Sir John Johns ~ the Red Curtain ~ Lord Cornelius Plum ~ E.I.E.I. Owen
Produced by John Leckie (Swami Anand Nagara) and The Dukes
Sometimes it pays to be a studio band… Between 1980 (when they were still performing live) and 1989, XTC wrote, recorded and released a series of albums from Black Sea to Oranges & Lemons that cemented the band’s reputation as songwriters and recording artists almost without parallel in the UK. They may not have sold as many as some and they tended to sell more in Japan and America than on home soil. They may not be as famous as other bands of the era but, to many of those with discerning ears, they’re rated among the very best, the select few who rise above their contemporaries…
As if six stellar albums in ten years including two double LPs, in an era when the advent of digital technology and CDs left many artists struggling to issue one or two albums in the same period, wasn’t enough, the band also issued two albums under completely different names as The Dukes of Stratosphear, an unashamedly psychedelic ensemble which phased and flanged in and out of existence in 1985 and 1987 respectively… (Though rumours continue to circulate of an earlier proto Merseybeat/Brit Blues incarnation of the band under yet another name..)
Psurroundabout Ride gathers all of the Dukes’ material, with both albums remixed in stereo and 5.1 surround by Steven Wilson and mixes approved by Andy Partridge. No need for mushrooms, simply position yourself between 6 speakers, play the blu-ray, relax and float downstream, as the music takes you to places unimagined, even in the original summer of love…