the chills c/d?

In 1992, I found some discount store in NYC that had a few boxes of "Submarine Bells" cassettes for like 20 cents apiece. Bought 'em all and gave 'em to friends for years.

"Martin Phillips, the man behind NZ indie pop legends the Chills, has been caught shoplifting in Dunedin. "Recently in a stupid and low frame of mind, I pocketed some banana milk and cheese at my local supermarket and, of course, I got caught!" he wrote in a recent message to fans on his website. "No excuses! It was just stupid. I'm fully aware that I'm not the only person who struggles a bit to make ends meet and most people don't resort to petty theft - especially when they're 41! Aaaagh!" Phillips' shoplifting was big news in New Zealand, making the front page of the local paper as well as radio and TV. On the upside, Phillips says a new Chills album, Silver Bullets, is due in 2005, along with a tour of the US, Europe and Australia midyear."

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ep9RdU60GlM

I Love My Leather Jacket

http://youtube.com/watch?v=VKWkK1tJxdw

Satin Doll

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ht4adK_DJvI

Liberty Or Love

http://youtube.com/watch?v=f9YcUgvAqxY

Wet Blanket

http://youtube.com/watch?v=BOvRTcTLvAM

Heavenly Pop Hit

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ite_aYNLZus

Brave Words

http://youtube.com/watch?v=rR14a4ub9TI

Part Past Part Fiction

http://youtube.com/watch?v=70Tf8GkUt_c

Also, they were very, very classic. May still be, though I have my doubts.

It's "MALE MONSTER FROM THE ID" OH MY GOD...

MY VINYL CAN'T BE FAR OFF NOW...AT LEAST I'VE GOT MY VINYL...

Blue Orchids had the reverse hit rate.

No, I understand what is meant by a Chills success rate and I'm glad someone brought that up, actually. But still...man they were head and shoulders above the Blue Orchids.

Kinda surprised by the love for Brave Words here, to me it's a big drop off from Kaleidoscope World.

brave words is so classic. 'night of chill blue' may be their best song ever. then there is 'rain', 'look for the good in others', 'creep', 'brave words', 'wet blanket'(the only good version of this song), 'dark carnival', 'house with one hundered rooms', 'push', etc, it is all just about perfect.

Yeah, Brave Words is pretty U&K, even though I prefer Submarine Bells.

Title track from Submarine Bells still brings me to tears.

Just saw Martin open for the New Pornographers here in Wellington a few weeks back. Acoustic, but still has that great voice. He suggested he'd be back with a proper band.

Kaleidsocope World wasn't produced very well, as I recall. I still have the vinyl. I dunno, The Chills for me are a truly great band that somehow ended up lost to the mists of my teenage years. I still never really feel comfortable returning to them. But I've got over the same kinds of feelings about Chameleons, so maybe Chills is next in line, who knows?

You mean "Brave Words" wasn't produced very well, don't you? 'Cuz it wasn't.

The production on Brave Words (courtesy Mayo Thompson, I believe) is pretty thin-sounding, but in many ways I prefer it to the more lush sound of the later albums. The songs, in and of themselves, shine through.

I've still got the Kaleidoscope World album on vinyl! God loves me!

Pink Frost could melt a good section of under 25 year olds in this day and age, I'd reckon.

Dan Savage will back me up, I think.

I mean Dan Selzer...shit. I used to get those names confused. I'm sorry.

That's ok. I like Dan Savage.

The Chills were great. Brave Words is underrated.

Gosh thanks for forgiving me for that Dan. That was a problem for me for several years.

God, Submarine Bells is just perfect.

otm.

I paid too much for the lp a whiles ago, don't think I've listened to it yet, will now.

i think there was a 7 inch w/it too?

kaleidoscope world came with a bonus 45, is that the one you're thinking of?

was jamming out to a bit of heavenly pop hits myself this w/e

pretty sure it's submarine bells, i think the guy i bought it off might've just chucked it in with it. will look tonight.

just put on brave words. classic!

pssst

thankig u

Allegedly, Martin will have something new out soon-ish. I've heard that before, though. Sad about his career arc (or lack thereof) this decade. So much talent in that man.

Man, almost a year and nothing. Anyone have any scoop on what Martin is up to?

played a bunch o' gigs in australia a couple of weeks ago. still got it, though the mix was atrocious. i think they've got a new EP out too?

Hmm haven't heard anything, and there's nothing on here: Chills Official Discography but I may be out of touch.

they definitely had something recent at the merch stand, but it might well have been that 'stand by' EP as i didn't look that closely

In off-topic but slightly related news, Die Die Die have signed to Flying Nun today.

Nice!

http://www.clashmusic.com/news/listen-brand-new-material-from-the-chills

was not expecting this! his voice sounds pretty good.

guitars chime pleasantly too, nothing earth shattering and no "Pink Frost", but then what is?

Pretty much sounds like the Chills! I wonder if this means he's ...cleaned up? Dealt with his depression?

Huh, MCed by the former deputy prime minister Grant Robertson.

(who is a long-time fan, cf https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/the-mixtape/audio/2018709162/the-mixtape-grant-robertson)

Extraordinary, funny, and terribly moving. A privilege to have seen it.

