One project, Andy Partridge's solo album The Lure Of Salvage was nothing more or less than Black Sea, remixed and fiddled with so drastically that it ended up completely unrecognisable. Even such a simple idea as a collection of singles had attached to it another LP, Beeswax, containing the B-sides. Even in such a usually simple area as packaging, they relish the extraordinary they've talked Virgin into putting out a round album ( The Big Express), a double album in a single-style sleeve embossed to resemble grass ( English Settlement), an album in a brown paper bag ( Black Sea) and sundry other weird ideas including a free set of postcards ( This World Over) and an album entirely covered in tiny print which you had to juxtapose carefully with the insert to read ( White Music). In some ways, you can see how bemused the record company's moneyman must be at XTC's determinedly round-the-houses approach to the 'business' of making music. "But I can see this humpbacked bridge coming up, and if a side road doesn't appear labelled 'big hit' that we can go down then we could be in for a bumpy ride." I wouldn't personally be worried if we just managed to keep our heads above the water for a bit more time to go on with the enjoyable process of making records.
So I think we could be in for a damn good kicking off of the label if this record doesn't make a big leap in their idea of what sales should be. "I think this humpbacked bridge is Virgin's frustration at us not selling mega-quantities, just reasonable quantities. "I think we're coming to a humpbacked bridge here," says Andy Partridge depressedly.
All in all, things in the XTC camp are not entirely happy. And their label is not entirely happy with them. XTC, the West's secret weapon, have just released their eighth album Skylarking. There are storm clouds gathering over Swindon.
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