rescuing musical virtue in distress.
They say that you can tell a lot about a person by the company that they keep. You can similarly tell a lot about a musician by the people they call on to play on their record. Dare To Hope features a host of names, people who have played with everyone from Dixie Chicks and Mary Chapin... Continue Reading →
It seems to me that there are two sorts of people in this here parish. There are those who spend their time on-line moaning that, musically speaking at least, nothing ever happens in Swindon. And there are those who don’t have the time for all of that nonsense as they are out supporting all the... Continue Reading →
XTC co-frontman Colin Moulding and original XTC drummer Terry Chambers have announced their new TC&I album 'Naked Flames: Live at Swindon Arts Centre', which will be released on CD via Burning Shed. Ahead of this, they offer a taste with the track 'Wonderland'. Naked Flames collects the best from TC&I's six momentous and stupendous shows at the... Continue Reading →
Are you ready for an unforgettable night of rock, prog and freakish twists and turns – from three bands making big waves on the international rock scene? If so then all discerning music fans need to make sure that they catch CIRCU5, I Am The Manic Whale and Let's Swim, Get Swimming at LEVEL 3... Continue Reading →
From Mark Fisher, the editor of 'The XTC Bumper Book of Fun for Boys and Girls', comes a new musical exploration of one of the most essential pop groups of the 20th century. 'What Do You Call That Noise? An XTC Discovery Book' is a compelling 228-page book involving some of the world's leading musicians and keenest... Continue Reading →
If Liverpool is known for producing bands with the ability to produce exquisite music whilst not taking themselves too seriously from The Beatles to The Coral then Big Tide’s first single from the forthcoming Sync or Swim (you see what they did there?) album is the perfect continuation of that tradition. Musically it fits on... Continue Reading →
If for no other reason than I managed to unexpectedly get a ticket to last night's TC&I show at Swindon Art Centre here's a reminder of just one of the great songs that XTC were responsible for. With TC&I only having a small arsenal of new material at their disposal, the bulk of the show... Continue Reading →
I have posted this before but being that this site is based in Swindon, England, the home of TC&I and that having gathered a full band around them they are one day into a residency at the local Arts Centre, I thought it appropriate to post this again. Its a big deal for XTC fans... Continue Reading →
Ahead of the upcoming run of TC&I shows at Swindon Arts Centre I managed to grab a quick chat with Colin Moulding about recent events, a return to treading the boards and what the future holds. This time last year I had spoken to him and Terry Chambers about the release of their e.p. Great... Continue Reading →
Today saw the announcement of some long-awaited news for many. After a 36-year wait, XTC's COLIN MOULDING and TERRY CHAMBERS are announcing they will play series of live UK shows. After releasing their debut 'Great Aspirations' CD under the moniker TC&I ten months ago, songwriter and XTC co-frontman Colin Moulding and original XTC drummer Terry Chambers will play... Continue Reading →
We live in an information age. Actually we live in a too much information age, especially when it comes to knowing about your favourite bands. There was a time when musicians where a thing of mystery, strange nocturnal creatives, slinging guitars and waxing lyrical, today..well, not so much. Want to know what artist X had... Continue Reading →
With the E.P. Great Aspirations seeing Colin Mounding and Terry Chambers musically reunited, we sat down for a chat about all things TC&I, past, present and future, in that order. So the first question is to ask if it really was 1983 that the two last worked together musically? “Yes, 1983 and then Terry left... Continue Reading →
There have been many songs about what Mr Shakespeare so eloquently refered to as “shuffling off this mortal coil” and it is part of the human experience to muse on what happens after we are done with this life, but few, if any, have broached the subject so beautifully, so gently and so expertly wrapped... Continue Reading →
It is always difficult for musicians associated with a past name act to bring fresh music to the table without people trying to join dots and name check, extrapolate and reference, particularly if that previous act was one which rose over the years from mercurial pop outsiders to full blown national treasures. And so Colin... Continue Reading →
As his long-awaited CIRCU5 album lands with a satisfying thud, I secured a ringside seat with Steve Tilling to get the inside scoop. Steve has been a familiar face on Swindon stages, and those further afield over the years. So the obvious place to start is, why after all this time playing in other people’s... Continue Reading →
It initially seems like an odd step for my new, favourite purveyors of ultra-chic, hi-concept, cinematic, alt-pop to cover my home town’s most famous musical sons, but once you get your head around the idea you realise that there is a lot of wonderful warped, psychedelic middle ground. The common zone on this very specific... Continue Reading →
In these times of descriptive hyperbole and overstatement it seems as if a day doesn’t go by without a “totally unique” band being wafted my way. In fact these one in a million bands crop up nine times out of ten, and when they do it seems as if they are built from the off... Continue Reading →
It’s probably a phrase that has followed them around since it was levelled at their first release but “kookiness is next to godliness” might be the most succinct summation of Cursor Major ever penned. Capturing the feel of those underground pop bands who came through on the post-punk ticket but who traded in melody and... Continue Reading →