There are very few times in my life when I have heard something and thought to myself, “That’s it.  That’s what I’ve been waiting for all these years.  That is the apex of music!”  Feeling like I have remembered something new, that I had been waiting to remember, that I had rediscovered what I had been waiting for, did happen when I first heard the band called The Divine Comedy.  (When I head The Divine Comedy it was like I had a puzzle piece missing from my brain all my life, and Neil Hannon’s music came along and fit right in place.  I had been waiting for his music for so many years and didn’t even know it.)  I believe it also happened when I first head the album Rio by Duran Duran.  But, this was a once in roughly every 10 years occurrence for me.  (I probably first head the album Rio in 1991, and I first head The Divine Comedy in 1999, and I first heard Aaron Copland in 1985.)  And none of these examples made me say to myself “this is the apex of music; It does not get better than this.  This is the culmination from ancient times to modern times, and to this day!” 
 
But I did recently have this experience with a body of music.  Not a large body of music, unfortunately; But, a weightier body than most.  And, the discovery was years in the making.

For those who might have seen my previous post about the band Lush, it turns out that they have, after 20 years or so, gotten back together and started to make music again.  They seem to know their audience, and have stuck with the Shoegaze/Pop style, which is what they always did best. 

See following link:
http://pitchfork.com/news/62752-lush-announce-blind-spot-ep-share-out-of-control-video/

XTC is what?
 XTC is a pop band; they make pop music.  They even have a song called “This is Pop.”  But, sometimes, their songs go places that are almost embarrassing.  I feel a little embarrassed for them when I hear songs like “Melt the Guns,” “Living Through Another Cuba,” or “Pink Thing.”  Really… I mean really!... Andy, are you going to go there?  Do you have no sense of what works and what does not work?  Even I, who probably enjoy XTC more than most fans, just cannot stomach some of the songs they allowed to get on their albums.  But then, there are songs like “Earn Enough for Us,” “The Mayor of Simpleton,” and “The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead,” that are as tasteful, catchy, and brilliant as any pop song I have ever heard.  Really… I mean really, Andy,..? Did you really write so many incredible pop songs? 
 
And so, XTC is a band of contradictions.  Most of their songs are very tasteful, well written, musically unique and catchy, lyrically challenging and cleaver, yet some of their songs are annoying, mean, musically unpleasant, lyrically myopic, and pretentious.  They have not been afraid to do what they wanted to do no matter what other people think, or so it seems.  Additionally, XTC simultaneously promotes hedonism and love for one’s neighbor.  They make songs about self indulgence, and at the same time, human rights.  They criticize society like isolationists, but preach cross cultural and multi-ethnic equality and unity.  (As an aside, I don’t know if they had a wealthy background, but they do seem to be highly negatively influenced by the broken, and now less powerful, class system in the UK.  The evil of the class system is a recurrent theme in their music, (see “Complicated Game” or “Respectable Street.”), and they seem to lump the Church in with the rest of the stuffy, prejudiced, and narrow-minded upper-class groups in their native land.  This is speculation, but they may have encountered a broken Church in the UK that put “proper behavior” and “proper etiquette,” above the True Gospel of Christ’s love for the poor and disenfranchised.  Or, they may simply have missed the Gospel message and misunderstood the Church.  Again, there can only be speculation about this.) 
 
A word about Colin, before I proceed:  Colin wrote scientifically fewer recorded songs than Andy.  By my count, he did only 2 to 3 songs per album when most of their albums consisted of 10 to 14 songs.  But, many of the more well known and respected songs are songs he wrote.  He was responsible for great songs like “Making Plans for Nigel,” “Generals and Majors,” and “King for A Day.”  So, fewer is not less. 
 
All of this having been said, there is not much else I can say about XTC, at this point, that has not already been said.  I am not going to talk about their most respected album, Skylarking, though I love it.  (Andy said, about Skylarking, something to the effect that the producer, Todd Rundgrend, “baked summer into a cake.”)  I’m not going to talk anymore about the entertaining, funny, and sometimes silly Dukes of the Stratosphere project (though I would encourage you to look into it.  It’s some of their best material, despite that they blatantly attempts to mimic John Lennon, Syd Barrett, and even Brian Wilson).  I’m not going to talk about what a leap forward Drums and Wires was, though again, I would suggest checking it out.  I’m not going to talk about how Oranges & Lemons was a big disappointment despite having 4 or 5 great songs on it.  However, I believe I would like to shine some light on a lesser respected and more overlooked album by XTC.

Mummer continues: 
 One of my brother’s favorite XTC songs is “Wonderland.”  This song, pined by Colin Moulding, displays early example of a clever and perfect use of the analogue synthesizer to convey a lush, intricate, beautiful, and fantastical setting.  Though “Wonderland” is a clever metaphor for frustration in a relationship, it is also very catchy, smooth, effortless, and beautiful.  It continues the pastoral and British themes of Mummer. 
 
“Beating of Hearts” is, again, a song about choosing Love over violence.  It’s not the best Andy Partrage song on the subject, but it’s still a powerful anthem.  Remember that Love is more powerful than evil.  Remember that the Light will overcome the Darkness.  Musically, it, like some other songs on the record, has a somewhat traditional sound, almost Indian sounding at times, and the rhythm is almost African or Japanese in style.  It’s not pulled off as well as it could be, but it’s not bad. 
 
With “Ladybird,” one can see the spring sun shining in the window and the green meadows of England.  Though it’s a love song, again like many of Andy’s songs somewhat metaphorical, it’s musically an attempt to incorporate jazz with the consistent pastoral setting.  While with “In Loving Memory of a Name,” Colin conjures images of small villages in the UK with medieval churches, with “Me and The Wind” XTC successfully pulls off another elemental sounding recording, again with metaphors about a relationship, but in 3 beats per measure and without sounding at all like a waltz.  “Me and The Wind” is musically possibly one of XTC’s stronger, more pleasant, and more interesting songs. 
 
