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One of XTC’s great early albums is getting another facelift courtesy of remixer Steven Wilson.

The Porcupine Tree musician and engineer counts the Swindon cult heroes among his earliest remix work, fashioning new stereo and surround mixes of Drums and Wires, Black Sea, The Big Express, Skylarking, Oranges & Lemons and Nonsuch between 2013 and 2023 (along with a compilation of the group’s psychedelic work under the alter ego The Dukes of Stratosphear). With multitrack tapes for additional Virgin-era XTC albums proving tough to come by, Wilson revisited Skylarking in Dolby Atmos last year, and has now done the same for Drums and Wires. The new CD/Blu-ray edition is available September 26.

What sets this reissue apart from the Skylarking revisit is the Drums and Wires remix adds a little more to the proceedings. The original CD/Blu-ray set was loaded with B-sides, demos and other rarities, most of it previously unreleased; that’s all replicated here (complete with a few concessions – non-album single “Life Begins At the Hop” and three B-sides still had elusive multi-tracks, making the 5.1 versions “upmix” and making similar instrumental versions impossible. More interestingly, perhaps, is the revelation by Wilson that two tracks – album cut “That is the Way” and B-side “Officer Blue” – were unusually slowed down from what was intentionally recorded. With the blessing of Colin Moulding (the band’s bassist and one half of the XTC creative trust, who penned both tunes), “Officer Blue” has been corrected to its natural pitch, while the CD and Blu-ray offer “That is the Way” both at its original and more familiar pitches. (The provenance of the CD’s additional tracks – alternates of “Complicated Game” and “Chain of Command” – is as yet unclear.)

In any case, Drums and Wires is probably the ideal XTC album to dive into first: respectively produced and engineered by the dream team of Steve Lillywhite and Hugh Padgham, the group – singer/songwriter/guitarist Andy Partridge, singer/songwiter/bassist Colin Moulding, drummer Terry Chambers and new guitarist/keyboardist Dave Gregory – accessed some of their most engaging songcraft and style, with non-album single “Life Begins At the Hop” and terrific opener “Making Plans for Nigel” remaining among fans’ favorite tracks by the group. (The numbers bore this out too: “Nigel” became the group’s first Top 40 single.) With XTC long in the past – Partridge and Moulding are, by all accounts, personally cordial but musically estranged – reissues like these have only helped current and future fans dig into their quintessentially British, always alternative approach to pop music.

The revised remixes will be available on CD/Blu-ray (with the extra material) as well as a 200-gram vinyl reissue of the standard 12-track album; both are available September 26 and can be pre-ordered below. (As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.)

Drums and Wires (Steven Wilson Dolby Atmos Mix) (originally released as Ape House APEBD103 (U.K.), 2014 – reissued Ape House APEBDA503 (U.K.), 2025)

CD/Blu-ray: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

CD: 2014 Steven Wilson Stereo Mix of original album (with minor 2025 revisions) and bonus tracks

1. Making Plans for Nigel
2. Helicopter
3. Day In Day Out
4. When You’re Near Me I Have Difficulty
5. Ten Feet Tall
6. Roads Girdle the Globe
7. Real by Reel
8. Millions
9. That is the Way
10. Outside World
11. Scissor Man
12. Complicated Game
13. Chain of Command
14. Limelight
15. Life Begins At the Hop
16. Ten Feet Tall (Electric Version)
17. Wait Til Your Boat Goes Down
18. Complicated Game (Outtake) *
19. That is the Way (Original Pitch) *
20. Chain of Command (Alternate) *

Blu-ray

New 2025 Dolby Atmos Mixes (*), 2014 (with minor 2025 revisions) DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround mixes and stereo instrumental mixes (except +) by Steven Wilson

1. Making Plans for Nigel
2. Helicopter
3. Day In Day Out
4. When You’re Near Me I Have Difficulty
5. Ten Feet Tall
6. Roads Girdle the Globe
7. Real By Reel
8. Millions
9. That is the Way
10. Outside World
11. Scissor Man
12. Complicated Game
13. Life Begins At the Hop +
14. Homo Safari +
15. Chain of Command
16. Limelight
17. Bushman President +
18. Pulsing Pulsing
19. Wait Till Your Boat Goes Down
20. Ten Feet Tall (Electric Version)
21. Officer Blue
22. Over Rusty Water +
23. Sleepyheads
24. That is the Way (Original Pitch)

