With XTC now firmly behind him, Andy Partridge continues to dabble in varied projects, the latest of which is a super-limited album of “aural sculptures” inspired by the late sci-fi book-jacket artist Richard M. Powers.
While a release date hasn’t yet been announced, Partridge’s Ape House Records this week reported the musician “is putting the finishing touches” on an album named Powers — which will be released in a “strictly numbered limited edition of 500” on CD, and as a digital download as well.
Yet at the same time, Ape cautioned fans that “These are not songs, or even what the majority of people would call ‘music,’ but are aural sculptures if you will, that are meant to marry in your head with the fluid and often frightening vistas that Powers would portray in paint.”
According to the label, Partridge, as a child, would “stare intensely at (Powers’) jacket illustrations and drift into these fearful future worlds, hearing unusual soundscapes and noises.” The album is “an attempt to capture the sounds that played in his schoolboy head.” You can see a collection of Powers’ work illustrating pulp sci-fi novels here.
One of the songs already has been released: “Transmitter” appeared on the label’s Ape Loves Haiti digital benefit album (along with a number of other Partridge-related tracks), which was released earlier this year to help the victims of the Haiti earthquake.
PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS
- Help compile XTC’s ‘Bric-a-Brac Breakfast,’ sequel to 1990’s ‘Rag & Bone Buffet’
- Dukes of Stratosphear’s ‘Complete and Utter Dukes’ box set includes CDs, vinyl
- ‘XTC As…’: Re-branded Dukes of Stratosphear reissues due in March
- Quick Spins: Big Audio Dynamite, Dinosaur Jr, Joy Division, Dukes of Stratosphear
