Chalkhills Digest Volume 12, Issue 15
Date: Monday, 3 April 2006

         Chalkhills Digest, Volume 12, Number 15

                   Monday, 3 April 2006

Topics:

             MITCH!!! HEY, YOU'RE NOT MITCH!
                   We'll take a tumble
               skylarking version question
                     Who hid my Coat?
              Where Have the XTC Guys Gone?
                      Divine Comedy
              Peter Murray - Ants And Angels

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If I could only be your Peeping Tom...

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2006 21:30:33 EST
From: LadyCPlum@aol.com
Subject: MITCH!!! HEY, YOU'RE NOT MITCH!
Message-ID: <278.7cc9fb7.315c9cc9@aol.com>

Ahem...sorry, little Real Genius kicking in there. Anyhow my dear Mr.
Friedman, I just heard back from Gregsy, he said the same, it's her. I
might have to pick up some of her stuff, I quite liked the little I
did hear.  *whimper* Gregsy called me pathetic for listening to James
Blunt. *sob* Better him than Coldplay as far as I'm concerned. I would
love to smack that self-righteous Chris Martin and his smug little
wifey across their inflated heads...if only for naming their poor
little girl after a FLIPPING FRUIT! What's the next kid gonna be,
banana? Pomegranate? Lychee Nut????????

And may I just say, since the New Radicals had been talked about in
recent digests, that I am completely in love with their song "I Hope I
Didn't Just Give Away the Ending".....and I wish I was in England
right now so I could take in a show of My Name Is Rachel Corrie....and
Alan Rickman should be bronzed and put on display in Hyde Park when he
passes.....and I'm done rambling now :)

Tis all for now,
Amanda
XTC song of the day-Here Comes President Kill Again
non XTC song of the day-Kiss Me Hardly-Serge Gainsbourg

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2006 14:24:16 +0100
From: Mark Fisher <mark-fisher@blueyonder.co.uk>
Subject: We'll take a tumble
Message-ID: <C052EC10.790D%mark-fisher@blueyonder.co.uk>

XTC making yet another entry in the Guardian's reader's choice column today,
this time in a hit list of songs about trees and flowers. Grass storms in at
number 6:

http://arts.guardian.co.uk/filmandmusic/story/0,,1742828,00.html

Next week's theme is songs about food. Someone's already suggested Fruit
Nut. I've added Cake for Breakfast (from the Carmen Sandiego album) and
XTC's Cherry in your Tree:

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/culturevulture/archives/2006/03/31/eat_to_the_be
at.html

--
Mark

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2006 15:00:14 -0700
From: "Susan B. Winter" <SWinter@sheeo.org>
Subject: skylarking version question
Message-ID: <3A9E375AF395774E8BF7211238D97A4069B996@fsmail.SHEEOPRIV.local>

Hi. I found your site when looking up track listings of the different
versions of Skylarking. Since you seem to know a lot, perhaps you can
help me. In the late 80s or early 90s, I taped either an album or CD
version of Skylarking (just can't remember, but I think it may have been
an album). This version had 15 tracks with Mermaid Smiled in its
original position and Dear God right before Dying (fading into it). The
album ended with sacrificial Bonfire - no bonus track. In my current
attempt to try to buy a CD version of my cassette, I have found that not
only can I not find this track order, but that it never existed
according to other websites, including yours. Well it must have at one
point since that is what I taped. Do you know of any other releases? I
did find this track listing on on other site - a French one. As well,
Amazon, says it sells a version where the bonus track is Mermaid Smiled
(which would be better in the bonus position that Dear God because of
the cross fade). I cannot find any other occurrence of that ordering
either. Do you if that actually existed either?

Any help is much appreciated,
Susan Winter

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 1 Apr 2006 10:35:31 +0100 (BST)
From: Paul Culnane <paulculnane@yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: Who hid my Coat?
Message-ID: <20060401093531.38524.qmail@web86910.mail.ukl.yahoo.com>

Hello Mark B in NYC

  >>>Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2006 09:15:02 -0800 (PST)
From: Mark Burnell <yondermeister@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Under My Coat

  hidden tracks ??  what hidden tracks ?? can someone fill me in on the
details ?  i've never come across 'em in all my repeated playings of
this wonderful boxed set...
    Mark B in NYC<<<

Mate, sorry for delay in replying, and I'm posting this to the
Chalkhills list for those who might need to know.  Here we go-

Pull out "Coat Of Many Cupboards".  On disc two and disc three you
can try the following.  Put the disc into a sympathetic CD machine,
press "play" then "stop" or "pause" immediately.  Then scroll back
with the rewind button.  Then let it fly-

If that works for you, it will reveal some wicked studio banter and
fine fisticuffs, courtesy Terry Chambers.

Let me (us) know how you get on!

