NewsRipe for reissue: XTC / Oranges and Lemons on CD+blu-ray with 5.1
XTC‘s 1989 album Oranges And Lemons will be reissued in October as a CD+Blu-ray deluxe edition, jam-packed with bonus content which includes a 5.1 surround sound mix by Steven Wilson.
This package is the third in a series of expanded XTC album reissues following Nonsuch in 2013 and Drums and Wires last year. The CD contains a brand new Steven Wilson stereo mix while blu-ray (no region restrictions, NTSC) offers a hi-res (24bit/96kHz) flat-transfer of the original mix of the album as well as the following content:
- • Oranges and Lemons 5.1 Surround mix in 24bit/96kHz available in LPCM and DTS HD-MA
- • A new stereo album mix in24bit/96kHz LPCM audio
- • Instrumental versions of all new stereo mixes in 24bit/96kHz LPCM audio
- • Two separate sets of demo & work tape sessions showing the evolution of the album & associated recordings
- • A set of pre-recording rehearsals, promos & ID links for radio stations & record companies
- • A collection of single mixes & XTC’s version of Captain Beefheart’s ‘Ella Guru’
- • Promo films for The Mayor of Simpleton (three versions), King for a Day & The Road to Oranges & Lemons; rarely seen home-made film by the band explaining the album to Geffen Records USA.
The new Oranges and Lemons CD+Blu-ray comes in special packaging with expanded booklet and sleeve-notes by Andy Partridge, Colin Moulding & Dave Gregory. Full track listings TBA. Note that the CD+DVD-A variant has been ‘retired’ for this release, probably to keep production costs down and because the more generously spec’d CD+Blu-ray edition got the lion’s share of the sales.
This is due out on 16 October 2015 and can be pre-ordered from the APE store at Burning Shed, or indeed via Steven Wilson‘s website (along with the usual channels, soon).
- • Burning Shed/APE Pre-order: Oranges and Lemons CD+Blu-ray
- • Steven Wilson Pre-order: Oranges and Lemons CD+Blu-ray
- • Amazon UK: Oranges and Lemons CD+Blu-ray
- • Amazon USA: Oranges and Lemons CD+Blu-ray
- • Amazon CANADA: Oranges and Lemons CD+Blu-ray
- • Amazon GERMANY: Pre-order: Oranges and Lemons CD+Blu-ray
- • Amazon ITALY Pre-order: Oranges and Lemons CD+Blu-ray
SDE helps fans around the world discover physical music and discuss releases. To keep the site free, SDE participates in various affiliate programs, including Amazon and earns from qualifying purchases.
Related Content
SDEtv
cant get my blu ray to play this disc in 5.1, any ideas. in canada. samsung bluray. plays plenty other discs in 5.1
Hi there. What will be the next XTC album on CD/blue ray and CD/DVD?? White music? Go 2 ? Black sea? English settlement?
? the big express ? skylarking?Mummer?
From Jason the XTC fanatic
Mine is also not playing on my PS3. Burning shed told me its a firmware update problem? Any idea when this will be fixed?
I’d also kill to find a way to get the bonus tracks as MP3s for my ipod, to go right alongside all the fuzzy warbles on my ipod.
Also doesn’t play in my Sharp BD HP35, though D&W and Nonsuch play just fine. I think it’s a disc authoring issue.
This is absolutely not a disc authoring issue. If it were then the disc would not load anywhere on anything yet it does – this is a firmware problem.
The biggest problem device is the PS3 and I really think that everyone with a problem playing this needs to get in touch with the device manufacturers and report it as a problem. Sony are still updating firmware on the PS3 and the more people who report this the faster a fix will happen. What happens on older, obsoleted set top players is harder to say but it is always, always worth telling the manufacturers.
Returned home from Brussels to find the delivery from Burning Shed complete with postcard signed by CM. Nice. Playing the CD which is superb and already hearing “things I never heard before”. And my fave Chalkhills And Children is superb. Top! XTC for making it in the first place. Steven Wilson for curating a fine remastering. Sorry Hadleigh we have a PS3 but in the loft. Hope you get your problem resolved some how.
Mine doesn’t work on PS3 either and apparently others have the same problem. I have emailed Burning Shed to see what’s up.