Original masters of Tracks 1-12, 15-16 and long versions of Tracks 9 and 13

Extra material

25. Helicopter (DJM Stereo Mix)
26. When You’re Near Me I Have Difficulty (DJM Stereo Mix)
27. Real by Reel (DJM Stereo Mix)
28. The Beautiful People (Saucy Plate Session)
29. Cheap Perfume (Saucy Plate Session)
30. I Feel Blue (Saucy Plate Session)
31. Someone’s Been in My Room (Saucy Plate Session)
32. If I Had My Way (Saucy Plate Session)
33. Life Begins At the Hop (Unknown Session)
34. Life Begins At the Hop (Swindon Town Hall Session 1)
35. When You’re Near Me I Have Difficulty (Swindon Town Hall Session 1)
36. Cheap Perfume (Swindon Town Hall Session 1)
37. Outside World (Swindon Town Hall Session 1)
38. Chain of Command (Swindon Town Hall Session 2)
39. Ten Feet Tall (Swindon Town Hall Session 2)
40. Helicopter (Swindon Town Hall Session 2)
41. Making Plans for Nigel (Swindon Town Hall Session 2)
42. Officer Blue (Toots Garage Session)
43. Don’t Lose Your Temper (Toots Garage Session)
44. I Overheard (Toots Garage Session)
45. Wait Till Your Boat Goes Down (Toots Garage Session)
46. Millions (Instrumental – Tudor Barn Album Rehearsal)
47. Limelight (Arrangement Query – Tudor Barn Album Rehearsal)
48. Limelight (Instrumental – Tudor Barn Album Rehearsal)
49. Limelight (Drum Arrangement Chat – Tudor Barn Album Rehearsal)
50. Complicated Game (Instrumental – Tudor Barn Album Rehearsal)
51. Diddley-Beat Jam (Instrumental – Tudor Barn Album Rehearsal)
52. Millions (Drums Arrangement – Tudor Barn Album Rehearsal)
53. Millions (with Vocals – Tudor Barn Album Rehearsal)
54. Limelight (with Vocals – Tudor Barn Album Rehearsal)
55. Day In (Preamble – Tudor Barn Album Rehearsal)
56. Day In, Day Out (with Vocals – Tudor Barn Album Rehearsal)
57. Real by Reel (with Vocals – Tudor Barn Album Rehearsal)
58. This is the Preamble (Tudor Barn Album Rehearsal)
59. That is the Way (Breakdown with Vocals – Tudor Barn Album Rehearsal)
60. That is Another Way (with Vocals – Tudor Barn Album Rehearsal)
61. Helicopter (with Vocals – Tudor Barn Album Rehearsal)
62. Game Set-Up (Tudor Barn Album Rehearsal)
63. Complicated Game (with Vocals – Tudor Barn Album Rehearsal)
64. Complicated Analysis/Scissor Set-Up (Tudor Barn Album Rehearsal)
65. Scissor Man (with vocals/fade – Tudor Barn Album Rehearsal)

Promo videos

• Life Begins At the Hop
• Making Plans for Nigel

CD/BD Tracks 1-12 released as Virgin V 2129 (U.K.), 1979
CD Tracks 13-14/BD Tracks 15-16 released as free single with U.K. copies of album – Virgin VDJ 30 (U.K.), 1979
CD Track 15/BD Track 13 and BD Track 14 released as Virgin U.K. single VS 259, 1979
CD Track 16/BD Track 20 released on Virgin U.S. single VA 67004, 1979
CD Track 17/BD Track 19 released on Virgin U.K. single VS 322, 1980
BD Tracks 17-18 released on “Making Plans for Nigel” U.K. single – Virgin VS 282, 1979
BD Track 21 released on “Respectable Street” U.K. single – Virgin VS 407, 1981
BD Track 22 released on “No Thugs in Our House” U.K. single – Virgin VS 490, 1982
BD Tracks 23, 25-27 and 41 released on Coat of Many Cupboards – Virgin XTCBOX1, 2002
BD Track 38 released on Fuzzy Warbles 2 – Ape House APECD 002, 2002
BD Track 40 released on Fuzzy Warbles 4 – Ape House APECD 004, 2003