XTC

The less-pop record of XTC's two releases in 1999, Apple Venus 1 travels down an extremely baroque path. French horns, cellos and strings provide the backdrop for Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding's first album since '92s Nonsuch. As one might expect, it's an incredibly well-crafted, eccentric record with "Your Dictionary" and "Green Man" being highlights.

XTC couldn't go on strike for seven years and just come back to the same perky pop. To
celebrate their twenty-first year of releasing tensely crafted, genre-busting gems, Andy
Partridge and Colin Moulding recorded a sampling of symphonic would-be show tunes.
Apple Venus Volume 1 packs the wit and nerve that made their rock snap but does it with
brass, acoustic guitars, violins, woodwinds and minimal percussion. (Volume 2, d... More >