Andy Partridge--Fuzzy Warbles

This is the sort of collectors box set that every music fan salivates over. Or is terrified of. Here, in over 9 CDs and an incredible 161 songs, Andy Partridge has assembled the vast enormity of songs that his group XTC never got around to using over their tumult-filled 30 year career—as well as a few of his own solo tracks. The total collection provides a good kaleidoscope of the many sides of XTC. In "Ship Trapped In The Ice" can be found the British Invasion stylings that got the group associated with other light poppy Brits. Within "I Don’t Want To Be Here" can be heard the edgy influences that always kept Andy and XTC distanced from traditional pop. Partridge’s song-writing skills are proudly displayed in the totally vocal track "Put It On Again," and as the fourth album opens we are immersed in the pastoral beauty of Partridge’s music after his 1982 nervous breakdown.

"All I Dream of is a Friend" finds Partridge vulnerable and alone with a guitar, singing tenderly of loneliness and forlorn feelings. In a conflicting paradox, XTC’s borderline scary playful mood blasts through "Bumpercars," an almost-dance based track that professes an undying love for the amusement park ride. Lush melodies aplenty are to be found on Volume 5, what with songs like the psychedelic and melancholy "My Land Is Burning." Passing by Volume 6 (a goofy collection of whistle and kazoo-filled tunes), we come to "Sonic Boom" and Volume 7, a more pop-oriented song that has strong roots in the late ‘80s, early ‘90s. By the end of the collection, the music sounds near-modern ("I Gave My Suitcase Away" is a good hit off of Volume 8). The Fuzzy Warbles Collectors Album plots the evolutionary course of a man and his band from the ‘70s all the way up to the present, charting their varying moods and influences along the way. Like a backstage pass to the music unseen from XTC, this collectors box-set should fill the appetite of even the hungriest XTC fan, and gives a magnified look at the songwriter skills of one of the most influential British rockers.

(Published at MusicEmissions.com)