Tag: Drums and Wires

Danny Elfman traces his taste in music for Amoeba’s “What’s In My Bag?” series

Danny Elfman traces his taste in music for Amoeba’s “What’s In My Bag?” series

The latest installment in Amoeba Music’s “What’s In My Bag?” video series finds Danny Elfman offering a tour through the evolution of his musical tastes.

Andy Partridge is tired of being woken up by “wankers” singing “Making Plans for Nigel”

Andy Partridge is tired of being woken up by “wankers” singing “Making Plans for Nigel”

Former XTC frontman Andy Partridge took to Twitter this morning to declare his irritation with fans — or, rather, “wankers” — waking him up at night by chanting the lyrics to “Making Plans for Nigel,” the very popular 1979 single for the band that he neither wrote nor sings. Instead, Partridge says they should visit Colin Moulding.

XTC’s ‘Black Sea’ being prepped for reissue with new stereo, surround mixes

XTC’s ‘Black Sea’ being prepped for reissue with new stereo, surround mixes

For the last few years, Andy Partridge has been overseeing audiophile reissues of XTC titles, releasing a series of albums — Nonsuch, Drums and Wires, Oranges and Lemons and Skylarking — with new stereo and 5.1 Surround mixes by Porcupine Tree frontman Steven Wilson. It appears Black Sea is next.

Vintage Video: ‘Drums and Wires’-era XTC live performance captured by French TV

Vintage Video: ‘Drums and Wires’-era XTC live performance captured by French TV

For this week’s installment of Vintage Video, we flash back to XTC’s early turn as a touring band for this 1979 performance filmed in Paris and broadcast by French TV. The 20-minute set comes a few months after the release of Drums and Wires, and opens with three songs off that album.

New releases: Siouxsie and the Banshees, XTC, Afghan Whigs, Wedding Present, Nick Cave

New releases: Siouxsie and the Banshees, XTC, Afghan Whigs, Wedding Present, Nick Cave

This week’s new releases include a huge number of reissues, with re-released titles coming from Siouxsie and the Banshees, XTC, The Afghan Whigs, The Wedding Present and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, plus a brand-new live album from The Fall compiled by Mark E. Smith.

XTC’s ‘Drums and Wires’ audiophile reissue to include new 5.1 mix, demos, rehearsal tracks

XTC’s ‘Drums and Wires’ audiophile reissue to include new 5.1 mix, demos, rehearsal tracks

The audiophile reissue of XTC’s classic 1979 album Drums and Wires — with its new 5.1 Surround mix that frontman Andy Partridge last summer boasted is “so good it’s upped my opinion of the album” — finally arrives Oct. 27 on CD and Blu-ray, with the latter format stuffed with bonus material.

Reissue of XTC’s ‘Skylarking’ with ‘corrected polarity’ finally coming to CD

Reissue of XTC’s ‘Skylarking’ with ‘corrected polarity’ finally coming to CD

Back in 2010, Andy Partridge announced that XTC’s 1986 album Skylarking was being reissued “as it was intended to sound, but never has due to human error” — a new double-vinyl pressing that corrected the sound polarity that had been reversed on all prior releases of the album.

XTC’s Andy Partridge: New ‘Drums and Wires’ mix ‘so good it’s upped my opinion of the album’

XTC’s Andy Partridge: New ‘Drums and Wires’ mix ‘so good it’s upped my opinion of the album’

XTC will follow up its just-announced expanded reissue of 1992’s Nonsuch with a similarly made-over re-release of the band’s classic 1979 album Drums and Wires sometime next spring that will feature a new 5.1 Surround mix that Andy Partridge reveals is “so good it’s upped my opinion of the album.”

Andy Partridge: New 5.1 Surround mix commissioned for XTC’s ‘Nonsuch’ album

Andy Partridge: New 5.1 Surround mix commissioned for XTC’s ‘Nonsuch’ album

XTC mastermind Andy Partridge took to Twitter this morning to announce that the band’s 1992 album Nonsuch will receive a new 5.1 Surround mix by Steven Wilson, the frontman for prog-rock act Porcupine Tree who has worked on remasters for King Crimson, Emerson Lake and Palmer and Jethro Tull in recent years.

Andy Partridge prepping ‘nice new vinyl cut’ of XTC’s ‘Drums and Wires’ for reissue

Andy Partridge prepping ‘nice new vinyl cut’ of XTC’s ‘Drums and Wires’ for reissue

The classic third album from XTC — 1979’s ‘Drums and Wires’ — appears to be next in line to receive an audiophile vinyl pressing following last year’s ‘Skylarking’ reissue, which was ‘corrected’ and re-released ‘as it was intended to sound, but never has.’