No Subject

[J. Peter Alfke <alfke@csvax.caltech.edu>]

>>    XTC, _SkyLarking_
>>
>>Any argument and I'll lock you up with Spuds.
>>
>>-- Ranjit Sahai Bhatnagar
>Argument? No, you'll get no argument from IED. Just his pity and
>contempt.

>Actually, IED might even be willing to agree that Skylarking
>is one of the best LPs "of the year." The obvious point to make
>is that this isn't saying much, since there were NO very good LPs made
>in 1986. Think of the kind of mark in history an LP like Sgt. Pepper's
>made; surely you are capable of seeing that 1986 produced no such record.

Get real.  Expecting every year to produce a "Sgt. Pepper" is a sure way to
become a surly old man clinging to his Klassik Rock and whining about how "they
just don't make music like that anymore."  (Except for Kate of course, but
after her upcoming collaboration with Sonic Youth IED may give up on her too.)

Anyhow, what kind of mark has "The Dreaming" made in history?  Surely nothing
in comparison with the overwhelming one made by any of the Beatles later
albums.

>["Skylarking" is] clever, inventive pop music,
>but it seems to founder in terms of production style and has very
>little musical depth; and the lyrics are insipid to say the least.

"It's people like you wot cause unrest."

[1]  I did say, "excepting the lyrics", but why insipid?  They're pop songs.
     Forcing everything to fit one set of standards gives you nothing but
     ulcers.  Remember what people said about "Never Mind the Bollocks" or
     "Rocket to Russia"?  "Gawd, how can you listen to this stuff when there's
     Great Art like Pink Floyd and Yes and ELP?"

[2]  If you describe the lyrics to "Skylarking" as "insipid", what would you
     say about "Lovely Rita Meter Maid"?  Or "A Little Help From My Friends"?

[3]  Just 'cause you put in the oven for a year don't mean it's gourmet.
     Kate writes good lyrics, but not that exceptionally good; David Byrne
     circa "Remain In Light" blows away any lyrics Kate has written.  If I
     put enormous amounts of effort and dozens of references into some song
     lyrics, that would be no guarantee of their greatness.

Anyhow, just to prove I do like Kate (IED's wilder ravings and thrashings
give me knee-jerk counter-reactions) I will point out that I noticed today
in the "We let the weirdness in" ending of "Leave It Open" a very faint
backwards male voice hiding in the background.  I think it will take some
equipment and really good ears to figure out what it's saying.

(By the way, a few years ago I heard on the radio a song referred to as
"Dreamtime" which was basically like a combination of the a- and b-sides of
the single of "The Dreaming".  Is there such a thing, or were they just
edited together skilfully?)