🎶 Tonight's listening party for Go 2 lasts just under an hour as we reach the end of the Barry Andrews era. Starts 9pm GMT. #XTCmusic

The word STOMACH appears in no Cure lyrics and that surprises me

There’s little filler on Simple Minds’ first three albums but this early comp does a fine job in capturing the essence. Changeling and Thirty Frames A Second still sound not-of-this-world

We’re getting there

www.roughtrade.com/product/xtc/... #xtc

My least favourite venue, the always knowingly oversold 02, Leeds. But Wednesday managed to pierce the discomfort with an astonishing set of hardcore country rock screamers. The loudest gig for a long time, easily penetrating the outer reaches of my personal tinnitus. Very, very satisfying

'Mid-period Coldplay with a banjo'

Lots of Lanegan here tonight, and I've watched this regularly over the last 10 years or so. Reaching For The Moon still gives me the shivers. www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwKz...

Great albums ruined by one song Surf's Up (Student Demonstration Time) Young Americans (Across The Universe) Give 'Em Enough Rope (Julie's Been Working For The Drug Squad)

Nice. Love Skids

'Apple Venus, Vol 1' by XTC turns 27 today so I've taken a look at the album, track by track. gayleramage.co.uk/xtc-annivers...

A nostalgia trip on Ebay. I was obsessed by The Monkees TV show and nagged my dad to buy Daydream Believer. I remember it in this pink sleeve and was transfixed by the chat at the start of it between the producer and Davy Jones. ‘What number is this Chip?’ ‘7A!’…’OK, don’t get excited now’…

The existential angst that runs through side 2 of this album, compared to the breezy brevity of side 1 maybe…maybe…reflects Pete Shelley’s sense that Buzzcocks’ time was drawing to a close. ‘There is no love in this world any more’.

In today's What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast, we go on a deep dive into XTC’s fascinating adventures in sound: from Go+ to Take Away/The Lure of Salvage. www.xtclimelight.com/2026/02/13/x...

‘Breakfast’ swings this as THE Associates LP. I recall seeing him on the Oxford Roadshow (sadly, no footage) and then jaw-dropping a student crowd at Leeds Poly with it in 85. And then, there’s ’Schampout’, a song that’s maddeningly and quintessentially McKenzie

🎉 Happy birthday, English Settlement! 44 years old today, and the first XTC album I'm older than! So many good songs, including the brilliant closer, Snowman. What's your favourite track from the album? #XTCmusic youtu.be/jzGFzWxBep8?...

This is the most incredible game of cricket

I'm a bit miffed at Neil Young cancelling the tour as I was due to get on the Heaton Park guest list via a very well connected mate.

So I will get to see David Byrne. A fine setting at the Piece Hall in Halifax

At fully eight years older than Brett Anderson I was worried I might be getting too old for these kinds of gigs. Not so, a Saturday night crowd in York went berserk for a full throttle, greatest hits Suede. So did I.

I am in countdown mode! It's 5th February which means it is exactly a month/4 weeks until publication date for my memoir Atypical Girl. It's taken a long time to get to this point, so I've written a blog post about how I got there. olderthanelvis.blogspot.com/2026/02/ive-...

As debuts go, hard to argue that this isn’t a contender

Jeff Tweedy vacation karaoke and being schooled on how to use a microphone www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xL3...

Rolls-Royce Americana from Midlake. Muscular and surprisingly trippy in places they occupy a unique spot in between Fairport, F. Mac and The Band. Leeds loved them

I had no idea this existed until five minutes ago. Billy Mackenzie sings The Secret Life Of Arabia into orbit www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwCS...

Only ever heard this on CD and I don’t pretend to understand the science behind this edition (see Alt) but it sings and breathes like it was made yesterday.

Out on 6 March

20 outtakes from an album, including what turned into Patti Smith’s biggest hit, is about the norm for Springsteen. The title track that didn’t see the light of day for 32 years may be his finest ballad, and that’s also saying something.

She's So Square is a song I always thought, with the odd psych touching up, would have fitted nicely on the Dukes albums #XTCmusic

One of the stand out tracks for me. Suitably unhinged and they do sound ready to combust #xtcmusic

I'm in there somewhere at the front, bouncing aropund with floppy hair. 20/5/78 #xtcmusic www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdHR...

Cross Wires was where it all started, 2/2/78, Leeds Poly. #xtcmusic

HERE WE GO! Kicking things off with track 1, RADIOS IN MOTION, a song that rose from the embers of an earlier song called Volcano. And that's the level of wit you can expect from me, this evening. An oft-played live number, it received the studio treatment for this debut album. #XTCmusic

Hey folks, for anyone who's new, here are the details for tonight's listening party. If you don't have a copy of the album, you can find it on various streaming sites. #XTCmusic

Retrieved from the loft, Pete Wylie’s glory years (82-84). I swear I’ve got the 12” of The Story Of The Blues ‘somewhere’.

The record shops of Leeds have delivered nicely today

Thank the gods for Lucinda Williams.

Like most people, I’ll take hope from green shoots

📢 A week today, folks, until the first Listening Party! I hope you all will have access to White Music. The run-time looks to be just under an hour so we'll be partied out by 10pm (GMT).

Yes, yes…they were on the cusp of U3 stadium bloat but there’s enough energy on this leviathan of an album to confidently regard it as their Moby Dick.

'Burning Books' www.youtube.com/watch?v=yo-J...

Today's episode of What Do You Call That Noise? The XTC Podcast features photographer Kathleen Hiraga, who took pictures of XTC at Hurrah! in NYC in 1980, and Tom Morley, the original drummer of Scritti Politti who were regulars at XTC’s gigs in London in 1977. www.xtclimelight.com/2026/01/16/x...

RIP Kenny Morris. That classic Banshees lineup was something else... www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiVf...

Predictably, No,22 would be my No.1 www.theguardian.com/culture/2026...

Pooh-poohed by Guided By Voices purists for deserting the lo-fi template, it was my entry point in 2001. This 45rpm remaster is staggering in its depth. Banger after major league banger and as rock guitar goes, Doug Gillard gives a masterclass

I'm sure I also read somewhere that Sting gets $5k a day from the sample in 'I'll Be Missing You' www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The 2016 edition of, without a doubt, Simple Minds’ career high point sounds very fine indeed, even with Jim Kerr’s vocal discreetly mixed. What this does, though, is elevate Derek Forbes’s instincual bass front and centre. Glorious.

Just over 2 weeks to the first Listening Party! If you don't have access to the 'White Music' album, and you don't want to stream, you may still have time to purchase a physical copy over at @burningshed.com. #XTCmusic