Monday, October 26, 2009

Sound and Vision - Rousseau and XTC



Tropical Forest with Monkeys, Henri Rousseau

Rousseau spent his days off producing paintings like Tropical Forest with Monkeys without any formal training. To me, even an effortless, tossed-off XTC song like "I Bought Myself a Liarbird" seems as gorgeous and handmade as a Rousseau painting. It's from their 1984 album The Big Express, which was a return to their "big drum" sound after 1983's more understated Mummer (which has one of my favorite songs ever, Love on a Farmboy's Wages).

I Bought Myself a Liarbird by XTC on Grooveshark