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

Stock is much less substantial than it was before, and I did not buy anything Church-related there. Only about 5 Kilbey titles, and much less Church stock than I remember. MWP section only had Hanging Out In Heaven, no Nightjar. Church section still had all the same titles, but less copies of all of them. A bit disappointing. Oh well, such is life.

 

I went to my favorite record store today and was able to pick up both Jack Frost CDs as well as Earthed, Unearthed, Narcosis+More, Freaky Conclusions and Dabble. $5 was the most for any of them.

 

Nice.
Which record store?

 

Record Connection in Ephrata PA

 

Beyond jealous. I have to say I'm a bit let down by the record stores in my new world that I've visited. I haven't hit 'em all - but I must say I prefer the ones up north. (Gasp!)

My Church findings - beyond the Second Motion stock at Schoolkids (Raleigh), was the requisite Gold Afternoon Fix on CD (BMG club copy), a water-soaked Starfish CD, and an Arista promo CD (title was something to do with "Amps") which had "Russian Autumn Heart" on it. Somehow I managed to find After Everything and Uninvited Like The Clouds up in NY. Bar the new vinyl section of one of the stores, most of what I saw was sadly comparable to flea markets. Maybe I just hit them too late and all the good stuff for the summer is gone - will have to see.

 

Another trip to Schoolkids, this time the one in Chapel Hill. Man - before I moved I was lucky to see Starfish... this is like a treasure trove! (Even though I already have it all...!)

 

Heads up to anyone interested in the "Comedown" CD single: The Church - Comedown Cd Maxi Single Rare D1445 Rock | eBay

This is the third one I've seen for sale after I said "I've never seen these for sale". Let's see if it works again: "I've never seen the CD single for 'Easy' go for a reasonable price." Did it work? Did it work?

 

Does anybody know if the 2004 reissues of Peter Koppes's solo albums are remastered, or if they use the same mastering as earlier CDs (Ryko/TVT)? I'd like to buy directly from the man himself, but if the reissues have inferior mastering, I'll track down originals. The Misty Heights & Cloudy Memories CD isn't totally brickwalled like the 2002 Church remasters were, but it's still pretty loud and bloated, which really clashes with the rough, almost demo quality of the music. But I sure dig the music.

 

Here's a nice-sounding vintage show:

 

NICE!

Listening now, and got pretty excited when they broke into "Frozen and Distant"!

 

Thanks for the link. I saw Steve mentioned it earlier but I couldn't find it when I searched.

A very Bowie-inspired chord sequence. Steve's been posting a lot of Diamond Dogs quotes on Instagram over the past few weeks - seems finishing this project put him back in touch with his idol in some way. There is a definite clash between the two vocalists here. Normally, Steve uses clashes like that as colorful contrast, but here it feels a bit overbearing. Their harmonizing (or, at least, singing together) is not a very pleasant listen. I hope that Steve has more solo vocal spots on the album, rather than this harmonizing. This is not helped by the poor fidelity of the radio-broadcast-bootleg-uploaded-to-YouTube quality.

But the tune itself - melody, chords, and arrangement - are great, classic Kilbey, and I hope to hear more. But I must say I'm not as bowled over as I was the first time I heard "Sydney Rococo", and it's all because of the dissonant harmonies. I guess I'll just hope that what I'm reacting to is just the poor quality of the dub in the video.

EDIT: I should amend that last paragraph... not many songs bowled me over the first time I heard them like "Sydney Rococo", so that's maybe not a fair comparison. But I'm a bit ambivalent toward this one, and it's just because of the clash between the voices during the harmony bits.

 

Not too enamored by "Monument City Lights" myself. I much prefer, when Steve handles the lead vocal with no interference from other vocalists, which is also why I think that a track like "When I Love her She Sings" would've been better served without the female background vocals. I do Like Sydney Rococo (the album) quite a bit, though, even if it was a slow burner for me.