Received my copy today and can’t get the Bluray to work on my PS3. The white Ape logo comes up and then goes away and just leaves a black screen. This hasn’t been a problem with the past releases. Is it possible I have a duff disc? Does anyone else here use a PS3 to play their XTC BluRays?
Yep. Same PS3 gets stuck at 0:09 after the Ape logo & only has a black screen. Tried various permutations of scan, skip, menu, but no dice getting to enjoy any of the Blu-ray contents…
Just rec’d email from Burning Shed this morning.
The release has been pushed back to Oct 30th.
[…] album has been mixed for 5.1 surround sound by Steven Wilson and unlike the recently announced XTC Oranges and Lemons reissue will still offer the choice of CD+Blu-ray audio or CD+DVD-A. Both sets will house new […]
Have got this on vinyl, CD, 3×3 mini CD and japanese card sleeve issue (along with just about everything else they ever issued) so will inevitably be buying this too. Mayor of Simpleton has one of my favourite ever basslines.
@Stephen B
Another vote for the bassline on Mayor of Simpleton – melodic, agile (16th notes?) and catchy without being overpowering. A testament to Moulding’s craftsmanship. You can understand why he was asked to join Pink Floyd at one point.
Another excited punter here – I already have my order for this in with Burning Shed.
Am I the only one with a fond spot for GO 2 ? No mentions here so far – after Drums & Wires and English Settlement, that’s the one I still return to most often – ‘Battery Brides’ and ‘Life is Good in the Greenhouse’ – both superb songs.
Here’s hoping it’s on the Steven Wilson to-do list before the end of this decade! 8-)
lovely album. had moved on a bit when it first came out but when I sort of ‘discovered’ it remembered why they were so great in the first place. got English Settlement for my birthday in ’82 (and a black and yellow fred perry) – so that is one of the albums I have always wanted to be given the extensive treatment it deserves
@Justin – agree with you on Apple Venus in 5.1. I hope that AP and SW have that on their to do list!
Reading through the comments here reminds me once again of what a truly great band XTC were and how much respect they have earned from fans and critics alike. A few people here have said “not my favourite” or “not their best” and leaving it at that. They’re one of a rare musical breed that never released a bad album. It’s all degrees and, although it may not be as great as others in the canon, O&L is still a great album.
Good album. Might have been a great one if they’d edited it down a bit. Pink thing, miniature sun, hold me, president, wouldn’t miss them at all.
Not my favourite XTC album either, but the 5.1 possibilities for some tracks are startling, as is the chance to make the production a little less ’80’s high-EQ radio friendly’.
I’m truly waiting for ‘Skylarking’ and ‘Apple Venus’. As XTC basically made AV (and ‘Wasp Star’) themselves, I don’t know why it hasn’t been released sooner, as surely the tapes are present, correct and easily accessible. It’s also one of Steven Wilson’s favourites. Just the thought of ‘River of Orchids’ and ‘Greenman’ in surround for a start….wow.
I’m looking forward to the surround mix, too – Garden Of Earthly Delights and Across This Antheap in particular
Not my favourite XTC album, but mostly because the soundstage seemed too narrow for what are pretty ambitious arrangements. I think it’ll dazzle in 5.1 – in fact I’m getting goosbumps at the thought of a 5.1 Chalkhills & Children.
Amazing album. Nuff said.
@Andrea
Yeah there was a remastered version but there’s some argument over what the exact effect of the “reversed polarity” was. I remember reading in the Chalkhills and Children book that the band were really disappointed when they heard the final mix. Todd Rundgren apparently, had to remix it, which he hated doing. There’s a whole lot of crazy theories related to that period.
Talking about Skylarking, hasn’t it just been released in a remastered, corrected polarity, as-intended-to-sound, cross-my-heart-this-is the-right-one reissue?
Black Sea next or English Settlement. I can’t wait for the next release. Best set of cd’s to come out in years and great value for money. Sound and look superb, all music should be like this ( well, all the worthwhile stuff!)
One of the biggest regrets of my life was selling my XTC vinyl collection (singles and albums). I don’t give a flying turtle one about remixes and remastering, I just want my vinyl back!!!!
@Simon F
I had a vinyl clear-out a couple of years ago due to downsizing and had to carefully select which albums to let go and which to keep.
