Beating Of Hearts- Middle Eastern Flavored joyous feel good song. Please note that no matter how upbeat the songs on this release, they all seem to have a dark, brooding underbelly.

Wonderland- Pastoral perfect Pop from Colin. Complete with lilting keyboards and soothing bird noises.

Love On A Farmboys Wages- Folky love song from Andy.

GreatFire- Kind of an attempt at Senses Working Overtime Part II. Enough Said.

Deliver Us From The Elements- the whole proceedings are turning dark. The most somber, dark, eerie song Colin has ever written. Kind of spooky.

Human Alchemy- Really spooky. Dark and brooding. Sounds like it should be the theme to a horror movie while Andy rants about the practice of selling slaves to being alchemy.

Ladybird- Cut to an absolute classic love ballad. This song is so atmospheric and pretty. Got to be one of the top XTC songs ever.

In Loving Memory Of A Name- Pastoral English Pop heavy on Drums and Keyboards.

Me and The Wind- Quirky song about breaking up.

Funk Pop A Roll- Let em have it. Andy sticks it to the industry with a XTC style straight forward rocker (the only one here I might add)

Frost Circus- Pointless Instrumental Drivel-Next

Jump- Nice catchy pop tune

Toys- Another catchy little ditty about how playing with Toys relates to us later in life.

Gold- Bold and brassy pop number. The happiest cut among the bunch.

Procession Towards...-See Frost Circus...next

Desert Island- Nice analogy of England being a Desert Island. Perfect Pop.


Brilliant songwriting and studio wizardry.   July 20, 2006
Michael Stack (North Chelmsford, MA USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

In 1982, after a collapse on stage, Andy Partridge pulled the plug on XTC's touring and the band entered the studio to record their sixth album, 1983's "Mummer". Early in the sessions, drummer Terry Chambers quit the band (contributing only to three songs-- "Beating of Hearts", "Wonderland" and b-side "Toys"), leaving Partridge, Colin Moulding and Dave Gregory to soldier on as a trio (and with session drummer Peter Phipps). The freedom from touring and from any notions of having to play this material on-stage allowed the band to begin to experiment with the studio as a tool, and with producer Steve Nye on hand (who had recently helped Japan produce their masterwork and final album in "Tin Drum"), the band put together an album that far outshines everything they had done before.

The drastic changes are apparent right from the onset-- "Beating of Hearts" shows a level of detail and arrangement that was totally absent, even from the material on "English Settlement"-- Middle Eastern-inspired strings doubling and supporting Partridge's thick vocal, skanking guitars and tribal drums, hints at raga... this is something completely unprecedented. Likewise, "Great Fire" with its screeching sax and ragged guitars, synth-laden tension piece "Deliver Us From the Elements" and grunting, groaning, throbbing avant-rock of "Human Alchemy" all point to a band pushing and exploring.

When XTC sticks to more conventional sounds, their work is still detailed and fantastic-- Partridge's "Love on a Farmboy's Wages" is a fine example. Among the best material he's ever written, it's insistent acoustic guitars and muted drums (the latter apparently inspired Chambers' leaving the band) provide a support for Partridge's voice, which manages anxiety, desperation and hope all together. A handful of other great pop songs continue to fill out the album (Moulding's synthy "Wonderland", Partridge's lovely "Ladybird") and help prevent the distinct lack of subpar material that seemed evident in most of the earlier XTC albums. Even the songs that aren't quite as good as the rest ("Me and the Wind") are still quite intriguing and very listenable.

This reissue finds the album remastered and the depth of the arrangements and productions really shine. In addition, it's augmented by no less than six b-sides from the era. It's actually quite amazing some of these tracks didn't make the album-- four of them are pop songs similar in feel to the album tracks. Of particular note are "Jump", a delicate little pop song with an unnervingly catchy chorus and "Desert Island", a tropical, breezy song about a castaway in paradise, featuring a superb arrangement of growing vocal harmonies and a honking accordian lying over acoustic guitars and a slithering bass. The album also includes two ambient instrumentals, one of them is nice enough, though not particularly noteworthy ("Procession Towards Learning Land"), the other is a simply fantastic array of rising and falling synthesizers layered on top of each other. Fans of Brian Eno's work with find this brilliant.

One thing I have left out in talking about this is that as fantastic as the record is, it's probably not a good introduction to the band-- it can be a bit more quirky than can be easily digestable, nonetheless, once one is familiar with XTC, this is definitely one worth seeking out-- it's among the best in their catalog. Highly recommended.


