Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume 2)

Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume 2) is the 14th and most recent studio album by the English rock band XTC, released on Cooking Vinyl/Idea Records on 23 May 2000. It is the follow-up to 1999's Apple Venus Volume 1 and contains rock-based material largely written between 1994 and 1996.[9] Wasp Star reached number 40 on the UK Albums Chart. In 2002, the group released an instrumental version of the album entitled Waspstrumental. XTC dissolved in 2006, leaving Wasp Star their last studio album to date.

Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume 2)
Studio album by
XTC
Released23 May 2000
RecordedApril–December 1999
StudioIdea Studios, Wiltshire and Chipping Norton Recording Studios, Oxfordshire, England
GenreArt rock
Length50:54
LabelCooking Vinyl
ProducerNick Davis
XTC chronology
Apple Venus Volume 1
(1999)		 Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume 2)
(2000)
Singles from Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume 2)
  1. "I'm the Man Who Murdered Love"
    Released: May 2000
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic75/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
NME(7/10)[3]
Pitchfork(8.0/10)[4]
PopMatters(9/10)[5]
Q[6]
Robert Christgau[7]
Rolling Stone[8]

Background

Apple Venus Volume 1 was originally supposed to be a double album, but Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding were persuaded to divide it into two releases, with the orchestral material on Apple Venus Volume 1 and the other songs on Wasp Star. By this stage, guitarist and singer Andy Partridge and bassist and singer Colin Moulding were the only two band members left. The duo therefore utilised session musicians on every track to fill in the musical elements that they were incapable of performing themselves. Partridge's daughter Holly made her singing debut on record singing backup vocals in the song "Playground"; she now sings and plays guitar in the English pop-rock group The SheBeats.

Colin Moulding's songs were all older material presented for previous albums but rejected due to space or other considerations. "Standing In For Joe" was originally written for aborted 'Bubblegum' album project in the early 1990s and "In Another Life" was originally demoed for Oranges & Lemons.

Use in media
  • An episode of Skins featured "Stupidly Happy"
  • In 2011, "Stupidly Happy" was used in an advertisement for DFS.
  • "I'm the Man Who Murdered Love" was used in an episode of Gilmore Girls, "The Lorelais' First Day at Chilton"[10]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Andy Partridge, except where noted.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Playground" 4:17
2."Stupidly Happy" 4:13
3."In Another Life"Colin Moulding3:35
4."My Brown Guitar" 3:51
5."Boarded Up"Moulding3:23
6."I'm the Man Who Murdered Love" 3:44
7."We're All Light" 4:39
8."Standing in for Joe"Moulding3:42
9."Wounded Horse" 4:11
10."You and the Clouds Will Still be Beautiful" 4:18
11."Church of Women" 5:06
12."The Wheel and the Maypole" 5:55
Total length:50:54

Personnel

XTC

Additional personnel

Production
  • Haydn Bendall – recording engineering
  • Nick Davis – producer, mixing, recording engineering
  • Simon Dawson – mix engineer
  • Alan Douglas – recording engineering
  • Barry Hammond – recording engineering
  • Bob Ludwig – mastering
  • Leonard B. Johnson – A&R Coordination

Charts
Chart Peak
position
UK Albums Chart[11] 40
Billboard 200[12] 108
gollark: Any helmet counts as a mask and reduces transmission/infection rate mildly.
gollark: Neural interfaces can easily detect head items.
gollark: I was just going to have a simple modem thing which sends out pings constantly and listens for them but I guess it could also try and murder you utterly‽
gollark: Interesting idea!
gollark: Hmm, that's a neat idea, I could implement simulated COVID-19 on neural interfaces.

References
  1. "XTC - Wasp Star (Apple Venus, Volume 2)". Metacritic. CBS Interactive Inc. Retrieved 16 June 2011.
  2. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (2000). "Review: XTC - Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume 2)". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 16 June 2011.
  3. "Review: XTC - Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume 2)". NME. IPC Media. 12 September 2005. Retrieved 16 June 2011.
  4. Hooker, Zach (23 May 2000). "Review: XTC - Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume 2)". Pitchfork. Retrieved 16 June 2011.
  5. Schabe, Patrick. "Review: XTC - Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume 2)". PopMatters. Archived from the original on 17 May 2008. Retrieved 16 June 2011.
  6. Aizlewood, John. "Review: XTC - Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume 2)". Q. Bauer Media Group. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 16 June 2011.
  7. Christgau, Robert. "Review: XTC - Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume 2)". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 16 June 2011.
  8. Moon, Tom. "Review: XTC - Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume 2)". Rolling Stone. Jann Wenner. Archived from the original on 11 April 2009. Retrieved 16 June 2011.
  9. "XTC: Take Another Bite..." Lexicon. No. 11. 1999.
  10. "Music from Gilmore Girls S1E02". Tunefind. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  11. "XTC - Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume 2)". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 16 June 2011.
  12. "XTC - Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume 2)". Billboard 200. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 16 June 2011.
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