Can’t say i made the right choices (let go of my original john Foxx Ultravox albums and singles – the white vinyl of Quite Men particularly galls) but I did keep my XTC (and Dukes) albums, all of them on original vinyl (Black Sea in green bag, circular Big Express, etc etc). Basically I felt that not only was the music stellar but also the artwork was often interesting in itself and made great use of the 12″ space.
I did get rid of my XTC 7″ singles though, sadly…
This is great news .
Ive got this album on 3 x 3″ cds so time for an upgrade.
Just hope Black Sea is next .
I can remember a documetary of the making of it being shown on BBC at the time ie recording at the Manor of Towers of London .
@trash – I did ask Mr Partridge himself about making downloads available for the bonus content on the Ape Forum. This was just after D&W had been reissued. He said the deal with Virgin was for physical releases only and not downloads which is why blu-Rays were chosen as he could fit loads of extras in. He told me he was in talks and would get back to me. But then the Ape Forum closed before I got an answer :(
@Psul Kent – actually I do remember reading that question and answer on the Ape forum at the time (I had forgotten about that). Nicely done…
I did think about asking him on twitter as he is usually quite active and forthcoming.
Macca and Zep archivists take note! A great product at a great price. I’ll echo some of the minor complaints about the bonus materials only on a blu ray (I’d like to upload to my ipod) but XTC looks like it is doing another great job for the Pound, Dollar, Euro or whatever you’re using. Thanks XTC and Steve!
I’ve bought all the reissues and have already ordered this but I would still like to see the tracks a bit more accessible. Like many others I don’t have Blu Ray linked to stereo etc and many other sets and what I’ve bought are all about download only and hi res files.
It just seems a bit odd having so much bonus content on a blu ray.
Still, minor grumbles as overall the value of these is well worth it, even for a newly presented version of the original album.
The only XTC album I really like is/was their debut. I guess there’s no chance of that getting a nice treatment….. still, the last CD issue had oodles of bonus tracks, I guess…….
Too bad there’s no dvd-a option. Won’t be switching to blu-ray just for this
Surely it’s long passed time to get a Blu-Ray player? it ain’t the year 2000 any more. LOL
Agreed! It’s not like they’re expensive.
It is for me. It’s get a universal player with seven channel analogue out, or go with HDMI and replace the amp. That’s plenty expensive. Around £300 to £500 – and that would include a cheap AV amp.
I don’t have one because I hardly ever watch even the films I’ve already got on DVD, I don’t have a surround system or a big enough room to use one in. So really these XTC reissues are the only incentive for me to acquire one. I said as much on Twitter and Andy Partridge said I should.
Just get a cheap (less than £80) blu-ray player for your computer and rip the hi-res track to Flac; you can then burn a DVD from that if you want to play off a disc rather than the computer. Mind you since I’ve got my NAD 3020D I play everything off the computer now!
The XTC & Yes remasters by Steven Wilson are indeed sublime. They are also as stated somewhere a box set in themselves. Other bands/artists have spread such content, or 50% of it, over 4 or 5 discs and charged 4/5 times what Yes & XTC have.
Yes & XTC who haven`t been amongst the biggest earners, far from it, in the music industry, provide all of this quality content for less than £18!
The XTC & YES blu-ray reissues have it all. Amazing sound via 24bit/96kHz 5.1 Surround mix & 24bit/96kHz stereo mix, excellent packaging, unreleased material, demos, etc. They fit on the shelf with my other CDs and are reasonably priced, in fact, a bargain. Although the recent Zeppelin & McCartney super deluxe sets have their merits, I’d rather have more beautiful sounding music, not part with so much cash, and less giant sized cardboard and paper to warehouse. The XTC & YES sets, at 1/5 the price of their rivals, are what I wish all of my favorite artists would produce. Thank you XTC, YES, and Steve Wilson.
Another vote for the great English Settlement next!!!
The XTC and Yes releases have been probably the best reissue campaign, dumping the whole ephemera angle like others and just giving us great bonus material, and the pricing should encourage anyone to dip in and pick up one or two.
Totally agree Gary…
Hmm I thought I had posted this already but maybe I forgot to hit the ‘Post comment’ button…
Restating my vote for English Settlement and Black Sea (even if the master tapes can’t be found it would be nice to collect all the various b-sides (XTC were quite prolific around this time) and the videos _ the XTC at the Manor video of them recording Towers of London (sort of as I believe it was staged for the cameras).
