TC&I – Naked Flames: Live At Swindon Arts Centre

Life is capable of dealing out a surprise or two. One of the biggest musical surprises came in 2017 when ex-XTC drummer Terry Chambers returned from Australia and it subsequently announced he’d been writing and recording new material with his old bandmate Colin Moulding. The likelihood of any XTC members recording together had seemed about as likely as Roger Manning, Jr reforming Jellyfish, but it had quickly become a reality. Fans were, understandably, ecstatic. The resultant EP was good rather than great, but the fact that Moulding had seemingly returned to something resembling full time recording was good news enough.

TC&I then unleashed bigger news when they told the world they’d be playing a handful of live shows to support the release at Swindon Arts Centre. There was more at stake here than just a few new songs, of course; XTC had abruptly stopped touring in 1982 and Colin had a legacy of great material that had never been played in front of an audience. It was time to right that wrong.

Continue reading

TC&I – Great Aspirations EP

When drummer Terry Chambers left XTC in the early eighties, gave up music and subsequently emigrated to Australia, few people expected him to ever return to the UK; fewer still expected him to return to the recording studio. Upon his return, he rekindled an old friendship with bassist Colin Moulding, who had since resigned from the inactive XTC in 2007 and was “not interested in making music any more”. It came as an even bigger surprise when XTC’s classic rhythm section unveiled an EP of new recordings towards the end of 2017, without so much as a word hinting that anything was genuinely afoot.

Continue reading