S/D: David Kilgour / The Clean

Just saw David Kilgour and the 8's at High Dive in Seattle. It was Halloween. David dressed up as an emo rocker, except he just wore an Emo Philips black mop wig and used the phrase "fucking geezers" every other phrase during the banter. Homer Simpson came on stage to dance on the third-to-last song. Excellent show, although could have been more attended. Ah well. David is one of the sweetest and friendliest people I've ever met. Good times.

DON'T MISS THE KILGOUR LIVE

i'll be seeing him in Denver (oddly enough at a place called the Hi-Dive) this Saturday -- can't wait! And uhh, if any of you are in the Front Range area, be sure to make it for the opening band, the Magic Mice. That's my band ... Sorry for the shameless plug, but what the heck. 10pm!

Kilgour was indeed awesome, though the crowd was ridiculously sparse. Great band, beautiful guitar playing, warm vibe. The whole thing makes me want to go on some sort of rant about all the crappy indie rock bands who sell out places four times as big as the hi-dive, but I won't waste your time ... To repeat what Mackro Mackro said above, DON'T MISS THE KILGOUR LIVE. I think he's swinging around to the east coast now ... And the Clean are playing in NYC in a couple of weeks too! Goddamn.

Grrrr, I will have to miss his Wednesday November 14th Washington DC show at DC9.

anyone heard this? http://www.davidkilgour.com/falling.htm not avail. in the states yet, I guess ... also, new Clean album coming soon! Huzzah!

no haven't heard that. but new Clean song available on pfork!

yeahhhh it sounds sweet! latter day Clean should not be overlooked!

New Clean album - "Mister Pop" is at least half utter brilliance and the rest is solid and will likely grow on me.

I pulled out Stephen's "Radar Of Small Dogs" and it's really great, I had completely forgotten it. Pity Flying Nun can't get their act together and reissue more from the vaults.

Good grief does the title track of "Here Come the Cars" act as a perfect destressing balm or what.

ooh, I need that record. Is it available anywhere other than Amazon? Selling for $36 there ...

Looks like you can get it for rather cheaper here:

http://www.newzealandcds.com/products.asp?product_id=1000

Here's his overall 'buy stuff' page for reference:

http://www.davidkilgour.com/buy-stuff.htm

Haha, bless their hearts, they link to a number of my AMG reviews.

oh, nice, thanks Ned!
Just discovered this Kilgour band: http://rootstrata.com/rootblog/?p=2171
Dunno if that CD is out of print or what, but you can grab it there.

just pulled out my stephen cd last week! mostly really good. the first tune gets me every time.

also pulled out & the heavy eights for the first time in a long while. "diggin for gold"!

so awesome!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3Q6lFP47FE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_TUP_d1nIo&feature=related

All of David's solo albums are great in different ways. "The Far Now" just satisfies the soul...

I should rate his solo albums but in many ways they've each been somewhat better than the previous, with the exception of The Heavy Eights album which is my favorite of all, and also not counting the False Alarms demo comp. A Feather In The Engine is really slept on, and vies with Heavy Eights for my favorite some days.

i wanted to hear 'today is gonna be mine' the other day + the internet failed me

Feather in the Engine is maybe my fave solo release of his, pretty perfect throughout. Especially love "All The Rest" -- when I saw him play with Lambchop as his backing band (2002?) the guitar break on that one was immense. still need to get a few ... never heard Frozen Orange for some reason. Those Clean vids are amazing.

frozen orange is . . . nice enough. don't get me wrong; it's totally worth hearing. but the edges are a little smoothed out compared to earlier stuff

does David still live in NZ? is he alright? has he been accounted for in the earthquake?

yikes, hope he's ok.
this just landed in my inbox! good news:
David Kilgour and the Heavy Eights will release their new album Left By Soft on CD and digital download April 26th!

Left by Soft was recorded in the Catlins, about two hours south of Dunedin, New Zealand, in an old lodge surrounded by native bush, birds, and the sea. David spent about a week down there with the Heavy Eights. Thomas Bell engineered and produced but also played bass AND cooked the band awesome meals every night. After chilling out most mornings, the band would start recording mid afternoon into the night. Apart from a couple of overblown tracks, they kept overdubs to a minimum and when mixing left most takes as is—no cleaning up via Pro Tools editing, etc.

“To me, it sounds like the band on a good night, warts and all,” says Kilgour. “It’s probably the first real “band” LP I’ve made since Frozen Orange or the David Kilgour and the Heavy 8’s LP from the mid ’90s.”

