Customer Reviews

Mummer

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In 1982, after a collapse on stage, Andy Partridge pulled the plug on XTC's touring and the band entered the studio to record their sixth album, 1983's "Mummer". Early in the sessions, drummer Terry Chambers quit the band (contributing only to three songs-- "Beating of Hearts", "Wonderland" and b-side "Toys"), leaving Partridge, Colin Moulding and Dave Gregory to soldier on as a trio (and with session drummer Peter Phipps). The freedom from touring and from any notions of having to play this material on-stage allowed the band to begin to experiment with the studio as a tool, and with producer Steve Nye on hand (who had recently helped Japan produce their masterwork and final album in "Tin Drum"), the band put together an album that far outshines everything they had done before.

The drastic changes are apparent right from the onset-- "Beating of Hearts" shows a level of detail and arrangement that was totally absent, even from the material on "English Settlement"-- Middle Eastern-inspired strings doubling and supporting Partridge's thick vocal, skanking guitars and tribal drums, hints at raga... this is something completely unprecedented. Likewise, "Great Fire" with its screeching sax and ragged guitars, synth-laden tension piece "Deliver Us From the Elements" and grunting, groaning, throbbing avant-rock of "Human Alchemy" all point to a band pushing and exploring.

When XTC sticks to more conventional sounds, their work is still detailed and fantastic-- Partridge's "Love on a Farmboy's Wages" is a fine example. Among the best material he's ever written, it's insistent acoustic guitars and muted drums (the latter apparently inspired Chambers' leaving the band) provide a support for Partridge's voice, which manages anxiety, desperation and hope all together. A handful of other great pop songs continue to fill out the album (Moulding's synthy "Wonderland", Partridge's lovely "Ladybird") and help prevent the distinct lack of subpar material that seemed evident in most of the earlier XTC albums. Even the songs that aren't quite as good as the rest ("Me and the Wind") are still quite intriguing and very listenable.

This reissue finds the album remastered and the depth of the arrangements and productions really shine. In addition, it's augmented by no less than six b-sides from the era. It's actually quite amazing some of these tracks didn't make the album-- four of them are pop songs similar in feel to the album tracks. Of particular note are "Jump", a delicate little pop song with an unnervingly catchy chorus and "Desert Island", a tropical, breezy song about a castaway in paradise, featuring a superb arrangement of growing vocal harmonies and a honking accordian lying over acoustic guitars and a slithering bass. The album also includes two ambient instrumentals, one of them is nice enough, though not particularly noteworthy ("Procession Towards Learning Land"), the other is a simply fantastic array of rising and falling synthesizers layered on top of each other. Fans of Brian Eno's work with find this brilliant.

One thing I have left out in talking about this is that as fantastic as the record is, it's probably not a good introduction to the band-- it can be a bit more quirky than can be easily digestable, nonetheless, once one is familiar with XTC, this is definitely one worth seeking out-- it's among the best in their catalog. Highly recommended.

This is when I became a certified fan of XTC. They effectively stuck thier nose up at the music industry and said screw you we are going to do what we want. Since they no longer were touring at this point and English Settlement proved to be an artistic move forward but a commercial move backward you might have expected XTC to deliver a commercial record to lure the masses. Fat chance and thank goodness.This is as bold and brilliant as it gets. Here is the breakdown:

Beating Of Hearts- Middle Eastern Flavored joyous feel good song. Please note that no matter how upbeat the songs on this release, they all seem to have a dark, brooding underbelly.

Wonderland- Pastoral perfect Pop from Colin. Complete with lilting keyboards and soothing bird noises.

Love On A Farmboys Wages- Folky love song from Andy.

GreatFire- Kind of an attempt at Senses Working Overtime Part II. Enough Said.

Deliver Us From The Elements- the whole proceedings are turning dark. The most somber, dark, eerie song Colin has ever written. Kind of spooky.

Human Alchemy- Really spooky. Dark and brooding. Sounds like it should be the theme to a horror movie while Andy rants about the practice of selling slaves to being alchemy.

Ladybird- Cut to an absolute classic love ballad. This song is so atmospheric and pretty. Got to be one of the top XTC songs ever.

