XTC Orange & Lemons

The album is one of the most requested vinyl reissues as it was only on vinyl for a short period towards the end of the first vinyl era and was, as a result, never available as a decent quality pressing and poorly presented in a single sleeve. Brrraaannnngg!! – As brash, bright & vibrant as its Alan Aldridge influenced, pop art, outer cover art, Oranges & Lemons, XTC’s ninth studio album, issued in February 1989, arrived like a burst of audio summer at the end of winter. Eloquently answering the question: “How do you follow-up a classic album?” with the most obvious answer “with another great recording”, the album consolidated XTC’s position – especially in America – as one of the era’s finest recording outfits. Following the slow burn success of Skylarking, which by then had become the band’s biggest selling album to date, Virgin suggested the band should consider another American producer. XTC settled on session musician Paul Fox who was just establishing a name for himself as an up & coming producer – having remixed tracks for Yes & Culture Club. Recorded in Los Angeles over a lengthy period, the album allowed Andy Partridge & Colin Moulding to further hone a group of songs that had initially been worked on & rehearsed in the UK with Dave Gregory’s, rarely highlighted but often crucial, contributions to the arrangements apparent in the final mixes...