Chalkhills Digest Volume 12, Issue 55
Date: Sunday, 12 November 2006
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 12, Number 55
Sunday, 12 November 2006
Topics:
Tim Smith
Fuzzy Logic
"Fuzzy Warbles Collector's Sampler"
Robyn Hitchcock Venus 3
I Tube, You Tube We all Tube the inner tube
"Fuzzy Warbles" Review
Andy on the Amazon
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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 7 Nov 2006 11:54:54 -0500 From: "jude hayden" <jude.hayden@gmail.com> Subject: Tim Smith Message-ID: <cfe8e1c00611070854m47c36660ie006853a6b8496c8@mail.gmail.com> On Tue, 31 Oct 2006 22:54:58 -0800 (PST) Off Screen <o_screen@yahoo.com> said: >>>>Interesting listening to Sheryl Crow's bass player Tim Smith: www.myspace.com/timsmithsongs one track so far has Colin-esque bass as well.<<<< I must point out that Tim Smith's C.V. also includes Jellyfish, and he toured with the Finn Brothers a couple of years ago. Good stuff - thanks for the link!
------------------------------ Date: 07 Nov 2006 12:53:05 -0500 From: John.J.Pinto@Hitchcock.ORG (John J. Pinto) Subject: Fuzzy Logic Message-ID: <5637946@mailbox4.Hitchcock.ORG> My local Record Shop has "Warbles" Collector Set for $69.95. I paid $67.45 for the "Box" and the last TWO Warbles from Andy's site (now mysteriously "suspended" probably because he cut a distribution deal). Add to that buying the individual discs as they were released and I'm up to near $180.00 for something I could now own for $70. I have loved and ranted and listened and collected XTC since Science Friction was released. I've spent literally thousands of dollars chasing down the rare and unusual edges of the XTC catalogue only to be had by Andy at the end of the day! No wonder Colin refused to participate! What a complete and utter deception by Mr. Partridge. J Pinto
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 09 Nov 2006 10:41:19 -0500 From: Ben Gott <bgott@rectoryschool.org> Subject: "Fuzzy Warbles Collector's Sampler" Message-ID: <C178B64F.A41%bgott@rectoryschool.org> Hi Gang, I just received "The Official Andy Partridge Fuzzy Warbles Collector's Sampler" to review for kevchino.com, the online indie music site. It comes in a wonderful cardboard Air Mail envelope with Andy's "address" on it. (When I can get access to my scanner at home, I'll send John the jpegs.) It also comes with the "Fuzzy Warbles Collectors Album," a DVD with all the "Fuzzy Warbles" volumes (including the "Hinges" disc), promotional photographs, sleeve notes, and even a "Fuzzy Warbles" television ad! I've clogged John's Inbox with some of this stuff, too... The review will be up by Monday. I'll send a link. Take care Ben
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Nov 2006 20:21:25 -0600 From: "James Lowe" <jamielowe@msn.com> Subject: Robyn Hitchcock Venus 3 Message-ID: <BAY116-DAV49C3E8E8FAA311442CCD7BEF70@phx.gbl> Hey Guys, I had the pleasure of seeing Robyn Hitchcock and the Venus 3 last night at the Metro in Chicago. The backing band included REM and/or Minus 5 members Peter Buck, Scott McCaughey, and Bill Rieflin and they rocked! It was a great show and RH was in great post election spirits. Needless to say if you're a Republican you might of been a bit insulted by Robyn's banter and songs ( I want to Destroy you). But the crowd loved it. He played a number of songs from the new album Ole' Tarantula and Spooked his last along with lot's of oldies too. If you are a fan of jangly rock played by some true pros. You will be doing yourself a favor to catch this show when it comes to your town. Old fans will be delighted like me and new fans will surely be impressed. FYI for you REM fans; Peter Buck came out to the Merch table after the show signed autographs and chatted with the fans. He is now the proud owner of a XTC sticker compliments of yours truly. And for you XTC fans http://www.xtcidearecords.co.uk/news/news_1.htm Cheers, Jamie Lowe http://xtcstickers.jamielowe.net/
------------------------------ Date: Sat, 11 Nov 2006 10:53:49 -0800 From: "Wayne Klein" <wtdk123@msn.com> Subject: I Tube, You Tube We all Tube the inner tube Message-ID: <BAY108-F31B858586A22284BF2CA69F9F60@phx.gbl> Finally went over to Youtube to check out all the XTC videos. Harrison's post is a delight! It was fun seeing the band in a vintage performance on German TV. I didn't realize how many of the videos the band made I had missed (I was never a regular MTV viewer...too many commericals). I did enjoy the live stuff more particularly seeing Letterman again and some of the other live stuff some of which I never saw. Virgin really needs to back down on whatever demands prevented the guys from compiling their video/TV appearences. Watching the live stuff was like a virtual concert of sorts. It was really cool to see "Battery Brides" performed as that's a song I had never heard performed live by the band (I was on the bandwagon just AFTER they quit live performing which kind of sucked). Fun stuff.