@Ben in Colorado – I do see you point about the production. Brash is more the word I would use rather than tinny but I think this was part of their bid to try to appeal to the US market that had recieved the Dukes so well.
Definitely worth giving it a reappraisal – any album that contains Mayor of Simpleton, Hold me my Daddy and the sublime Chalkhills and Children, can’t be that bad.
Much as I love these XTC reissues I do wish that all the DVD/Blu-ray extras were available for download. My DVD playing equipment is not connected to my HiFi and therefore I have to listen to the extras via the TV. Not great…
Finally Paul – I believe the two links both point to the same place (Steven Wilsons site.)
Thanks about the links. Fixed.
Sorry but the extras on download is never gonna happen.
Just hook up your DVD/BD player to the HiFi already!!!
Will the extended remixes be included…?
Steven Wilson is a genuine genius. His 5.1 mixes have been some of the best I have listed to and his own music is increadable. He has great taste in music as well (XTC, Simple Minds, Tears for Fears, Yes and King Crimson…). I am so happy his spare time is spent improveing the sound of classic albums and digging into the artists vaults for treasures.
Totally agree, he’s doing some amazing work. I’m slightly obsessed with “Hand.Cannot.Erase.” at the moment!
Nice to see Richard Branson wants modern day slavery abolished. But I can’t help thinking XTC were kind of slaves of his….
Richard Branson has long been out of the picture for Virgin….
At this stage the label is willing to reissue these because they make money with little effort by licensing the material to Andy, Colin and Dave.
It’s a nice idea for this to be n multiple formats but they sold less than 1000 of these. With their smaller fan base and a subset of people growing out” of collecting music, that’s not a surprise.
I’m happy to see Andy, Colin and Dave (and sooner or later I’m sure Barry will be involved with the first two albums if they arrive) taking the initiative to do this.
I personally feel this is a terrific set of songs although it should have been edited down a bit as, like The White Album, it’s got filler.
I doubt that the Skylarking tapes have been found as there would be a general announcement.
Yes; Fragile is getting the same treatment….
Check out this version of Train Running Low on Soul Coal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpkL9x7fRAo
While I love Black sea, Settlement and Skylarking, I think I’d rather hear the Big Express re-evaluated with alternate versions like this (if there are any).
I love this album. I thought everyone did.
they SHOULD…:)
Dukes of Stratosphere needs this treatment.
Oh yes please, DOS next.
Jakko Jakszyk mentioned in a recent interview that he believed that Steven Wilson was about to start doing a mix for Skylarking. This was shocking news as the multi-tracks for that album were missing in action.
After, Andy was asked on Twitter if there was any truth in this. He responded “It’s not imminent, but I may have good news soon.”
Andy has had much difficulty tracking down XTC’s multi-tracks which seems to be the primary factor in dictating what order these titles get released in. Last he reported, he still had yet to locate the tapes for Black Sea. He had found the tapes for some, but not all, of English Settlement. Apparently despite being billed by Virgin for the privilege of storing the XTC multi-tracks in the Virgin vaults, Virgin has been unable to locate the tapes. The search continues…..
‘Black Sea’ or ‘English Settlement’ next?
I hope it is one of those two next. They are their crowning achievements in my humble opinion.
Next? My vote would be Apple Venus Vol. 1. I see that as their apogee.
Awesome. Wish I didn’t have to wait so long for the next album to get this treatment. Talk about exhaustive! So much care and effort afforded it has to be applauded. Are these planned for the entire xtc catalogue?
I had been a fan of XTC for prit near 10 years by the time this album rolled out. I remember listening to it over and over again, trying to love it. But I never warmed up to it. Still haven’t. I thought the production was tinny and the songs harsher than previous albums. To me the album sounded like the cover art looked: garish, derivative and cold.
All that being said, I look forward to this release to “try again”. This re-issue series has been nothing less than spectacular. The care and effort that has gone into the previous two releases is setting the standard for all other reissues to follow (why they don’t [Mr. McCartney, ahem!] I will never understand).
True value for money, and an actual event to be excited about. Cheers to XTC and Mr. Wilson for caring enough to treat fans as they like to be treated.