Word. I caught most of that thanks to a chance glance at this thread. Cheers.

Suitably primed, I'm now basically re-confirming that Kaleidoscope World is, like, the funnest comp I can think of right now. It's been a while.

and it's still online at that link too (for now?)

The service was really moving, I'm so glad that I got up at 3am to watch the stream. The songs off 'Springboard' sounded great. I hope they don't rush to release it as I think that many of us will need a bit of time before we're ready to listen to it. Also, I loved (and teared up) at that version of 'God Only Knows', it's the first time I've heard it - presumably a demo/rehearsal?

It's this version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpADxXzRaEc

just checked that Secret Box is still up (minus the otherwise available tracks) at the Wilfully Obscure blog, if anyone's so inclined

https://wilfullyobscure.blogspot.com/2016/12/the-chills-secret-box-1980-2000-2001.html

Very cool. Picked up my copy of that during my Dunedin visit at Records Records from Roy himself.

Watched the memorial service last night, it was wonderful. So many hilarious anecdotes. What a life he lived. The two Springboard tracks were great, and it was clear he and all involved had been working hard to complete the project and were very proud of it.
They played in my hometown last year and I was not able to go, wish I'd tried harder to make it happen.

Man, watching that Chills doc now just stops you dead in your tracks. The way it ends, with his doctor telling him he's cured of Hep C and that there's no reason he couldn't live to be 90, and that look of shock and elation on his face.

One final farewell from Martin: https://thechillsmusic.bandcamp.com/album/spring-board-the-early-unrecorded-songs

I will not be able to listen to this without shedding some tears.

Just wish I could have seen him perform them live.

I think a few of these unreleased songs were played during his memorial, iirc.

They did indeed.

https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/museum-commemorates-chills-founder

Oh hey, this is out!

https://thechillsmusic.bandcamp.com/album/spring-board-the-early-unrecorded-songs

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/543580/he-had-an-amazing-lyrical-brain-the-story-behind-the-final-album-from-the-chills

Been streaming Springboard and it's excellent. I'm glad it's doing so well in New Zealand - it's a wonderful, bittersweet ending to a beautiful body of work.

It's pretty great with a few duds - "Bad Eggs" is, er, undercooked. Some of these have appeared elsewhere in different forms but this was Martin's final goal along with "Braver Words".

Martin's House is on the market with all traces of Martin removed by the realtor. In a just world it would be like Graceland, preserved as Martin left it with his collections and artworks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoOvTcmoRa4

The Dunedin Museum of Natural Mystery has a number of Martin’s belongings and art, if I remember correctly. The founder (Bruce Mahalski) was a friend and collaborator of Martin’s. It’s worth a visit, if you happen to be in Dunedin… (a truly amazing collection of odds and ends)

https://goo.gl/maps/zSg6k8t59C4Fn6Q98

Is it tacky or tribute to use his music in an advert for his rehabbed house?

Surely not its intention, but it's actually a striking little meditation on the impermanence of life.

They should have gone with 'House with a Hundred Rooms'

Night of the (mortgage) Bill Due

Reminds me of Olivier Assayas's Summer Hours, Chantal Akerman's No Home Movie and a few other works that deal with death and what we leave behind.

I'm really enjoying 'Spring Board'. I feel bad saying it but I'm enjoying the songs much more than anything on the post 'Silver Bullets' releases - Martin was clearly in a purple patch in those early days.

Yeah, I've been meaning to go back to the last few albums and spin them consecutively, but I agree with your feelings and I'm not sure exactly what changed.

There's plenty of, um, scattered brilliance throughout the last few albums, but they just feel a bit too smoothed over, production-wise. It's like when my favorite 4AD and adjacent artists got into a studio with Hugh Jones, and lost a certain edge in the process. Pale Saints, Ultra Vivid Scene, Kitchens of Distinction, I'm looking at you!

The organ sounds are nice and very early Chills. I wonder if they chose the same model from the oldest line-up

Photos of the Otago Museum's exhibit, featuring some of Martin's personal possessions.

I'm sat here playing the recording I made of them at Hebden Bridge Trades Club in 2023 and reading this thread.

I so nearly didn't go to this gig. Most times, my shitty old Mercedes van would start and run OK, but sometimes it would refuse for like 30-40 attempts; occasionally having to be abandoned or taken to a garage, only for them to say they could find nothing wrong with it. Anyway, I was on my way to the show in question when it failed to restart after stopping for fuel.

It was like the 100th turn of the key when it eventually fired and - for a minute - I thought that maybe I should go home while it was working. After all, I had seen them in Manchester a few days earlier and, since 2014*, Chills tours had been a fairly regular occurrence.

Then I came to my senses... the heap was running, and I had a full tank of diesel so I would undoubtedly make it to Hebden Bridge. If it failed to start on the way home then I could always crash out in the back and figure out what to do in the morning.

If only all my decisions in life were this good.

PS the van started first go on the way home.

*I wrote an article about the 2014 tour for a fanzine that, for whatever reason, never made the cut. If I find it again I'll post it here.