Mummer, the first album to follow Andy Partridge's mental breakdown, which led to XTC's retirement from touring, is very much the work of an eccentric in isolation.
The album is a collection that builds on the groundwork of English Settlement with gentle, acoustic songs that evoke pastoral images and peaceful times.
There are moments of real inspiration, resulting in some of the band's finest songs to date -- "Love on a Farmboy's Wages," "Great Fire," and "Lady Bird" -- and the sound sets a pleasingly consistent mood, although the sameness tends to work against the lesser material.
Only the out-of-place afterthought of "Funk Pop a Roll," a tirade against the music industry, breaks things up, recapturing the abrasive Partridge of past.
[When Mummer was reissued on CD, six tracks were added to the middle of the album.
While "Jump," "Toys," "Gold," and "Desert Island" are welcome additions of pop confection, the atmospheric instrumentals "Frost Circus" and "Procession Towards Learning Land," from the simply bizarre Homo Safari Series, serve to disrupt the album's flow.].
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beating of HeartsAndy Partridge | XTC | Play | 03:55 | 8 MB | 24 MB |
| 2 | WonderlandColin Moulding | XTC | Play | 04:50 | 11 MB | 27 MB |
| 3 | Love on a Farmboy's WagesAndy Partridge | XTC | Play | 03:58 | 9 MB | 23 MB |
| 4 | Great FireAndy Partridge | XTC | Play | 03:47 | 8 MB | 23 MB |
| 5 | Deliver Us from the ElementsColin Moulding | XTC | Play | 04:36 | 10 MB | 26 MB |
| 6 | JumpAndy Partridge | XTC | Play | 04:39 | 10 MB | 26 MB |
| 7 | ToysAndy Partridge | XTC | Play | 04:20 | 9 MB | 27 MB |
| 8 | GoldAndy Partridge | XTC | Play | 03:34 | 8 MB | 22 MB |
| 9 | Desert IslandAndy Partridge | XTC | Play | 04:47 | 10 MB | 25 MB |
| 10 | Human AlchemyAndy Partridge | XTC | Play | 05:11 | 11 MB | 27 MB |
| 11 | LadybirdAndy Partridge | XTC | Play | 04:32 | 10 MB | 24 MB |
| 12 | In Loving Memory of a NameColin Moulding | XTC | Play | 03:16 | 7 MB | 19 MB |
| 13 | Me and the WindAndy Partridge | XTC | Play | 04:17 | 9 MB | 23 MB |
| 14 | Funk Pop a RollAndy Partridge | XTC | Play | 03:03 | 7 MB | 20 MB |
| 15 | Frost Circus (Homo Safari V) | XTC | Play | 03:52 | 8 MB | 13 MB |
| 16 | Procession Towards Learning Land (Homo Safari VI) | XTC | Play | 03:44 | 8 MB | 18 MB |
| 66 mins | 152 MB | |||||
| 66 mins | 374 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Terry Chambers | Drums |
| 2 | Gavin Cochrane | Cover Photo, Photography |
| 3 | Mark Dearnley | Engineer |
| 4 | Howard Gray | Assistant Engineer, Tape Operator, Voices |
| 5 | Gavin Greenaway | Assistant Engineer |
| 6 | David Gregory | Instrumentation, Multi Instruments, Vocals, Voices |
| 7 | Colin Moulding | Composer, Instrumentation, Multi Instruments, Vocals, Voices |
| 8 | Mike Nocito | Assistant Engineer |
| 9 | Steve Nye | Drums, Engineer, Korg Synthesizer, Mellotron, Producer |
| 10 | Andy Partridge | Composer, Guitar, Instrumentation, Multi Instruments, Vocals, Voices |
| 11 | Peter Phipps | Drums, Instrumentation, Voices |
| 12 | Jim Russell | Assistant Engineer |
| 13 | Alex Sadkin | Remixing |
| 14 | Robert Sargent | Producer |
| 15 | Phil Thornalley | Engineer, Remixing |
| 16 | Nigel Warren-Green | Korg Synthesizer, Mellotron, Strings |
| 17 | Gavyn Wright | Korg Synthesizer, Mellotron, Strings |
| 18 | XTC | Primary Artist, Producer, Remixing |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |