Homespun: The Apple Venus Volume One Home Demos [Limited Edition]
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 fromPhilip Glassto modern jazz. Partridge's 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 McCulley