The Church - C or D/S&D/CB&TT

Best since Priest = Aura. And P=A is my fave album of theirs.

As a Chameleons hyperfanatic, I see the point of comparison, but really I think they're two different bands with a slew of shared core influences in common, nothing more.

I wasn't very impressed to see them live. I mean it was interesting and all but they were doing a partly acoustic set and the recordings are soo much better. Maybe if I see them do a full electric set it'll be better.

Much of it is Steve talking about the Isidore album he recorded with one of the Remy Zero guys (which I haven't heard yet), talk about the Beside Yourself collection of B-sides, and then there's this:

SK: I think it's definitely a good way to work, just sending files. You don't have to know anybody. I've been talking to, in a very, very early stage -- a mutual friend of ours introduced us over the Internet -- Sonic Boom from Spaceman 3 and Spectrum. Do you know who he is?

HS: Oh, yeah!

SK: He and I and another guy are talking about doing something together. So if it ends up being him just sending me music that he's done, or if it ends up me sending him that I've done, or however it's going to work out -- where he sends me a bit and I put a bit on top or whatever -- I'm very up for it because I think this is a really good way.

Unearthed is superb, a shamefully overlooked record.

All guitars in heaven sound like that.

See the mystery of personal tastes.
I didn't like that much _Hologram_, while _After Everything_ sounded to me like a kind of resurrection...anyway, the Church = great.

http://homepage.mac.com/fipster/church/sleeves/albums/back-with-two-beasts.jpg

And HFS is it good. I can imagine the conversation in the studio when they were putting this together...

Willson-Piper: "Remember when we used to make those songs with all the 12-strings and chiming sounds"
Kilbey (wistfully): "Good times but what rubbish though"
W-P: "Think we can do it again?"
K: "I dare you to play that way. What do you say Pete?"
Koppes (via guitar feedback): SCREECH! PLONK! CRASH!

*half of album is recorded*

All: "arrgh, sod all this! Where's that Sonic Youth album?"

*band records 20 minute song*

K: "OK, can we get on with our REAL album now?"

It was released late last year.

So, this improv album and "Block" for my shopping. I can't complain.

Come to my Church band Multimedia website
http://www.violettown.com

We are keeping up with all the media out there, read some reviews

We have MP3 samplers for you to hear as well as
a Podcast and many other great essential tidbits a site for the Church
would have to house.

So come all ye faithful
http://www.violettown.com

The Church - Uninvited, Like the Clouds

P.S.: So long as I'm documenting hilarious lines from "Terra Nova Cain" that dude actually tries to sell all serious-like, this is the second best:

She said, "Will you help with our research?"
I said, "Take me to your leader."
She put her foot down on the oscillation pedal.
She was a ... transdimensional speeder.

Mostly because of that INCREDIBLY CAMP PAUSE denoted by the ellipses. "She was a ... (get this) ... transdimensional speed-ah."

So wild to see and hear Marty WP and Kilbey promoting "Sometime/Anywhere" - with an added bonus Jack Frost song - as an acoustic duo. Great set.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sz7ARBOu-zQ

My first time seeing the band in any form was a stop on the tour they did that way in OC in the mid-90s. Remarkable performance.

Yeah I saw them play the Uni Bar in Hobart on that tour. Absolutely no memory of it … for some reason.

The two Jack Frost albums are a fantastic side project for Kilbey...

Love the first Jack Frost album. I never gave the second much of a listen. I should do that.

(xpost)

That acoustic duo tour was also my first Church live experience. They were performing in a small club and I remember that SK seemed somewhat despondent. The part I recall most clearly is that they finished with a cover of "Cortez the Killer". It built up to an astounding solo by MW-P with his Takamine 12-string and a distortion pedal, that pretty much peeled the paint off the walls. One of my all-time greatest musical experiences.

The Jack Frost catalog is getting a reissue: https://thesoundofvinyl.com/collections/pre-orders/products/as-seen-on-tv-3cd

Welcome news indeed. Wish they said what exactly the third disc was!

Yeah I really love the first one and struggle to remember the second. I even got to interview GMcL and tell him how much I loved “Trapeze Boy”.

“Trapeze Boy” is wonderful, very evocative. The first Jack Frost was always my favourite too, but I remember back in the day, the cognoscenti opinion was that Snow Job was superior to it. I'd hazard a guess that was because it occupied a more familiar sonic territory for fans of The Church, being primarily built around electric guitars. In comparison, when they made the debut, SK was still keen on electronic arrangements (cf. the Hex albums) and sound-wise, it's all over the place. Which is a great thing, obviously. You've got the eerie synths of "Number Eleven" as well as the emotional and musical directness of GMcL's "Thought That I Was Over You". "Every Hour God Sends" reminds me of BAD's "C'mon Every Beatbox".

The third disc is a live gig from 1991

new song!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPcXgw8W9yg

His voice has been a little odd the last few albums. Age or dental surgery?

I like the song!

seeing them tonight! keen!

this was great, was a "singles" show and highlights for me were all the post-Metropolis cuts - Kilbey palpably more engaged for the more recent stuff & fair enough too - I regret sleeping on some of those recent albums so was nice to hear stuff like The Hypnogogue and Realm of Minor Angels - new single was very strong also

was of course happy to hear some of the warhorses as well - particularly cool to get Constant in Opal!

upthread I called the Church inessential, since catching them live last year and then taking a deep dive into their back (and front) catalogue I gotta say that for me they hit a place no other band can hit - so maybe... essential after all?

Very!

It’s been a long strange trip

Turn down the gravity, this is all too heavy
I'll show you how the ancients once traveled
They used to call this a Chevy