In Loving Memory Of A Name- Pastoral English Pop heavy on Drums and Keyboards.

Me and The Wind- Quirky song about breaking up.

Funk Pop A Roll- Let em have it. Andy sticks it to the industry with a XTC style straight forward rocker (the only one here I might add)

Frost Circus- Pointless Instrumental Drivel-Next

Jump- Nice catchy pop tune

Toys- Another catchy little ditty about how playing with Toys relates to us later in life.

Gold- Bold and brassy pop number. The happiest cut among the bunch.

Procession Towards...-See Frost Circus...next

Desert Island- Nice analogy of England being a Desert Island. Perfect Pop.

Mummer is a weird, weird album. Some people are put off by it, leaving my enthusiasm for it squarely in the minority. The story goes: following "English Settlement," Andy Partridge's stage-fright became totally unbearable, so XTC pulled a Beatles maneuver and swore they'd never tour again. From then on, they'd be strictly a studio band. Drummer Terry Chambers left, and instead of finding a replacement, they shifted their quirky style down new, unchartered roads that led to one of their most challenging, invigorating, and meticulously crafted albums. They veered enough from the path that it doubtlessly scared some people away. But given time to sink in, Mummer reveals itself as an innovative, beautiful record, marking the start of a new era for the band.

What immediately struck me is how good it sounds. Everything is crystal clear without sounding slick, big without being bombastic, and very organic. Lot's of acoustic guitar, piano, string sections, creating a wonderfully rich, baroque, pastoral texture. Even the lush synths that color Moulding's "Wonderland" evoke images of blooming flowers rather than cold metal and disco lights. XTC play with odd rhythmic and dynamic changes and eclectic, lush arrangements in ways that wouldn't have been possible with Chambers' pounding, post-punk style.

"Love on a Farmboy's Wages" begins quietly with a folksy verse and minimal percussion, before building to a beautiful, catchy, yet manic chorus. "Great Fire" bursts at the seams with the energy and tension its name suggests: pummeling, crisp drums and walloping bass set a primal foundation for scratchy, sideways guitar, tensely bowed strings, and Partridge's mad yelps about love that's burning him feverishly with desire. The chorus comes together with tightly wound energy and an infectious melody.

"Ladybird" shows a strong Pet Sounds/Smile-era Brian Wilson influence with playful, sophisticated, rich melodies set to a rolling piano and shuffle-y, brushed drums; a subtle pop gem. Moulding's "In Loving Memory of a Name" is led by bouncy, hook-filled piano, while wire-y acoustic guitar melodies snake their way in and out. Mummer ends with "Funk Pop A Roll," a scalding post-punk rocker with sharp guitar and Partridge's hiccupping, cynical rants about the record industry.

Mummer does have its weak spots but most of it holds up remarkably well. It's a fascinating change of direction that really works. Besides, this kind of risk-taking keeps bands - and music in general - interesting in the first place.

This was the very first XTC record I bought. I had read some rather flattering review of it in some long since forgotten magazine at the time of its release and decided to take a chance on it. I wasn't disappointed. The songwriting reminds one of the Beatles, but with an originality that makes this sound all their own. The lyrics are clever and the musical textures are dense and the moods range from sad to angry, and hopeful to hopeless. Range is the key word here, not only in emotion but in the broad range of musical directions explored here. Several tunes (Great Fire, Love on a Farmboys Wages, Funk Pop a Roll) are so good they would have been radio hits if mainstream radio bothered to play anything other than the same old garbage it always seems to play. And the songs that wouldn't have been the hit singles (Deliver us From The Elements, Beating of Hearts, Human Alchemy, Wonderland--okay this might have been a hit and in fact was released somewhere as a single) would have been given their due back in the days when FM radio played great album tracks, not hit singles. I went on to buy everything that had come out before this and then bought all the new stuff as it got released, all because of this recording. And now I'm in the process of buying these great recordings again in CD format, starting again with this one and being happily surprised by all of the great bonus material included. I'm certainly not what you would call a die hard fan (just look how long it took for me to start collecting these things on CD) and in fact I probably won't even bother writing another review for any of their other recordings as they all seem to be fairly well represented already. But it seemed that this one wasn't getting a great showing of support and as it's such a sentimental favorite of mine I had to sit down and write a tribute to the XTC recording that turned me on to this most X-cellent band.

