The Greatest Living Englishman - Martin Newell
Been wondering what to do while waiting for that new XTC album? Pick up a copy of this album. The XTC connection is strong, in part because of the presence of Andy Partridge on this album, but the tracks carry that same air of wistful Englishness which pervade a lot of my favourite artists' work. XTC and Robyn Hitchcock spring to mind, and the ghosts of the Kinks can be heard in "A street called Prospect" (basically "Dead end street" 30 years on). This album has the same chiming guitar sound that drifts through a lot of these artists' work, and tracks like "Goodbye Dreaming Fields", "She Rings the Changes", and "Home Counties Boy" are a delight.