1, 2, 3, 4 Channels Working Overtime
March 24, 2016 7:25 PM Subscribe
Chiptune XTC covers:
(via Chalkhills on fb.)
I haven't heard the interview yet but I read that Tood Rundgren's WTF interview includes some not-so-kind words about Andy Partridge's attitude in the studio when Rundgren produced them.
Also, I was a little saddened that the chip tune covers didn't include "Senses Working Overtime", since it was referenced in the title and is my favorite XTC number. :)
posted by tunewell at 8:21 PM on March 24, 2016 [3 favorites]
Also, I was a little saddened that the chip tune covers didn't include "Senses Working Overtime", since it was referenced in the title and is my favorite XTC number. :)
posted by tunewell at 8:21 PM on March 24, 2016 [3 favorites]
I haven't heard the interview yet but I read that Tood Rundgren's WTF interview includes some not-so-kind words about Andy Partridge's attitude in the studio when Rundgren produced them.
Oh, the Skylarking sessions were legendarily adversarial. Partridge talked smack about Rundgren and the album for ages and ages, but eventually (after decades) came around on it. I still firmly believe it's their masterpiece; that transition from "Summer's Cauldron" into "Grass" has to be one of my top 10 favorite pop exhales of all time.
posted by mykescipark at 9:51 PM on March 24, 2016 [7 favorites]
Oh, the Skylarking sessions were legendarily adversarial. Partridge talked smack about Rundgren and the album for ages and ages, but eventually (after decades) came around on it. I still firmly believe it's their masterpiece; that transition from "Summer's Cauldron" into "Grass" has to be one of my top 10 favorite pop exhales of all time.
posted by mykescipark at 9:51 PM on March 24, 2016 [7 favorites]
Funk Pop a Roll is reaching way back! Earn Enough for Us and Mayor of Simpleton are practically Beatles covers already which makes me wonder if there are chiptunes covers of, say, Revolver.
posted by notyou at 10:11 PM on March 24, 2016
posted by notyou at 10:11 PM on March 24, 2016
Wow. That Salon interview is stuffed with gems. Thanks for sharing it, mykescipark!
posted by notyou at 10:23 PM on March 24, 2016
posted by notyou at 10:23 PM on March 24, 2016
which makes me wonder if there are chiptunes covers of, say, Revolver.
Wonder no more.
posted by Strange Interlude at 6:38 AM on March 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
Wonder no more.
posted by Strange Interlude at 6:38 AM on March 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
As a long-time fan of both XTC and Rundgren, who loved the Skylarking album when it came out, the rancor between them pains me every time I encounter it. (Not that I didn't know they were both temperamental and artistically "difficult" long before the post-Skylarking pissing contest.) And now that both men are solidly in the twilight of their careers... as the old saying goes (about academia originally I think) -- "the politics are so vicious because the stakes are so low." :(
posted by aught at 6:50 AM on March 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by aught at 6:50 AM on March 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
I thought that Partridge said years ago that he now feels that Rundgren was right about most of the substantive things they fought over, which is a nice olive branch, but I get the idea that they also just disliked each other. A lot.
posted by thelonius at 7:05 AM on March 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by thelonius at 7:05 AM on March 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
Nitpick: I know why you only counted to four, but the original counts to five. Sorry. (Also, while I am here nit-picking - mods: can you please fix it so there are 2 spaces after a full stop, rather than one?)
posted by marienbad at 8:42 AM on March 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by marienbad at 8:42 AM on March 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
Needs more statue of liberty
posted by klangklangston at 9:07 AM on March 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by klangklangston at 9:07 AM on March 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
XTC means so much to me I actually have a hard time listening to these, but I appreciate the intent and effort. I also appreciate the tangential reminder about Andy's new book, Complicated Game, which I just purchased.
posted by mollweide at 2:44 PM on March 25, 2016
posted by mollweide at 2:44 PM on March 25, 2016
I only made it 10 seconds in to 8-bit Funk-Pop-a-Roll, but I will say this about Skylarking- no matter how awful Rundgren made the session for the band, he did one thing absolutely correctly: he hired Prairie Prince to play drums. XTC returned to him for Apple Venus, & their final song as a band, The Wheel & The Maypole, which is really a bittersweet 6-minute Skylarking reprise.