This, and three other XTC albums are my must-have, absolutely essential XTC works to own. Because of sheer diversity, focus and songwriting beauty. The other 3 are Black Sea, Oranges and Lemons, and Apple Venus Volume 1.

What is so beautiful about MUMMER is it's distance from other XTC works. And that what becomes the XTc sound here, crops up later in other releases. Mummer and what it does never truly left XTC, and both songwriters (Partridge & Moulding) changed their writing styles on this album and never looked back.

Many here have mentioned the troubled tour of English Settlement, and why XTC withdrew from the public arena, so I guess I'll try and encapsulate what makes this one of my favourite XTC albums . . .

For one, this album sounds pristine, whether its the remastered version, the vinyl or its original CD release. It is one of the best sounding XTC albums they released. Despite the loss of Terry Chambers (though he appears on a few tracks) replacement studio drummer Peter Phipps suits XTC to a T. His drumming, and the engineering on this album truly shine, no more so on 'Ladybird', one of the best songs Partridge has written to date. There is no possible way Chambers could have played 'Ladybird' in its style, and though he's a great drummer and suited XTC pre-Mummer, his loss was somewhat XTC's gain. A fuller pallette of rhythms is explored and used, and each suit every song. Phipps would have been a great replacement for the long haul.

Moulding changes the most on this album. His songwriting style that is present to this day, surfaces on Mummer. By Oranges & Lemons, Moulding was a completely different songwriter, and far better for it. The often maligned 'Wonderland' is the first of his songs to actually employ instrumentation that augments the lyric or tone of the song, and by Oranges & Lemons he became so good at it, that people stopped noticing how great a songwriter he is. Deliver Us From The Elements and In Loving Memory of a Name are probably two of his least known tracks, but by far two of his best, particularly 'In Loving . . . ' What is surprising, is the amount of material Moulding had available for inclusion on this album, that was every bit as good as what made it in the end. Two songs, 'Spare A Penny' and 'The World Is Full of Angry Young Men' should have been included with the CD release. (..Angry Young Men can be found on 'Rag & Bone Buffet', and BOTH versions of 'Spare A Penny' you'll just have to look around for -- its the reggae tinged 'Penny' that I think is such a strong song, but its message is probably what stopped Colin from going ahead with it)

Partridge is by no means a slouch on this album either. Song after song he just produces wonderful pieces of art. That he thought 'Great Fire' was single potential is possibly what stops this band from wider monetary success. It is a great song, but this album really is an 'album's album'. I can't really hear many singles coming from this, though a load were released from it, and videos exist for practically all of the songs (barring 'Me & The Wind', 'Great Fire', and 'Deliver Us From The Elements').

The three man XTC (Gregory / Moulding / Partridge) come off the touring-go-round and produced an incredibly peaceful, yet disturbing work. And I honestly have to give Andy Partridge some much deserved credit. 'Human Alchemy' will always remain for me, a song that just had to be. That a person of 'caucasian race' actually had the nerve and courage to say what he says in this song, will always garner my respect. Kudos Andy. Thank you for saying it, and meaning it. I wish there were more like you.

Again, not the first album for a 'newbie' to buy from XTC. In fact, I can't actually recommend that first album to get by them! You'll just have to take a chance on one of them, and see where it takes you. (If you're obsessive compulsive, please join the queue . . . )

Almost every XTC album puts the rest of the pop world to shame. While this one has at least two great tracks, MUMMER is their most ambitious, but least sucessful album. Clearly a transitional record, the band attempted to stretch beyond the conceits of new wave by creating(for then)a number of daring new sounds.

