Chalkhills Digest Volume 16, Issue 4
Date: Friday, 26 March 2010
Chalkhills Digest, Volume 16, Number 4
Friday, 26 March 2010
Topics:
AP and TR square up... sorry it's late
Lillywhite
Andy's son, I am told...
Andy discusses guitar playing and players -- Part II
I'm hot for Warm Robot
XTC overview
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And she's the one thing that you just can't have.
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2010 10:50:44 -0000 From: "Tim" <tim@wordsrus.demon.co.uk> Subject: AP and TR square up... sorry it's late Message-ID: <6798B230D59A4FCFBC137C5B7D6CB69B@TimPC> Look out for a reappearance of a BBC radio 'Record Producers' episode on Todd Rundgren. I found it by accident on the i-player on the last day of availability. (Broadcast was 27 Feb) For those who didn't catch it... Near the end 7-8 minutes were devoted to TR's XTC/Skylarking adventure. TR and Andy were interviewed. The commentary said TR was XTC's producer of choice when told by Virgin they had to look to make a big splash in the USA. TR said he came to it knowing AP had a love of densely packing recordings with sonic input across the audio spectrum. (Cue the end section of Blue Overall) He said: as they didn't tour AP wanted recording to go on for ever! This was contrasted with the 'space' on the opening tracks of Skylarking. Click tracks were disguised - as the insects on Summer's Cauldren and on the Meeting Place the click became the machinery noises). AP praised TR as an arranger - citing TMWSAHS - but damned his engineering and man-management abilities! (Aside: Not being anything of a Tom Robinson Band fan, it was interesting to hear how Rundgren was brought in to salvage the 2nd TRB album in the early 80s in London, supervising recording during the same week he was playing a 2-shows-a-night residency with Utopia. Then he took the tapes away and mixed them privately in the USA. As I then found, currently if you follow the TRB link through from www.tomrobinson.com, the TRB1 and 2 albums can be downloaded free in their remastered/extended track USA versions!) __ Tim Harris
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:19:51 +0100 From: don device <device@noos.fr> Subject: Lillywhite Message-ID: <0B862ACF-1997-451A-876D-09657839D5EB@noos.fr> ChalkAll, Here's an nterview wiht Steve Lillywhite on the AVClub site with the occasional XTC reference... http://www.avclub.com/articles/superproducer-steve-lillywhite,39124/ xo, d" "Outside of dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read." Groucho Marx
------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 11:01:32 -0700 (PDT) From: Kzincat <kzincat98@yahoo.com> Subject: Andy's son, I am told... Message-ID: <779834.5889.qm@web112511.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> http://worldofwonder.net/2010/01/26/Hot_nav_i_porn_of_course/?utm_source=wow&utm_medium=permalink&utm_campaign=related Funny!
------------------------------ Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 16:05:50 -0700 (PDT) From: Todd Bernhardt <beat_town@yahoo.com> Subject: Andy discusses guitar playing and players -- Part II Message-ID: <956988.32083.qm@web32002.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Hi: Over at the XTCfans MySpace site (http://www.myspace.com/xtcfans), Andy takes a look back at his beginnings as a guitar player, while the song of the week is a repost of "Are You Receiving Me?", a nice little example of his early style of playing and soloing. If you want to know whose Andy's influences are, or why his mother never made the list of thank-you's in XTC's liner notes, check out the XTCfans blog site at http://blogs.myspace.com/xtcfans. I put it in a letter What could be better? -Todd
------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2010 18:10:52 -0700 (PDT) From: Todd Bernhardt <beat_town@yahoo.com> Subject: I'm hot for Warm Robot Message-ID: <182684.41438.qm@web32006.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Hi: I just pre-ordered "Warm Robot" the other day (you can get it here: http://www.ape.uk.net/acatalog/Jen_Olive.html), and have been able to listen to the free download you get when you order the physical CD. Even though I'd heard early mixes of a couple of the songs, "Warm Robot" in its entirety is a revelation. Jen's lead vocals are supple, smooth and slippery, bringing Billie Holiday to mind, while her distinctive, layered background vocals are both melodic and dissonant, sometimes giving me impressions of African choral singing. Her guitar playing also has Afrobeat tinges to it, featuring very capably played finger-picked, odd-time patterns that rub nicely against the rhythm and melody of her vocal lines -- rarely duplicating them, always complementing them. All of this is further enhanced by Andy's production, mixing and instrumental contributions. In some ways, the album reminds me of Martin Newell's "The Greatest Living Englishman," in that it's a collection of well-written and well-performed songs by a unique artist that have been further polished by the presence of Our Man in Swindon. As I listen, I hear little "Andyisms" all over the album -- a percussion part here, a low vocal there, a guitar part here, or a Mellotron or other keyboard part there. And the album sounds stunning -- yes, he may still be suffering from tinnitus, but the man continues to have ears of gold. All in all, "Warm Robot" is a welcome addition to my music collection. I can honestly say I don't own anything like it, and I mean that in the Best Possible Way. Highly recommended. -Todd Is not dread of thirst when your well is full, thirst that is unquenchable? -Khalil Gibran, mystic, poet, and artist (1883-1931)
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Mar 2010 21:31:05 +0000 From: Mark Fisher <mark-fisher@blueyonder.co.uk> Subject: XTC overview Message-ID: <0D806808-A7F2-434C-8A40-78C390CC56DF@blueyonder.co.uk> Hi everyone, There's an interview with Andy and an early-career XTC retrospective just appeared here: http://www.artrocker.tv/features/article/xtc-the-complete-works ---- Mark
------------------------------ End of Chalkhills Digest #16-4 ******************************
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