David Kilgour is a guitar god for guitar atheists. He’s worthy of worship, but his style neither demands nor expects it, all of which only serves to increase his otherworldly cool. Left by Soft, his first album in four years with the Heavy Eights, comes on the heels of the Clean’s excellent 2009 outing, Mister Pop. You could say it’s all part of a late-career renaissance, but that implies there’s been some sort of valley in his 30 years of making music. This time, there are more of the elegantly chiming chords and beautifully drifting solos, all presented with Kilgour’s sparkling pop sensibilities.

The Heavy Eights are Taane Tokona on drums, Tony de Raad on guitar and keyboards, and Thomas Bell on bass and keyboards. David plays guitar, keyboards, and harmonica. Mike McCloud from Shifting Sands guests on “I’ll Climb Back Up That Hill.”

greeneyedowl has uploaded some great stuff to youtube. i remember sitting behind david and hamish in the theater watching 'to die for' trying to see when they laughed, if they laughed, hamish always looks so serious.

David Kilgour is a guitar god for guitar atheists.

yes.

and yes--those Clean videos on youtube are fantastic.

new song is great -- looking forward to the album.

I think David lives in Dunedin which is about 5 hours from Christchurch so he should be unaffected by this.

Had missed the revive last month. Can't wait for this!

just one listen in to the new one, but it sounds amazing. more soloing than the last few, i think, which i approve of. love everything this guy touches, but this one might be a cut above the usual.

Point That Thing Somewhere Else, just the other day

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dQRJkKv7E0

I love "Nail In My Foot'

Is it wrong, or is it right to be a beatnik???

sweet clip! long live the clean!

just one listen in to the new one, but it sounds amazing

Tyler, old bean, you got an advance copy? Jealous!!

You know, "Autumn Sun" really sounds like Kilgour and company doing a hell of a tribute song to the Church, in their own way. It's more like a parallel approach but it's kinda weird how I can't hear it any other way!

that sounds fantastic. when's the new one out? is it with the heavy eight again?

Out next week officially, and yes with the Crazy Eights. Am reviewing it for the AMG and it's almost like he's found his own personal Crazy Horse at this point.

hadn't thought of the church comparison, but it makes sense now that you mention it. i posted my rave over here: http://ow.ly/4BhjG

oh my god that sounds awesome. can't wait to read ned's too and pick this up proper

this is really great. on first listen anyway

Really looking forward to this

"purple balloon" is very very pretty

yeah, it's perfect. it's the sort of song that *sounds* easy and effortless, but i don't think anyone except kilgour could do it.

album of the year, etc.

it's the sort of song that *sounds* easy and effortless, but i don't think anyone except kilgour could do it.

Completely agree, after just one listen. I can't say I'm blown away by this, let's see how it stacks up after repeated listens, but it's at least yet another solid release from a man who seemingly can't do wrong. Really, is there a single dud in his catalog, even his side projects? No. Impressive after 30 years!

the last two clean albums have been pretty dud.

They've had some misses but by no means are they duds - "Mister Pop" was half great and half meh, that's not a dud in my book.

I love David Kilgour but also agree that he seems to have reached some sort of comfort zone with his work. He is great at creating texture and atmosphere but often is not so good at constructing a song. Give me Robert Scott's compositions any day. Kilgours lyrics are typically vague and almost unnecessary. I know he is a kind of sacred cow and all but I do think he is coasting. Good luck to him though, why shouldn't he be relaxing?

nice onion review

http://www.avclub.com/articles/david-kilgour-and-the-heavy-eights-left-by-soft,55411/

new record is really nice, no surprise.

new record is really nice, no surprise.

― tylerw, Monday, September 9, 2019 5:15 PM (one week ago)

^^

I'm actually quite taken with the two departures from his usual sound - the piano/Cloudboy vibes in "Swan Loop", and the Billy TK scorch of "Ngapara".

He's never made a bad record. Or even come close to one.

^^ seriously. just so consistent. and consistently underrated.

"I’m so glad to have completed this piano piece, it’s been hanging around in raw form for about 7 years and I always forget about it. .....and just like that it’s completed and out! Woo hoo!.....it's possibly my last statement on my obsession with minor chords and maj 7th chords."

https://www.projectsunrise.work/artists/david-kilgour

https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/130639132/police-searching-for-awardwinning-kiwi-musician-last-seen-four-days-ago?fbclid=IwAR2z64QdKt1bo8xQ32JkxPHv86ino-LA7qIVKksEXUqeRqwTsfBXlVffW9Q&mibextid=Zxz2cZ

Not good. Hamish Kilgour missing for 4 days