XTC Album: “Homespun”

Don't get me wrong. I'm a HUGE XTC fan from the beginning. I love "Apple Venus Vol. 1", but I'm perplexed why they would bother to put out this CD of "home demos" which do not differ significantly from the final product. I mean, this is an exact replica of "A.V. Vol. 1", track by track, except that the songs are in a cruder form. Okay, it's interesting for a listen or two, but why bother? I'd much rather listen to the final "Apple Venus Vol. 1"! For that matter, I'd rather hear "Apple Venus, Vol. 2!" I thought that was supposed to be out in August! Come on Andy, Colin... this is a bit of musical m*****bation, isn't it?

I think a couple of people are missing the point... The reason this is out is (I heard) they didn't have the cash to finish AV Vol 2, so this would generate some cash AND be of interest to their core fans. Plus, the demos ~are~ a good insight to their creative process.... I ~love~ to see the rough drafts... If you're just waiting for Vol 2, why did you buy this in the first place?

Clearly designed for the XTC fan, Homespun probably isn't the best place to be introduced to the band. Still, the variations (minor though they may be)are interesting between final draft and rough sketch. Both Partridge and Moulding have a fairly clear idea as to what they want the final product to sound like.

The packaging is actually superior to AV1 with reproductions of lyrics, etc., that make this a much more attractive package than the average "rarities" package. The cover art, a visual pun on the AV1 cover, is quite clever. A bonus that might have made this disc a little more fun for the XTC fan would have been to include the spoken word portion featured on the singles about how each song was created.

Oh, well, for that you have to get the Japanese import (it features the previously released "How they came to be" sections).

First thing's first, "Homespun" is an album of demos for "Apple Venus". If you don't have that record, look there first (although if you're new to XTC, "Skylarking" is the usual recommendation).

So a collection of demos, what to expect? Essentially it's a track-by-track match for "Apple Venus". Sonically, you couldn't tell it's so much a set of demos except in a couple places ("Frivolous Tonight") because it sounds so complete, in fact to the point where some pieces sound virtually identical to their final takes-- even in places you wouldn't expect it like orchestral workouts "River of Orchids" and "Green Man".

Is it interesting? Yeah, extremely, and in a lot of places it can be as good or better than the original ("Knights in Shining Karma"), but truth to be told, unless you're a diehard, you probably don't need to hear the work versions of this material. More casual fans definitely want to check out "Apple Venus", it's a fine record.

Probably one of my favorite albums ever is Apple Venus pt. 1. Therefore, the demos were a welcome addition to my collection. Its great to see how the songs came into being, and how a studio mix, production, etc., can take wonderfully raw music and transform it into a masterpiece. Try it!