Challenging but Highly Rewarding   August 17, 2002
Lypo Suck (Hades, United States)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

Mummer is a weird, weird album. Some people are put off by it, leaving my enthusiasm for it squarely in the minority. The story goes: following "English Settlement," Andy Partridge's stage-fright became totally unbearable, so XTC pulled a Beatles maneuver and swore they'd never tour again. From then on, they'd be strictly a studio band. Drummer Terry Chambers left, and instead of finding a replacement, they shifted their quirky style down new, unchartered roads that led to one of their most challenging, invigorating, and meticulously crafted albums. They veered enough from the path that it doubtlessly scared some people away. But given time to sink in, Mummer reveals itself as an innovative, beautiful record, marking the start of a new era for the band.

What immediately struck me is how good it sounds. Everything is crystal clear without sounding slick, big without being bombastic, and very organic. Lot's of acoustic guitar, piano, string sections, creating a wonderfully rich, baroque, pastoral texture. Even the lush synths that color Moulding's "Wonderland" evoke images of blooming flowers rather than cold metal and disco lights. XTC play with odd rhythmic and dynamic changes and eclectic, lush arrangements in ways that wouldn't have been possible with Chambers' pounding, post-punk style.

"Love on a Farmboy's Wages" begins quietly with a folksy verse and minimal percussion, before building to a beautiful, catchy, yet manic chorus. "Great Fire" bursts at the seams with the energy and tension its name suggests: pummeling, crisp drums and walloping bass set a primal foundation for scratchy, sideways guitar, tensely bowed strings, and Partridge's mad yelps about love that's burning him feverishly with desire. The chorus comes together with tightly wound energy and an infectious melody.

"Ladybird" shows a strong Pet Sounds/Smile-era Brian Wilson influence with playful, sophisticated, rich melodies set to a rolling piano and shuffle-y, brushed drums; a subtle pop gem. Moulding's "In Loving Memory of a Name" is led by bouncy, hook-filled piano, while wire-y acoustic guitar melodies snake their way in and out. Mummer ends with "Funk Pop A Roll," a scalding post-punk rocker with sharp guitar and Partridge's hiccupping, cynical rants about the record industry.

Mummer does have its weak spots but most of it holds up remarkably well. It's a fascinating change of direction that really works. Besides, this kind of risk-taking keeps bands - and music in general - interesting in the first place.


A nice mid-period disc by the boys from Swindon   April 25, 2001
Christopher Ingalls (Massachusetts)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

I've been a big XTC fan for about ten years now, but I've inexplicably been avoiding their earlier years (pre-"Skylarking") for some time now. I've finally started sinking my teeth into "Mummer," and I have to say that it's a unique disc (even by XTC's eclectic standards) and will continue to grow on me over time.

The only main problem I have with this disc isn't really anyone's fault...there are some distinctly tacky 80s sounds to the album (particularly the drum sounds). Of course, this was released in 1983, so you really can't blame Andy and the boys for that one. Having said, that, I really enjoy the songs, particularly the glorious "Funk Pop a Roll" (a scathing indictment of the music business, on par with Graham Parker's "Mercury Poisoning"), the gorgeous "Love on a Farmboy's Wages" and "Me and the Wind." The bonus tracks are a nice treat, especially the experimental sounds of "Procession Towards Learning Land."

Not their best, but definitely an enjoyable disc. Newbies might want to start with "Drums and Wires," "Skylarking" (my personal favorite), "Oranges and Lemons," or their 2000 masterpiece "Wasp Star - Apple Venus Vol. 2." For those on a budget, the collection "Upsy Daisy Assortment" is an excellent sampler of the band's career.


Thoughtful Meditations in Wordville   October 1, 2000
Eugenius Dobson (from a global perspective I'm right here.)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

This was the very first XTC record I bought. I had read some rather flattering review of it in some long since forgotten magazine at the time of its release and decided to take a chance on it. I wasn't disappointed. The songwriting reminds one of the Beatles, but with an originality that makes this sound all their own. The lyrics are clever and the musical textures are dense and the moods range from sad to angry, and hopeful to hopeless. Range is the key word here, not only in emotion but in the broad range of musical directions explored here. Several tunes (Great Fire, Love on a Farmboys Wages, Funk Pop a Roll) are so good they would have been radio hits if mainstream radio bothered to play anything other than the same old garbage it always seems to play. And the songs that wouldn't have been the hit singles (Deliver us From The Elements, Beating of Hearts, Human Alchemy, Wonderland--okay this might have been a hit and in fact was released somewhere as a single) would have been given their due back in the days when FM radio played great album tracks, not hit singles. I went on to buy everything that had come out before this and then bought all the new stuff as it got released, all because of this recording. And now I'm in the process of buying these great recordings again in CD format, starting again with this one and being happily surprised by all of the great bonus material included. I'm certainly not what you would call a die hard fan (just look how long it took for me to start collecting these things on CD) and in fact I probably won't even bother writing another review for any of their other recordings as they all seem to be fairly well represented already. But it seemed that this one wasn't getting a great showing of support and as it's such a sentimental favorite of mine I had to sit down and write a tribute to the XTC recording that turned me on to this most X-cellent band.