The Dukes of Stratosphear "25 O'Clock" (1985)

25 O'Clock

release date: Apr. 1, 1985

format: cd (2009 remaster - APECD023)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,52]

producer: John Leckie, Swami Anand Nagara, The Dukes

label: Ape House - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "25 O'Clock" - 2. "Bike Ride to the Moon" - 3. "My Love Explodes" - 4. "What in the World??…" - 5. "Your Gold Dress" - 6. "The Mole From the Ministry" - 13 "Black Jewelled Serpent of Sound (Radio Caroline Edit)" - 14. "Open a Can of Human Beans" - 15. "Tin Toy Clockwork Train"

Debut album by project-band The Dukes of Stratosphear - basically XTC having fun playing psychedelic rock the way it sounded in the mid to late 1960s. The original album released on Virgin Records is a six-track Mini-album with a total running length of less than 27 mins, and the 2009 remaster (issued on Andy Partridge's label Ape House) add another nine tracks of demos and outtakes extending the running length to 49 mins. At the time, XTC was a trio of vocalist & guitarist Andy Partridge, vocalist & guitarist Colin Moulding, and lead guitarist & keyboardist Dave Gregory, and with the inclusion of Dave's brother Ian on drums, they here perform as The Dukes. On the album they're credited as Sir John Johns, The Red Curtain, Lord Cornelius Plum, and E.I.E.I. Owen [!]. Producer John Leckie is credited both with his actual name and with his alias: Swami Anand Nagara.

Stylewise, it's a strong attempt in producing music with a Syd Barrett-version of Pink Floyd in mind. Alledgedly, everything was played and recorded with old equipment [wiki about the album].

For most of their career, XTC has played with elements of psychedelic rock - on later albums they're exponents of neo-psychedelic rock, and it's obvious how this side-project may be seen in the stylistic progression of XTC - especially considering the traits of the albums that followed, e.g.: Skylarking (1986), Oranges & Lemons (1989), Nonsuch (1992), Apple Venus Volume 1 (1998).

The album was promoted by Virgin as an actual debut of sorts - a collection of 1960s compositions made by an unknown act, which finally had been released. Most tellingly, the album sold twice as many records as the predecessor The Big Express (Oct. 1984) by XTC at a time when no one knew of the actual identity of the band.

25 O'Clock is a powerful album, and both as original psychedelic rock and in the discography of XTC. It's an album that may require some time accustomising and although released on April Fools' Day and exposing plentiful of British humour the music is not entirely meant as a joke.

[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Pitchfork 7,7 / 10 stars ]

The Smile "Cutouts" (2024)

Cutouts

release date: Oct. 4, 2024

format: digital (10 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,72]

producer: Sam Petts-Davies

label: XL Recordings - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Foreign Spies" - 2. "Instant Psalm" (4 / 5) - 3. "Zero Sum" - 4. "Colours Fly" - 8. "The Slip" - 9. "No Words" - 10. "Bodies Laughing" (live)

3rd full lenght from The Smile follows only 9 months after Wall of Eyes (Jan. 2024) and it's a collection of outtakes - 'cutouts' from the same recording sessions that led to the predecessor. It's a total of ten tracks with a running length of approx. 44 mins.

Not surprisingly, this new album sounds much like the former, and at a first listen it doesn't bring out new sensational singles but given some time, it may actually fall out as the better of the two. It's not that Johnny Greenwood and Thom Yorke have neglected the experimental side in their many former releases, and Radiohead wasn't exactly famous for their standard rhythm section but it appears that with the inclusion of drummer Tom Skinner (Sons of Kemet), there has been a valuable addition of jazz vibe to Yorke and Greenwood's drafts. Skinner has an exploring nature where syncopation adds up on the natural weirdness of Greenwood and Yorke compositions, which turns everything into synchronised improvs with a strong sense of creative coherence, and the jazz element makes it extremely vibrant. Just as some critics suggest, I think the bottom-line of Cutouts is that it represents more free improvs thus making it more experimental, and yet the selection of compositions make a fine coherent whole where you really get to hear what great musicians they all are. Which of these two releases you prefer is a matter of taste, and in the long run, they may be regarded much more on par.

For the time being, I prefer this one. I think, i's a fine grower - but gosh, imagine they had originally released it as a double album!

Recommended.

[ 👍allmusic.com, Slant 3,5, The Guardian, NME, 👉Pitchfork 8 / 10, 😲MusicOMH 5 / 5 stars ]