Simpleton”

Billboard Modern Rock Tracks » 1989

15

“The Mayor of Simpleton”

Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks » 1989

72

“The Mayor of Simpleton”

Billboard Hot 100 » 1989

38

“King for a Day”

Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks » 1989

11

“King for a Day”

Billboard Modern Rock Tracks » 1989

ADVERTISEMENT

Wave at children on the school bus.
NEWS
REVIEWS
FEATURED ARTIST
ALBUMS
SINGLES & TRACKS
NEWS & REVIEWS

News & Reviews: Monstrance, "Monstrance"

Release Date: April 17, 2007
Producer(s): none listed
Genre: ROCK
Label: Ape House/Rykodisc

As you may already know from such historic bootleg recordings of impromptu sessions between the likes of Prince and Miles Davis and Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and Johnny Winter, the idea of great minds coming together behind closed doors is nothing new in modern pop, regardless of how piss sloppy the results turn out.

For longtime fans of XTC, the lineup of Monstrance is their equivalent to a secret take of George Harrison and Paul McCartney jamming on the sly in 1995, trying to come up with something between "Electronic Sound" and "Liverpool Sound Collage." After 25 years on the outs, Andy Partridge and original XTC keyboardist and Shriekback charge Barry Andrews reunite here, along with Shriekback drummer Martyn Barker, amid two loaded discs of unedited drone music.

There are moments when Monstrance creates pure ambient storms of guitar, keys and drums. In other words, "White Music" this ain't. There are tracks, if you can call them that, just as ominous and enveloping as anything Explosions In The Sky and Mogwai are doing, albeit with less care for melody or structure.

Elsewhere, the music cools down to an acid noir groove, led by Partridge's Frippitronic guitar flourishes. Andrews gets all Silver Apples on the keyboards here, zoning like he is scoring the most bizarre monster movie of 1969, while Barker lays down the law by reliving his days providing that brooding bottom end as a de facto Bad Seed. "Monstrance" is what a lot of our favorite musicians do when we aren't looking. Only thing is, Partridge, Andrews and Barker were kind enough to give you access to their hidden chamber.

-- Ron Hart

© 2007 Nielsen Business Media, Inc.  All rights reserved.
[Thanks to Marie Omnibus]

ADVERTISEMENT

Leave the toilet seat in the down position.
NEWS
REVIEWS
FEATURED ARTIST
ALBUMS
SINGLES & TRACKS
REVIEWS & PREVIEWS

May 24, 2000 - Originally reviewed online 5/27/00

XTC
Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume 2)
Producer(s): Nick Davis
TVT 3260-2
Genre: POP

1999's "Apple Venus Volume 1" heralded the return of XTC to the world of recorded music and indulged the more orchestral side of band mainstays Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding. Conversely, "Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume 2)" plays squarely to the band's formidable and more familiar guitar pop chops and layered lush harmonies.

Partridge and Moulding are continually overjoyed and crushed by their entanglements with love. On "Wasp Star..." their struggles are all played out on a harmonious electric guitar-driven landscape reminiscent of 1992's "Nonsuch," but more fully realized, no doubt due to the relaxed atmosphere of recording in Moulding's home studio during the band's prolonged legal entanglements with its former label.

Nine of the album's dozen songs were written by Partridge, and each unfolds like an act of a melodious Shakespearean play -- lyrics drenched in imagery and metaphor, plots twisting through the experience of love and betrayal. These are the songs that sound like "typical" XTC, with their layered harmonies intertwined with wonderfully simple melodies. Moulding's three offerings are more straightforward, yet only "Standing In For Joe" rings with the instant aural pleasures of Partridge's winsome arrangements.

The album leads off with the upbeat "Playground," which looks at love with the sour realization that we indeed learn all we need to know in life in kindergarten. From there, true gems are found in the drowning-in-love bliss of the bouncy "Stupidly Happy" and diverse, ear-catching choruses of "The Wheel And The Maypole"; others are discovered as pathetic pick up lines strung together in "We're All Light," and the snide boasts of "The Man Who Murdered Love."

