Black sea

"Arriving into the post-punk landscape of proudly ham-fisted non-craftsman, it flaunted finely tooled baroque'n'roll aspirations more readily associated with latter-day Beatles than the worthy Emperor's-new-rain-mac ineptitude of their dour indie contemporaries. Black Sea's meticulous arrangements, lyrical invention, wit and succession of earworms seemed almost counter-revolutionary in their pop perfection ... Thankfully, 2017's mixes of both stereo and surround variety are excellent - Wilson didn't get where he is today by taking issue with time-honoured perfection. Aside from added crispness, clarity and positioning in the round, there are no unwelcome surprises here".

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"Thirty seven years later, Black Sea returns, facelifted with all the philanthropy we've come to expect from XTC reissues: new stereo mixes and a 5.1 Surround Sound mix by Steven Wilson and his panoramic ears, forensic sleeve notes, and so many bonuses that it takes 37 years to listen to them all. (NB: We haven't actually timed this with a stopwatch.) It sounded incredible in 1980, and it should come as no surprise that it sounds incredible now".

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