This remarkable box set of some nine CDs, collates most of the demos produced by Andy Partridge for XTC, especially during their post-punk period, along with rejected tracks, songs for friends, and demos produced for other artists to ponder. When you consider the fact that the vast majority of this material would usually fall into the `extra tracks' category on a typical re-release, then the overall quality of these recordings is quite remarkable. The vast majority of the demos are very polished, and most of the so-called rejected tracks force the question: why the hell weren't they considered good enough in the first place? `Fuzzy Warbles' was originally conceived as a joint project with fellow former XTC colleague, Colin Moulding. However, Colin pulled out, with the project at an advanced stage, leaving Andy (surely Swindon's answer to Brian Wilson) to soldier on alone. To have Colin's material liberally sprinkled throughout these CDs would have produced an undoubted five-star product. As it is, there is still much to enjoy here, and Andy can be forgiven for the odd drift into self-indulgence that would probably have been best left on the shelves of his garden-shed archive. With the appearance of new XTC material looking unlikely, then this set is a worthy investment, even given the odd caveat.
