For many music fans, “Skylarking” is the classic XTC album, the one that is always most in demand.
CD/Blu-ray
• “Skylarking” is the second of XTC’s albums to be mixed in Dolby Atmos by Steven Wilson, following last year’s highly acclaimed mix for “The Big Express.”
• The album has been mixed for Dolby Atmos Immersive Audio from the original multi-track studio master tapes by Steven Wilson & is fully approved by XTC.
• CD: features the 2016 album mix & bonus album track mixes by Steven Wilson.
• Blu-ray: includes
Full album & additional tracks mixed in Dolby Atmos + instrumental versions
Full album in DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround Sound (2016 mix)
Full album, additional tracks & instrumentals in 24/96 stereo (2016 mix).
Full album – original mix (corrected polarity edition) in 24/96 stereo.
• Presented in replica mini-vinyl style packaging with booklet including photos & album lyrics
• All 2024 & 2016 material mixed & produced by Steven Wilson.
• Original album Produced & engineered by Todd Rundgren
200-gram vinyl
• First time the 2016 Steven Wilson mix of Skylarking will be released on 200-gram vinyl
• Presented in a gatefold sleeve with lyrics appearing in the inner gatefold
• Cut by Jason Mitchell at Loud Mastering
XTC:
Andy Partridge
Colin Moulding
Dave Gregory
With: Prairie Prince: Drums
“Skylarking,” XTC’s most commercially successful album was, for many years, also its most mythical with tales of “lost” multi-track tapes (sadly true of other XTC albums but not this one), a song originally dropped from the album only to be replaced when it inadvertently became a hit single in the USA, a perfect match, on paper, between the ideal Britpop band a decade before the term was invented & an Anglophile super-producer that turned rather imperfect in personality terms but still resulted in a classic album.
Still, a masterpiece remains a masterpiece however traumatic its origins & this is one of those few albums that sounded great at the time & sounds just as great, if not better, now.
When Steven Wilson remixed the album in 2016 – for new stereo & 5.1 Surround Sound editions, the release was successful again with both original & a new generation of fans.
CD/Blu-ray
Offered the opportunity to expand upon his 2016 work, Steven has now remixed the album for Dolby Atmos. This new edition features the complete album in Dolby Atmos, along with four additional tracks & instrumental versions in that format.
The Blu-ray also includes the 2016 mixes in DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround, 24/96 Hi-Res Stereo plus instrumental versions – all mixed by Steven Wilson and also includes the original, Todd Rundgren produced, album mix in 24/96 Hi-Res stereo (corrected polarity edition). The 2016 stereo mixes appear on the accompanying CD.
200-gram vinyl
Frequently requested as a vinyl release in recent years & with the new CD/Blu-ray release this Autumn in Dolby Atmos (remixed again by Steven Wilson), the timing is ideal to make the 2016 mix available on 200-gram vinyl, the first of Steven’s XTC mixes to be issued on vinyl.
CD/Blu-ray:
1. Summer’s Cauldron
2. Grass
3. The Meeting Place
4. That’s Really Super, Supergirl
5. Ballet for a Rainy Day
6. 1000 Umbrellas
7. Season Cycle
8. Earn Enough for Us
9. Big Day
10. Another Satellite
11. Mermaid Smiled
12. The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul
13. Dear God
14. Dying
15. Sacrificial Bonfire
+ Additional Tracks
16. Extrovert
17. Let’s Make a Den
18. Little Lighthouse
19. The Troubles
To pre-order:
CD/Blu-ray – https://burningshed.com/store/ape/xtc_skylarking-dolby-atmos_cd_blu-ray
LP – https://burningshed.com/store/ape/xtc_skylarking-2016-steven-wilson-mix_vinyl
CD/Blu-ray & Vinyl bundle – https://burningshed.com/store/ape/xtc_skylarking_cd_blu-ray-vinyl-bundle