XTC
Interview: Colin Moulding (XTC, TC&I)
Backseat Mafia recently enthusiastically reviewed the new EP “Great Aspirations” from XTC‘s Colin Moulding and Terry Chambers, released under the name TC&I. We were very luck to get the chance to fire some questions to XTC’s legendary singer/bass player Colin Moulding about his new release and about the place XTC held in the pantheon of …
EP: TC&I – Great Aspirations
As the conveyor belt of life moves inexorably closer to the edge, it is only natural for one to reflect on one’s impact on the world and whether one has bequeathed anything lasting and meaningful to world. These heavy and sobering thoughts seem to imbue the new EP, “Great Aspirations” from TC&I, the collaboration between …
Classic Compilation: XTC – Fossil Fuel: The XTC Singles 1977-1992
It is the mid-90s, you are the Virgin record label, you have been in dispute with one of your best acts for years and there seems to be no end in the deadlock. The act in question has never sold that many albums, but they have a small and incredibly loyal fanbase, and contemporary pop …
Not Forgotten: XTC – Skylarking
To the casual observer, by the time Skylarking was released in the mid-80s XTC looked washed up. Having had to stop touring in 1982 due to Andy Partridge’s crippling stage fright, their subsequent pair of albums, the pastoral Mummer and the industrial The Big Express hadn’t achieved the sort of commercial acceptance that anyone had …
Feature: double albums that are actually worth the time.
For some artists the single disc statement is not enough. It should be though, as the multiple disc release is a difficult beast to master and many of the most famous double albums are at least half a side too long (The Beatles, Blonde on Blonde, Songs in the Key of Life, Physical Graffiti, etc). …
Not Forgotten: XTC – Oranges & Lemons
Oranges and Lemons is an album that has spent the twenty six years since its release trying to put behind it the fans disappointment that it wasn’t as good as Skylarking. The thing is, there are precious few albums as good as XTC’s 1986 masterpiece, so anyone expecting Partridge, Moulding and Gregory to release something …
Classic Compilation: A Testimonial Dinner – The Songs of XTC
By the mid 90s XTC must have felt distinctly unloved. Neither critical darlings, nor a massive commercial success, they’d had a career-stalling set-to with their record label and had no choice but to down-tools and go one strike. What Virgin records didn’t take into account was the fact that although XTC’s fanbase was small, it …
A Buyers Guide to XTC
For reasons I’ve never been able to adequately explain, the majority of my favourite musicians have never achieved the level of success that their talent deserved, instead achieving artistic integrity while other, lesser talents, enjoyed far bigger commercial success and radio play. Super Furry Animals, Eels, Cud, are all bands that deserved to be much …
NOT FORGOTTEN – XTC – APPLE VENUS VOL. 1
The British terraced house is a humble dwelling. I’m not talking the huge Edwardian terraced villas that sell for obscene amounts of money in London, no I’m talking about the rows upon rows of two and three bedroom houses that make up the bulk of the majority towns and cities across Britain. Houses where your …
Not Forgotten: XTC – Nonsuch
In the latter half of the 80s the combined successes of Skylarking and Oranges & Lemons had saved XTC and they had re-established themselves as mature and intelligent pop-rockers that could appeal to all ages. The conceptual grandeur of Skylarking had initially been a commercial failure, but a freak hit on American College Radio with …