The delightful swirling pop circus does come to rest several times, most notably with "Wounded Horse," Partridge's plodding lament of the discovery of a lover's indiscretion. Further respite comes from Moulding's "Boarded Up," as well as Partridge's overtly George Harrison-esque "My Brown Guitar."

For over two decades, the simple pleasures of XTC have often remained undiscovered by the masses. But after all these years, "Wasp Star..." shows that Partridge and Moulding are still up to creating music on par with the best of their past.

-- Barry A. Jeckell

© 2000 Billboard and BPI Communications Inc. All rights reserved.
[Thanks to Ira Lieman and Ben Gott]

ADVERTISEMENT

Leave everything a little better than you found it.
NEWS
REVIEWS
FEATURED ARTIST
ALBUMS
SINGLES & TRACKS
IN PRINT

by Roger Rodriguez. February 13, 1999

XTC: SONG STORIES
The Exclusive Authorized Story Behind The Music
By XTC And Neville Farmer
Hyperion Paperback Original
317 pages; $ 14.95

Written with the full participation of the Swindon, England, lads known as XTC, Song Stories is a fan's dream come true. True to its title, the book relays the underexposed history of XTC by centering on its songs, ranging from the band's late-'70s punk genesis to its '80s art-pop heyday and on to the still-creative present (see story, page 18).

Because de facto XTC leader Andy Partridge refused to tour after 1983, the band's story revolves almost exclusively around its prolific, two-decade-plus career of writing songs and recording them. And in this detailed account we get the tale of the tape directly from Partridge and his cohorts, Colin Moulding and Dave Gregory. The trio relates the whys and wherefores of its entire discography, not only spotlighting tracks on A-list albums and singles collections but drawing attention to the stuff of B-side compilations and XTC's brilliant psychedelic-era parody/tribute side project, the Dukes Of Stratosphear.

Typically, Partridge would write 30 songs for a new record, Moulding would contribute his fair share, and guitar ace/master arranger Gregory would add his impeccably tasteful ideas to the mix. And in reading how the members eventually hashed everything out to produce classic albums like Black Sea and English Settlement, you get a sampling of their views on love, marriage, the U.K., the U.S., politics, and the ambitions and emotions that make this thinking man's pop trio tick.

In recounting such prime XTC tunes as "Making Plans For Nigel" and "Senses Working Overtime," the band and co-author Neville Farmer relay enough human interest to reassure the reader that the band has occasionally emerged from its musical obsessions to see what the rest of the world is up to. But it's evident from the book's front-jacket photo (and the serious studio tans it reveals) that this group has lived and breathed its music, for better and worse.

All manner of anecdotes reveal Partridge's autocratic rule of XTC and the focus and frustrations that has entailed. One of the book's most dramatic moments comes with its description of the union of XTC and American workhorse producer/rock icon Todd Rundgren--and the battle of wills between Partridge and Rundgren that nearly split the band. Yet the friction sparked a thing of beauty: the 1986 Virgin album Skylarking. The Skylarking sessions also yielded XTC's greatest U.S. success in the form of the college-radio smash "Dear God." That song was Partridge's least-favorite product of the Rundgren sessions; he fought hard to relegate it to a B-side. (It was eventually added to subsequent pressings of Skylarking.)

One blight on an otherwise fine volume is the lack of a discography. Another XTC book published a few years ago--Chalkhills And Children by Chris Twomey (Omnibus Press)--supplies one, although its text isn't nearly as well-written or insightful as that of Song Stories. And this book offers a surprise development that closes its survey of XTC on a somewhat wistful note--just like so much of the music the band has made so far.

