Chalkhills, Number 255

                 Monday, 28 December 1992
Today's Topics:
             Japanese "English Settlement" CD
                Explode Together/Take Away
                    Re: Re-re-rebuttal
                   Meat Beat Manifesto
                    re: opinion wanted
                    Ye Olde Mailbagge
                       Tidbits....

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Date: Wed, 23 Dec 92 05:12:29 PST
From: Wes Wilson @PKO3 - 223-3413  23-Dec-1992 0759 <wilson@pharos.enet.dec.com>
Subject: Japanese "English Settlement" CD

I have in front of me the Japanese CD of "English Settlement."

This version has the full 15 songs (Runaways, Ball and Chain, Senses
Working Overtime, Jason and the Argonauts, No Thugs in Our House,
Yacht Dance, All of a Sudden (It's Too Late), Melt the Guns,
Leisure, It's Nearly Africa, Knuckle Down, Fly on the Wall,
Down in the Cockpit, English Roundabout, Snowman).

Cat. no. is VJCP-23136.

Earlier, I had tried to order the 13-song version, for the
artwork and photo, but I was informed that this version has
sadly been deleted.

This new version contains all of the lyrics, in a very nice font
(very much like calligraphy), and it's cover has the horse and
lettering in white on a dark green background. The white horse
motif is repeated on page 5 of the booklet, under the lyrics
for "Jason and the Argonauts," and also on the back of the
jewel box, to the right of the track listing.

- - - - -

Also, thanks to Marcus Deininger, I was able to get a copy of the
"Skylarking" LP out of Germany, with "Mermaid Smiled" instead of
"Dear God."

I also have this LP with "Dear God" (American reissue cutout), and
once again the cheapies at Geffen printed the innersleeve in
black and white. Also, the German label is better, having the
light-green-blue skylark printed on a turquoise background instead
of the Geffen general issue label.

Too bad I wasn't able to get the diecut cover, but the German
version is still excellent!

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Date: Wed, 23 Dec 92 09:25:48 EST
From: dmandl@shearson.com (David Mandl)
Subject: Explode Together/Take Away

Melinda M Hale (melinda@world.std.com) writes:

> GO+ was a freebie
> with the original (UK only?) release of XTC's second album, GO2, and TAKE
> AWAY/THE LURE OF SALVAGE is a solo album Andy did.  They mostly consist of
> new songs constructed from riffs/melodic motifs from XTC songs, and TAKE
> AWAY has some original songs by Andy.  These are not XTC-sounding songs,
> though -- they are late 70s/early 80s experimental synth stuff.  It's fun
> as far as "spot the song", but if, like you say, you're not a fanatic, you
> probably won't find it very interesting.  I think it's marginally
> interesting, but I *am* a fanatic. :-)

Don't mean to be pedantic, but the music on Take Away/Lure of Salvage
should be considered "dub" or (very very drastic) remixes.  In other
words, AP took the _actual tapes_ of XTC songs (there was a list of 'em
in The Little Express a few years back...I've got it somewhere) and
manipulated, processed, subtracted, added, and otherwise mutilated
elements.  So, take "Real by Reel," remove nearly everything but the
drums, add tons of gated reverb to them, added various weird synth
sounds, run the guitar solo through several electronic gizmos, and
voila..."Steam Fist Futurist."  All the tracks on the album use actual
XTC tapes as the starting point; none of them are "original songs,"
except in the sense that many of them have been completely transformed
and rendered nearly unrecognizable by Andy.

I think the record is brilliant.  It also shows that Andy has spent a
lot of time listening to music besides the Beatles, etc., etc.

Sorry if this has been covered a million times before.  I'm new to
the list.  Later.

   --Dave.

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Date: Wed, 23 Dec 92 13:35:34 PST
From: driver8@night.corp.sun.com (Albert Handa)
Subject: Re: Re-re-rebuttal

Melinda,  the tape suggestion was a reply and didn't seem to mention just
you and your friends.  Also, keep in mind that most of the readers did see
the :) symbol, so at least in this mind, no offense was taken.

Generalities are unfair, but frankly, what would rock criticism be without
it?  Without blunt generalities, we'd never have had Lester Bangs, and we`d
all be poorer for it.  I'd rather hear a blunt and felt generality, than the
usual rationalized or over-qualified criticisms.  If it makes me mad, well,
so what, right?  If someone thinks that XTC is going downhill, then all I
hope is that it isn't said in a boring way.  We may be talking about art,
but the person (I would assume) did plunk down cash, and certainly has a
right to comment on the product.

Al

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Date: 23 Dec 1992 19:46:26 -0500 (EST)
From: BHOCKING@delphi.com
Subject: Meat Beat Manifesto

Hey Chalkhills!

