Customer Reviews

Fuzzy Warbles V.1

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

It's a sad state of affairs when an artist as talented and prolific as Andy Partridge can dash off tracks as incredible as Dame Fortune and still be ignored by radio & the press. Fuzzy Warbles Volume 1 is the stronger of Andy's first two demo CD releases. While there's a great single album lurking between the two of them, even the songs that I would omit from the two albums have their merits. Partridge can write material in his sleep that would blow away most of his contemporaries not to mention the pretenders currently working.

Dame Fortune, Born Out of Your Mouth (a brilliant song with a stunning melody it's a pity it never made an XTC album),Everything, Don't Let Us Bug Ya (a track Partridge wrote for James and The Giant Peach before Disney elected to go with Randy Newman,it's richer than Newman's contributions to the soundtrack of that fine film)are among the highlights on this terrific album. It's a pity that this album slipped through the cracks without making anyone's ten best list (it made mine but I'm biased)last year.

Slightly better than it's follow up, FWV.1 finally gives these neglected gems a fair trial. A pity that Colin Moulding elected not to particpate as I do miss Down a Peg and Mates. Perhaps he'll reconsider and put together a single disc of his best demo b-sides and unreleased gems.

Since Rag And Bone Buffet, I've been totaly addicted to XTC's rare cuts and leftovers. Not any artist can provide us with so many wonderfull b-side melodies. ...Andy's talent proved to me that an Album MUST be entirely filled with as many nice songs as you can (it migh sound a little bit obvious, but in fact this hardly happens nowadays).
Ok, you're reading this because you're an XTC fan and don't know if you should buy these Fuzzy Warbles. My advice: If you have Oranges & Lemons, Nonsuch, Skylarking, English Settlement, Big Express and English Settlement, you're ready to start your trip. Buy it now! Otherwise, purchase these albums first. They are the key to degustate these Demo Tracks with joy. Both volumes are wonderfull and, yes, you could buy them now, but some details would be hidden, some private music jokes, some references would be lost.

Bravo, Andy! ...

Not the most appropriate introduction to the music of Andy Partridge, and not for the casual XTC fan, but well worth it for those who know what to expect from a man whose demos are usually as highly produced as the final versions. Highlights from this volume: "Dame Fortune" and "Wonder Annual", dating from Apple Venus Vol. 1., "Rocket" (one of the few settings of poems--in this case, by Ernest Noyes Brookings--to music I've heard that actually works), "Everything", originally for Oranges & Lemons, and "Goosey Goosey", left off "Nonsuch". This disc demonstrates quite well that Andy is one of those artists whose outtakes are often superior to his released material.

the DANGEROUSLY underrated Mr. Partridge offers up a "double-dose" of home demos and outtakes. this prescription is entitled "Fuzzy Warbles Volume 1". after 12 years worth of THREE "studio albums" Mr. Partidge (up)chucks a collection of 19 "inimitable" pop CLASSICS!!! SURE, there are a few "throw-a-ways"... BUT "Dame Fortune", "Oceans Daughter" and the delirious outtake track "That Wag" are WORTH the admmission price alone. "Born Out Of Your Mouth" and the (shoulda been used in the James and the Giant Peach) number "Don't Let Us Bug Ya" show off the frollicking lryical and melodic twists of the "eternally day-dreaming English youth" sensibilities that Partridge THANKFULLY adheres to. i give it TWO "THUGS" UP!!!

Andy Partridge is one of music's greatest minds: Lennon & McCartney, Jagger & Richards, Partridge & Moulding. Why a well-built piece like Dame Fortune never made it on a release is beyond me. Hey Goosey Goosey, Wonder Annual, and Everything are also sturdy tunes. My only complaint: the disc is a little short (60 min.).

More please.

[DW]

I've been looking at the Fuzzy Warbles for about a year now... I love XTC and these have some really great gems on them. These were generally available through the ape website (Andy's site) as CD in GB Pounds, but with the exchange rate and the shipping, they got rather expensive. They were also available for track downloading, but with the amount of tracks the price racks up pretty quickly.

I've been extremely skeptical of purchasing music through digital download. I've used a few services for singles and haven't been to thrilled with the end DRM'ed result... since Amazon is DRM free, it seemed a good time to dip my toes in the download water again.

I was up early one day and saw that this was on the Amazon site, and thought it was a great test to see what I thought of the service, and the disc, and I am very happy with both! The service is easy to use, and the disc is a real blast.

XTC is one of those bands that can spike me creatively when I'm feeling a little drained and this works just the same. I love these guys, and Andy's just completely brilliant.

At 9 bucks, you just can't go wrong! Can't wait to get the rest of the collection as listening time allows. Now I can finally find something else to do with the space in my living room that was taken up by my CD collection.

Thinking this collection will complete your "Best Band You've Never Heard" section for your personal record store is not the point. Die-hard XTC fans (both of them) have already obtained this and the companion second warbled set, and the shrine remains unbuilt. Varied, odd, disjointed, eclectic, and imminently insightful are these collections, with the threat (promise?) of more to come if Mr. Partridge can indeed take away the lure of salvage. For Volume 1, spot on impressions of Robert Smith, Morrissey, and a Dylan or two make "That Wag" the best outtake ever surreptitiously recorded; coulda-shoulda-woulda tracks from a potential Disney project showcase Andy's range and growth since the heady days of "Meccanic Dancing" and other punk-tinged leanings; near-miss tracks from several album sessions ("Everything," "Goosey Goosey," "Summer Hot As This," and "Wonder Annual") could be highlights on virtually any CD with top-40 aspirations (no apologies to Mr. Mathers.) And then there's "Howlin' Burston..."

"Cape Canaveral, Florida. Ready for takeoff stages."
"I've been drawing odd numbers from the hat of dreams."
"While the reaper knocks the wisdom of the ancients in a box."
"Has there been a thief in your storehouse, stealing away all your memories?"
"Enough to make your bald hair curl."

Just a few quotes from this splendid album, incredibly of REJECTS from regular XTC albums! With songs this good getting rejected, one must admire the fantastic quality the XTC albums must have. And don't forget to get volume 2, it continues the madness of eclecticism.

Repeat after me "PARTRIDGE IS GOD". Spray paint it on bridge abuttmants and buildings, hither and yon. WHAT! You didn't do it?

Shame on you. You should. Demos and recordings of what should be. REAL pop music. If you don't get this, you are dead.

And I thought Bill Nelson was the only artist who put out a CD every time he cut a fart. This is nothing but re-hashed old material and demos. Do not bother with this POS unless you are a rabid fan that must have everything Andy Partridge ever recorded (his shopping lists are probably more interesting). One song consists of a BS session that seems to have been recorded accidently. Stick with the true studio albums and stay away from this garage mistake. Andy should be full-blown embarrassed.