>And considering that I'm such a huge XTC nerd, it's odd that I only just
>discovered that Andy Partridge has a new prog rock trio with former XTC
>keyboardist Barry Andrews (back after 29 years!!!). The band is called
>Monstrance and the album "drops" on Tuesday as well.  Salon.com has a free
>Mp3 on their Audiofile column page. (that may be for subscribers only
>though). Amazon.com also has an exclusive video of Monstrance playing one
>of their pieces. My first reaction is that, as a fan of Partridge's
>excursions in instrumental music (the HomoSafari series and his work with
>Harold Budd) I like it. But to the casual XTC fan (are there any?) it may
>remind them of when Andy Summers strays too far from Sting.  Except that
>Partridge was always his own Sting.

To each their own, but I'm a huge fan of Andy's work with XTC, and so far, I
haven't even been able to get through the first disc.  To my ears, it's just
a bunch of freeform noodling.  I'm sure the guys had a blast recording it,
and it wouldn't surprise me a bit if it ends up being heralded as a work of
genius, but after I finishing spinning it for review purposes - and, yeah,
you can imagine how positive THAT'S gonna read - I can't imagine myself ever
listening to it again.

Best,

WILL