Has anyone else seen the new issue of Details magazine, (January 1993).  In
the music section of this issue is an article about Meat Beat Manifesto, a
band that, I must confess, that I've never heard from.  Apparently, these guys
are from Swindon and XTC is mentioned in the article.  Here are some excerpts;

"Swindon, Meat Beat's base of operations, is the ugliest town in Britain.  Put
on the map by the Great Western RAilroad because it had the right gradient for
their engineering works, it's been hurtling downhill ever since.  That industry
has melted away, and in recent years Swindon's been a light-industrial site
whose sole famous export was XTC."

A little bit later the article talks about the earlier version of the band,
which was called Perennial Divide.  The article continues;

"In the meantime he, (Jack Dangers, leader of the band), started messing
around with tapes and formed a group called Perennial Divide with a taciturn
guitarist called Johnny Stphens, who remains his Meat Beat musical partner to
this day.  The two of them even went across town, knocked on XTC singer
Andy Partridge's door, and persuaded him to produce one of their records. But
Perrenial Divide never got anywhere."

Brooks Hocking

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Subject: re: opinion wanted
From: buzzsaw@bluemoon.use.com (Patrick Buzby)
Date: Wed, 23 Dec 92 20:39:39 EST
Organization: Blue Moon BBS ((614) 868-998[024])

     My opinion about buying "The Singles 1978-85"?  I know a lot of
people will disagree, but personally, I wouldn't bother.  This CD only has
one song ("Wait Till Your Boat Goes Down", which IMHO isn't very good)
which isn't on the other CDs if I'm not mistaken, and I think the albums
do a better job of representing XTC.  Unless, of course, you're a
completist type, in which case you can suit yourself.
      In fact, song for song I think "Rag and Bone Buffet," the B-sides
compilation, is better than "The Singles."  Maybe I'm crazy, but I know
one thing and that's....

Patrick Buzby         "Fried ice cream is a reality!"-George Clinton
Grove City, OH        "Music is the best."-Frank ZBappa

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Date: Thu, 24 Dec 92 12:20:56 PST
From: "John M. Relph" <relph@presto.ig.com>
Subject: Ye Olde Mailbagge

Jesse Brook McCune <mccune@wpi.wpi.edu> asks:
>
>I am considering buying "The Singles 78-85"...opinions on this album?...is the
>CD worth $20?...thanks

I like this CD quite a bit.  It's nice to hear all the early singles
in order.  Rag & Bone Buffet has some of the rare songs, but it
doesn't have the same tracks, nor does it have the same order.
Waxworks is almost the same, but it omits the last three tracks from
The Singles, that is, the singles from The Big Express.

                                - - -

Tobin Munsat <Tobin.Munsat@lambada.oit.unc.edu> observes:
>
>        Try listening to Season Cycle, imagining that Queen is doing the
>backup singing, especially during the bridge.  I know this sounds
>ridiculous, but the harmonies that they are singing (again- especially
>at the bridge) sound just like Queen!

I still think they sound like an obvious imitation of The Beach Boys,
as they were attempting to be just that.  The Beech Avenue Boys.

> Remember how Ballet For a Rainy Day starts "Orange and Lemon..."
>indicating their next album title?  Now listen to Chalkhills and
>Children, at 1:24, and see if you think any particular word is sung a
>little louder than the rest.

You're nuts.  It's projection.  You want to believe that there's a
connection.  So you hear it.  Nice try, though.  :-)

>        Lastly, I found a little subtlety in the breaks of Sacrificial
>Bonfire (at 2:57 and 3:05, not the breaks with the crackling fire).  If
>you turn the volume way up there you can hear what sounds like someone
>dropping their bow on their cello, and then some tempo counting (in the
>string section, I guess).

Cool!  I'll have to try this.  I love this kind of stuff.  The Beatles
are great for this.  I think things like this are why I don't like the
production ethic on the most recent XTC albums.  Everything is too
polished.  Where are the interesting mistakes?  As Andy says in "The
Vgly Vnderneath, "Go ahead, take a fork and try / See the unattractive
things that make us real".

        -- John

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Date: Mon, 28 Dec 92 12:54:34 CST
From: tmeyer@il.us.swissbank.com (Tom Meyer)
Subject: Tidbits....

Just a couple of recent "sightings" for all you completists out
there..

Over the holidays, I saw the play "Inspecting Carol" (kind of a spoof
on the traditional play) in Chicago.  During one of the
intermissions, they played about 30 seconds of "Snowman"

Next, during halftime of Sunday's football games, I flipped to MTV
and heard part of "Grass" being played on "House of Style" during
kind of a hippy-ish segment.

Anyway, nothing spectacular, but interesting nontheless.

-tom

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29 December 1992 / Feedback