XTC architect Andy Partridge doesn't get out much, so for him discovering and jamming with another musician means listening to a CD in his living room and strumming his guitar into his telephone receiver. This is exactly what he is doing with Robert Schneider, fellow bespectacled alterna-popster and de facto frontman for Denver's Apples in Stereo.

Partridge got his hands (and ears) on the Apples' catalog and was so impressed that he contacted Schneider, and now the two are writing songs together. "They work together a few times a week and are on the phone a couple hours at a time . . . sometimes more," says a spokesperson for Partridge.

The fruits of Partridge's and Schneider's transatlantic labors will appear on Schneider's debut solo album, which is expected in the spring.

As for Partridge's other pursuit, he and bassist Colin Moulding, the other half of XTC, will spend this year writing songs for the follow-up to the band's 2000 album, Wasp Star (Apple Venus, Pt. 2), with an eye on a 2002 release.

BILL CRANDALL
(January 25, 2001)