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myvinylplaylist · 7 months

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Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Radio Sunnydale - Music From The TV Series (2003)

Virgin Records

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mywifeleftme · 2 months

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327: XTC // Black Sea

Black Sea XTC 1980, Virgin

XTC’s discography has a very organic flow to it. Andy and Colin’s voices aside, it’d be tough to guess the same band was behind the albums that bookended their career (convulsive 1978 New Wave speedball White Music and the lavishly arranged psych pop of the turn of the century Apple Venus tandem), but if you follow the band over time, from one album to the next there are few radical departures. Each link in the chain contains elements of the record that precedes it and the one that follows it. Still, you can clearly divide their discography between their early years as a hard-touring New Wave act and their second act as a pastoral psych pop studio project—and, in that light, the albums that straddle that transition (today’s album, Black Sea, and 1982’s English Settlement) could be considered the “definitive” XTC records.

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It’s easy to forget what a spectacular live act XTC were in their early days, something like a combination of ‘60s bubblegum, Devo, the Residents, and Wire, but with cardio that would’ve put most of those acts to shame. As a guitarist, Andy Partridge scorned anything that smacked of blues, slashing out hiccupy riffs way up the neck, hurling himself into head-spinning rhythms that often wouldn’t be out of place on a Fugazi record (if he didn’t have such a sweet tooth). He surrounded himself with collaborators whose ability as players was such that they were able to make their own marks on the band’s sound despite Partridge’s dictatorial tendencies—not only minority songwriter and exceptionally melodic bassist Colin Moulding, but ultimate utility man Dave Gregory (who flitted with ease from lead guitar to keys) and their gem of a drummer Terry Chambers, a non-writing / arranging member who would be lost when the band’s studio transition reduced him to a glorified session man. Chambers was an absolute machine, and many of the band’s most memorable early statements rely on his power and precision behind the kit.

Black Sea is their last record to be dominated by the quirky sound-over-sense rhythm workouts on which they built their name, and they go out with a bang: “Rocket from a Bottle,” “Burning with Optimism’s Flames,” and especially “Paper and Iron (Notes and Coins)” are fine reminders that new wave was as much Body as Head music, while the tribal stomp of “Travels in Nihilon” feels like a hint at what XTC would’ve sounded like as some kind of Swindon krautrock band. But the songs that are best remembered from this one are those first stirrings of their burgeoning reinvention as basically the attention deficit disorder Kinks.

By his own admission, Colin Moulding’s early songwriting efforts had aped Partridge’s style, but here it seems Partridge was inspired by Moulding’s sardonic kitchen sink satire “Making Plans for Nigel” (from the previous year's Drums and Wires). “Respectable Street” reads almost like Partridge proving to himself he can write his own “Nigel,” while the chiming psychedelic pop of “Towers of London” scales its social commentary to the Empire itself. His finest moment though is “No Language in Our Lungs,” one of the band’s first genuinely emotional statements. The wordy lyric is typically “clever” (“I would have made this instrumental / but the words got in the way”) yet it captures the feeling of being overwhelmed by the intensity of…well, a feeling. The credit lies mostly with its arrangement, which heaves and stumbles behind Andy’s inconsolable howl like someone dragging their feet in exhaustion.

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Black Sea usually sits somewhere between third and fifth in my personal XTC rankings, but it’d be the place I recommend a new fan start with the band (or would be, were the record available on streaming services). Between Andy’s peculiar voice and a smartass quality that can get a little cloying, XTC’s not for everyone—but for those on the wavelength, their catalogue is one of the greatest of the rock era.

320/365

Bonus

For the hell of it, my personal XTC discog rankings.

Skylarking English Settlement Black Sea White Music Drums and Wires Apple Venus Volume 1 Go 2 Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume 2) Oranges & Lemons Mummer Nonsuch The Big Express

#xtc #xtc band #andy partridge #colin moulding #virgin records #new wave #art rock #post punk #psych pop #'80s music #music review #vinyl record

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undergroundrockpress · 1 year

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Virgin Records, 1972.

#psychedelic art #Virgin Records #1972 #1970s

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alephstudio · 2 months

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#steven wilson #harmonic divergence #lp #virgin records #carl glover

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nineteenfiftysix · 9 months

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Skunk Anansie - Charlie Big Potato (Post Orgasmic Chill, 1999)

#skunk anansie #post orgasmic chill #alternative-rock #virgin records

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lowpassed · 5 months

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#botany 5 #lfo #techno #bleep #virgin records #1990

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daftbootlegs · 2 years

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Russ Hergert giving Daft Punk their first ever platinum award in Vancouver, Canada (7th of September 1997

#Daft Punk #Thomas Bangalter #Virgin Records #Vancouver #Canada #Guy Manuel #Pandemic #Masks #1997

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warhead · 2 months

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#gangstarr #gang starr #dj premier #preemo #guru #k-ci #jojo #k-ci and jojo #empire management #virgin records #moment of truth #hiphop

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kdo-three · 4 months

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The Professionals - Join the Professionals (1981) Paul Cook / Steve Jones from: "Join The Professionals" / "Has Anybody Got An Alibi" (7" Single) "I Didn’t See It Coming" (LP) (2001 CD Edition Bonus Track)

Power Pop | Punk | UK Punk

JukeHostUK (left click = play) (320kbps)

Personnel: Steve Jones: Lead Vocals / Lead Guitar Paul Cook: Drums / Backing Vocals Ray McVeigh: Rhythm Guitar / Backing Vocals Paul Myers: Bass / Backing Vocals

The 7″ Single: Produced by Mick Glossop w/ Steve Jones and Paul Cook The Album: Produced by Nigel Gray w/ Steve Jones and Paul Cook

Recorded: @ The Surrey Sound Studios in Leatherhead, Surrey UK 1981

Released: 7" Single: on June, 12 1981 Original LP: November, 1981 Virgin Records

CD Reissue w/ Bonus Tracks on June 14, 2001 EMI Records

#The Professionals #1980's #Join the Professionals #Steve Jones #Paul Cook #sex pistols #Punk #UK Punk #Power Pop #Virgin Records #EMI Records #I Didn’t See It Coming

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lisamarie-vee · 1 year

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#gang of four #blank space #virgin records #1970s #rock and roll hall of fame

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nedison · 4 months

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An incredibly impenetrable print ad for Peter Blegvad's Knights Like This. It's like if Walter Wick put out an I Spy: Art Rock Picture Riddles children's book.

Now there are a myriad of reasons why this record didn't sell, but the Virgin art dept coming up with such a cluttered visual approach certainly didn't help them shift any more units.

#Peter Blegvad #Knights Like This #Virgin Records #David Lord #1985 #Walter Wick #I Spy

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myvinylplaylist · 2 months

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Black Rebel Motorcycle Club: Red Eyes And Tears 7” EP (2001)