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Rating: X T C “APPLE VENUS Vol.1” (1999)
Colin Moulding and Andy Partridge, after a sustained battle with the record label, have managed to realize a dream, because this Album is a dream of immense beauty and delicacy from beginning to end and there is no room whatsoever for tears. Apple Venus was a victorious struggle they believed in, gratified by 11 simply sunny tracks.
A journey with intertwining refined and classical orchestral instruments, a combination of strings, acoustic guitars, brass, trumpets, violins, clarinets and accordions with a gentle image, in short, all the tracks are very representative and their work is completely positive.
Those who love XTC with Apple can only reward them for having provided substantial and continuous sensations to their admirers “Fans”. They let you escape from everyday life by catapulting you into an unreal world full of elves, fairies, and magical gnomes ready to take you by the hand to accompany you into their crystal sphere, and so it begins….
“River Of Orchids” the tap tap tap of the falling drop and the delicacy of the trumpet introduce a set of messenger voices
“I’d Like That” sound incredibly delicate and light as the feather on the cover
“Easter Theatre” for me an extraordinary piece, the most beautiful of the entire album, it's like throwing yourself into an amusement park, instruments and musical notes blend with colors and flowers, the charm of the trumpet notes that bursts into a wonderful rainbow
“Knights In Shining Karma” a delicate caress of a dear hand
“Frivolous Tonight” is like projecting oneself into the black and white rain scene of the 40s film “I Want to Dance with You” by Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire
“Greenman” a belly dance immersed in sequins and rhinestones with a thousand sparkling twists under a full moon evening while the warmth captures the feelings
“Your Dictionary” a slow dance where the voice simply blends with the instruments
“Fruit Nut” still hopping among elves and red toadstools or the fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel
“I Can’t Own Her” (wonderful) harp and piano accompanying the voices and the flutter of wings in an untouchable journey
…..And the walk concludes splendidly with two slow dances “Harvest Festival” and “The Last Balloon” We thank all the magical friends of this fairy tale who made us dream for a moment, but above all we thank XTC because without Apple Venus the dream could not have come true
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
05 Frivolous Tonight (03:10)
Let us talk about some trivial things we like
A bit of this and that
Let's chew the fat
Pour ourselves a glass of stout
And let our Rael Brook shirts hang out
Nothing makes us more content
To let us wallow in a bit of nonsense
We're all so frivolous tonight, tonight
Let's reveal our childlike nature
And leave our stocks and invoices to rot
Let's go to pot
Tell our jokes about mothers in law
But watch him jump when she comes through the door
Oh the party goes with a swing
When we talk about the trivial things
We're all so frivolous tonight
But there's always one
Who wants to talk shop
We'll drive him through the door
With a broom or a mop
Let us tell our favourite story
About some poor chap who put it on display
Hip hooray
And let the girls gather in their slacks
To talk about husbands hairy backs
Some might think we're a bit of a shower
But this could be our finest hour
We're all so frivolous tonight, tonight
We're all so ridiculous tonight.
07 Your Dictionary (03:14)
H-A-T-E
Is that how you spell love in your dictionary
K-I-C-K
Pronounced as kind
F-U-C-K
Is that how you spell friend in your dictionary
Black on black
A guidebook for the blind
Well now that I can see my eyes won't weep
Now that I can hear your song sounds cheap
Now that I can talk all your corn I'll reap
I'm not so sure that Joey wed a Virgin Mary
There are no words for me inside your dictionary
S-L-A-P
Is that how you spell kiss in your dictionary
C-O-L-D
Pronounced as care
S-H-I-T
Is that how you spelt me in your dictionary
Four-eyed fool
You led 'round everywhere
Now that I can see it's the queens new clothes
Now that I can hear all your poison prose
Now that I can talk with my tongue unfroze
I'm not so sure of Santa or the buck-tooth fairy
There are no words for me inside your dictionary
Now your laughter has a hollow ring
But the hollow ring has no finger in
So let's close the book and let the day begin
And our marriage be undone
08 Fruit Nut (03:01)
Tending my fruit, tending my fruit
Ah you've got to have a hobby
A man must have a shed to keep him sane
Spraying my buds, spraying my buds
Got to keep away diseases
I mix the poisons and the wife don't complain
Some people say
That I am out of my tree
Or just a strawberry fool
Someday they'll see
'Til then I'll blow you a raspberry
'Cos apples and pears are me
So I'm tending my fruit
And I don't give a hoot
'Cos it keeps me sane, it keeps me sane
Some people say
That I am out of my tree
Or just a strawberry fool
Someday they'll see
'Til then I'll blow you a raspberry
'Cos apples and pears are me
So I'm tending my fruit, tending my fruit
Ah you've got to have a hobby
A man must have a shed to keep him sane
To keep him sane, to keep him sane, to keep him sane
Oh the wife can't complain
To keep him sane, to keep him sane, yeah keeps him sane
Yeah to keep him sane, to keep him sane, yeah it keeps him sane
10 Harvest Festival (04:15)
See the flowers round the altar
See the peaches in tins 'neath the headmaster's chair
Harvest festival
See the two who've been chosen
See them walk hand in hand to the front of the hall
Harvest festival
Harvest festival
What was best of all was the
Longing look you gave me
That longing look
More than enough to keep me fed all year
See the children with baskets
See their hair cut like corn neatly combed in their rows
Harvest festival
Harvest festival
What was best of all was the
Longing look you gave me
That longing look
Across the hymnbooks and the canvas chairs
The longing look you gave me
That longing look
More than enough to keep me fed all year
What a year when the exams and crops all failed
Of course you passed but you were never seen again
We all grew and we got screwed and cut and nailed
Then out of nowhere invitation in gold pen
See the flowers round the altar
See that you too got married and I wish you well
Harvest festival
Harvest festival
What was best of all was the
Longing look you gave me
That longing look
Across the hymnbooks and the canvas chairs
The longing look you gave me
That longing look
More than enough to keep me fed all year
Harvest festival
11 The Last Balloon (06:40)
The last balloon is leaving, the last balloon from fear The last balloon is leaving, form that line right here Climb aboard, climb aboard you menfolk You won't need any bombs or knives Climb aboard, climb aboard you menfolk Leave all that to your former lives Drop it all The last balloon is leaving, the last balloon of all The last balloon is leaving, undress, discard, let fall Climb aboard, climb aboard you women You won't need any gems or furs Climb aboard, climb aboard you women Leave all that to the bad old years Drop it all The last balloon is leaving, the last balloon they'll fly The last balloon is leaving and we won't qualify Climb aboard, climb aboard you children Move aloft, while you're fleet and fast Climb aboard, climb aboard you children We're weighed down by our evil past Drop us all, you should drop us all drop us all and free your hand drop us all, you should drop us all drop us all like so much sand
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