The Church - any of the congregation here? (Part Two)

For Priest? I seem to recall a comment somewhere that it was recorded to tape. The mix is of its time but it doesn't sound particularly digital to my ears.

 

Sorry, I confusedly though you were talking about Jupiter 13. I think you are correct, that P=A was recorded to tape.

 

I believe Sometime Anywhere was tape, except possibly "The Maven" which sounds like it could be digital. I'm not sure about Magician. Hologram and A Box Of Birds I think were digital, and then After Everything and, er, everything after was most likely digital. Although Jeffrey Cain at one point posted photos and videos of tape for the first Isidore album, so who knows? (That's one of the most digital-sounding albums I've ever heard, so if that was tape, then maybe my guesses are wrong.)

I have to say, as much as I love Steve and all his projects, I do wish the Jupiter 13 vinyl discussion would stay in the SK thread. I keep seeing alerts for the Church thread and thinking there's been a title/cover/release date for the new album announced.

 

It's interesting. I'm not a fan of Jupiter 13, although I am a fan of his last one. Sometimes his solo work/collaborations just don't work for me. I can elaborate in another post, but yeah, I don't think I'm going to come back to this one much.

I ordered the vinyl too, and I think I'll just let it sit unopened and try to sell it in a couple of years. Of course, there's always a chance that this grows on me, but usually with Kilbey's stuff it's down to the melodies and it just works for me or it doesn't.

 

The problem with being as prolific as he is, I don’t find it is always great songs/music.

Having said that, I love Jupiter 13 but didn’t care for previous one (11 Women?).

 

To your point, Jeffmo: I think of his "last one" as the last one with Kennedy. I had completely forgotten about 11 Women. Durp!

I will give my cd version of Jupiter 13 another try, let it sink in some more.

 

I enjoyed Jupiter 13 and adored Eleven Women. I never got into the Gareth Koch albums, mainly because of the production which I didn't care for (reverb + compression = headaches). I liked The Hall Of Counterfeits but can't remember any individual songs. I got the new GB3 but haven't listened to it yet as I'm without a functioning laptop at the moment. It's a lot of new music to digest, what, seven albums in two years?

EDIT: Damn it, wrong thread again.

 

Steve posted a photo of the band recording a new song "Albert Ross" (classic SK title) with a comment that the new Church album is (hopefully) due sometime in the first three months of 2022! I'm excited.

 

You won't believe it, but my personal favourite album by them is "El momento descuidado"

 

This one is definitely in my top ten, maybe top five. Not just "acoustic versions", total transformations that reveal how much more there is to the songs than the standard versions. Siguiente is also good, but I feel like, for some of them, they tried to force them to be different. Descuidado is much more natural in that regard. A fantastic album. And the handful of new songs are excellent, as well!

 

Below from Gareth Koch’s Facebook.

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“That's a wrap for the albums of 2021. Big Australian tour in 2022 with Steve Kilbey & The Winged Heels.”

 

Marty has been living in Porto for over a year, I enjoy his daily blog (refers to The Church as the ‘ex band’ which is a little childish )

Blog Archives - Marty Willson-Piper

Caught COVID between Christmas and New Year, his wife had it first, he seems to be doing ok with it.

 

I just discovered these guys a month ago and they're all I've listened to since. I can't get over the sheer quality and quantity of their output. Priest=Aura is my favorite so far, followed by Hologram Of Baal, Heyday, Man Woman Life Death Infinity and Starfish. I can't wait to dig into the rest. Has anyone here ever met Kilbey? He seems like such a character!

 

Enjoy the feast!

And then you can explore all the solo and side project.

 

Yes, had a drink with him after a show c. 20 years ago. Alas they booked him to a town which has no fanbase (Jacksonville FL) and he bemoaned the small crowd.

 

Where to start on solo albums?

 

Honestly, I would tackle the tackle 24 or so albums by The Church first.

I'm a big fan of Kilbey Kennedy collabs and Painkiller is my favorite of his solo works (with Tim playing drums and producing on it).

 

I've got everything from Of Skins And Heart to Man Woman Life Death Infinity. What a buffet.

 

You can’t go wrong just following them in order, but it can get overwhelming. There are so many solo and side albums between them. There is also The Refo:mation album which is essentially The Church minus Marty. Then there are the harder to find albums such as Beside Yourself and Back With Two Beasts.

If you love pretty much everything you have heard so far, I doubt you will find much that will not appeal to you.

 

Does anyone know anything about this CD pressing of Heyday? I've never heard of it before, but it's available for sale on Discogs (which now prohibits the sale of bootlegs) and apparently Zonophone is a Parlophone subsidiary. Still, it screams "bootleg" to me. "Trance Endings"? It looks like the booklet has unique artwork and I like the "maroon" CD tray. It also seems to be the only version of Heyday prior to the 2002 remasters to contain all 3 bonus tracks.

https://www.discogs.com/release/800861-The-Church-Heyday

 

It seems odd that this would be the only title reissued by this label but @wayneklein has stated that this is the best CD version. I don't own it so I can't comment but it is a legitimate release.

 

Yeah it was reissued and mastered at Abbey Road (it wasn’t Peter Mew) and it’s not as bright but also doesn’t have the exaggerated bottom end thst many remasters had at the time.

It isn’t perfect but it is probably the best digital. The original LP also sounds quite nice.

just be aware you can’t read the lyrics or even the credits unless you use a magnifying c\glass. Why they chose this font I’ll. Ever know.

 

The good news is that, if you get stuck, both those albums were available as downloads as I recall). I can’t speak to the bit rate for them but ITunes had them at one time as I downloaded Beast when I couldn’t find my copy.

 

It's my understanding (although I haven't tested this myself) that the downloads from the official Church store, comprising many hard-to-find albums from the 2000s, are true lossless quality. I know somebody confirmed that the "Operetta" single/EP was. Considering the prices for used CDs, this is the best way to get the music and support the band until you can get the discs at a reasonable price.

 

Thanks for the quick responses! It won't be easy to track down but I'll keep my eyes open. I'm certainly happy with my Australia EMI in the meantime.