The problem wasn't with the ambition, or the sounds, but the songwriting. Andy Partridge delivers two great songs; one reflecting the pastoral theme that crops up throughout the album, "Love on a farm boy's wages" and the other, "Funk pop a roll"(essentially a rewrite of Elvis Costello's "Radio, Radio")that brims with fire, brimstone and acidic wit.These two tracks bookend some of the least interesting tracks the band has recorded. "Beating of hearts", the opening track, has merit as well, but, again, the concept is better than the execution.To give the album its due, though, there is always something interesting to listen to, but usually the songs don't amount to much beyond the "sound". MUMMER shares many of the flaws that crop up in McCartney's middle solo years--tuneful, melodic pop without direction, or purpose.

Andy, Colin and Dave would do much better with the focused, tuneful THE BIG EXPRESS which followed this album in 1984 and would continue after that to produce a series of exceptional albums that would redefine the rock/pop world. That is if everyone would just listen.

This shouldn't be the first XTC CD you buy. Get Skylarking or English Settlement first. The work "pastoral" gets tossed around, but I think it's just brilliant pop.

I am not surprized others have different opinions of this work, but I am amazed when someone comments about the writing. This is possibly the best concept album I have ever heard. Mummer is poetic at so many levels. Its colorful and completely filled with a circus of sound sensations I find so pleasing. When I listen to the intertwined nature of the words and music I think ONOMONOPIA. I am no professional critic, but to listen to "Me and the Wind" and "Great Fire" and not feel the wind and flame - I think you missed it.

The album begins with an actual opening tune. "Beating of Hearts" and its toms bouncing throughout opens the door. "Deliver Us From the Elements" is placed in the middle and ties the work together, clarifying the point pretty clearly. Vocals are stretched and pulled into circles and continually emphasized by the drums. I can never listen to the end of that tune without thinking of Todd Rundgren either(W,ATS).

I know the middle 6 tunes were not on the album, but they are all so lively and fit like a large intermission. "Procession..." is like a magnet slowly rolling closer, all the while picking up pieces of noisy scrap metal. Porceline sinks,pieces of car doors, a kid's bicycle, and rusted roofing all clanking and scraping against each other. Larger and larger it grows - and then you turn to watch it disappear. As it moves beyond earshot it must be huge. What a cool tune!

I don't know if Andy was the originator of the conceptual idea behind "Human Alchemy", but it is certainly a bit of genius. I have been so bored with white guilt for too many years now to feel any personal emotion such as guilt when I hear it, but the clarity of the truth conveyed is unmistakable. It is rare for me to wish I had written something someone else wrote, but Robert Frost's "Dust of Snow" and William Carlos William's "The Red Wheelbarrow" are about the only 2 poems sitting in front of "Human Alchemy" on my list.

The closer "Funk Pop a Roll" is a biting, cynical and fun tune to listen to, but if you cannot see the boat and feel the rudder when Andy sings "Feel like a ship with no rudder" in "Me and the Wind", then you missed it. Try and listen to it again and smile.

By 1983 I was sold on XTC. I anxiously awaited each new release. After several promised release dates that never came about it finally landed in June 1983. It is my understanding that this one almost did not get released in the U.S and all you need to do is listen to the lyrics of "Funk-Pop-A-Roll" to find out why. If anyone thought 1982's "English Settlement" was out of steps with the times imagine this release. For the most part a dark, brooding record even though it has a pastoral feeling. Certainly the single "Wonderland", a beautiful keyboard driven ballad from a faceless ordinary English Band was certainly not going to go anywhere with record buyers more focused on what Boy George's new look would be. Such deep songs as "Human Alchemy" which likens the slave trade to gold trade and the forementioned "Funk-Pop-A-Roll" a scathing attack on the hand that feeded XTC, the music industry, were brilliant but not many except for us rabid XTC fans were listening. For those of us rabbits who were not interested in getting fixed up, with our musical feed, or anyone selling us stuff we really did not need, thank goodness XTC was there, and that they did not die from being poisoned by the industry.

i sold this back twice. i bought it on cassette used and ported it around with me in my car. "great fire" and "love on a farm boy's" nothwithstanding, this takes a long time to sink in. once its sunk, however, you'll be beatifully bogged. not as lugubrious and pastoral as any number of persnickety XTCites maintain, not as majestic and etherally lovely as "Skylarking"--
as essential, however, as "Black Sea" or "Oranges and Lemons".
get it, kittens & cats.