XTC Skylarking Limited Edition UK 2016 Deluxe Box Set 2LP + CD and Booklet
£
18
$
24
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Description
XTC
Skylarking
Limited edition UK Deluxe Box Set released on Ape House Records in 2016.
Working with producer Todd Rundgren didn't necessarily bring XTC a sense of sonic cohesion -- after all, every record since English Settlement followed its own interior logic -- but it did help the group sharpen its focus, making Skylarking its tightest record since Drums and Wires. Ironically, Skylarking had little to do with new wave and everything to do with the lush, post-psychedelic pop of the Beatles and Beach Boys. Combining the charming pastoral feel of Mummer with the classicist English pop of The Big Express, XTC expand their signature sound by enhancing their intelligently melodic pop with graceful, lyrical arrangements and sweeping, detailed instrumentation. Rundgren may have devised the sequencing, helping the record feel like a song cycle even if it doesn't play like one, but what really impresses is the consistency and depth of Andy Partridge's and Colin Moulding's songs. Each song is a small gem, marrying sweet, catchy melodies to decidedly adult lyrical themes, from celebrations of love ("Grass") and marriage ("Big Day") to skepticism about maturation ("Earn Enough for Us") and religion ("Dear God"). Moulding's songs complement Partridge's songs better than before, and each writer is at a melodic and lyrical peak, which Rundgren helps convey with his supple production. The result is a pop masterpiece -- an album that has great ambitions and fulfills them with ease. The initial release of Skylarking didn't feature "Dear God," which was originally the B-side of "Grass." After "Dear God" became an unexpected hit, "Mermaid Smile" was pulled from the album so the hit single could be added.
"A deluxe double vinyl version of the Corrected Polarity edition XTC's ever popular Todd Rundgren produced Skylarking.
Including:
* 2 x 45rpm, 200g heavyweight vinyl
* 12" 16 page booklet with song notes by band members
* Lyric sheet
* Cut from corrected polarity master
* CD of corrected polarity master
* Both album sleeves - sleeve as released and original proposed design
* All contents packaged in a sturdy slipcase."
- Ape House Ltd.
Tracks Are :-
Side One
1 Summer's Cauldron
2 Grass
3 The Meeting Place
4 That's Really Super Supergirl
Side Two
1 Ballet For A Rainy Day
2 1000 Umbrellas
3 Season Cycle
Side Three
1 Earn Enough For Us
2 Big Day
3 Another Satellite
4 Mermaid Smiled
Side Four
1 The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul
2 Dear God
3 Dying
4 Sacrificial Bonfire
CD
1 Summer's Cauldron
2 Grass
3 The Meeting Place
4 That's Really Super Supergirl
5 Ballet For A Rainy Day
6 1000 Umbrellas
7 Season Cycle
8 Earn Enough For Us
9 Big Day
10 Another Satellite
11 Mermaid Smiled
12 The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul
13 Dear God
14 Dying
15 Sacrificial Bonfire
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Released on Ape House Records in 2016
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Catalogue Number APELPD108
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Records are in Mint condition
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Sleeve is in Excellent condition (the box has a bashed corner, see pictures)
***All Items must be paid for within 7 days***
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