Since
Skylarking, each XTC album was carefully composed and crafted, and
Nonsuch is no different. Working with producer Gus Dudgeon (Elton John),
XTC crafted their most immaculate album to date with Nonsuch. A
measured and reflective record, recalling the Beach Boys more than the
Beatles, the album retains some of their late-'80s psychedelic
flourishes, but those have been integrated into an elaborate, lush pop
setting that falls somewhere between Skylarking and Oranges &
Lemons. While it lacks the thematic unity of Skylarking, as well as the
grandstanding eclecticism of Oranges & Lemons, Nonsuch is in many
ways more musically consistent, presenting a set of 17 wonderfully
detailed and immediately catchy pop songs, ranging from the relatively
rocking "The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead" to the sweet "Holly up on
Poppy." Occasionally, the album dips slightly lyrically -- Colin
Moulding's "The Smartest Monkeys" and "War Dance" are a little too
preachy -- but never musically, making Nonsuch a modest, minor
masterpiece.
01. The Ballad
Of Peter Pumpkinhead [0:05:00.70] 02. My Bird Performs
[0:03:50.65] 03. Dear Madam Barnum [0:02:53.02] 04. Humble
Daisy [0:03:39.00] 05. The Smartest Monkeys [0:04:17.73] 06.
The Disappointed [0:03:23.17] 07. Holly Up On Poppy [0:03:04.33]
08. Crocodile [0:03:56.37] 09. Rook [0:03:47.25] 10. Omnibus
[0:03:20.18] 11. That Wave [0:03:33.37] 12. Then She Appeared
[0:03:52.10] 13. War Dance [0:03:22.40] 14. Wrapped In Grey
[0:03:46.18] 15. The Ugly Underneath [0:03:55.60] 16. Bungalow
[0:02:49.02] 17. Books Are Burning [0:04:50.73]
Code
Exact
Audio Copy V0.99 prebeta 3 from 28. July 2007
EAC extraction
logfile from 1. May 2008, 18:27
XTC / Nonsuch
Used
drive : Optiarc DVD RW AD-7170A Adapter: 1 ID: 0
Read
mode : Secure Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes Make use of C2 pointers : No
Read offset correction : 48 Overread into
Lead-In and Lead-Out : No Fill up missing offset samples
with silence : Yes Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes Used
interface : Installed external ASPI interface
Used output format : Internal WAV Routines Sample format :
44.100 Hz; 16 Bit; Stereo
