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 their focus, making Skylarking their tightest record since Drums & 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 wit...   [ read more ]

CD $15.18

The band has released two prior full-length albums since July 2002 that have been received well, but it's with this St. Ives release that they make their grand statement as artists. With Wires Reply, they join the afternoon drive between your ears where Sparklehorse covers Skylarking in its entirety, where Pinetop Seven and Tortoise make 4-track tapes as teenagers, and The Notwist backs up Robert Pollard in the beautiful headspace of blissful lo-fi stereo. Cohesive in sound and vision, Wires Reply is a dre...   [ read more ]

MP3 $10.49

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While Skylarking is really the second Horace Andy album by this name, the 1997 release is actually a compilation of tracks from throughout his formidable career, put together for release on Melankolic (the label run by British trip-hop trio Massive Attack). Skylarking stretches from 1970 Studio One cuts such as "Fever" and "Every Tongue Shall Tell" to some of his Massive Attack highlights, like the eerie pulse and creep of "One Love" and "Spying Glass," which actually ap...   [ read more ]

CD $12.33