------------------------------ Date: Sat, 11 Nov 2006 18:16:41 -0500 From: Benjamin Gott <bgott@rectoryschool.org> Subject: "Fuzzy Warbles" Review Message-ID: <09E9DF8D-36E8-4D1B-AF66-8FB2815F7E1A@rectoryschool.org> Yo dweebs, Here's the review of "Fuzzy Warbles" that I just wrote for kevchino.com, where I'm a "Contributing Writer." That's write. I contribute. Enjoy, Ben *** Andy Partridge Fuzzy Warbles Vols. 1-9 Ape Records Ltd. 2006 9 CD Box Set 168 Tracks Rating: 10/10 July 19, 1994 - the day I was introduced to the music of XTC - remains the most important day in my musical life. My older brother had given me a cassette tape for my birthday that year. Elvis Costello's "Spike" was on side A, and XTC's "Nonsuch" was on side B. I will always remember my brother telling me, "Check this song out!" and then playing "The Smartest Monkeys." Then "My Bird Performs." Then "The Disappointed." I was hooked. I wore that tape out that summer. Now, 12 years later, my XTC collection numbers more than 60 CDs (studio albums, authorized live performances, bootlegs, and two box sets); seven poorly-copied VHS tapes (in safekeeping in a box in the basement); an original "Nonsuch" poster (framed and hanging in my living room); two books about the band (Chalkhills and Children and Song Stories); and a handful of LPs, EPs, and promotional singles. The license plate on my old Volkswagen? "XTC." The most I've ever spent for an XTC album? $60 for the bootleg "Nonsuch" demos, which I bought in May of 1997. The number of songs I have recorded for XTC tribute albums? Two: "Making Plans for Nigel" and "One of the Millions." I've been a member of Chalkhills, the XTC e-mail list, for ten years. I've e- mailed former guitarist Dave Gregory, sent one of my own CDs to Andy Partridge, and had my songs played for Terry Chambers (thanks, Paul!). Through the XTC fan community, I have been introduced to the vast majority of the music that now makes up my collection of more than 1,200 CDs: Elvis Costello, Martin Newell, Jason Falkner, The Lilac Time, The Smiths, Robyn Hitchcock, Talking Heads...the list goes on. As a self-described XTC fanatic, I looked forward with great interest to Andy Partridge's "Fuzzy Warbles" collection. When he first announced the project a few years ago, XTC fans were ecstatic: here was our hero, about to release nine discs of demos, outtakes, alternate versions, and throwaways. We had high hopes for the entire project. Individually, the "Fuzzy Warbles" discs served as interesting pieces of the puzzle, but they didn't really tell a complete story. Now, though, with all the albums released, "Fuzzy Warbles" suddenly comes together. This set paints a picture of a musician who, over almost 30 years, has crafted some of the finest pop music of the 20th century. XTC's proper albums - from the punk-influenced "Drums and Wires" to the orchestral/electric double-albums "Apple Venus: Volume One" and "Wasp Star" -- showcased a band that was years ahead of its time. "Fuzzy Warbles" shows us how they got there. Although I would love to have heard all of bass player Colin Moulding's contributions during this time period, the fact remains that Andy Partridge is the band's principal vocalist and songwriter, and it is his songs, sensibilities, and infamous perfectionism that have propelled the band forward throughout their career. The departures of Barry Andrews and Terry Chambers (in the late 1970's and early 1980's, respectively) and the introduction of Dave Gregory (in 1979) and his subsequent departure (in 1997) certainly changed the way the band did business. But Andy was, is, and will always be the boss. And what a boss he is. There's not enough room to catalog the throwaway songs on "Fuzzy Warbles" that are better than most bands' best. I have lived with so many of these tunes on hissy Maxell cassettes for so many years that to finally hear the carnivalesque "Prince of Orange," the catchy "Now We're All Dead," and the haunting "Dame Fortune" on one pristine-sounding collection is almost too much to bear. (You may think that I'm overreacting; if you do, you don't know how rabid we XTC fans are.) The memories that these songs conjure up are overwhelming, too. I can remember shoveling snow off our damned flat roof in the winter of 1995 while listening to "Bumpercars" and driving to college in my old Saab with "Young Cleopatra" (drum machines and all) cranked up until I thought my ears would bleed. This set is worthwhile even for a completist like me, for I didn't yet have a copy of Andy's fantastic "Song for Wes Long" (written for a fellow Chalkhillian), the melancholy "I Gave My Suitcase Away" (which would have fit perfectly on "Nonsuch" or "Oranges and Lemons"), or the strange "R.E.M. Producer Inquiry," where Andy is interrupted in the midst of recording a vocal track by a phone call about producing an R.E.M. album. Everything is here, and not even the completist in me can think of any B-side, demo, or song sketch that has been left out (although I'm sure that Andy has enough for "Fuzzy Warbles" volumes 10-30). I know it's been said before, but Andy Partridge is a musical genius -- a fucking musical genius, if I may be so bold as to say so. And even though it seems less and less likely each day that XTC will release a new album (it's been six years since their last), their catalog stands as one of the finest in popular music. Period. Some may give Andy the blame; some may give him the credit. I'm just grateful that, for the last twelve years, I have been lucky enough to go along for the ride. I'm sure there's no way that Andy will actually read this review, but in case he does, I have a message from all of us: thank you, my friend. Thank you so very much. Your music means so much to so many people. Keep on playing. -BEN GOTT kevchino.com
------------------------------ Date: Sun, 12 Nov 2006 08:44:44 -0800 (PST) From: Todd Bernhardt <beat_town@yahoo.com> Subject: Andy on the Amazon Message-ID: <173714.948.qm@web32014.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Hi: Ben Lukoff's excellent interview w/Andy is up at: http://www.amazon.com/wire Scroll down the page a bit and look for the "Extended Interviews and More" header on the right to find a free download of "2 Rainbeau Melt" and the entire interview with Andy. Of course, if you haven't already gotten your Warbles, you can get the entire set for an insanely low price there in the Amazonian jungles... -Todd When work is a pleasure, life is a joy! When work is a duty, life is slavery. -Maxim Gorky, author (1868-1936)
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #12-55 *******************************
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