The Adventure Club Sessions (KDGE, 1993)

This has my money for best North-American Radio Station Compilation. Ever.

These are acoustic recordings from the studios of KDGE-FM "The Edge" in Dallas, TX. Recorded from 1989-1993, all one needs to do is consider the high-quality of artists to decide if it's the best compilation of it's kind. Here's the track listing:

1. Ocean Colour Scene - Alibis
2. Frank Black - Old Black Dawning
3. Jellyfish - The King Is Half-Undressed
4. The Catherine Wheel - Don't Want To Know If You're Lonely
(a cover of the Hüsker Dü single)
5. James - Lose Control
6. The Cranberries - Linger
7. The House Of Love - Crush Me
8. Blur - Miss America
9. The Lilac Time - Too Sooner Late Than Better
10. His Name Is Alive - Baby Fish Mouth
11. Frazier Chorus - Cloud Eight
12. Frank Black - Czar
13. James - Maria's Party
14. The Trash Can Sinatras - The Safecracker
15. The Posies - Will You Ever Ease Your Mind
16. XTC - Blue Beret
17. The Lilac Time - Raspberry Beret/Kiss Me medley
18. The Lemonheads - It's About Time
19. Suede - My Insatiable One

The Police Confidential by Danny Quatrochi

The Police Confidential by Danny Quatrochi
William Morrow & Co.
October 1986
128 pages

Great companion to the Lynn Goldsmith Police books (The Police and The Police: 1978-1983) at very least.

Danny Quatrochi - Sting's right-hand man (bass technician) from New Jersey and Police roadie - put forth a fantastic book. If anything it's too short considering all the Police photos he's taken. He's one of them, so you get a lot of photos with The Police's guard down.

Embarrassingly, the back cover photo of Danny (and his awesome shirt) was how I was introduced to XTC in late 87/early 88. He was sporting a dark Drums & Wires shirt which made me think - "that's a cool shirt - what does it say exactly?". So I have Danny to thank for me becoming a huge XTC fan, unbeknownst to him.

Thanks for the cool pics of Andy, Stewart and Sting Danny - and XTC rules.

Random Best Of Year List: 1992!

The Best Of 1992:

Albums:

1) XTC: Nonsuch



2) Morrissey: Your Arsenal



3) They Might Be Giants: Apollo 18



4) Big Star: Third/Sister Lovers



5) Eggstone: Eggstone In San Diego



6) The Cure: Wish




7) John Wesley Harding: Why We Fight



8) Too Much Joy: Mutiny



9) Chris Bell: I Am The Cosmos



10) Sugar: Copper Blue



11) Television: Television



12) Beastie Boys: Check Your Head




13) Prince: The Love Sign Album



14) Barenaked Ladies: Gordon



15) Singles (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)



16) The Fleshtones: Powerstance



17) Social Distortion: Somewhere Between Heaven & Hell



18) Juliana Hatfield: Hey Babe



19) Ride: Going Blank Again



20) Pavement: Slanted & Enchanted



Singles:

1) XTC: "The Ballad Of Peter Pumpkinhead"



2) Redd Kross: "Trance"



3) Matthew Sweet: "I've Been Waiting"



4) Teenage Fanclub: "What You Do To Me"




5) Morrissey: "We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful"



6) Ride: "Twisterella"



7) The Cure: "High"



8) Tom Cochrane: "Life Is A Highway"



9) Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians: "Oceanside"



10) Toad The Wet Sprocket: "All I Want"



11) Too Much Joy: "Donna Everywhere"



12) Suede: "Metal Mickey"



13) Right Said Fred: "Don't Talk Just Kiss"



14) John Wesley Harding: "Kill The Messenger"



15) Paul Westerberg: "Dyslexic Heart"



16) They Might Be Giants: "The Statue Got Me High"



17) Blur: "Popscene"




18) Pulp: "My Legendary Girlfriend"




19) Red Hot Chili Peppers: "Breaking The Girl"



20) The Soup Dragons: "Pleasure"

Beyond The Drums And The Wires Lies...XTC: Explode Together: The Dub Experiments 78-80

This compact disc (issued at the same time as Rag & Bone Buffet)
compiles the GO+ EP (initially released with Go 2) and Mr. Partridge's Take Away/The Lure Of Salvage LP (released in early 1980). Taking preexisting tracks of songs - mainly from Drums & Wires - and re-processing them, either taking drum, keyboard parts and adding effects, slowing them down, turning them up/down, re-recording vocals, guitar, whathaveyou and giving them a whole new identity. The experiment surprisingly works most of the time. Partridge was obviously enjoying himself in the studio and it makes for a truly unique listening experience.

If you're looking for an album of catchy singles of joyous XTC pop - don't look here. This is very much a "dub" album in the truest sense of it's original meaning. Which was very popular in reggae music in the second half of the 1970's in the UK punk scene (oddly enough). "I Sit In The Snow" (over the bridge of "Roads Girdle The Globe") is very interesting as is "Madhattan" (over the backing track of "That is The Way"). "Commerciality (Signal Ad)" is a great song (over the unreleased "Refrigeration Blues"). "Beat The Bible" is a fine dub version of "Jumping In Gomorrah", "Clap, Clap, Clap" is a dub version of "I Am The Audience".

This is a collection that truly deserves repeated listens as there's always something else interesting on the listening horizon. And it's not an easy listen given the very empty nature and space of most of the material. It sounds like, in some cases, listening to the individual backing tracks in the studio and with added effects to them. Which is pretty cool given the nature of the excellence that is XTC.

The Top 100 Albums of the 2000's.

