Customer Reviews

Rag & Bone Buffet

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is when you are truly addicted.

This is when you've bought all the major releases, and they are just not enough. You are thoroughly hooked, you have just found out there are more songs by Moulding & Partridge that you haven't heard, and you have to have them. And then you find out this just tips the surface, and a full, comprehensive XTC overview would take more than Coat of Many Cupboards and Fuzzy Warbles combined can accomplish. Rag 'N' Bone set out to do this quietly, offering the XTC fan some rarely heard B-sides and alternate versions of XTC material released between 1977 and 1989. Rag 'N' Bone should have been the first XTC boxset, as it barely dips into the vaults, but what it brings up in that first handful are some pretty valuable gems and trinkets.

One of its shiniest, and must have gems, is Colin Moulding's 'The World Is Full of Angry Young Men', which was recorded duing Mummer (1983). Why this song was left off of that LP, no one can say, because it is truly one of the best things he ever wrote. In its demo form (you'll have to hunt), ...Angry is a good song and idea, but in this version it is absolutely beautiful. It belongs on Mummer. Another bright spot is Moulding's 'Blame The Weather', left off of English Settlement. Both of these songs deserved placement on those aforementioned albums. I can't tell you why they weren't. I just don't know.

Partridge's 'Extrovert' is the album opener, and it is very un-Skylarking (when it was recorded), but a great song nonetheless. It almost sounds more like a Big Express tune, or something you'd find on 'Black Sea'. That 4 other Skylarking leftovers, Terrorism, Let's Make A Den, Find the Fox, and The Troubles were left off of 'Rag' seems unfair, but they were finally re-released on 'Coat of Many Cupboards'. Like I said, a full comprehensive boxset of XTc will probably never see the light of day, because there is just too much material onhand and available. Partridge is just too prolific, and Moulding just keeps saving his best songs for another day, you just have to wait for them to surface eventually.

There are just too many songs to comment on on this collection that I grew to enjoy as much as the 'official' XTC catalogue. I wish someone would remaster the original version of 'Heaven Is Paved With Broken Glass' which had a lot of interesting things in it, and maybe a little better than the version offered here. Partridge's Punch and Judy is a highlight as well, ANOTHER English Settlement leftover, which has yet another version that I daresay is better than this one which is included on Coat of Many Cupboards. There's just too much on offer in the XTC catalogue. And one of the shortest songs 'Pulsing Pulsing' is one of my favourites of all XTC songs. XTC funk. It's like James Brown met Captain Beefheart and had a short meal and a drink.

Moulding's 'Officer Blue' I can't hear what he didn't like about it. And 'I Need Protection' is just near perfection, a distant cousin of Partridge's 'Travels in Nihilon' (on Black Sea). XTC could have easily issued 2 or 3 albums a year if touring wasn't a necessity,the amount of songs at their disposal, and the quality of them, just do not one album make.

Definitely go for the Buffet. It is worth it, but be familiar with the 'official' side of XTC first, and then you'll realise how much they actually offer in that second sitting.

Only songwriters as skilled and prolific as XTC's Partridge and Moulding could produce an album this good of nothing but B-sides. There are more good songs here then you'll find in the entire career of a lot of popular artists.

My personal favorite is Moulding's "The World is Full of Angry Young Men", but there are plenty of other first rate songs as well. "Respectable Street" is one of my favorite tunes from Andy's punkish period. "Mermaid Smiles" is another potential A-side.

If you're an XTC fan who's missed this album, well, it's not too late to get it. If you're not an XTC fan... start listening. You'll eventually get around to buying this one.

Most band's b sides and outtakes would be worth about as much as what's swept up from the floor...XTC is an exception to the rule. While not all these tracks are terrific (Officer Blue is a good example. Probably the band's worst song. There were other b sides still unreleased more worthy than this), but even the weakest b side has enough interesting stuff going on to make it fun.

It's nice to finally see Mermaid Smiled available again. Andy reportedly chose this song to cut from the album because it was the shortest. It's a terrific song that should have been a bonus track on Skylarking. Heaven Is Paved With Broken Glass and Tissue Tigers are both examples of the b sides that deserved better. Both would have fit snugly on English Settlement.

i am borrowing my best freind's rag and bone buffet it's good! i reccomend these songs too many cooks in the kitchen ten feet tall scissor man respectable street!

I love XTC, but I have to say this LP is a bit spotty.

"Respectable Street" is one of the best unknown singles of all time, and there's a lot of other good stuff here too. I've always liked "Ten Feet Tall," "Take This Town," and "Scissor Man," for instance.

But how do you put together a compilation album, with access to all their tapes, and include junk like "Looking For Footprints"? It's well played, because XTC were such a tight bunch at that point, but it's more than dull--it's a downright annoying recording.

Buy the better XTC records: BLACK SUN, ENGLISH SETTLEMENT, ORANGES & LEMONS, etc.. If you find you love the band, come back to RAG & BONE BUFFET. But don't let this CD be your first XTC experience.

For me Extrovert, the first cut on the disc, is easily the best song on the CD. XTC produced clever and instrumentally complex tunes during their prime. I understand why these songs were left off prior albums. Few tracks are memorable, which makes me long for a new XTC record w/ fresh ideas.

These are odds and ends... yeh, ok, rags and bones... of the greatest unknown pop band on the planet. Have had a cassette copy of this for years, great to finally have it on CD. For those who don't know XTC, my advice is to pick up either Drums and Wires or Nonsuch, then move on to Skylarking and the Apple Venus volumes... this collection is more for confirmed fans. Many of these tracks might confuse new listeners.

The amount of material amassed here is enough to delight any XTC fan. Initailly issued as a stop-gap release (along with Explode Together: The Dub Experiments 78-80) between O&L and Nonsuch

it contains various singles, b-sides, c-sides and the like.

"Cockpit Dance Mixture" is humourously un-danceable mix of "Down In The Cockpit" and is one of six b-sides included here from the English Settlement sessions. Which incidently all rock.

"Looking For Footprints" (later known as "Sleepyheads"),

"Officer Blue" and The Colonel's "Too Many Cooks" are all giddy, fun Moulding material. The Christmas Single is a mini-hoot.

The rocking "Take This Town" single, the rather odd Nigel B-side "Pulsing Pulsing" and "Blame The Weather" are all GREAT XTC songs. If you're on the fence - this is a great comp. A much better leftovers compilation that most bands would ever have.

All in all : a fun, full listen!

This is a great mix of familiar and rare XTC songs. It has enough different tracks from the regular albums to make this a must for any XTC collection. Some of the highlights include Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen, Heaven is Paved with Broken Glass, Tissue Tigers, and Punch and Judy.

Great to have all of this on one CD too.

I was surprised at how ho-hum most of this material was. I mean, it's mostly pretty unflattering stuff. BUT "The World is Full of Angry Young Men", a Colin Moulding song from the Mummer era, is so perfect lyrically and musically as to qualify as one of the band's best tunes (perhaps even THE best). So there is some value here. "Heaven Is Paved With Broken Glass" is a decent B-side, and "Looking For Footprints" is an unearthed artifact from the Barry Andrews-era band that holds up.