Nonsuch (album)

Nonsuch (styled as NONSVCH.) is the twelfth studio album by the English band XTC, released on 27 April 1992. In a 1992 MTV interview, Andy Partridge said that he had selected the name of the album after encountering a drawing of Nonsuch Palace and, thinking that the archaic word "Nonsuch" meant "does not exist" rather than, as he later learned, "unique". The album title may have derived from a couplet in the lyrics of the final song of Oranges and Lemons (their previous studio album) "Chalkhills and Children":

I'm skating over thin ice
while some nonesuch net holds me aloft

The album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album. "The Disappointed" was nominated for an Ivor Novello award. The album reached No. 1 on the Rolling Stone College album chart and No. 97 on the Billboard album chart in the U.S. It was the band's second consecutive Top 30 success on the UK album chart, reaching 28.

The album produced three singles: "The Disappointed" (which reached No. 33 on the UK singles chart), "The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead" (which reached No. 71 on the UK singles chart) and "Wrapped In Grey" (which, when withdrawn by Virgin, prompted the band to go on strike).

Two promotional videos were made. A UK-only video for "The Disappointed" (the band also did a lip-sync performance of this song on Pebble Mill at One) and "The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead," which received much airplay on MTV that summer.

The band performed "Books Are Burning" live with drummer Dave Mattacks on The Late Show on BBC-TV in April 1992.

The album cover is a picture of Nonsuch Palace in Surrey, from the book A Short History of Ewell and Nonsuch, by Cloudesley S. Willis. The palace no longer exists, but its former grounds included the present-day Nonsuch Park between Ewell and Cheam.

New 2.0 stereo and 5.1 surround sound mixes from the original analogue tapes by Steven Wilson were released in 2013.^[1]

Track listing

UK CD: CDV 2699

All songs written and composed by Andy Partridge, except where noted.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead"	5:02
2.	"My Bird Performs" (Colin Moulding)	3:51
3.	"Dear Madam Barnum"	2:48
4.	"Humble Daisy"	3:36
5.	"The Smartest Monkeys" (Moulding)	4:18
6.	"The Disappointed"	3:23
7.	"Holly Up on Poppy"	3:04
8.	"Crocodile"	3:56
9.	"Rook"	3:47
10.	"Omnibus"	3:20
11.	"That Wave"	3:34
12.	"Then She Appeared"	3:51
13.	"War Dance" (Moulding)	3:22
14.	"Wrapped in Grey"	3:46
15.	"The Ugly Underneath"	3:50
16.	"Bungalow" (Moulding)	2:49
17.	"Books Are Burning"	4:52
18.	"Didn't Hurt a Bit" ((Note: Only available on 2013 re-release) Moulding)	3:27

Personnel

Andy Partridge – vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, harmonica, tambourine, percussion, Shaker, keyboard programming, bell tree
Colin Moulding – vocals, bass guitar, electric guitar, acoustic guitar
Dave Gregory – electric guitar, electric 12-string guitar, acoustic guitar, piano, synthesisers, Hammond organ, backing vocals, church bell

with:

Dave Mattacks – drums, tambourine, drum & sitar samples, shaker, percussion
Gus Dudgeon – "ringmaster," tambourine, percussion, chorus
Guy Barker – flugelhorns, trumpet
Florence Lovegrove – viola
Rose Hull – cello
Stuart Gordon – violin
Gina Griffin – violin
Neville Farmer – chorus

String and brass arrangements by Dave Gregory, except "Rook" and "Omnibus" by Andy Partridge and "War Dance" by Colin Moulding. Strings on "The Disappointed" arranged by Andy Partridge and Dave Gregory.

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	^[2]
Entertainment Weekly	B+ ^[3]
Q	^[4]
Q	(1997) ^[5]
Robert Christgau	^[6]
Rolling Stone	^[7]

Charts

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1992	The Billboard 200	97

Singles

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1992	"Dear Madam Barnum"	Billboard Modern Rock Tracks	18
1992	"The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead"	Billboard Modern Rock Tracks	1

References

↑ "Steven Wilson Prepping Surround Mixes for Yes and XTC, More King Crimson On the Way". Archived from the original on 27 June 2013. Retrieved 2013-06-27.
↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Review: XTC - Nonsuch". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
↑ Wyman, Bill. "Review: XTC - Nonsuch". Entertainment Weekly (Time Inc.). Archived from the original on 7 September 2008. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
↑ Hepworth, David. "Review: XTC - Nonsuch". Q (Bauer Media Group). Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
↑ Quantick, David. "Review: XTC - Nonsuch". Q (Bauer Media Group). Retrieved 18 June 2011.
↑ Christgau, Robert. "Review: XTC - Nonsuch". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
↑ Azerrad, Michael. "Review: XTC - Nonsuch". Rolling Stone (Jann Wenner). Archived from the original on 17 August 2007. Retrieved 18 June 2011.

XTC

Andy Partridge Colin Moulding Terry Chambers Dave Gregory Barry Andrews

Studio albums	White Music Go 2 Drums and Wires Black Sea English Settlement Mummer The Big Express 25 O'Clock Skylarking Psonic Psunspot Oranges & Lemons Nonsuch Apple Venus Volume 1 Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume 2)

EPs	3D - EP

Live albums	BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert

Compilations	Waxworks: Some Singles 1977–1982 Beeswax: Some B-Sides 1977–1982 The Compact XTC Chips from the Chocolate Fireball Explode Together: The Dub Experiments 78-80 Rag and Bone Buffet: Rare Cuts and Leftovers Drums and Wireless: BBC Radio Sessions 77–89 Fossil Fuel: The XTC Singles 1977–92 Upsy Daisy Assortment Transistor Blast: The Best of the BBC Sessions Coat of Many Cupboards Apple Box

Other albums	Homespun Homegrown Instruvenus Waspstrumental

Related articles	Discography The Dukes of Stratosphear Urgh! A Music War A Testimonial Dinner: The Songs of XTC Fuzzy Warbles Take Away / The Lure of Salvage

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, January 11, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.