1) Brian Wilson: Smile (2004)




2) Radiohead: Kid A (2000)




3) Franz Ferdinand: Franz Ferdinand (2004)




4) Supergrass: Life On Other Planets (2002)




5) Blur: Think Tank (2003)




6) Paul Westerberg (aka Grandpaboy): Mono (2002)




7) The Futureheads: The Futureheads (2004)




8) Outkast: Stankonia (2000)




9) The Beatles: Let It Be...Naked (2003)




10) Beck: Sea Change (2002)




11) The Dandy Warhols: Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia (2000)




12) The Explorers Club: Freedom Wind (2008)




13) Radiohead: Hail To The Thief (2003)




14) The Strokes: Is This It (2001)




15) Paul Westerberg: Stereo (2002)




16) The Fleshtones: Take A Good Look (2008)




17) Fleet Foxes: Fleet Foxes (2008)




18) Hot Hot Heat: Make Up The Breakdown (2002)




19) D'Angelo: Voodoo (2000)




20) Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3: Olé! Tarantula (2006)




21) Gang Of Four: Return The Gift (2005)




22) Roger Joseph Manning Jr.: The Land Of Pure Imagination/Solid State Warrior (2006)







23) Franz Ferdinand: You Could Have It So Much Better (2005)




24) Pulp: We Love Life (2001)




25) Dennis Wilson: Pacific Ocean Blue/Bambu: The Caribou Sessions (2008)







26) Junior Senior: D-D-Don't Don't Stop The Beat (2003)




27) Air: Talkie Walkie (2004)




28) Sloan: Action Pact (2003)




29) Wondelick: Wonderlick (2002)




30) Brendan Benson: Lapalco (2002)




31) Aimee Mann: Bachelor No. 2 or, the Last Remains of the Dodo (2000)




32) Morrissey: You Are The Quarry (2004)




33) Jupiter Affect: Instructions For The Two Ways Of Becoming Alice (2000)




34) The White Stripes: White Blood Cells (2001)




35) Kaiser Chiefs: Employment (2005)




36) Scritti Politti: White Bread, Black Beer (2006)




37) Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3: Goodnight Oslo (2009)




38) Jason Falkner: Everyone Says It's On (2001)




39) Radiohead: In Rainbows (2007)




40) Brian Wilson: That Lucky Old Sun (2008)




41) XTC: Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume Two) (2000)




42) Sloan: Never Hear The End Of It (2007)




43) The Good, The Bad & The Queen - The Good, The Bad & The Queen (2007)




44) John Wesley Harding: Adam's Apple (2004)




45) Paul Westerberg: Folker (2004)




46) Teenage Fanclub: Man-Made (2005)




47) The White Stripes: Elephant (2003)




48) The Dandy Warhols: Welcome To The Monkey House (2003)




49) Paul McCartney: Memory Almost Full (2007)




50) The Fleshtones: Beachhead (2005)




51) Jupiter Affect: The Restoration Of Culture After Genghis Khan (2003)




52) The Posies: Every Kind Of Light (2005)




53) Arctic Monkeys: Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (2006)




54) Morrissey: Ringleader Of The Tormentors (2006)




55) Dogs Die In Hot Cars: Please Describe Yourself (2004)




56) The Soft Boys: Nextdoorland (2002)




57) Andy Summers: Earth + Sky (2004)




58) Beck: Guero (2005)




59) The Candy Butchers: Play With Your Head (2002)




60) Roger Joseph Manning Jr.: Catnip Dynamite (2008)




61) Ben Folds: Rockin' The Suburbs (2001)




62) The Strokes: Room On Fire (2003)




63) Jet: Get Born (2003)




64) Supergrass: Road To Rouen (2005)




65) Beastie Boys: To The 5 Boroughs (2004)




66) Kaiser Chiefs: Yours Truly, Angry Mob (2007)




67) The Libertines: The Libertines (2004)




68) Belle & Sebastian: Dear Catastrophe Waitress (2003)




69) The Darkness: Permission To Land (2003)




70) Beck: Modern Guilt (2008)




71) Big Star: In Space (2005)




72) Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros: Streetcore (2003)




73) Graham Coxon: Happiness In Magazines (2004)




74) The Fleshtones: Do You Swing? (2003)




75) Outkast: Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (2003)




76) The Arctic Monkeys: Favourite Worst Nightmare (2007)




77) Kaiser Chiefs: Off With Their Heads (2008)




78) Radiohead: Amnesiac (2001)




79) Jason Falkner: I'm OK... You're OK (2007)




80) Weezer: Weezer (The Green Album) (2001)




81) They Might Be Giants: No! (2002)




82) Paul McCartney: Chaos And Creation In The Backyard (2005)




83) Shriekback: Glory Bumps (2007)




84) TV Eyes: TV Eyes (2006)




85) Franz Ferdinand: Tonight Franz Ferdinand (2009)




86) Fountains Of Wayne: Welcome Interstate Managers (2003)




87) The New Pornographers: Electric Version (2003)




88) Sloan: Pretty Together (2001)




89) Sleater-Kinney: All Hands on the Bad One (2000)




90) Teenage Fanclub: Howdy! (2000)




91) Bell X1: Blue Lights On The Runway (2009)




92) Supergrass: Diamond Hoo Ha (2008)




93) The Fleshtones: Solid Gold Sound (2001)




94) Bob Dylan: Modern Times (2006)




95) Robyn Hitchcock: Spooked (2004)




96) The Old 97's: Satellite Rides (2001)




97) Sahara Hotnights: Jennie Bomb (2001)




98) Morrissey: Years Of Refusal (2009)




99) Gorillaz: Gorillaz (2001)



100) The Donnas: Spend The Night (2002)