Bilders/Bill Direen -- I know there gotta be fans out there!

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the first two - 'beati/en hearts' and 'split seconds' are both awesome, but it gets a bit patchier from their, dropping the vu-ness of the vacuum and going in more odd and sometimes unsuited directions. bill's a crafty song-writer though. i got emailed by him late last year - he lives in france these days and spends a lot of time writing (in the written form rather than music). still, he did manage a couple of shows in NZ last year.

― chris andrews (fraew), Monday, 10 April 2006 20:30 (eighteen years ago) link

It's funny, I heard him on a cassette in 1990 or so; the next week I was in NYC and there was Bill Direen playing in a record store to about 4 people. He was great, and looking for a deal. No one bit, I'm sad to say. I've got two copies of all those Flying Nun CDs, if anyone's desperate.

― Dee Xtrovert (dee dee), Monday, 10 April 2006 20:57 (eighteen years ago) link

Hi, I'm Bill Direen and still alive. Powertools Records in Auckland have just released New York Sack, recording unreleased commercially, fom two sessions with Hamish Kilgour, Tony O'Blaney Allen Meek and others.
Otherwise, yes, I am writing novels. My new one is called Song of the BRakeman and is about... go to http://titus.books.online.fr if you realy want to know more. it's about terorism. Enough said.
Cheers,
Bill

― bill direen, Saturday, 22 April 2006 16:10 (eighteen years ago) link

Bill here again,
you can try http://titus.books.online.fr/html/Coma.html
that's the one set backstage at a concert,

or for music
the http://www.powertoolrecords.co.nz
sites.

willie boy

― bill direen, Saturday, 22 April 2006 16:13 (eighteen years ago) link

ten years pass...

Going through a Bill Direen phase at the moment - digging his "disco" (well, the closest you'd get in NZ so v.lo-fi punk-funk/Talking Heads) album Let's Play:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntEZhYETPdo

Vinyl reissue of Beatin Hearts & a new book! Sadly missed his Wellington show due to a clash, tho.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/music/85440299/palmerston-north-rock-n-roll-legand-bill-direen-returns-to-promote-his-new-book

Also, nice AudioCulture overview:
http://www.audioculture.co.nz/people/bill-direen-and-the-bilders/stories/bill-direen-part-1-a-maverick-voice-1975-to-1984
http://www.audioculture.co.nz/people/bill-direen-and-the-bilders/stories/bill-direen-part-2-1985-and-into-the-present

― etc, Wednesday, 19 October 2016 23:43 (seven years ago) link

nine months pass...

Bill Direen documentary, A Memory Of Others showing at this year's film festival. I couldn't attend either of the local screenings but hoping to grab a DVD at some stage ... was ambivalent of the filmmaker's earlier musical documentaries, but some people I trust reckon this is a lot better. It's been a nice occasion for a bunch of decent articles on him, anyway.

Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hPBDIGV8fc

http://pantograph-punch.com/post/bill-direen-a-memory-of-others

https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/94366287/bill-direen-feeding-the-spirit-of-the-people

http://offthetracks.co.nz/bill-direen-a-memory-of-others-film/

― etc, Wednesday, 16 August 2017 00:00 (six years ago) link

I have the Flying Nun comps that came out in the 90s, I dig them. Could go for a similar overview of the past 20 years.

― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Wednesday, 16 August 2017 03:15 (six years ago) link

six years pass...

very much enjoying this, I guess it's a 2008 album?

https://thokeitapes.bandcamp.com/album/bilders-mindful-expanded-mc

― I painted my teeth (sleeve), Monday, 25 March 2024 20:09 (two months ago) link

The documentary mentioned above was quite good!

― Ned Raggett, Monday, 25 March 2024 20:12 (two months ago) link

Also I appreciate how we all posted initially and then Bill himself showed up and nobody responded! What was up with us?

― Ned Raggett, Monday, 25 March 2024 20:12 (two months ago) link

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