Cheers

Paul, your ever-vigilant hidden-track nerd in Oz

"If everyone's somebody, then no-one's anybody" - Gilbert & Sullivan

Paul Culnane
ICE Productions Australia

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 01 Apr 2006 14:43:11 -0800
From: "Wayne Klein" <wtdk123@msn.com>
Subject: Where Have the XTC Guys Gone?
Message-ID: <BAY108-F305304DC6808F49EB2A7C2F9D70@phx.gbl>

My God has it been six years since "Wasp Star"? Hard to believe. I realize
that Andy has been busy with his "Fuzzy Warbles" releases and collaborating
with a wide variety of artists but doesn't it seem like it's time to put out
another album? This is one year shy of the same amount of time between
"Nonsuch" and "Apple Venus". They were on strike during that time. Perhaps
Andy's having too much fun collaborating without outside artists or his
creative juices haven't been stirred to life.

What brings all this up? I was at amazon.com and "Wasp Star" was on the list
for Best Albums from the Decade (so far) at #15 in the top 20. A respectable
showing to be sure but all we've really had from the guys since this has
been "Coat" with a single new recording, a Dukes reunion track and three
tracks released on the internet. This list has lost a large proportion of
readers/writers since then as there hasn't been all that much to read or
write about (or perhaps they're just lurking). Danny Phipps asked where any
new material might be a couple of posts back and I have to echo his
sentiments. While it's all nice and good to resume living a normal life the
rock/pop world sorely misses this marvelous duo. While Dave's no longer a
member, I'd love to see him contribute a solo or two to some new material as
well.

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 2 Apr 2006 11:42:53 +0200 (CEST)
From: N TURNER <member@turner2.wanadoo.co.uk>
Subject: Divine Comedy
Message-ID: <17360453.1143970973161.JavaMail.www@wwinf3203>

hello people

I was dipping my toes in the big electronic ocean this morning, having
a flick through the usual sites, when I came across an interesting
little item on the Divine Comedy website. If you go into the Inner
Circle, a sort of members area (it doesn't cost anything), you will
come across a transcript of a speach made by the wonderful Mr Hannon
in which he talks about POP music and makes an attempt at explaining
the phenomena. XTC get a mention in the item, have a look it's
interesting reading. I also came across an ad for ticket sales for the
ICICLE WORKS reunion gigs later this year. My world is a happier place
this morning. All we need now is ...............................you
know

Nigel

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 3 Apr 2006 11:14:51 -0400
From: John Relph <relph@tmbg.org>
Subject: Peter Murray - Ants And Angels
Message-ID: <17457.15339.30715.577779@f5.idiot-dog.com>

Folks,

Before I forget, I should mention that I received an email from the
kind folks at NotLame Records.  They compared the artist Peter Murray
with Owsley and XTC, so I surfed his site, and discovered that he's
the same Peter Murray who played in the Simpletones at the 1991 XTC
Music and Friends Convention.  The same Peter Murray who covered
"Ladybird" in a reggae mood for Ian C Stewart's long lost and demented
classic XTC cover tape "Obscene Collection".

Anyway, here's what NotLame has to say...

"Marlene Palumbo" <marlene@notlame.com> writes:

  Peter Murray - Ants And Angels
  Price:  $13
  Link: http://www.notlame.com/Peter_Murray/Page_1/CDMURRAY1.html

  Canadian import and a major find for Not Lamers. A Surpreme one,
  trust us.  Fans of Wisely, classic Owsley, Micheal Penn, Pat
  Buchanan, The Dotted Line and Ross Rice will not be let down by this
  in the l east bit. It's clear Murray is inspired by Squeeze, The
  Rembrandts, Ron Sexsmith and XTC as their sounds are here but each
  song is about finding lasting appeal. The superlatives are
  many. "It's a proper singer/songwriter album, with a heavy dose of
  XTC/Squeeze/Elvis Costello - all those great early 80s songwriters -
  and tunesmiths like The Rembrandts/Lit/Fountains Of Wayne etc. The
  songwriting, production, playing and packaging are all top notch -
  it's amazing to think that it's a self-produced album. I guess the
  quality of the musicians on it is a testament to Peter's standing in
  the Toronto music scene - everything is impeccably played, the tunes
  are incredibly strong - if it gets in the right hands, he's
  guaranteed a couple of radio hits off this. Really, it's a must for
  fans of intelligent alt-guitar singer/songwriter stuff. From the
  ultra-catchy punky tracks like the opener 'Gen X DJ on E' and 'Ears
  Make Wax' to the more mellow almost Neil Young-ish tunes like
  'Murray Vs The Ants' and 'Skydiver Friends', the album is packed
  with great hooks, instantly memorable stuff." - Anthropicollective.
  "Ants and Angels is consistently entertaining, ultra-musical, and a
  worthy addition to the Canadian power pop canon!" - Don Breithaupt,
  author of Night Moves: Pop Music in the Late Seventies, Precious and
  Few: Pop Music in the Early Seventies, and the forthcoming addition
  to the 33-1/3 series, Steely Dan's Aja. Simply, seriously, one of
  the finest high-brow, sophisticated pop releases of 2006 and big,
  big time Extremely Highly Recommended!!

------------------------------

End of Chalkhills Digest #12-15
*******************************

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