Copyright 1999 Billboard Publications, Inc.
[Thanks to Wes Hanks]

ADVERTISEMENT

Be thankful for every meal.
NEWS
REVIEWS
FEATURED ARTIST
ALBUMS
SINGLES & TRACKS
DAILY MUSIC NEWS

BY DYLAN SIEGLER, February 8, 1999

XTC Resurfaces With First Album in Six Years

NEW YORK -- XTC front man Andy Partridge is an expert at making the best of negative situations.

"In the past six years," he says, "I got divorced; I was prevented from legally doing my art; an infection burst my eardrum; I felt betrayed, rejected, and useless. And I found all of it vastly inspirational."

The Swindon, England, alternative pop/rock band turned its heartache into a new album, Apple Venus Volume 1, due March 16 from TVT Records through the band's imprint, Idea Records. XTC went on strike against its contract with Virgin (and Geffen in the U.S.) after recording the 1992 album Nonsuch. A book about the band will be released by Hyperion in March.

"The older and more ornery we got about the music we wanted to do, the more entrenched we got in the craftsmanship side of it," explains Partridge. "It was like this: We wanted to make our chair the best chair that ever was, and our former label wanted us to knock out cheap plastic chairs and 'Have you got a few tables and a settee as well?' " he says.

Partridge, bandmate Colin Moulding, and now ex-bandmate Dave Gregory (who left the band during the recording of Apple Venus Volume 1) spent the years stockpiling songs. "That's what kept us going," says Moulding. "The thought that one day we would record them."

Adds Partridge, "The buildup to making this new album was more musically intense than the buildup to making our very first album. Storing stuff up for this record was like, 'My God, is anyone ever going to hear this?' "

The answer, of course, is yes. Apple Venus Volume 1 is not only the band's first new album in six years, but also its debut for TVT and its first departure from the "triumvirate of guitar, bass, and drums that makes up 99% of pop music," says Partridge.

"This album blows that open -- it says, 'I'm going to have the spine of the song be an orchestra, or an acoustic guitar, or a piano, and we'll hang the ribs and the lungs and stuff on that.' "

The recording -- which Partridge dubs "orchustic" -- was born of his romance with the orchestral sounds on his sampler and grew into the album's 11 radically divergent tracks. The songs flirt with syncopated horns, vocal harmonies, and strings alternately lush, plucky, and discordant. Along with accessible acoustic strumming, the album dwells within the context of the band's lyrical wit and hummable pop aesthetic.

Formed in 1975, XTC is perhaps best known for the 1989 single "Mayor Of Simpleton," which reached No. 72 on The Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on Modern Rock Tracks. XTC was a direct predecessor of modern rock and alterna-pop as it exists today. Despite the new album's orchestral slant, the personality and humor of Partridge and Moulding surface high in the mix, which is vital for a group whose cult following is legendary.

TVT's VP of marketing, Paul Burgess, says the label began addressing XTC's loyal fan base in 1998 with a boxed set of BBC archival material from the band, Transistor Blast, and will reach that base through E-mail and direct mail about the Haydn Bendell-produced Apple Venus Volume 1. "Our campaign will reignite the fan base, expand it, and, most importantly, cement the idea that XTC is still valid and important and still making great music," says Burgess.

The band, which the label says has been "extremely hands-on" with the new album, plans to release a second album later in 1999, returning to traditional rock instrumentation. Burgess and label president Steve Gottlieb say TVT is not daunted by the act's unconventional plans.

"For all the virtue of doing things by rote," says Gottlieb, "it's destined to fail if you do things the way they've been done before. XTC will not allow the system to put them in a box."

The label will service the disc's first single, "I'd Like That," to triple-A and modern rock stations on Feb. 16. "These formats are looking for career artists more than just a single deep," says Gottlieb.

"There's an XTC fan base that's been waiting a long time for this album, and there's a great possibility that they'll build on new fans," says Patty Martin, music director at triple-A WXRT Chicago. "The first single and two other album tracks I can think of are great, radio-friendly pop songs that could even work at a gutsy AC station."

