Harvest Festival by XTC
This jam was posted by 10 people
but tom2 was first
From the chair legs scraping on the floor, to the discordant recorder orchestra - a musical depiction of an English junior school assembly.
1
*swoons*
The 13th album by pop heroes XTC was my #1 album of 1999. If fans yearning for new material feel like it will never come, the sensation isn't new; even 16 years ago it felt like we'd never see another XTC album. Their label deal with Virgin went deeply sour after the release of 1992's Nonsuch, involving financial rip-offs and the band "going on strike" when Virgin refused to release them. It finally happened and gave way for a flurry of activity. Apple Venus Volume One is an orchestrated collection of lush pop songs; this caused more strife, with guitarist Dave Gregory leaving the band over musical differences. While I'd hoped this album would be the beginning of a renaissance for the band, they issued a Volume Two—electric pop songs that would have likely pleased Gregory—and that was the last new material from XTC (except for an endless stream of instrumental and demo versions of the two albums). They appear to remain a 20th century phenomenon only.
4
Stuck in my head this morning. Odd. Haven't heard this in years.
Too early but cycling between sun kissed fields of high crops yesterday up popped this gentle little classic
Andy: “As a kid, I had no idea what the harvest festival ceremony at school was supposed to be about. This bizarre mix of Christianity, paganity, help the Aged, a jumble sale and fridge raid, all seem to crash together (with schoolboy lust interest) in the lyrics of this song." #XTCDay #JamWhileWeCan #LastJams #GoingDownJamming