Also, I think Rundgren may have scored the strings for Sacrificial Bonfire, which is my favorite Colin Mouldng song, & one hell of an ending to one hell of an album.
The new "Polarity corrected" remaster of Skylarking is better enough that if you enjoy the cd in its original form, you should consider trading up. The things that Partridge (and a lot of other people) didn't like about the final mix turn out to be a result of the polarity issue, and it sure is nice to hear it in full hi fi after all these years.
posted by Devils Rancher at 7:06 PM on March 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
Also, I think Rundgren may have scored the strings for Sacrificial Bonfire, which is my favorite Colin Mouldng song, & one hell of an ending to one hell of an album.
The new "Polarity corrected" remaster of Skylarking is better enough that if you enjoy the cd in its original form, you should consider trading up. The things that Partridge (and a lot of other people) didn't like about the final mix turn out to be a result of the polarity issue, and it sure is nice to hear it in full hi fi after all these years.
posted by Devils Rancher at 7:06 PM on March 25, 2016 [1 favorite]
When XTC really let rip with their ability to do covers of originals that never were, in the Dukes of Stratosphear, the results were so darn enjoyable it's almost a sin to listen to them.
Can anyone explain what the 'reversed polarity' was that John Dent corrected for the reissue of Skylarking? I've had a hunt around but can't find details - apparently not a simple phasing error, but what it actually was and how it got fixed without the multitrack masters being available I can't quite work out.
posted by Devonian at 5:07 AM on March 26, 2016
Can anyone explain what the 'reversed polarity' was that John Dent corrected for the reissue of Skylarking? I've had a hunt around but can't find details - apparently not a simple phasing error, but what it actually was and how it got fixed without the multitrack masters being available I can't quite work out.
posted by Devonian at 5:07 AM on March 26, 2016
The new "Polarity corrected" remaster of Skylarking is better enough that if you enjoy the cd in its original form …
What, the UK Virgin 14-track release without “Dear God”, but with “Mermaid Smiled”? I have that, in a crate in the shed where it has slumbered for the last 8 years. It was my first CD purchase, and likely has an unplayable case of the CD pox.
posted by scruss at 11:00 AM on March 26, 2016
What, the UK Virgin 14-track release without “Dear God”, but with “Mermaid Smiled”? I have that, in a crate in the shed where it has slumbered for the last 8 years. It was my first CD purchase, and likely has an unplayable case of the CD pox.
posted by scruss at 11:00 AM on March 26, 2016
Yeah, it almost has no original form, there have been so many re-issues with track listing changes. This new release has both tracks in their "original" positions, instead of Dear God tacked on the end, like the First re-issue than had Mermaid Smiled back on it (2003? I get confused). Anyway, they're both on there & it ends with Sacrificial Bonfire, as God intended it.
I'd guess Chalkhills has a good list of all the track variations. I started with the American vinyl that was missing Mermaid Smiled with Dear God in it's place, then lived with the cd version that had Mermaid Smiled, but Dear God tacked on the end, which irritated me to no end. The new running order with both songs where they had first appeared is really the best & makes the most sense.
posted by Devils Rancher at 6:59 PM on March 26, 2016 [2 favorites]
I'd guess Chalkhills has a good list of all the track variations. I started with the American vinyl that was missing Mermaid Smiled with Dear God in it's place, then lived with the cd version that had Mermaid Smiled, but Dear God tacked on the end, which irritated me to no end. The new running order with both songs where they had first appeared is really the best & makes the most sense.
posted by Devils Rancher at 6:59 PM on March 26, 2016 [2 favorites]
→ Can anyone explain what the 'reversed polarity' was that John Dent corrected for the reissue of Skylarking?
Short of tracking John Dent down and asking, the only oft-repeated (but not particularly believable) description is here. The reissue does sound nice, though.
posted by scruss at 10:50 AM on March 31, 2016
Short of tracking John Dent down and asking, the only oft-repeated (but not particularly believable) description is here. The reissue does sound nice, though.
posted by scruss at 10:50 AM on March 31, 2016
John Relph is a national treasure.
posted by Devils Rancher at 12:21 PM on March 31, 2016
posted by Devils Rancher at 12:21 PM on March 31, 2016
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posted by mykescipark at 7:43 PM on March 24, 2016 [5 favorites]