While Partridge and the band gave up touring in 1983 ("I don't like it. I don't feel the need to do it," he says. "I got that out of my system in my 20s"), the band will be making interview appearances at radio stations around the country, as well as signing copies of the Hyperion book XTC: Song Stories at bookstores.

"For some bands, the lack of touring might be a problem," says Bob Bell, new-release buyer at the 220-store, Torrance, Calif.-based Wherehouse Entertainment. "But XTC is a band that's always played by their own rules, so they can get away with it."

He adds that XTC's catalog is "very much alive" and that fans' anticipation for the album should drive sales initially. "I don't think the orchestral concept behind this record will be any problem for them at retail," says Bell.

"This orchestral stuff [on this album] is not filler -- I'm more proud of this than anything I've done, and even if I wasn't us, I'd like it," says Partridge. "They say that music is made out of extreme misery or extreme joy, and I think over the last five years I've done big dollops of both. But I wouldn't change a thing, because now I've got all these songs, and they're the best batch yet."

© 1999 Billboard and BPI Communications Inc. All rights reserved.
[Thanks to Neil Oliver and Wes Hanks]

ADVERTISEMENT

Make it a habit to do nice things for people who will never find out.
NEWS
REVIEWS
FEATURED ARTIST
ALBUMS
SINGLES & TRACKS
DAILY NEWS

Edited By Julie Taraska. September 28, 1998, 4:00 p.m. EDT

XTC Gets Boxed In On Best-Of Set

XTC will return in grand fashion Nov. 3, when TVT releases a 4-CD boxed set from the English pop act. Entitled "Transistor Blast," the 52-track collection will comprise classic tracks recorded between 1977 and 1989; the first two discs will be culled from the band's BBC Sessions, the third from a 1980 gig recorded live at London's Hammerstein Palais, and the last from a pair of BBC In-Concert sessions taped live at London's Paris Theater. Front man Andy Partridge and bassist Colin Moulding will pen the album's liner notes, and the discs will be delivered in a package shaped like a transistor radio.

TVT plans to release two new XTC studio albums in 1999. The first, expected early in the year, will combine orchestral and acoustic flavors, while the second, due in the fall, will be a more traditional pop record.

© 1998 Billboard and BPI Communications Inc. All rights reserved.
[Thanks to Adam Tyner]

ADVERTISEMENT

Support your community.
NEWS
REVIEWS
FEATURED ARTIST
ALBUMS
SINGLES & TRACKS
REVIEWS & PREVIEWS

May 9, 1992

XTC
Nonsuch
Producer(s): Gus Dudgeon
Geffen 24474
Genre: POP

Three years after the group's much-lauded "Oranges And Lemons," the English pop eccentrics bounce back with another radio-friendly melange of merrily pirated melodies, sometimes caustic lyrics, and slightly bent sensibilities. Unabashedly fond of the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and other pop keystones, Andy Partridge, Colin Moulding, Dave Gregory, et al. offer some crackling good tunes; modern rock has winning opportunities in "The Ballad Of Peter Pumpkinhead," "Dear Madam Barnum," "Omnibus," and "Then She Appeared," among others.

© 1992 Billboard and BPI Communications Inc. All rights reserved.
[Thanks to Wes Hanks]

ADVERTISEMENT

Do more than is expected.
NEWS
REVIEWS
FEATURED ARTIST
ALBUMS
SINGLES & TRACKS
REVIEWS & PREVIEWS

January 10, 1987

XTC
Skylarking
Producer(s): Todd Rundgren
Geffen GHS 24117
Genre: POP
PICK

Andy Partridge, Dave Gregory, and Colin Moulding may not have a string of commercial successes under their collective belt, but they do turn out intelligent, finely crafted little jewels of albums--albeit on a somewhat irregular basis. The overall tone here is less hard-edged than in past work; the band never takes the easy way out, however, employing unique sounds and unexpected melodic twists to wonderful effect.

