From the album English Settlement (Geffen, 1982) [listen here]
What I had missed was the album English Settlement. While the aforementioned “Senses” was the big hit, the rest of this album was a wonder. XTC always struck a fascinating balance between art and punk – they were accomplished musicians with an experimental bent, but always a eye for the hookiest of melodies. The political warbles and squawks of Andy Partridge positioned XTC as troublemakers with spray paint cans in the art museum.
The stand out moment for me was always the track "English Roundabout". Long before I knew anything about time signatures, I knew this song was a different animal in the pop landscape. As I realized much later, this song is in 5/4 – which is not outlandish or anything, but XTC does so much with it. I have heard far too many post-rock bands trying to be all difficult and enigmatic with alternative timings (to 4/4 or 3/4), but too often it doesn’t fly and they come off as big wankers. English Roundabout builds around the rhythm so naturally and so whimsically that one begins to move differently in their environment. I wonder what a 5/4 world would look like? We might get more done. Or less, but furtively.
Aside from the rhythm, the attractiveness of this song comes from the intricate guitar runs and that staccato, quasi-reggae guitar tone so masterfully created (and dated to) the early ‘80s, -- think Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson, Stiff Little Fingers, and the Specials. The song itself is apparently about a rather difficult roundabout in Swindon, UK…that the band is able to musically recreate a circular, woozy, and slightly claustrophobic ride is remarkable.
Other great tracks: Check out all of the Skylarking album, "Generals and Majors", "Life Begins at the Hop", and "Snowman".
Next Up: #410. Wake Up by The Barmitzvah Brothers
I became enamoured with XTC in late high school, after a friend (Feizal, this is you …remember?) had discovered that there were actually some fairly cool records to sign out of the public library. One of those was XTC’s Skylarking, the Todd Rundgren produced art-pop masterpiece. At the time, I was only vaguely aware of the band through AM radio’s “Making Plans for Nigel” (which I felt was a silly song as a kid, because who writes songs about people named Nigel?) and “Senses Working Overtime” (also silly, because I could not accept a chorus as serious if it utlized the pedagogy of Sesame Street). As a suddenly rabid fan of Skylarking, however, I eventually went back through the XTC discography to see what I had missed.
What I had missed was the album English Settlement. While the aforementioned “Senses” was the big hit, the rest of this album was a wonder. XTC always struck a fascinating balance between art and punk – they were accomplished musicians with an experimental bent, but always a eye for the hookiest of melodies. The political warbles and squawks of Andy Partridge positioned XTC as troublemakers with spray paint cans in the art museum.
The stand out moment for me was always the track "English Roundabout". Long before I knew anything about time signatures, I knew this song was a different animal in the pop landscape. As I realized much later, this song is in 5/4 – which is not outlandish or anything, but XTC does so much with it. I have heard far too many post-rock bands trying to be all difficult and enigmatic with alternative timings (to 4/4 or 3/4), but too often it doesn’t fly and they come off as big wankers. English Roundabout builds around the rhythm so naturally and so whimsically that one begins to move differently in their environment. I wonder what a 5/4 world would look like? We might get more done. Or less, but furtively.
Aside from the rhythm, the attractiveness of this song comes from the intricate guitar runs and that staccato, quasi-reggae guitar tone so masterfully created (and dated to) the early ‘80s, -- think Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson, Stiff Little Fingers, and the Specials. The song itself is apparently about a rather difficult roundabout in Swindon, UK…that the band is able to musically recreate a circular, woozy, and slightly claustrophobic ride is remarkable.
Other great tracks: Check out all of the Skylarking album, "Generals and Majors", "Life Begins at the Hop", and "Snowman".
Next Up: #410. Wake Up by The Barmitzvah Brothers
This is great, Jay. Just great.
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