Edit: I slightly edited my comment.

 

I'm typically very open-minded when it comes to SK side projects... I've collected nearly everything over the years. This latest collaboration is not very good... arrangements, production, delivery. It falls flat on many levels, IMO.

 

I really enjoy the music, just not this singer's voice. The melody could have used some more variety, too... mostly though they just don't sound good singing together. I'm still definitely buying the album when it comes out though (and not just because it's going to cost $60 three weeks after release).

 

Okay, this isn't the All India Radio thread, but Kilbey has collaborated with Martin Kennedy, and this is a deal too good to pass up. 7 All India Radio CDs for $10. Not $10 each - $10 for 7 CDs. Actually, it's Australian dollars, which means it's about $6. Add on A$15 for shipping and you're only paying $16 for 7 albums of ambient funk dreamscapes. And a few of the CDs in there (well, at least one anyway) features Steve Kilbey on it!

LIMITED 7 CD BUNDLE from All India Radio

 

Thanks for the heads-up! I bought the bundle. It was about a year ago I did something similar with Kilbey/Kennedy live releases. Check those out if you don't already have them.

I would also add that the $10 AUD bundle price is just a minimum price, part of the 'name your price' policy many bands use at Bandcamp. I chose to pay $10 per cd because I like MK and hope he continues to make music! Only one set remains...

 

At the moment I'm unemployed - I bumped mine up to $25 (AUD), he deserves more but it's about all I can do right now and I couldn't let this deal go by. Once I get a steady income I'm going for the new album CD/T-shirt bundle.

 

Wishing you the very best in your job search! I definitely didn't mean my comment re: 'name your price' as being (pre)judgemental. I hope you didn't take it that way. It's great to support these talented artists any way we can!

Thanks again for posting the link! I would have missed out for sure. You are responsible for both your purchase and mine!

 

No, that's fine. I love supporting artists directly. In fact, that's the very reason I couldn't give Martin any more! Had a bit of a surprise run-in with one of my heroes and ended up dumping my weekly food budget on a box of CDs. Good thing I like ramen...

 

And thanks for the comment on the job search! Moved to a new state in June, spent two months unpacking (and still not done), had vacation planned at the end of August (where I am now)... didn't make sense to jump into a job search right away when I have plenty saved up to keep afloat and had a week off planned. Will begin the search in September and hopefully my Waterboys gig at the end of the month (sooooo excited for that) won't get in the way.

 

An amusing choice of image in this article about how cassettes are increasing in price:

Cheap item that now costs thousands

 

Amazing, such a random title too. I have an Australian cassette version of 'Of Skins and Heart.' I wonder if that is worth anything, or if it even still plays.

EDIT: Just checked and it's actually the New Zealand version: The Church - Of Skins And Heart

 

After nearly five weeks in the mail (to the point that I began to worry that it had been lost or destroyed), I finally got my Australian CV/Festival "Louisiana" CD single. "Louisiana" was my favorite song of theirs to be released as a single, but as the CD was so rare, it ended up being the second-to-last single I collected! (I'm excluding "Unified Field" as that was only a promo, though I do intend to collect that at some point.)

Wow! This is easily the best of their singles, hands-down - that's for the A-side and the B-sides. "Anyway" and "Lizard" are so good that I'm frankly shocked they didn't make the cut for Hologram Of Baal. That album's no slouch, but these songs could have made the album a lot stronger. It reminds me of the "Ripple" CD single in that the B-sides are more uptempo and rocking than much of the album. (We're still talking about Hologram, so don't expect another "Memories In Future-Tense" - but "Anyway" rocks and "Lizard is moody and intense.)

Fortunately, though the Australian pressing is rare and expensive, the UK pressing (in a card sleeve, I think) is more common and less expensive. I can't imagine there would be any difference at all in the audio between the two. If you like Hologram Of Baal and you want some more of it, I can't recommend this single enough. It's brilliant!