My homeslice Chris Gray in Houston did a comprehensive video post looking at Todd Rundgren 's production and recording life. But since Rundgren will be dropping in at the Pageant tonight here in town, I thought I'd see his YouTube gems and add a few more -- after the jump. Feel free to email or comment with other gems as well. Psychedelic Furs' "President Gas," live in London 1982 (taken from 1982's Forever Now ) [...]

So, this is really exciting for all you XTC fans out there; Over at their myspace/fan site , there is a weekly feature where they'll post up an XTC song and Andy Partridge will discuss it. I'm not talking about a quick paragraph or two. No, these are multi-page conversations covering seemingly every possible angle and tidbit. Hours, if not days and weeks, of fun to be had if you're into XTC. Andy Partridge - I Wonder Why The Wonderfalls The song featured this week is "I [...]
Jul 12, 2008, 6:34pm
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Daft Punkt trifft auf Atari Teenage Riot. Trash Yourself kommen dem ziemlich nahe. (more...)

XTC - Earn enough for us XTC - Senses making overtime XTC - Making plans for Nigel >>

Although the otherworldly vocals on The Devil's Crayon [ buy ] from the U.K.'s Wild Beasts will inevitably draw comparisons to Scott Walker and Antony Hegarty ( Antony and the Johnsons ), I kinda hear Andy Partridge from XTC . Decide for yourself. Enjoy. The Devil's Crayon mp3 My Big Bonus MP3s Strike Again: Scott Walker: [...]

Rubber Clown Car Genre: Indie / Powerpop / Alternative From: Oswego, Illinois United States I get the impression that this band aren't entirely seriously. There's the name for a start, do you think that Radiohead would have achieved world domination if they'd been called Rubber Clown Car? No neither do I. Then there's the selection of [...]
While out the the other night I heard "Making Plans For Nigel" - piping out of a juke - reminding me that I haven't spent near enough quality time lately with my favorite XTC album, Drums & Wires. The video aired when I was a kid. I'm happy to report that it's as [...]

Purple haze runaways . Four long days , Lullaby haze . artwork by roadsworth
Each month, I make a playlist consisting of an artist of every letter of the alphabet. This month I asked the help of several of my counterparts to help me out with suggestions. Needless to say this is a great playlist and you have no other to thank than yourself. Thanks for all the suggestions. Every song on this month's playlist either has to do with Summer or reminds us of the season. Also I've been asked to say why I picked each song so that will begin this month. This is June 2008: 1. I Write Summer [...]

XTC: Yacht Dance [ purchase ] Am I to be first again? Then while the rest of the boys scour their collections, let's start this week up with a dance to the king of all leisure craft: the Yacht . we will dance like tiny boats with cotton sails upon the tops of the seas, That would pull us down to the depths and crush us flat if given half a chance. [...]
Sunny Day Sets Fire Genre: Indie / Pop / Psychedelic From: London - via Italy, Hong Kong & Toronto Multi-continental psych pop outfit Sunny Day Sets Fire are a diverse bunch with members from Hong Kong, Italy, Sardinia, Canada and London. Their name was apparently [...]

0px : This Way To The Internet Dancehall King, Barrington Levy , is Jamaica's answer to Cab Calloway. I first saw him during one of the Reggae Sunsplash tours that made it's way to the US, he's a great live performer. In 1996, Barrington and the remaining members of Sublime, The Long Beach Dub All Stars, did some recording and played a few shows together. Of late, he's kept busy doing one-off collaborations and touring. Listen and find out why Barrington's so big that he's broader [...]

Pushing all the right buttons It's too bad that XTC is best known for, among other things, being that once-promising New Wave band with a leader whose severe stage fright caused them to stop performing live, ultimately killing the band's commercial chances and artistic growth more than any series of Malevolent and Incompetent Managers . From the band's second album, Go 2 , through Mummer (and even the intent of The Big Express ) released one of my favorite strings of albums of any band. Those albums still mean [...]

Last week's post (which included a Dukes of Stratosphere cover) reminded me that I have never put up any songs from XTC . It's time I changed that. "New Wave" popsters XTC formed in Swindon, England in the mid seventies. In their nearly thirty year career, they had several hits, and many critically acclaimed albums. They also had a huge amount of songs that didn't make it to their albums. Normally I would be [...]
Each month, I make a playlist consisting of an artist of every letter of the alphabet. This is April 2008: 1. The Suggestion Box - Aqueduct - I Sold Gold - Pop Download It Here 2. Don't Let Me Down - The Beatles - Past Masters Two - Pop/Rock Download It Here 3. When You're Gone - The Cranberries - Single - Alternative Download It Here 4. Serotonin - D Folmer - SXSW 2008 Showcasing Artists - Pop [...]
From: Black Sea (Virgin, 1980) Download Learn Home Fan MySpace Last.fm Warr
There's a terrific little song from the late Ian Dury called There Aint Half Been Some Clever Bastards in which a number of folk from the entertainment industry are given a loving namecheck. I'd like to think that if anyone was around willing to update the song, they would have a go at including the name of Andy Partridge. He is of course best known as the guitarist and main songwriter for XTC.

I feel one of the most important early lessons of my life was learning that everything we do is a result of routine, bad and good. We're creatures of habit and the quicker we realize it, the faster we can start changing the ones that don't serve us well. Tips for Breaking Bad Habits and Developing Good Habits Most of life is habitual. You do the same things you did yesterday, the day before and every day for the last month. It's estimated that out of every 11,000 signals we receive from [...]

Here in Motown our mayor is in a bit of hot water for allegedly doing some bad things . The mayor claims that he will be fully vindicated and that the process is flawed. Here's a report about the whole mess . The jury will have to sort it out. Until then, here's some scandal-appropriate music: The Prissteens - Scandal, Controversy & Romance (mp3) ( buy album ). This one says it all! The Vipers - Cheated And Lied (mp3) ( [...]
My favorite comment from the first year of Timedoor's existence was left by Andy Partridge's daughter, Holly.