XTC - Skylarking download free

One of best XTC's. Different from their early New Wave sounds, Skylarking dives headfirst into the pop influences of the 60's, all expertly explored and improved on in many cases. This is the type of album that creates its own little world and transports you there for its duration. A direct successor to the Kink's Village Green Preservation Society? I think so. The opening one-two punch of "Summer's Cauldron" and "Grass" use such vivid imagery, lush, green and alive. The album ruminates on life, death and rebirth in perfect Beatle-esque fashion ("Season Cycle"). It explores the simplicity of day to day life in one of the most perfect power-pop songs the band would record ("Earn Enough For Us"). The Wilson-esque pop of "Ballet for a Rainy Day" sneakily slips into the ambitious string arrangement of the perfectly self-deprecating "1,000 Umbrellas." And it's all so decidedly British at the same time. Skylarking also feels like a fully-rounded group effort. Top-notch writing and producing. As much as Andy Partidge and Todd Rundgren butted heads, it seems that it payed off. Moulding's contributions (especially "Grass" and "Sacrificial Bonfire") are just as vital as Partridge's. Described as the little brother of “Forever Changes” and “Odessey and Oracle.”