Apple Box
XTC fans are a patient bunch. With the band only releasing three studio albums--Nonsuch;Apple Venus, Volume One; andWasp Star (Apple Venus, Volume Two)--in the last 13 years, they've had to be. Now comesApple Box, Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding's first wholly independent release on their own Idea Records label. Should they bite? Depends on how rabid they truly are. It seems the original idea was to release those last two albums as a double set, but commercial considerations intervened. The two halves of the apple were released separately, along with companion volumes containing the demo recordings that had been circualting among fans for years. This set is XTC's way of putting things right: it's all four albums (AV1and2plusHomespunandHomegrown) in an elegant white box, with complete lyrics, new art, and new sleeve notes. But, unfortunately, no new music. (New copiesdo, however, come with an access code to download two new songs--Partridge's "Spiral" and Moulding's "Say It"--from the band's Web site.) So completists--as well as those who can't wait for the new tracks' future release--will want to pick upApple Boxat once, and those who are just getting to know XTC will find it a convenient way to pick up the band's late-'90s output in one fell swoop. But the vast majority of fans likely bought the contents of the box when they originally came out, and may therefore find the set's attractions limited.--Benjamin LukoffAlbums Included inApple BoxApple Venus, Volume OneBecause of record contract litigation,Apple Venus Volume Oneis XTC's first album of new material in nearly seven years. The now-duo of Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding sure seem to have been using their time off to smell the flowers, as their lyrics are ripe with fruit, nuts, dandelions, orchids, sunflowers, and harvest festivals. Billed as the "orchestral" album that precedes its "rock" bookend,Apple Venusis XTC's most obvious nod to the lush, intricate sounds of the Beach Boys'Pet Soundsand the Beatles'Sgt. Pepper(those familiar with 1986'sSkylarkingknow that's a bold statement). Cellos, flutes, and other highbrow instruments provide the backdrop for the flowery lyrics. The whimsical "I'd Like That" is the perfectly understated pop song that has always eluded Partridge. The album's lone touch of angst comes courtesy of "Your Dictionary," which is spiked with four-letter words, but Partridge, ever the genteel Englishman, merely spells them out. Essential? No. Innovative? Hardly. ButApple Venusis a solid, cohesive work by one of rock's most artistic artists.--Bill CrandallWasp Star (Apple Venus, Volume Two)Sidelined by a decade-long "strike" against their former record label, XTC's Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding nonetheless kept themselves busy writing songs and recording demos during the 1990s. The resulting body of work was divvied up stylistically, with the more pastoral/orchestral pieces consigned toApple Venus, Volume One(andHomespun, its accompanying home-demo collection). The brash electric guitar flourish that launchesWasp Star's "Playground" heralds a collection that leans toward the jangly guitars and jagged rhythms of the band'sBlack SeaandEnglish Settlementprime. Adorned with ornate harmonic flourishes and their trademark pop sophistication,Wasp Starfinds creative mainstay Andy Partridge in a distinctly upbeat, romantically intoxicated state of mind (as witnessed by the virtually irony-free "Stupidly Happy"), yet one in which history-bred suspicions die hard. It's Moulding who seems the most melancholy here, with the gentle romantic prodding of "In Another Life" and in the downright gloomy take on his hometown's future, "Boarded Up." Known for occasional pointed social jabs, XTC's focus has become a bit more philosophical with age, Partridge and Moulding perhaps gleaning the wisdom that the hardest battles are sometimes fought on the home front. But if music this joyous and rewarding is the result, it's been the noblest of struggles.--Jerry McCulleyHomespun (TheApple Venus, Volume OneHome Demos)XTC may have spent most of the 1990s locked in a protracted "strike" against their record label of 15 years, but mainstays Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding continued to compose an impressive body of songs, many of which finally saw the light of day on the elegantly sophisticatedApple Venus, Volume One. This new collection documents--literally and figuratively--those "lost years," from doodlings and scratched-out lyrical fragments to rough cassette tapes and multitrack home recordings. The resulting album, whose titles matchApple Venustrack for track, is essentially a documentary of the earlier album's genesis, yet one whose compelling viewpoint stands on its own. Though obviously intended for XTC diehards, these stark, modernistic takes are rife with flourishes inspired by everything from Philip Glass to modern jazz. Partridge and Moulding's copious notes are as blunt as they are playfully self-deprecating; good humor is hardly the least of their assets. It would be easy and wrong to characterizeHomespunasApple Venus Unplugged. "Extra-dimensional" is more to the point.--Jerry McCulleyHomegrown (TheWasp StarHome Demos)Rather like those school mathematics exams in which you were expected to hand in all your arithmetic doodlings as well as your final answers,Homegrownis XTC proffering the various porta-studio jottings and embryonic ideas which eventually added up to theWasp Star (Apple Venus, Volume Two)album (a pass with flying colors, lest we forget). Songs don't write themselves. Even seasoned scribes like Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding need to put a bit of elbow grease into it. Thus, every fumbling bedroom troubadour in the land will empathise with Partridge as he mutters and busks his way through a gestative "The Wheel and the Maypole" or signs off an early draft of "The Man Who Murdered Love" (nothing like the final version) with a self-questioning "yeah, there might be something there." Rest assured--demos or not--this is a highly listenable collection of quality pop with illuminating sleeve notes from the composers in question. Colin Moulding's marital-strife-flavored "In Another Life," for example, was inspired by Stanley Holloway, Andrew Gold, and 1970s sitcoms likeGeorge and Mildred. --Kevin Maidment