Chalkhills Digest Volume 12, Issue 56
Date: Wednesday, 22 November 2006

         Chalkhills Digest, Volume 12, Number 56

               Wednesday, 22 November 2006

Topics:

        More than enough to keep you fed all week
              Yes, I agree, very fuzzy logic
                    Fuzzy Logic indeed
                          YIKES!
         Ben Gott's Fuzzy review in 'Hills 12/55
                     Everyone Stares
                  Tim Smith / XTC Mashup

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Date: Sun, 12 Nov 2006 17:17:53 -0800 (PST)
From: Todd Bernhardt <beat_town@yahoo.com>
Subject: More than enough to keep you fed all week
Message-ID: <71102.55353.qm@web32005.mail.mud.yahoo.com>

Hi:

This week on the XTCfans MySpace site
(http://www.myspace.com/xtcfans), the song of the week is "Harvest
Festival," from 1999's Apple Venus Vol. 1.

If you want to know who's playing the military-style snare drum and
where the "Beatle moment" in the song is, then check out the XTCfans
Blog (http://blog.myspace.com/xtcfans), where there's an exclusive
interview with the birthday boy himself.

-Todd

There is no disguise that can for long conceal love where it exists or
simulate it where it does not.
  -Francois de La Rochefoucauld, writer (1631-1686 )

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

Date: Sun, 12 Nov 2006 21:52:07 -0800 (PST)
From: Jeff Eby <jeffaeb@yahoo.com>
Subject: Yes, I agree, very fuzzy logic
Message-ID: <85978.56120.qm@web50306.mail.yahoo.com>

J Pinto wrote:
> 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.

Oh wow, really? Are you telling me box sets are
cheaper than single volumes? Or is your point that
CD's are much cheaper in the United States than in the
U.K.? Or maybe that it costs money to ship CD's from
overseas?
Yes, you are applying very fuzzy logic if you think
Andy's cheating you here.
Stop looking for deceptions and conspiracies. It's
more cost effective to market a box set in the U.S.
than single volumes. It's not hard to figure out! It's
also likely Rykyodisc's Virtual Label distribution
thing wasn't even an option FOUR YEARS AGO when the
series started. DO you really think Andy had this
diabolical plan when he started? You bought them from
Andy when they came out, wear it like badge.

P.S. the Ape and Idea shops have both been in the
middle of a site overhaul for a couple weeks,
scheduled to be back up Nov. 14. So no, that isn't a
conspiracy either.

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

Date: Mon, 13 Nov 2006 06:49:58 -0800 (PST)
From: Todd Bernhardt <beat_town@yahoo.com>
Subject: Fuzzy Logic indeed
Message-ID: <20061113144958.96734.qmail@web32012.mail.mud.yahoo.com>

Hi:

John Pinto complained:
> 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.

So am I! And, by doing so, I've supported Andy and his label, helping
(I hope) to ensure that he continues to make and release music. I've
also gotten autographed copies of the CDs, and didn't have to wait for
years to be able to hear this great music. These are all benefits well
worth paying for, IMO.

(On a side note, both the Idea and APE sites have their catalog sales
suspended because the vendor behind the sites is upgrading
software. So, in spite of your conspiracy theories, this doesn't only
involve Fuzzy Warbles -- it involves the entire catalog of both
labels, and it's a problem for both Andy and Colin because this is
happening as we head into the holiday buying season.)

> 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!

Colin refused to participate because he didn't want to take the
financial risk involved in putting out a multi-disc compilation of
demos, b-sides, rare cuts, and new songs. Andy decided to take that
chance, and I for one am glad he did. By paying for the FW discs as
they were released, the fan base (us) provided the financing Andy
needed to see the series through to its completion and, ultimately, to
make the entire set available to the general public for a "can't
afford not to buy it" price.

> What a complete and utter deception by Mr. Partridge.

What complete and utter bollocks, Mr. Pinto. Whether or not to buy was
always your choice. Andy never lied about his plans for the set, or
what the pricing would be.

Wayne Klein said:
> Virgin really needs to back down on whatever demands prevented the guys from
> compiling their video/TV appearences.

The band is very close to reaching a settlement with the label, so
buck up -- video releases should be on the way in '07...

Ben "mein" Gott reviewed FW, saying:
> 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.

