David Sylvian - Brilliant Trees

Today (July 7th) marks the thirtieth anniversary of Brilliant Trees, the solo debut from English singer-songwriter David Sylvian. It peaked at number 4 on the UK charts. In the late 70's to early 80's, he was the lead singer of the group Japan.

XTC - Mummer

Today (August 30th) marks the thirtieth anniversary of Mummer, the sixth studio album from the UK rock band XTC. It was originally scheduled for a May 26th release in 1983 but was delayed because the label thought it was too acoustic and out-there for the American market; it was held off in the US until February of 1984. This one charted at number 145 on the US Billboard 200 Album chart, number 51 in the UK and number 28 in Sweden.

The line-up for this one was Andy Partridge (vocals and guitars), Colin Moulding (vocals and bass) and Dave Gregory (vocals, guitar and keyboards). Drummer Terry Chambers quit the band during the recording sessions; he only played on two of the original vinyl tracks. Peter Phipps was brought in to record most of the tracks. Additional musicians Nigel Warren-Green, Steve Nye and Gavin Wright also appeared on the album.