Lastly, “Funk Pop a Roll” is a straight rock song criticizing the quality of radio songs.  As Andy says about pop music, “Swallowing is easy when it has not taste.”  And so, we end with XTC’s clam that pop music is shallow, weak, and meaningless, yet they are doing so with a short catchy rock-pop song.  Maybe they never meant to make pop music after all.  Maybe, though they claim in another song “This is Pop,” they intended to do something else?  If so, how do you account for all the Pop hooks, catchy melodies, concise songs, verse/chorus structures?  Maybe they are what they criticize.  In the same way they criticize those who would make music to make money, making the music weak and “tasteless,” they made money making catchy songs, though not all tasteless, some taste like rubbish.  Though they would criticize the social structure and the mistreatment of the poor, they are a part of this same social structure.  Though they are on the fringes, they are still on the inside.  And, as with all of us, they strive for something better, they long for a better world, but they are not only a part of the broken world, they are active participants, like all of us.  The Apostle Paul says, “If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves.  Let us not grow weary in doing good.  Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

In this day as I grow older, I wonder if, and/or why, my appetite for music does not diminish, but my strength to search for new music does; I wonder why I continue to invest what little time I have into music of the past without locating much new music, from the near present, that I love.  Has my procrastination overcome my love of the discovery of beautiful or pleasurable organized sound?  But, yet, sometimes I still find the time and energy to plod into new territories, even if for only an hour or two on weekends, and I hope this time will eventually lead me to new, life enriching discoveries. 

Yet, there are still artist of previous days, making the art of sound, even in our day, that are very much enjoyable.

Many of my favorite bands/musical acts happen to be duos.  There is something about two people, for the past some odd 30 years or so, that lends to pop greatness.  Maybe more focused and discerning than a solo artist who often does not have enough collected, healthy criticism to keep them from blundering into self-indulgent, ineffectual, or overly multi-styled experiments.  Where as full bands may sometimes lend themselves to monochromatic compositions due to a frequent inability to agree.  Maybe two people are also more likely to experiment in areas that the one, by themselves, are too fearful to traverse?  This would be the case of The Duckworth Lewis Method.    

All this being speculation, there is still something to the power of a duo to produce well balanced, artistic, creative, brilliant pop music.  This is true for, as examples, Pet Shop Boys (Tennet and Lowe), Erasure (Clark and Bell), and Goldfrapp (Gregory and Goldfrapp). 

One of the most recent additions to my favorite duos list, recent being within the past 10 years, is The Bird and The Bee (George and Kurstin).  They started their career around about 2005 or 2006, and my mind was blown when I first heard them on a local college radio station in 2007.  Their first album, also entitled The Bird and the Bee, quickly became one of my favorite recordings.  It is a beautiful work of art, and, along with their other records, highly recommended. 

The Bird and The Bee, unlike the other duos mentioned above, are actually American; they come from Southern Californian.  Like the other duos mentioned above, both members share songwriting duties, but one leans into the role of music tech and instrumental expert, while the other more so takes on the role of the voice and image.  Sometimes the latter brings a bit of humanity, flamboyance, and soul to the mix. 

So, I was extremely happy, a couple of months ago, when I heard that The Bird and The Bee were FINALLY going to release a new album!  It was to be the first record they had done in 5 years.  The new album, Recreational Love, has been out and available for about 2 months now.  It can be a bit difficult to compare it to their previous music.  They are still the same band, in many ways, but also, of course, there is some change from their previous work.  All bands/musicians change over time.  It is one of the characteristics of artist.  Given that The Bird and The Bee were approaching their 10th year of existence, when many often go astray from their former glory, the jury was out as to if they could still make good music. 

For the new album, they have left behind some of their earlier Jazz/pop influence.  Their songs are a little less Burt Bacharach, and a little more like Heatwave, The Tom Tom Club, or even Hall & Oates.  More concise, more dance oriented, and more soulful, they have shifted their sound and style just enough to keep things fresh, but not so much as to alienate fans like me.  I hear a bit of neo-soul and neo-pop in some of the songs (remember that Kurstin has, on the side, or as his day job, been a successful producer for Sia, Foster the People, Pink, Lykee Li, and Lily Allen.)  The title song, “Recreational Love,” probably could get some radio play on R&B radio.

The new album finds Inara George pushing her voice to new levels, and still sounding as good as ever.  She does some vocal styling sometimes similar Michael Jackson, but she is still herself and sounds like only she could sound.  The lyrics on the album are a bit simpler than on previous albums.  Some choruses are repetitive and general, much like some of Phil Collins’ biggest hits.  Think, “Tonight, Tonight, Tonight,” or “Take Me Home,” but instead insert “Los Angeles” (and there is even a song on the new album called “Please Take me Home.”)  There are no songs as lyrically thoughtful as older The Bird and The Bee songs like “Man” or “What’s in the Middle.”  But, the songs are still very pleasurable even if they do not have quite as much to say. 

What we have with Recreational Love is shameless, respectable pop.  It’s a neo-pop mixed with 80s dance styles and 80s funk rhythms.  There are some good synth tones, good dance rhythms, and well crafted songs.  One could say they left behind some of their former beauty, with some exceptions like “Lovey Dovey,” but these songs are just so entertaining and fun that I don’t really mind. 

I highly recommend Recreational Love if you like pop music.  The important thing is that this duo is still one of the more talented songwriting teams of our day.  Their music infuses one’s soul with great beauty and joy. 

"Recreational Love"

"Jenny."