No arguments from this corner about the "years ahead of its time"
label, but are you telling me White Music and Go2 aren't "proper
albums"? Shame, shame!  :^)

-Todd

It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data.  Insensibly
one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to
suit facts.  -Arthur Conan Doyle, physician and writer (1859-1930)

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

Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2006 06:16:55 +0000 (GMT)
From: Paul Culnane <paulculnane@yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: YIKES!
Message-ID: <20061116061655.66475.qmail@web86913.mail.ukl.yahoo.com>

Brace y'selves Chalkpeople.  This rather telling item comes from the
December issue of Mojo magazine:

COUNTDOWNS TO XTC - Andy Partridge presents demos in box of
Proustian lushness.

"I'm a slut for packaging", says XTC's Andy Partridge.  His new 9-CD
box set The Official Fuzzy Warbles Collector's Edition is
incontrovertible evidence.  Each of his Fuzzy Warbles demo discs come
in a fake 1950s stamp album, presenting song-sketches from every phase
of his career.

"The box harks back to the time when stamp albums had a badly drawn UN
globe and pictures of stamps you couln't find", explains Partridge,
"plus the space thing they had, with a kids' encyclopedia graphic of
cutting through the Earth's strata where you see dinosaur skeletons.
It's that musically, essentially".

With his Monstrance album of improvised music with early XTC keyboard
player Barry Andrews released in January, MOJO must also ask about
that long-dormant parent band.  "I speak of XTC in the past tense",
admits Partridge.  "It's in the freezer and I dunno if it'll ever come
out again - Colin [Moulding] phoned me recently and said he wasn't
interested in music any more, and it wouldn't be XTC without him.  But
I have been ummm'ing and arr'ing about working with Dave Gregory
again- so I mustn't say 'no' ".

"That's no banana, that's my nose" - Joe Walsh

Paul Culnane
ICE Productions Australia

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

Date: Mon, 20 Nov 2006 01:00:46 +0000 (GMT)
From: Paul Culnane <paulculnane@yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: Ben Gott's Fuzzy review in 'Hills 12/55
Message-ID: <20061120010046.2423.qmail@web86915.mail.ukl.yahoo.com>

Excellent review Ben.  You managed to eloquently echo what many of we
fans think..  And, er, shucks, thanxtc for the name-check.  Your
enthusiasm for XTC, and music in general, is inspirational.

On another tack, it's around this time of each year that people
submit their lists of favourite releases.  Well, apart from the
obvious (The Fuzzy box), and struggling to sift through a raft of
worthy albums this year for a short list; I have but one envelope to
open: "Writer's Block" by Swedish trio Peter Bjorn and John.
Imaginative, cleverly arranged pop, veering between irresistible
bubblegum and poignant introspection.  Simply stupendous.  I'd chop
off one of my limbs and sell it to science if it meant I could catch
one of their Aussie concerts during the summer festival period!  But
hey, many of the tracks utilise a mysterious instrument called the
Armon.  I guess it's some kind of synth-type thing, but does anyone
know exactly what it is?

Oh, alright then.  Runner-up: "White Bread Black Beer" by Scritti Politti.

Thanks for the cyber-chalkhugs during a fraught 2006.  You know who you are.

Love
Paullie Pumpkinhead

"I blend in the crowd, fingers so clumsy, voice too loud" - Pete Townshend

Paul Culnane
ICE Productions Australia

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

Date: Mon, 20 Nov 2006 11:01:09 -0800 (PST)
From: Steve <ste7phen@yahoo.com>
Subject: Everyone Stares
Message-ID: <20061120190109.32654.qmail@web53301.mail.yahoo.com>

Thanks for posting a recommendation for this movie.
This is indispensible as a first hand chronicle of a rise to rock stardom.
A treasure to watch. Fun!!!

Everyone Stares DVD by Stewart Copeland of The Police

...plus it has XTC content (a little)

--
Another Steve
http://geocities.com/flightoflarks/music/xtc/

I say it really doesn't matter where you put your vote
Someone else will come along and move it  -AP

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

Date: Wed, 22 Nov 2006 10:44:43 +1100
From: "Simon Knight" <homefrontradio@hotmail.com>
Subject: Tim Smith / XTC Mashup
Message-ID: <BAY128-F26065121C11A93DE2EA92FD0EC0@phx.gbl>

Tim Smith played bass on the 'Split Milk' album by Jellyfish, and later was
one half of power pop band the Umajets, who were fun, but like Imperial
Drag, Obviously No Jellyfish.

Anyway -

Check out this page and download 'Coming Up Butterflies'.

http://anonymousbosch.multiply.com/music

You might find the use of XTC's 'Greenman' intriguing'.  Or not.

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End of Chalkhills Digest #12-56
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