© 1987 Billboard and BPI Communications Inc. All rights reserved.
[Thanks to Wes Hanks]

ADVERTISEMENT

Don't allow the phone to interrupt important moments. It's there for your convenience, not the caller's.
NEWS
REVIEWS
FEATURED ARTIST
ALBUMS
SINGLES & TRACKS
REVIEWS & PREVIEWS

August 29, 1987

Dukes of Stratosphear
Psonic Psunspot
Producer(s): John Leckie, the Dukes
Geffen 24169
Genre: POP
RECOMMENDED

Ten new cuts from the XTC boys in psychedelic garb; "Vanishing Girl," especially, is as fine as any vintage era track. CD contains the Dukes' earlier EP release as well, previously available only on import.

[Thanks to Wes Hanks]

ADVERTISEMENT

Take time to smell the roses.
NEWS
REVIEWS
FEATURED ARTIST
ALBUMS
SINGLES & TRACKS
REVIEWS & PREVIEWS

February 11, 1984

XTC
Mummer
Producer(s): Various
Geffen GHS-4027
Genre: POP

The provocative British band launches its third U.S. label affiliation with a diverse, accessible set mixing art rock, folk and techno-pop.

© 1984 Billboard and BPI Communications Inc. All rights reserved.
[Thanks to Wes Hanks]

ADVERTISEMENT

Own a great stereo system.
NEWS
REVIEWS
FEATURED ARTIST
ALBUMS
SINGLES & TRACKS
REVIEWS & PREVIEWS

March 13, 1982

XTC: English Settlement

This followup to the acclaimed Black Sea album is not only a triumph for this British band but for producer Padgham as well. His heavily percussive style makes this album sound like recent releases by the Police, Phil Collins and Genesis. Still, XTC's personality is not quashed beneath the production techniques. The lyrics, from the anti-violence plea of "Melt The Guns" to the case of lost love in "Snowman," shows a group in top form. AOR radio, instead of avoiding this band which does better with each release, can feel comfortable with this LP. The British import version is a two-disk set and an import EP with three songs not on either LP is available. Best cuts: "Senses Working Overtime," "Runaways," "Ball And Chain," "Snowman," "No Things In Our House."

© 1982 Billboard and BPI Communications Inc. All rights reserved.

ADVERTISEMENT

Wear outrageous underwear under the most formal business attire.
NEWS
REVIEWS
FEATURED ARTIST
ALBUMS
SINGLES & TRACKS
REVIEWS & PREVIEWS

November 8, 1980

XTC
Black Sea
Producer(s): Steve Lillywhite
Virgin VA13147 (RSO)
Genre: POP
RECOMMENDED

Last year, this British quintet enjoyed some modest success with its effervescent brand of pop-rock. This should build its cult following as the songs here are consistently appealing and more accessible than last year's collection. The vocals of Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding have an attractive breeziness and the instrumentation is tight. Best cuts: "Generals And Majors," "Respectable Street," "Towers Of London," "Living Through Another Cuba."

© 1980 Billboard and BPI Communications Inc. All rights reserved.
[Thanks to Wes Hanks]

ADVERTISEMENT

Begin each day with some of your favorite music.
NEWS
REVIEWS
FEATURED ARTIST
ALBUMS
SINGLES & TRACKS
REVIEWS & PREVIEWS

November 17, 1979

XTC
Drums And Wires
Producer(s): Steve Lillywhite
Virgin VA13134 (Atlantic)
Genre: POP
RECOMMENDED

This is an interesting package from a label that's beginning to make headway in the U.S. It's fresh rock 'n' roll in a new wave vein with a dash of '60s English melody. Of particular note is the inventive mix as instruments sparkle in both left and right channels. Best cuts: "Life Begins At The Hop," "Ten Feet Tall," "Real By Reel," "Scissor Man."

[Thanks to Wes Hanks]

ADVERTISEMENT

Once in a while, take the scenic route.