XTC:
Black Sea:
APE Records:
CD / Blu-Ray:
Out Now:
It could be argued that 1970's Britain was a depressing place to live - three day working weeks, strikes, power-cuts, the Bay City Rollers etc.. Musically though it was a treasure trove - disco imports, extravagant prog-rock album-covers, hard-to-find Jamaican reggae and dub and garish punk and new-wave records lined the shelves of every Virgin and HMV store and vinyl sales were at their peak.
1980 proved to be both something of a springboard and a turning point for soon-to-be-established artists with many delivering debut or landmark albums. OMD, John Foxx, Elvis Costello, The Cure, Psychedelic Furs, Young Marble Giants, Devo, Roxy Music, The Cramps, The Human League, Bob Marley and the Wailers etc.. - it was a great period for music-fans and XTC contributed to the year's best albums with the big, bold and ballsy Black Sea.
Produced by Steve Lillywhite and originally entitled Tigers In Tuneland, Black Sea spawned four singles (three of them hits, including the oft-derided Sgt Rock) and demonstrated the songwriting prowess of messrs Moulding and Partridge. As with other Surround Sound releases, this one sports a natty Steven Wilson 5.1 remix and an abundance of extras like instrumental mixes, an original stereo mix, the rare Phonogram recordings, b-sides and demos, as well as comments and sleevenotes in an entertaining booklet.
Highlights include the original 'risque' Respectable Street, the bouncy whistley Generals and Majors, the drumtastic Rocket From a Bottle and Paper and Iron and the most forboding of XTC album-tracks, Travels In Nihilon. Special mention goes to a couple of interesting b-sides - Partridge's beautifully soporific Eno-esque The Somnambulist really should have been on the album instead of Sgt Rock and Moulding's swinging disco-rocker Smokeless Zone is up there with his wheezing best. The 'new' rarity Ban The Bomb isn't quite so thrilling although in its 'bomb-bomb-bomb' refrain it possesses a modicum of dark humour. There is enough material here to sink a trawler and a fraction of the price of other such multiple-disc reissues doing the rounds at the moment.
10/10
Order it: from Burning Shed
Black Sea:
APE Records:
CD / Blu-Ray:
Out Now:
1980 proved to be both something of a springboard and a turning point for soon-to-be-established artists with many delivering debut or landmark albums. OMD, John Foxx, Elvis Costello, The Cure, Psychedelic Furs, Young Marble Giants, Devo, Roxy Music, The Cramps, The Human League, Bob Marley and the Wailers etc.. - it was a great period for music-fans and XTC contributed to the year's best albums with the big, bold and ballsy Black Sea.
Produced by Steve Lillywhite and originally entitled Tigers In Tuneland, Black Sea spawned four singles (three of them hits, including the oft-derided Sgt Rock) and demonstrated the songwriting prowess of messrs Moulding and Partridge. As with other Surround Sound releases, this one sports a natty Steven Wilson 5.1 remix and an abundance of extras like instrumental mixes, an original stereo mix, the rare Phonogram recordings, b-sides and demos, as well as comments and sleevenotes in an entertaining booklet.
Highlights include the original 'risque' Respectable Street, the bouncy whistley Generals and Majors, the drumtastic Rocket From a Bottle and Paper and Iron and the most forboding of XTC album-tracks, Travels In Nihilon. Special mention goes to a couple of interesting b-sides - Partridge's beautifully soporific Eno-esque The Somnambulist really should have been on the album instead of Sgt Rock and Moulding's swinging disco-rocker Smokeless Zone is up there with his wheezing best. The 'new' rarity Ban The Bomb isn't quite so thrilling although in its 'bomb-bomb-bomb' refrain it possesses a modicum of dark humour. There is enough material here to sink a trawler and a fraction of the price of other such multiple-disc reissues doing the rounds at the moment.
10/10
Order it: from Burning Shed